Laura Ingraham got the man of the hour on her show this morning, who confirmed that he did indeed tell the House Republican caucus to “get their asses in line” to pass his debt-ceiling proposal — once the rewrite comes in. Speaker John Boehner also explained how he and Mitch McConnell would keep the deficit-reduction commission it creates from raising taxes, especially — as Boehner reminds us — some tax hikes are already in place. Boehner explains that he wants to push the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, but he wants to make sure that he and a Republican Senate can present it to a Republican President in 2013:

The key in this decision by Boehner seems to be his assessment that the GOP will lose leverage the closer we get to the deadline — whenever that might be. If that’s true, then Boehner is making a smart play by consolidating what rhetorical gains the GOP has made in this debate and getting to a rapid conclusion. After watching the Gang of Six play last week in the Senate take the momentum out of the CCB Act, it’s not hard to see why Boehner came to that conclusion.

Can Boehner succeed in whipping his caucus to get the needed majority to pass his plan? At the moment, that seems iffy — but Boehner has had a good track record in holding his caucus in line over the last four years.