So, it will be dueling Republicans after all. A three-handed game.
Just a day or so ago, Eric Cantor "reportedly" told the Teabag House members to quit whining and vote for the deal on the table — in essence announcing that they've bled Obama dry, time to feast on the spoils.
Now we have prominent Teabag instigators pushing the other buttons, the ones that say hold out for everything.
Bottom line — game not over, and the Teabags are a player, thank you very much. CNN (my emphasis):
House GOP leaders are working the conservative members of their caucus to try and get enough support to reach the 217 votes needed to pass the Speaker's plan in a vote scheduled for Thursday. That proposal would couple $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade with a hike of just under $1 trillion in the debt limit that would extend it through the end of the year. It also calls for the formation of a congressional committee to find $1.8 trillion in deficit savings, and if that is enacted the debt limit would increase by $1.6 trillion. ...So that's where we are as of last night. Not sure how long Boehner will hold onto that gavel, but Cantor can't seem to go counter to Club for Growth and play Dauphin. Interesting sub-drama going on.
Club for Growth, a national network of activists who promote economic growth and low taxes, announced Tuesday it was opposing the Speaker's plan. The group strongly backed the bill passed last week by the House that would have cut and then capped federal spending and pushed a balanced budget amendment.
"The Club for Growth strongly opposes the Boehner Debt Limit plan," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement. "It cuts almost nothing immediately, it caps only discretionary spending, and it does not require passage of a balanced budget amendment. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, it simply doesn't fix the country's fiscal problems. We strongly oppose it, and we urge a no vote."
About Club for Growth: The article states they are a "national network of activists." They are also heavily involved in funding conservative candidates, so they're daddy-with-a-wallet, not just daddy-with-advice. (They've already dumped $1.5 million into the Wisconsin recall elections, for example.) Teabag types love their daddies, especially rich and funding ones. I think this Club for Growth statement will have an effect.
About "reportedly" above: The report of Cantor's comment was Politico talking, not some Moe on the street, so there's sourcing. But we're in heavy "reportedly" territory these days, anonymous sourcing, with everyone hungry for "news." Did Cantor actually say that? Dunno. Did someone friendly to Cantor tell Politico that Cantor said that? That's one option. Did someone unfriendly to Cantor tell Politico that Cantor said that? That's the other option.
All of these breathless stories come from reporters either (1) chasing the next scoop, or (2) acting as pass-through voices for one or another of the actors in the drama. So take all of these reports with a grain of salt unless the person quoted says publicly what they reportedly said.
As an instance of the latter, CFG President Chris Chocola (god, it's tempting to munge that name) made that statement in a release; thus, he really did say it.
So August 2nd is the new drop-dead date? Miles to go.
GP
