House Passes “Cut, Cap & Balance” On Party-Line Vote
Last night’s vote on the House GOP’s “Cut, Cap & Balance” plan went about as expected:
House Republicans on Tuesday approved an ambitious but legislatively ill-fated plan to enact deep spending restraints that could clear the decks for a compromise over the debt limit.
The so-called “cut, cap and balance” measure passed on a party-line vote, 234-190, as nine Republicans — including presidential candidates Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Ron Paul (Texas) — and five Democrats defected.
Democrats excoriated the GOP for advancing the bill, which the White House has threatened to veto.
The bill has absolutely no chance in the Senate, of course, which is likely why Speaker Boehner is already working on Plan B:
Even as the GOP brought the “cut, cap and balance” legislation to the floor, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said party leaders in the lower chamber had begun discussions over a “Plan B” to increase the debt ceiling by the Treasury Department’s Aug. 2 deadline if a broad agreement wasn’t possible.
“I’m not going to give up hope on ‘cut, cap and balance,’ but I do think it’s responsible for us to look at what Plan B would look like,” Boehner said at a Capitol press conference following a closed-door GOP conference meeting. “And the leadership had a long conversation yesterday about Plan B. There are a lot of options available to us. There have been no decisions made as yet.”
Whether Plan B will be McConnell-Reid, or some version of the Gang of Six plan released yesterday remains to be seen. Whether either one of those has any chance of passing the House is something nobody seems to know.
D.O.A. in the Senate. The irony of course being the so-called “Tea Party” won’t be able even to grasp the irony.
Interesting Bachmann voted against the Tea Party. Is she pivoting to the center already? Or did one of her migraines leave her dazed?
@hey norm:
Bachmann said she was voting against it because it doesn’t include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act
Well Doug, that makes perfect sense because repealing the ACA actually adds to the deficit/debt. Wait…er…never mind.
@Doug Mataconis:
As if the bill needed another torpedo below the waterline.
They’re not laughing with you, they’re laughing at you.
@ Bandit…
OK I’ll bite. My claim is based on CBO estimates. If you have counter information lets see it.
@hey norm:
Information? You mean like facts, figures, official estimates, LEARNED OPINION? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING LEARNED OPINION!
@ Neil…
My bad…don’t know what I was thinking.
Thanks for keeping me in line!!!
Of course the House Bill will be DOA in the Senate. And the Gang of Six megillah–whenever it gets finalized so we can read it and see what’s in it–and then passed by the Senate will be deader ‘n a doornail in the House.
So okay smart guys—where are we?
So okay smart guys—where are we?
Still stuck in a hostage situation, with Republicans as the terrorists holding a gun to all our heads.
@ Mantis/Comanche…
Call me naive…but I think now that Republicans in the house have the political cover of the Tea Party/Cut, Slash, and Burn vote behind them, the most moderate among them will be able to vote for something along the lines of the Gang of 7 bill.
Keep in mind that the Bowles-Simpson commision, Obama’s negotiations with Boehner (pre-Cantor’s kerfuffle), and the Gang of 7 bill are all pretty much similar. The details need to get hammered out still but that seems doable. The Senate, The White House, and the American people are all behind the basic architecture. And I’m willing to bet Wall Street is telling Boehner to quit f’ing around – you had your theatrical vote – now get something done.
Given Democratic support and some Republican support it can get done in a nice bi-partisan fashion. Like things used to get done in Washington.
But then again…like I said…I may be naive.
Call me naive…but I think now that Republicans in the house have the political cover of the Tea Party/Cut, Slash, and Burn vote behind them, the most moderate among them will be able to vote for something along the lines of the Gang of 7 bill.
Maybe so, but how many moderate Republicans are left in the House? Is it enough to pass something?
Keep in mind that the Bowles-Simpson commision, Obama’s negotiations with Boehner (pre-Cantor’s kerfuffle), and the Gang of 7 bill are all pretty much similar.
Yeah, but Boehner has no control over his caucus.
But then again…like I said…I may be naive.
No, that’s the way things used to work. The Republican Party has changed. They now favor destruction for the sake of destruction.
These Republicans must now answer the question: do they want to end social security, medicare, or the defense budget?
That’s the only way the numbers work out.
lunatic llama,
Or we can zero everything else out, some effects of which are described by Megan McArdle. The scary part is that she says she’d be OK with some of them, even though the average voter would not be.
“…Maybe so, but how many moderate Republicans are left in the House? Is it enough to pass something?”
Aye…thats the rub…who knows? We shall see. I think Coburn’s conservative cred helps for the House Repubs.
I am now 95 per cent certain that we will be in default come August 3. Its pretty clear that House Republicans are not in touch with reality, and worse, that the people who sent them there aren’t in touch with reality either. Unfortunately, reality will come crashing down on their heads (and ours) in two weeks’ time, whether they acknowledge reality or not.
Not passed. Politics as usual! The real question is can the current state of Washington, Republicans v. Democrats, Democrats v. Republicans actually agree in the debt ceiling? Or is America in trouble regardless? Regardless, each side needs to come to a consensus to better the Americans people. Weigh in on our polls. Share where you stand. http://bit.ly/Votocracy