234-190

Some money quotes:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D.-Tex.) called it the “tap dance losers’ club” law, describing the no-tax proposal as “breathtakingly arrogant.”

Rep. Ron Paul (R.-Tex.) said both parties are to blame for the massive deficit.

“The reason we don’t cut spending, is one side loves entitlements, and the other side loves war,” Paul said.“Only in this room is it a disaster to balance the budget,” said James Lankford (R.-Okla.).  “I don’t think Americans understand how out of touch we have become.”

And the jackpot:

Democrats called the plan “arbitrary,” “radical” and “foolish gimmicks,” making fun of its title and renaming it the “Duck, Dodge and Dismantle” law.

Excuse me???  Duck, Dodge and Dismantle?   Is this some joke?  Who was the brilliant Democratic staffer who came up with this one?  The Democrats condemn themselves with their own words!  How ironic.   They have been ducking by not offering any plans of their own, dodging tough votes by not presenting any plans, and dismantling our nation’s economy by their incompetence and lack of action.

So phase one is complete, or I hope this is progression of a winning strategy.  So what happened?  The Gang of Six came out with their plan today with the obvious tactic of diluting the significance of this bill passing the House.  It’s the biggest, juiciest, red herring whose purpose is to deflect the attention of the American people from actually looking at the House’s bill and thinking “What’s wrong with this?”, zeroing the eye of scrutiny on Obama and the Democratic party, and letting the poll numbers improve as more people ponder CCB.  The MSM has been trying to downplay it as well, saying it doesn’t have a chance of passing the Senate and this was a useless effort (Many articles are out there like this I have to imagine).   What puzzles me is Tom Coburn rejoining the Gang of Six and endorsing this plan wholeheartedly after presenting his own good plan the day before. However, note in that article the anxious, flattering, hallelujah reaction of the White House to the Gang of Six bill.  The Senate and Obama are desperate to win the PR battle so they don’t have to take the tough votes and use a veto.  This was alluded to over the weekend.  Folks, the PR battle is now in full swing.  Melt those phones in Washington.

This is smelling foul of a coordinated counter-response to CCB and kabuki theater my friends.  Erick Erickson is looking more right as this plays along.  I am encouraged by Boehner’s remarks to the Gang of Six proposal.

Stick to your guns, House GOP.  The next bill you send out?  Phase 2.  A bill that stretches only 9-12 months and makes the debt ceiling an election year issue followed by a united announcement with taking a stand, saying there will be no more tax increases or debt.  The more bills Obama and the Democratic Senate turn down from the House, the more callous and deaf they appear to the American people’s will not to increase taxes or the debt ceiling. Stay on the offense.

Jim DeMint hit a bullseye with his assessment of matters.