A Time for Democrats’ Choosing: Now It’s in Reid & Obama’s Court

July 29, 2011

With Two House-Passed Plans, Democrats Have Choices to Stop a Job-Destroying Default Today

As of today, the House has passed two plans that would increase the debt limit while achieving deficit reduction. The plan passed today is a compromise that was developed with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s support.

Rather than help avert a crisis, House Democrats sat on their hands and didn’t help pass either of these plans, not to mention even offering a serious plan of their own. Meanwhile Senate Democrats are still pushing a smoke-and-mirrors approach that has zero chance of passing the House. Also, President Obama’s plan to avoid default has yet to be “written down” anywhere. There’s a theme developing here.

Five days out from the nation’s default deadline, and following months of meetings and debate, only Democrats stand in the way of ending this crisis right now. If Senate Democrats reject this compromise, the second bill to pass a chamber of Congress, can we assume that Democrats are rooting for another option — job-destroying default?

PASSED BY THE HOUSE: A COMPROMISE PLAN TO CUT SPENDING BY $917 BILLION, AVOID DEFAULT. (S. 627, Budget Control Act of 2011, Passed 7/29/2011)

THE COMPROMISE PLAN WAS ONCE SUPPORTED BY SENATE DEMS: “[W]hile the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.” (“Speaker Boehner’s Address to the Nation on GOP Plan to Address America’s Debt Crisis,” Speaker of the House John Boehner, 7/25/2011)

PASSED BY THE HOUSE: “CUT, CAP AND BALANCE”: Final Vote: 234-190. (Roll Call Vote 606, Clerk of the U.S. House, 7/19/2011)

Rather than help avert a crisis, House Democrats sat on their hands and didn’t help pass either plan that passed the House, not to mention even offering a serious plan of their own. Meanwhile Senate Democrats are still pushing a smoke-and-mirrors approach that has zero chance of passing the House. Also, President Obama’s plan to avoid default has yet to be “written down” anywhere:

PELOSI: DEMOCRATS DON’T HAVE A REAL PLAN, BUT WE WON’T HELP PASS ONE EITHER. “House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vowed on Thursday not to help Republicans pass their debt limit plant, arguing the leadership should work with the White House on a new plan to raise the debt limit before Aug. 2.” (Elise Foley, “Pelosi: New Plan Needed on Debt,” The Huffington Post, 7/28/2011)

PELOSI THEN CLAIMS SHE’S BUSY “TRYING TO SAVE LIFE ON THIS PLANET” FROM REPUBLICANS: “What we’re trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget,” she said. “We’re trying to save life on this planet as we know it today.” (Greta Van Susteren, “Leader Pelosi Is Trying to ‘Save World From Republican Budget,'” Fox News, 7/28/2011)

SENATE DEMS VOTE DOWN “CUT, CAP AND BALANCE”: Final Vote: 51-46. (Roll Call Vote 116, United States Senate, 7/22/2011)

WHILE REID PUSHES “SMOKE AND MIRRORS”: “But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is devising a sham that will never pass muster in the House. A Capitol Hill source with knowledge of the plan tells me: ‘It includes $1.2 trillion in OCO [Overseas Contingency Operations] savings . . . which was assumed anyway, $1.2 trillion (over $1.1 trillion less than [Majority Leader Eric] Cantor identified in the Biden talks) and $300 billion in interest savings.’ A Senate aide says dryly that Reid ‘has about a trillion in ‘savings’ from ending the war in Iraq that’s already going to end.’ And a disgusted House adviser bluntly tells me that Reid’s plan ‘isn’t real.'” (Jennifer Rubin, “Obama kills bipartisan deal, then Reid resorts to smoke and mirrors,” The Washington Post’s Right Turn Blog, 7/25/11)

AN APPROACH THAT CAN’T GET 60 VOTES IN THEIR OWN HOUSE. “Meanwhile, a plan by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is still lacking the 60 votes needed to bypass a Republican filibuster in the Senate.” (Elise Foley, “Pelosi: New Plan Needed on Debt,” The Huffington Post, 7/28/2011)

AND SENATE DEMS ARE NOW THREATENING TO KILL THE BOEHNER PLAN, DESPITE OFFERING THE HOUSE NO PLAN OUT OF THEIR CHAMBER. ” ‘As soon as the House completes its vote tonight, the Senate will move to take up that bill. It will be defeated,’ Reid said, citing a letter sent last night to Boehner in which all 53 Democratic Caucus members vowed to vote against the measure if it passes.” (Dan Friedman, “Reid Says Senate Will Vote on Boehner Plan After House Thursday Night,” National Journal, 7/28/2011)

OBAMA THREATENING TO VETO LATEST HOUSE GOP DEBT CRISIS SOLUTION: “The White House on Tuesday released a two-sentence veto threat against the House Republican plan to cut $1.2 trillion over ten years, raise the debt ceiling by $1 trillion, and set up another $1.8 trillion in cuts.” (Peter Kasperowicz, “White House Issues Terse Veto Threat Against House GOP Deficit Plan,” The Hill, 7/26/2011)

BUT OBAMA SAID NO TO “CUT, CAP AND BALANCE”: “The White House announced that if the “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill sponsored by House Republicans were to be passed by Congress, President Barack Obama would veto the legislation.” (Erik Hayden, “Obama Issues Veto Threat on ‘Cut, Cap and Balance,'” National Journal, 7/18/2011)

OBAMA ALSO REJECTED ANOTHER BIPARTISAN DEAL OFFERED BY CONGRESS: “Republicans in Congress charge that President Obama last night rejected a bipartisan deal offered to him by Congressional leaders of both parties which would have provided for a short-term extension of the debt limit in order to avoid a U.S. Government default. The agreement involved Speaker Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Reid and Senate GOP Leader McConnell – in fact, staffers from Reid and McConnell’s offices were working on the legislative language together on Sunday. But when Reid took the bipartisan/bicameral plan down to the White House, it was rejected by the President.” (Jamie Dupree, “President Rejected Debt Deal,” Cox Media Group, 7/25/2011)

WHERE IS THE WHITE HOUSE PLAN? PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY SAYS IT’S CRAZY THAT PEOPLE WANT IT WRITTEN DOWN. NBC’s Chuck Todd: “There’s still nothing out there, why not just release the plan?” Carney: “Is it because you – you need something printed for you, you can’t write it down? There is ample detail…” (Remarks from Jay Carney, White House Press Briefing, 7/26/2011)

DOES THE WHITE HOUSE EVEN BELIEVE THE WHITE HOUSE? Press Secretary Jay Carney: “There is no plan that has been offered, certainly in the last several months, about which more detail is known …OK?” (Remarks from Jay Carney, White House press briefing, 7/28/2011)