Does a group comprised of three even ostensible Republicans really want that particular historical reference attached to their efforts? Hell, would even the remaining Democrats want such a direct link to Mao?

Or do they just not know?

will keep reading on the subject to see what details are fleshed out – but this is the document ive been wanting to read all day.

also, I would add that I believe there may be credibility to the notion this was rolled out to try and pre-empt the cut-cap-balance vote.

when it passes the House of Representatives and people find out, I hope it will put the pressure on the Senate. Maybe.

Any conservative who would even consider supporting this plan should just give up the ghost and switch their party registration right now.

Any person who believes that any of these “cuts” will EVER happen should check themselves into a psych ward.

Lies, all lies. We need to aggressively primary any GOP who back this. Nothing will ever change until we clean our own house first.

that this proposed “plan” is nothing more than a frame work for some sort of future legislation. It is very unlikely that the plan has any support in the Congress, because it does not specify any details to the cuts. It is a last ditch effort that will be as relegated to the back burner, as the Simpson Bowles plan was.

No question that when you have gangs of both Democrats and Republicans, it will always more than lean much too the Democrats positions. They don’t cross the aisle, but some turncoat Republicans such as Coburn will sit in the Democrats lap.

When is Coburn up for re-election? This guy may have the book smarts to become a doctor, but, it doesn’t mean he is gifted with common sense.

I read this so-called “plan” and even though I am no expert in finance and economics, I could clearly see that the math did not add up. After that, I promptly contacted Coburn ( my Senator ) and explained to him in rather stark terms that he was selling out Conservatives and his country’s future fiscal stability.

He is not running for re-election, so I could not tell him he would be fired. But I did remind him that he has a choice regarding his legacy. Was he willing to risk his previous reputation as a fiscal hawk in one moment of absolute stupidity and gimmicks? His choice.

He needs to remember who his constituents are. Like our southern neighbors,
we do not like being “messed with” and we don’t forget those who deceive us.

I know people in DC rarely let the Constitution get in the way of doing their Constitutional duties, but Article I Section 7 is still there, right?

I know when the Dems controlled both houses they would create a token revenue bill in the House and let the Senate substitute some monstrosity in its place (e.g. a House bill on veteran housing or something similar becoming Obamacare in the Senate), but I certainly hope Boehner won’t operate that way.

Lets see; tax increases that will materialize and further affect economic growth, spending cuts that will never materialize and are planned over a 10 year period. No effect on the baseline budget and accounting tricks to show the contribution towards reducing the deficit.

This is nothing but a bunch of tax increases cloaked in accounting wizard to make the public think it actually reduces spending. It does not. Nobody’s fooled McConnell and Boehner.

By the way, nobody buys the kabuki dance between the Republican House and Senate. The real proposal pushed by the House was to give Boehner cover. McConnell pushed this deal and his proposal as the real objective.

If the GOP supports anyone voting for this deal, they can have my party membership. I’m done.

From Yahoo Finance: “The Gang of Six envisioned a two-stage process in which $500 billion in savings would be enacted swiftly, with the more complicated changes in programs like Medicare and Medicaid to follow.” Step 2 will never happen, but the tax increase will be effective immediately. What the hell is wrong with Coburn?

I don’t believe a word of this nonsense.

I am pretty sure that if George Washington came back, he would have most of the House and Senate tried and shot including their staff people. The upside is that much of the National debt could be retired from people bidding for spots on the firing squads.

ANY of the tax increases. I bet they plan to means test every deduction listed – so they can redistribute more. This would be just another way to increase taxes on the ‘rich’.
I don’t trust any of them.

…but this is a political game as well now.

We have to force Obama to put his cards on the table…not talk about cuts behind closed doors.

I agree, if the cuts are not made in one step, along with any tax reform, they will never happen. More importantly…our brethren in the House won’t go for it.

So we should play the game. Say we will consider this…if and only if it is a one step process, and all cuts are made now, not later.

