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As House Republicans stand by their "guns" on their "Cut, Cap and Spend" bill, it appears the final quotes below by Sen. Mitch McConnell evidences that he has "felt the heat" and "seen the light" and is pushing for now solely avote on the House Republican bill.
The Washington Post sent out an alert that "President Obama and House Republican leaders are deep in negotiations over a far-reaching plan to save $3 trillion over the next decade, congressional leaders have been told. Aides said the savings would come through sharp cuts in agency spending and changes to popular health and retirement programs -- but without any immediate increase in taxes." Withing minutes the link was killed and the following report was posted.
The Washington Post: "President Obama and House Republican leaders are deep in negotiations over a far-reaching plan to save $3 trillion over the next decade through sharp cuts in agency spending and politically painful changes to popular health and retirement programs, congressional leaders have been told, but there were conflicting accounts on whether the deal would include any immediate increase in taxes. White House spokesman Jay Carney and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) quickly issued statements saying the two sides are not close to any agreement. Aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also said they were unaware of an imminent deal."
As the writing of this post, Speaker John Boehner just spoke with Rush Limbaugh and said there is no secret deal and he is keeping the conversation position open. Boehner shared he is 100% behind "Cut, Cap and Balance Bill." However, he admitted that he believed a fall back plan is needed if the bill does not pass the Senate and that we do not want to be in "uncharted waters" of having a default on the debt. Bohener said, "The President has not put a plan on the table." Rush expressed his concern that Republicans will be blamed verses the president who has failed in his responsibility and that some see Speaker Boehner "as the life line" to Obama's re-election." Boenher responded a family teaching that "if you do the right thing for the right reasons, good things will follow."
The Senate began consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill. If no agreement is reached today to hold an earlier vote on the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to file cloture on the motion to proceed and have a cloture vote on Saturday.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 97-2 to pass H.R. 2055, the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA) appropriations bill. H.R. 2055 appropriated $72.5 billion. Prior to final passage, the Senate voted 69-30 to table an amendment from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) requiring the adoption of a budget resolution before funding in the bill could be spent. Also tabled, by a vote of 69-30, was an amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) which would have required veterans receiving benefits for injuries caused by Agent Orange to adhere to a stricter standard for causation to get benefits.
As the Senate begins debate on the House-passed Cut, Cap, and Balance bill today, Senate Republicans are calling on Democrats to follow through on their past statements in support of cutting spending, capping spending, and balancing the budget by supporting the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill.
Speaking this morning, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This means that Senators will now have the opportunity to go on record either in support of balancing our books or against it. This is an opportunity to take a stand. It’s an opportunity to say that a government which borrows more than 40 cents for every dollar it spends is not sustainable, and needs to change its ways. It’s an opportunity to stand with those who believe that Washington needs to heal its addiction to spending now, not make more false promises of spending restraint later. The President’s veto threat on this legislation is telling. Many of us learned a long time ago to pay more attention to what this President does than what he says. And anyone who’s witnessed his reckless spending habits over the past two and a half years, or sat across the negotiating table with him over the past few weeks, could be forgiven for being skeptical of his recent attempts to come across as a fiscal moderate. I’ll just say this: There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this President is as deeply committed to a government we can’t afford as he was on Inauguration Day.”
Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Thune added, “If in fact we fail to act to get spending and debt under control and to put us on a sustainable fiscal course, the next generation is going to pay a powerful price for our irresponsibility. And I would submit again to my colleagues, Mr. President, that this is fundamentally a spending issue. A lot of folks have talked about the need for more revenue. The president talks about wanting more revenue. . . . Many of us believe . . . that we don’t have to raise taxes on the American people or American small businesses to solve what is inherently and fundamentally a spending problem. Now, if we want to balance our budget, it means we’ve got to get spending under control.”
And Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued, “I have watched the president give press conferences, I have watched the president give speeches, but I have yet to see a plan from the president. And with all due respect to my colleagues in the other party here in the Senate, I haven’t seen a plan from them either. They are the majority party; they control this chamber. They control the Senate. And I haven’t seen a plan from them. A moment ago we heard this talk of, ‘We have to compromise’—it’s really hard to compromise when the other side doesn’t have a plan. What do you compromise on? . . . You can’t compromise if only one person is offering plans. There is only one plan that has been voted on by any house to deal with this issue, and it’s the one we’re on right now: Cut, Cap and Balance.”
Sen. Rubio challenged Democrats, saying, “Why don’t you vote to proceed to Cut, Cap and Balance? Proceed to this bill so we could have a debate on this bill and so you could offer your ideas on this bill. This is the perfect opportunity to do it. Let’s stop negotiating in the media and through press conferences and start doing it here on this floor, which is what people sent us here to do. And I hope that that’s what will happen.”
As Leader McConnell said, “Cut, Cap, and Balance cuts spending now, caps it in the future, and only raises the debt limit if it’s accompanied by a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. This is what America wants. It’s what Washington needs. All we need is 20 Democrats to join us. At least 23 of them have led their constituents to believe they’d fight for a balanced budget amendment. The White House has called for a balanced approach in this debate. This bill doesn’t just suggest balance. It mandates it. So I strongly urge my Democratic friends to join us in supporting this legislation.”
He continued, “Let me note another virtue of the Cut, Cap, and Balance Plan: it doesn’t raise taxes. . . . The reason we’ve got a debt crisis is that government spends every cent it gets — and then some. Sending Washington more money will not solve that problem, it will enable it. Our tax system isn’t perfect. But until Washington can prove that it’s responsible with our tax dollars, we shouldn’t be sending it more of them. This is why Republicans have focused on cuts in this debate, and that’s why every one of us — Democrat and Republican — should support Cut, Cap, and Balance.”
Tags: Washington, D.C., Us House, Us Senate, Cut, Cap, Balance, national debt, debt limit To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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