Greg Sargent makes the that this may be his swan song for debt ceiling-and government shutdown-chicken.
"Boxed in by his caucus’ demand to defund Obamacare on one side, and a steeled White House on the other, House Speaker John Boehner seems ready to throw in the towel and enter the last phase of the Kabuki dance he’s staged for the benefit of his insolent Republican base."
Incidentally, I think that's how it goes with immigration reform as well-Boehner cant just do it all at once-can't seem to be caving, so he has to drag it out. In the end helll have to let the debt ceiling be raised and the government funding and will have to let immigration reform passed.
"Boxed in by his caucus’ demand to defund Obamacare on one side, and a steeled White House on the other, House Speaker John Boehner seems ready to throw in the towel and enter the last phase of the Kabuki dance he’s staged for the benefit of his insolent Republican base."
"Of course, he won’t say this, and his recent comments at a fundraiser in Idaho appear on their face to be a doubling down, but, when read correctly, they actually suggest the opposite. “I’ve made it clear that we’re not going to increase the debt limit without cuts and reforms [to mandatory entitlement spending] that are greater than the increase in the debt limit,” hesaid yesterday."
While no doubt, the 'Republican base' as Boehner and other establishment Republicans defines it are a big concern-what animates most GOP Congressmen today is avoiding a primary.
Yet, most self-identified Republicans don't want debt ceiling-or government shutdown-chicken.
In any case, as Sargent points out, the GOP demand for entitlement cuts has always been pretty hollow. What is interesting is that his demand has gone from demanding a defending of Obamacare to 'entitlement reform' suggesting that he's trying to save face with the base.
"As Josh Barro writes, insisting on entitlement cuts is often Boehner’s last move before capitulation, because he knows it’s a ransom demand that will never be paid. He did it in December, when spokesperson Michael Steel used almost the exact same words: “Any debt limit increase would require cuts and reforms of a greater amount.” (The next month, the House voted overwhelmingly to bypass the debt ceiling and got none of those cuts.) And Boehner did it 2011. That time, he won the overall battle, but he still didn’t get any entitlement cuts.
True, he's never taken the chance for entitlement cuts before, even when Obama offered it earlier this year.
"And he’s done nothing to suggest he’s serious about entitlement cuts. There was a brief, peculiar moment this spring when the White House not only was willing to talk social safety net reform, but actually put cuts to Social Security in their budget. And Democratic congressional leaders suggested they’d deliver enough votes to pass something. What did Boehner do? He rejected the proposal out of hand, sight unseen, and called it ”no way to lead and move the country forward.” (That was basically the White House’s expectation all along, they claimed when liberals threatened mutiny.)"
That was my take on it too-that it was an offer the WH knew would be refused. The following and how this might end has always been my take as well-that it will end-when not if-when Boehner breaks the Hastert Rule.
"So now, all that’s left is for Boehner to somehow bring his base along. He doesn’t necessarily need their votes, but he needs to drop the pitchforks for moment. Brian Beutler previews how it may go down:
Boehner introduces legislation that both increases (or extends) the debt limit and includes some goodies for conservatives that make the bill a non-starter with Senate Democrats and the President (maybe a year-long delay of the individual mandate — let your imaginations run wild); that bill fails on the House floor; everyone panics; faced with no better option, Boehner breaks the Hastert rule, puts a tidy, Senate-passed debt limit bill on the floor, and we all dress up as Speaker Pelosi for Halloween.
Incidentally, I think that's how it goes with immigration reform as well-Boehner cant just do it all at once-can't seem to be caving, so he has to drag it out. In the end helll have to let the debt ceiling be raised and the government funding and will have to let immigration reform passed.
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