And then see if Obama comes to the table. Otherwise, let Obama call our bluff.

To the detriment of the nation the Gang of 6 OKs the sale of a flawed budget proposal with the support of the current administration. (We’re only 6 months away from the instigators denying any knowledge of the arrangement.)

I’m amazed that you didn’t suffer from smoke inhalation as you studied it.

I think the Gang of Six should have shown their fellow Congress critters some mercy and simply submitted blank paper as their deficit reduction plan.

.
This is not a rabbit they just pulled from their hat. In fact, they have been sitting on it so long, it is brown, and it stinks. Come to think of it, they don’t even have a hat… where did they pull that rabbit from anyhow?
I believe this is a scheduled release. Notice Colburns black budget release yesterday, I see that as setup stagemanship.

Didn’t they pass CCB in the House today? That’s what I understood by reading the day’s House votes.
Anyway, 10 year cuts do not fit well in a one year budget.
I am sure this plan calls for Debt ceiling increases that start now to get past the election season, cuts to projected budgets that will be padded to cover the cuts, and tax hikes that kick in right after the elections, or even better, after Obama’s term.
Oh, and we get 24 hours to approve this rabbit. Plus an all night pizza party where they try to cram this thing down our throats… I bet it would make the time-share guys blush. They are going to go all out on this sale.
24 hours, or this rabbit will hop on down the bunny trail.
So I am pretty darned concerned.
This is no rabbit…it is a rat.

This merry go round of negotiations between different factions in the House and Senate and the White House is a losing game.

The House passed a bill. Senators of both parties must go on record as either supporting, opposing or offering amendments to the Bill. The White House needs to be patient and decide whether to veto based on what emerges as a passed bill….allowing them to be in the middle of this process to play 3 card Monte is just a loser of an idea.

Force the Senate to vote on Cut, Cap and Spend. Force them to offer changes or not….make them do their job!!

So this is their plan to defend themselves from fiscal responsibility.
The good guys don’t call themselves ” Gangs ”
The bad guys are ” Gangsters “

It sounds like Eric was right about where Tom Coburn was heading, I am not surprised. What surprises me is that Mike Crapo would go along with this. I know him, he is a conservative Republican and he worked for Gibson Dunn which was William French Smith’s firm. This is more what I would expect out of bambozlers like the Whirling Dervish Dick Durbin. Once you get past the smoke and mirrors what do you find? More smoke and mirrors, more big government, and giving too much discretion on spending cuts to a man who should be reigned in tightly. Yes, it is a sell out, but after the McConnell dive it looks . . . like a lesser sell-out. But I commend you on the analysis. If big media is for it, you can bet your bottom dollar it is bad for the American People and if you do not bet you will find that they have already spent your bottom dollar for you.

$100 billion for one month. (Feel free to fine tune or correct my numbers, but I believe we’re running a $133 billion monthly deficit.)

What a bunch of swell Republicans, what, voting to increase the debt ceiling. (and reduce the spending gap by 25% immediately.

We will see. He gives liberals these openings every once and a while. Whether he shuts the door in their face when push comes to shove is the real question.

He hates Obama but loves Reid. How can this be asked one inquiring mind at NRO? After all Obama and Reid are fruits of the same poisonous tree. Except Obama came from Chicago and Harry came from Searchlight Nevada which had a population of zero when he lived there. But the answer to the question is not that difficult. Why does Wynn love Harry? Because Harry is for sale. He is an honest politician–one who stays bought. And the casino owners in Las Vegas can count on him to deliver. Remember the proposal to build a high speed train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas–that wasn’t for Wynn it was for infrastructure. Just like the late Robert Byrd loved to build highways, and Ted Stevens fancied the idea of a bridge to nowhere–which is synonoymous with the Obama presidency. And now we find Wynn building casinos in the far east where the money is. I like Wynn and I think he is being honest. Just as Bogie and Bergman will always have Paris, Wynn will always have Harry and Hong Kong. That said, I like what he is saying about Obama–he speaks the truth and that takes courage. And he admits he was wrong to vote for him in 2008.

