Mitch McConnell to Newton: It's About Debt Not Your Tragedy

    As the very least McConnell put this rather "inelegantly" yesterday on Meet the Press:

    "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday that despite the White House's push to quickly enact a new round of gun laws, tackling spending and debt will be the top priority for the nemonths."xt three

    "Clearly, we will not be addressing that issue early because spending and debt are gonna dominate the first three months," McConnell said on CBS' "Face the Nation." He added that when Vice President Joe Biden's task force on gun laws sends recommendations to Congress, they will take a look at them.

    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/mcconnell-debt-spending-not-guns-are-first-priority

    I know he gave a noncommittal promise to look at Biden's proposals when they come out but still is it really to say that 'debt and spending" is more of a concern than making sure tragedies like this don't happen again? I don't really think you can prioritize these things by matter of rank.

    McConnell had a lot of noncommittal moments on MTP. He won't say whether a 'governement shutdown is on the table.'

   "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Sunday declined to say whether he was willing to shut down the government in order to achieve a sufficient debt-reduction deal for Republicans."

   "Pressed repeatedly on NBC's "Meet the Press," McConnell instead placed responsibility on President Obama for leading the country and avoiding a shutdown."

   "I know what your question is," McConnell said. "What I'm telling you is I haven't given up on the president stepping up to the plate and tackling the single biggest issue confronting the country."
Host David Gregory responded by naming Republican Senators who have said at least a partial government shutdown may be necessary. "As the leader of the Republicans, would you rule it out?" he said.

   "As the leader of the Republicans what I'm telling you is we elected the president to be president. It's time for him to step up to the plate and lead us in the direction of reducing our excessive spending," McConnell said.

     http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/mcconnell-refuses-to-say-if-govt-shutdown-is

     So it the threat of another shutdown supposed to be more leverage? It's amazing how the GOP keeps using the same tactics that have led to such spectacular failure in the past.

     http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2013/01/sumner-shows-flaw-in-gops-debt-ceiling.html

     McConnell was also noncommittal about what spending exactly it is that he wants to cut. This is actually very smart politically as while a generic, abstract call to "cut spending" usually polls well, it doesn't poll well at all once we move from the abstract to the concrete and ask what specific programs do people want to cut.

    So it's not so stupid politically. However, the only way to cut government spending is to cut actual programs. McConnell didn't want to talk about what these might be any more than Boehner wanted to during the December negotiation. How are Democrats to get serious about spending cuts when the GOP-the serious ones-can't even name a singe specific program in the light of day.

   Ultimately the debt ceiling is a travesty but it's also the GOP"s last gasp. The wager is that elections don't have consequences. All you need to get what you want is use the debt ceiling as leverage. Lindsay Graham said the GOP needs to stop shooting themselves in the foot. McConnell's interviews yesterday morning was just more proof that they are nowhere close to this.