Why We Fight

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  July 31st at 07:26 PM  | 

Over the past week, the Tea Party has been impugned and maligned with more ferocity than ever before.  Amidst our push to balance the budget, downsize job-killing government agencies and programs, and preserve our AAA credit rating, we have been condemned as extremists, suicidal, and traitors.  Sadly, most of these acrimonious ad hominem attacks were propagated by those who purport to share the aforementioned goals, | Read More »

See, We Told You So

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 31st at 01:59 PM  | 

Back in 1994, Rush Limbaugh wrote See I Told You So. From page 88 of the book: [T]he cure for: a) the budget deficit = more taxes; b) unemployment = more taxes; c) recession = more taxes; d) environmental problems = more taxes; e) illiteracy = more taxes; f) L.A. riots = more taxes. It doesn’t matter what the nature of the problem is. This | Read More »

A Deal No Republican Can Support

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  July 31st at 12:30 AM  | 

On Friday, House Republicans voted overwhelmingly for a plan that would raise the debt limit a whopping $2.5 trillion.  All but 22 members, including many stalwart conservatives, supported the bill because they were promised that the second installment of the debt limit increase ($1.6 trillion) would only be approved under two conditions: 1) A debt commission identifies at least $1.6 trillion in spending cuts.  2)  | Read More »

The 22 Who Held the Line

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 30th at 01:09 PM  | 

Here are the 22 heros who defied their House leaders and opposed the Boehner plan. Note that the South Carolina delegation comes out on tops. Its two senators, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, also opposed it. It’s something that South Carolina has more testicular fortitude than Texas. Amash (MI) Bachmann (MN) Broun (GA) Chaffetz (UT) Cravaack (MN) DesJarlais (TN) Duncan (SC) Gowdy (SC) Graves (GA) | Read More »

Reid’s trillion dollar gimmick

By: Dan Spencer (Diary)  |  July 30th at 12:13 PM  | 

Harry “the only compromise is mine” Reid’s so-called budget cuts are based on the false assumption that we would keep spending the same amount on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq for ten more years even though President Obama has already started to withdraw our troops. That’s right, the Reid plan is based on cutting spending that was not requested and will not be spent. Congressman | Read More »

You Know What Would Be Awesome?

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 30th at 12:51 AM  | 

The problem the GOP has now is that because of where John Boehner led the House, the GOP looks increasingly unwilling to act in a bipartisan way or compromise. Most people are missing the fact that raising the debt ceiling is the compromise, but that is beside the point. Here’s what the House and Senate GOP should do — box the Democrats in. Hold a | Read More »

An Interesting Observation

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 09:39 PM  | 

As I wrap up what turned out to be 7 hours of radio and 3 of television, let me leave you with an interesting observation from a very wise conservative sage: John Boehner’s flailing performance may actually have a silver lining to conservatives’ advantage. When his plan and the end game blow up in the House Republicans’ face as it surely will, a lot of | Read More »

The Final Fall Back Position

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 09:17 PM  | 

Talking to a number of folks on the hill today, I think their final fallback — last man on the barricades position — should be this: We’ll give the Democrats a clean debt ceiling increase in exchange for them sending the Lee-Cornyn-Hatch Balanced Budget Amendment to the states. Yeah, it may never happen. But a lot of people said they’d never vote for TARP until | Read More »

It Amazes and Baffles Me

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 08:34 PM  | 

A week ago, the United States House of Representatives sent a bipartisan measure to the United States Senate where it fell five votes short of a majority. Today, John Boehner sent over legislation that couldn’t even get all the Republicans to support it, didn’t get any Democrats to support it, and will get less support in the Senate than last week’s plan. And now the | Read More »

Suckers

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 12:24 PM  | 

As I called it. John Boehner now has the votes to pass his plan. Harry Reid just declared that the only compromise that will pass will be his plan. “The only compromise there is — is mine,” he said. Harry Reid will take John Boehner’s plan, insert all the Democrats’ demands, and send it back to the House daring the GOP to kill “the Boehner | Read More »

Barack Obama’s Secret Plan to Save America, Solve the Debt Crisis, and Fight the Freemasons

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 11:00 AM  | 

Apparently, according to White House Chief of Staff William Daley, Barack Obama has a secret plan to raise the debt ceiling. We’re not allowed to see it. From the transcript with Wolf Blitzer: BLITZER: So what you’re saying is the president did present a plan to the speaker, John Boehner. DALEY: Yes. BLITZER: But – but he didn’t… DALEY: Right. BLITZER: – make it public. | Read More »

The Debt Ceiling Debacle and Who’s to Blame

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 10:17 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the crumbling “Boehner Plan” in the House, how Obama may circumvent it, and who’s to blame for this mess. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you | Read More »

The Reality Check

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 07:47 AM  | 

At some point, whether during the TARP fight or . . . you name it . . . you come to the realization that there really aren’t a lot of friends left around you on the front lines fighting back at what is, for all intents and purposes, what is arguably the side you’re supposed to be on. At that moment, you must perform a | Read More »

The Worst Negotiators

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  July 29th at 04:46 AM  | 

I cannot decide who the worst negotiators are, Republican leaders or House conservatives. John Boehner’s plan couldn’t get the votes last night so Boehner had to agree to add language conditioning a vote on a balanced budget amendment — an amendment House Republicans said could not pass so there was no reason to pursue Cut, Cap, and Balance. The vote will now be today. The | Read More »

Here’s the Latest Democrat Plan

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  July 28th at 07:49 PM  | 

Well, we really stuck it to the Democrats today.  Instead of passing Cut, Cap, and Balance, a plan that will never pass the Senate and would have foisted the blame of a default upon us (supposedly), we orchestrated a plan to really own them.  We came up with Boehner plan 2.0 that..well, …..will not pass the Senate – and will force a default, unless we | Read More »