I think we need to come to grips that we are not going to get anything close to what we want without the presidency and the senate (both very much in play in 2012). So it appears like if the ‘outline’ of this comes to fruition without getting completely watered down and ruined (and that’s a big IF- altho Democrats know that if they stray too far it will die altogether) – then that would be a pretty good compromise in this environment.

As usual the devil is in the details as always and we’ll probably hate it by the end of the week or maybe when it comes out of committee with specifics and the DREAM ACT attached and other bullcrap they’ll weight the bill down with. But I will keep an open mind for at least a day or 2. I haven’t been completely scared off by this article nor Steve Hayes’ assessment today. I want to be slightly more optimistic in light that this appears to be a good faith compromise instead of a cynical “dont blame us” bill that McConnell is selling with his new BFF Harry Reid.

drive a hard bargain compromise with this framework.
then we capture the wh and senate next year.
then remake it for years 2-10.
obama is a wus but he is also a head case and I can see him losing it and flushing our sterling credit.
are you all 100% sure of his sanity and/or intent?
if you are, then do a rethink.

I allege that Sen. Coburn coordinated with Obama in undercutting the media coverage of Cut, Cap, and Balance in the House. He ABSOLUTELY knew his action today would bring said result.

What’s in it for him? After backing this smoke and mirrors whitewash, maybe he’ll be appointed by his buddy as the new Obamacre Czar. After this spectacle, I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Nothing about the debt ceiling in the plan? I thought that was the most pressing issue.

You criticize the G6 “plan” for including too many provisions that, in your view, democrats won’t support – “furthermore, the proposal relies upon the passage of some conservative reforms, which if seriously drafted, will never be supported by a majority of the Democrat Caucus”; “But does anyone believe that Democrats will ever pass any meaningful tort reform as long as they are being bankrolled by trial lawyers.” – and your alternative to that is the CCB Act?

What gives? If the Dems cant’ support something like this, they’ll never support the CCB.

besides me.

why are the President and the Dem controlled senate going to vote against a balanced budget. Do they believe that balanced budgets are inherently wrong? Do they believe in deficit spending as a matter of principle? Do they believe that not spending more than you take in is “extreme”, and yet profligate running up of debt is responsible? For all Obama’s talk of wanting to find solutions, he looks pretty bad vetoing the very thing Americans want – a sensible budget solution.

This ain’t the Gang of Six, it is the Gang of Gag because this plan is a joke.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/272237/sessions-skeptical-gangs-proposal-andrew-stiles

because everything else proposed is too small to deal with the debt problem. I also support the balanced budget amendment, but it could take years to gain ratification by the states.

Thank you Senator Coburn.

is retiring after this stint so he need not do anything principled like STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT. One never sees the Democrats compromising–just Republicans.

Doesn’t the bill have to come from the House, not the Senate since it’s a spending bill? Or are we just ignoring the Constitution AGAIN?

the Senate passes this Gang Bill does it not also have to be passed in the House? If so, I can at least have hope that conservative heads will hold fast there….perhaps.

I expect Demint and/or others will filibuster any of these Senate plans.

At least I sure hope so…

Let it happen. As Mark Levin said…Aug 3rd will be our new Independence day.

This sort of compromise was to be expected and is the norm for Washington. Neither side in this battle wants to be associated with the arbitrary, yet very real in our world consciousness, default on American debt. A grand and magnificent deal that gives and takes is the American way.

I certainly appreciate the author’s assertions and depth of thought, but to solely rely on cuts, cap, and balance was, and is not, “Politically” possible. Conservatives will need to give, to get, in this debate, and cannot count on the politics of absolutism in this fight.

