Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Lawrence O'Donnell: Republicans aren't the only ones who know how to move the goalposts.
By the way, the more Liberal Democrats (and Democrats period) hue and cry about this, the better the hand the President has to play, so Professional Left (and I can't believe I'm saying this) keep up the good work!
It's simple math. Boehner's losing 54-80 Republicans on a Debt Ceiling vote. That means for a Debt Ceiling to pass (and yes, Boehner wants it to pass), needs Democratic Votes. And now Steny is saying that without revenues in a deal, he can expect zero Democratic votes.
My bet is that we're going to go right up to the wire with this Kabuki Dance (Copyright, 2011, R.Johnson Ltd.), and at the end of the day, when there are neither votes to pass a "Grand Bargain" with Revenues, nor the maximalist, 100% spending cuts the Republicans want, and instead they pass a (mostly) clean bill with mostly Democratic votes, and the votes of Republicans who don't want to feel the wrath of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. At most, the GOP gets cuts that the President wanted to do anyway, and don't harm the overall Economy.
Remember, the Chamber of Commerce is our ally in this matter, threatening to go after any Republican who stands in the way of the Debt Ceiling being raised.
