Partisan Hardball House Style
by digby
Greg Sargent reports that the House is doing its own version of Senate partisan hardball. Whereas in the Senate they refuse to allow any Republicans to vote for something, in the House “bipartisanship” now means that legislation has to pass with overwhelming support of the GOP or it won’t pass at all:
A senior Senate Democratic aide tells me that in today’s private meeting at the White House, Speaker John Boehner signaled to the President and to Harry Reid that Republicans were not willing to support any budget compromise that can’t garner the votes of 218 Republicans in the House. That would be a break from the GOP’s previous posture: Republican leaders had appeared willing to reach a deal that could pass the House with Republican and Democratic support, even if it meant losing some Republicans.
Harry Reid is expected to make an accusation along these lines today when he speaks to the press, the aide tells me, though this could change, depending on fast-shifting circumstances.
“Our takeaway from the meeting was that Republicans will not accept anything that cannot pass the House without 218 Republican votes,” the aide tells me. “That means $73 billion isn’t good enough.”
That last line means that the $33 billion in cuts as a proposed target compromise — on top of $40 billion of cuts that were already agreed upon — will not be sufficient for a compromise, if 218 Republicans cannot support it.
Hmm, what do you suppose it would take then?
This is reckless and audacious and thoroughly predictable from this crew of radical nutballs. Perhaps they think they can finesse a government shutdown this time because the economy, unlike in 1995, isn’t roaring back to life. But they really should consider the possibility that they weren’t completely decimated in 1996 for the same reason. Who’s to say that Clinton benefited more from the good economy than they did?
The lesson of 1995 was always that the Republicans overreached. But I never got the feeling that they believed that. It looks like they’re ready to test the theory.
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