We will have to accept a hodgepodge of measures that cut spending on paper and then rely on the Tea Party Representatives and Senators to enforce those cuts. Perhaps some Democrats sensing the mood public, are beginning to embrace the Laffer Curve in order to save their seats in 2012. We’ll see.

On the tax increase side of the ledger, much like Reagan’s re-alignment in the early 80′s, there will be some pain for the Middle to Upper Middle Classes, with the significant reduction to mortgage interest, which represents the majority of dollars that can be deducted from these household’s tax burden.

In the end, nothing can be accomplished without compromise. Those arguing to “stay the course” on purely Conservative values neglect the reality that the body politic is only slightly right of Center in this country. As Conservatives we need to acknowledge that the curve is finally being bent in the right direction, and live to fight another day, November 6, 2012 to be exact.

Many years ago, I read the book American Caesar which is the story of General Douglas Mac Arthur which was written by the esteemed author William Manchester. We learn that MacArthur came from a good bloodline. His grandfather was a judge in Washington DC during the era of Daniel Webster and Manifest Destiny. His father was a Civil War hero who won the Medal of Honor for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat at the Battle of Missionary Ridge. The Confederates occupied the high ground which we know from Clausewitz is the advantaged position. From there they reined bullets down on the beleaguered union troops, which caused them to turn tail and run. Whereupon Mac Arthur’s father grabbed the bloody guidon which had fallen to the ground, and charged up the mountain in a successful counter attack. Looking back on it he said the rest of his life was determined by what he did in the sixteen minutes it took to do that.

Given what is at stake in the current debt ceiling negotiations, and actions which we have seen from Obama,, Reid, Pelosi and McConnell which in my book amount to a form of treason, I am hoping that some of the freshmen Republicans who were sent to Congress to deal with the problem of improvident spending will seize the guidon in this instance which has been dropped by their own party leaders in an act of de facto surrender, charge up this contested hill and seize victory from the jaws of defeat.. Their crucial sixteen minutes is about to begin.

nt

we don’t have the WH yet.
moves must be tactical within a strategy.
we are only in the 2nd quarter of this game.
we can unwind any deal in Feb 2012.
don’t give this criminal potus fraud an excuse to torch our credit.

O-care type disaster waiting to happen.The most rediculous statement I have ever heard a politician say was when Pelosi told the House that they would have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it. This is basically the same thing although none of the “Gang” has made quite this stupid a statement. Saxby Chambliss has signed his own political death warrant by joining this group. Very disappointed that he would support such a fouled plan. Poltics does indeed make strange bedfellows!

The cut-cap-balance plan is the only proposal that is intended to seriously address our deficit-spending problem. I commend the new Republicans for putting it on the table. Unfortunately, with a democratic controlled Senate and an economically challenged President it will not have a chance. However, the American voter needs each member of Congress as either for or against a balanced budget.

As to the McConnell and Gang of Six plans. They are non-starters and represent nothing but political expediency. Any Republican that believes that this Democratic leadership will honor any commitment to make significant spending cuts after the debt ceiling is raised hasn’t been paying attention over the last few years.

A smaller package with real and specific spending cuts should be passed every quarter until the next election, forcing all representatives and senators and the president to show their true colors on every vote. If the President veto a bill passed by both houses, it will be on his head.

The Eddie Haskell of Illinois politicians, Durbin is an utterly dishonest person.

He cannot, never has, never will, say anything that does not serve his #1 constituency, Dick Durbin himself.

Any plan he’s involved with is pretty much by definition going to be a disaster for Conservatism.

Mew

for McC, Coburn, Graham, etc. RINO is outdated. They are Charlie Browns. Think of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as Lucy. Despite years of agreeing to hold the football the Dems will ALWAYS yank it away when it comes time to fulfill their end of a bargain. ALWAYS! Any Republican who thinks they can trust any agreement with Democrats is just a hapless Charlie Brown, with perhaps a good heart, but ridiculed and despised by all who know them (especially the Lucys!)