I think they both would be fine with going over the fiscal cliff (which does address the ‘obvious’ point in the article), so long as they aren’t blamed by the middle class.
Obama would be fine with going over the cliff if the middle class blames Boehner, and vice-versa.
Norquist? Cantor? Mitchell? Tea Party members?
In a country with a Westminister parliament, this would be the point where Boehner would be obligated to resign as he lacked the confidence of the chamber.
If Boehner can’t get the house republicans to support his own plan there is no chance in hell a compromise has a chance of passing. We are going over the cliff.
Nah, you forgot one person. But this isn’t the pit so…
Uh, yep. We’re in for an interesting news day tomorrow guys. Mr. JB is taking his ball and going home.
I still see that the tea baggers just want to dare stepping over the line.
And I see all the Republicans as Yosemite Sam.
How does Speaker Cantor sound?
I guess now this gambit will be known as “Boehner’s Boner”. So they were going to show party unity in the face of Obama and throw it back in Obama’s face. Now the trick cigar has blown up in their own faces and they’re going to take off for the holidays. And they might as well. They can’t support their own plan, they certainly wouldn’t support Obama’s, and they obviously can’t support anything in between. What would they support? Obviously something to the right of Boehner’s plan, which would be DOA in the Senate. So because they insist on suckling at the dick of Grover Nordquist, everyone’s taxes will go up, draconian spending cuts will happen and we will spin into another recession. I think Boehner has to go.
Maybe Boehner can get enough Republicans to support Obama’s plan now that it is clear the tea party wing will sink anything they can come up with.
Next week’s headline: House leadership loses its Boehner.
In the words of the venerable political observer, Casey Stengel…“Can anyone here play this game?”.
I am THRILLED that Boehner got his ass handed to him tonight.
Plan B. The morning after bill.
My line. OK, I read it somewhere, but it didn’t have a name, so its mine now.
HAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha …
Obama will let the tax cuts expire, everyone will see their paychecks shrink, then he makes an announcement in his State of the Union Address that he will introduce a bill in the House sponsored by (X) and (X + 5) Republicans cutting taxes on everyone earning less than $250,000. No Republican will be able to vote against it. Obama gets what he always wanted and the Republicans will get all the blame.
Republicans will then want to increase spending, especially for defense, and will have to negotiate social spending cuts to get what they want. It’s a huge win for Obama and a huge embarrassment for Republicans.
Please proceed, Republicans.
Say you are Obama. Say you are convinced, behind your negotiating position and the bluffing that involves…say you are convinced that if we go over that edge, disaster ensues. A disaster that might be mitigated, if not avoided, by caving to all the Republican demands, just to get something done…
And I wake up screaming…
Not so far fetched. He only needs twenty or so GOP members to pass a bill with Dem support. He’s already relied on Dem support to pass previous deals.
But in this case, if he goes that route, I think it’ll be because he’s given up on being Majority Leader for the next Congress.
From your lips to the Ears. But how much are we willing to bet? Don’t matter if we can’t lose. Are you sure we can’t?
Let me rephrase: Does the success of this plan depend, in any way, however small, in the Pubbie’s acceptance of reality, and willingness to be reasonable?
Boehner was playing poker and although he had a weak hand, he made a reasonable bluff. When his own team called it, the game switched to chess, and Obama called a checkmate.
The smart Repubs know this already, the 2010 Teabaggers are about to learn a very difficult lesson.