A GOP strategy for the debt-ceiling fight
Instead, this New Year’s Day he tartly said, “We can’t not pay bills that we’ve already incurred.” Who is suggesting we don’t? Not House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, or any other Republican leader. Quite the opposite. They want to cover the cost of the existing debt while cutting spending to prevent a fiscal catastrophe.
Mr. Obama’s use of straw-man arguments to misrepresent the GOP’s position became tiresome long ago. He does this in part because he can get away with it, thanks to a compliant press corps. His reliance on the tactic may also spring from his recognition that he has a weak case and cannot win the argument otherwise.
For their part, Republicans finally appear reasonably united around something practical and reasonable—the “Boehner Rule,” named after its author. It requires matching any debt increase dollar for dollar with spending cuts. Here, the GOP will likely find wide public support. …
But this means House Republicans must pass a measure pairing specific spending cuts with a debt-ceiling increase that will have few, if any, Democratic votes. It would therefore be tactically wise for Republicans to draw many of these cuts from the recommendations of Mr. Obama’s own National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (aka Simpson-Bowles).
Blowback
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Please don’t tell me they’re starting with 1:1.
Dongemaharu on January 10, 2013 at 10:13 AM
Here is the GOP Plan:
completely cave into Obama except for some insignificant issue, then turn around and act like they won some huge victory against Obama, meanwhile he got his debt ceiling increase.
ChunkyLover on January 10, 2013 at 10:16 AM
It’s a Boehner policy that is illogical. You should be decreasing the debt one dollar for every dollar of spending cuts. Boehner realizes that the policy will fail because it is illogical and Republicans won’t fight hard to defend something that is illogical. When they cave to Democrats on it, they merely point out that it never made sense to begin with.
Buddahpundit on January 10, 2013 at 10:18 AM
From Karl Rove, the man who never met a RINO he didn’t like.
Fenris on January 10, 2013 at 10:20 AM
Rove, Coulter and other big government republicans can go to….
Tired of him.
MoreLiberty on January 10, 2013 at 10:23 AM
Also, they will make sure to call any critics of the deal “right wing extremists” and/or “TrueConz.”
Doomberg on January 10, 2013 at 10:30 AM
A strategy from Karl Rove? No thanks.
Citizen-003528 on January 10, 2013 at 10:51 AM
If President Obama had put in his cuts resulting in the Post Poned sequester by now, he would have been saving money and would not have run out of the money the republicans allowed him to borrow in the last raise of the debt cieling. He would still have cash on hand.
That sequester money, postponed two months, is due for money already borrowed and spent. It is not to be re used to bargain for the next loan, it has to go first.
The House sent a bill to the Senate in late 2012 detailing a good way to make those cuts, Harry Reid of course pretended not to see it. Obama doesn’t care. Obama missed HIS dead line to identify the cuts.
Obama is five months behind on his homework. Someone tell Sasha and Malia they don’t have to do their homework, just be like dad.
Fleuries on January 10, 2013 at 11:06 AM
Alternatively, they can do an across the board % cut. And argue about which budgets to push up, and which to push down later.
besser tot als rot on January 10, 2013 at 11:08 AM
Put a sock in it, Bubblehead.
CurtZHP on January 10, 2013 at 11:09 AM
Also, I think the press is generally too stupid to recognize that they are strawmen. These guys aren’t exactly rocket scientists, after all (despite what they’d have you believe).
besser tot als rot on January 10, 2013 at 11:11 AM
The blossom is off the turd.
RedRedRice on January 10, 2013 at 11:31 AM
Karl rove should not be a public face of the gop.
Joey24007 on January 10, 2013 at 11:40 AM
‘Toons of the Day: We’re Gonna Need A 12 Step Programme Just For Him
Resist We Much on January 10, 2013 at 11:51 AM
A winning strategy is to do the opposite of what Rove is selling.
moonsbreath on January 10, 2013 at 12:26 PM
Karl Rove? No, thank you.
KS Rex on January 10, 2013 at 12:29 PM
Here’s a strategy: The House passes a budget which simply doesn’t fund three or four Departments, and the Democrats negotiate to get funding back for just one of them.
PersonFromPorlock on January 10, 2013 at 12:37 PM
How ’bout the House passes a resolution to spend just 90% of anticipated tax revenues in whatever way Obama wants to spend it, then adjourns until the midterms? And when the money runs out (in March), Obama gets to spend his huuuuuuuuuge political capital in explaining why it’s so important to fund his budz instead of anyone else, since you can only spend a dollar once?
cthulhu on January 10, 2013 at 2:47 PM