It appears the White House and Harry Reid will get everything their little hearts desire. No change to Obamacare, a raise in the debt ceiling, no change in spending levels, everything- even across-the-board “sequester” cuts and for what? A “framework” for talks.
Give me a break.
House Republicans have sent the White House a revised proposal to lift the debt ceiling for six weeks, as well as reopen government through December 15th, which was their original spending proposal before the partial shutdown. The revised GOP plan reflects the demands Obama made in a meeting with House GOP Leaders on Thursday. It also reflects the unwillingness of the DC GOP to face a fiscal showdown with Democrats.
Aside from reopening the government and agreeing to raise America’s debt over the current $16.7 trillion limit, the Republicans made several other concession to President Obama and the Democrats.
The AP reports:
Under a proposal she and other GOP senators have been developing, a medical device tax that helps finance the health care law would be repealed, and millions of individuals eligible for subsidies to purchase health insurance under the program would be subject to stronger income verification.
In addition, some of the across-the-board “sequester” cuts would be reversed under the GOP plan. It has not been determined which specific cuts will be targeted at this time.
In exchange for meeting, at least momentarily, all of Obama’s demands, the House GOP is seeking a “framework” for future negotiations on addressing longer-term budget issues. These negotiations would be led for the Republicans by Rep. Paul Ryan, who is likely to seek a “grand bargain” resolving the nation’s structural budget problems.
However, President Obama has, so far, rejected even this giving away of the proverbial farm.
Obama’s and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to completely reject any offer of a compromise from House Republicans confirms what most conservatives already know: Obama will not negotiate on anything (he has said as much numerous times over the past couple of weeks) unless he faces consequences for failing to do so.
The whole point of this fight, as most congressional Republicans including House Speaker John Boehner have said, has been to expose how President Obama has never compromised on anything, always gets his way or the highway, and will not negotiate with Congress—though he will try to make deals with American rivals or enemies like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s new leaders. In the process, conservatives hoped that Republicans would use their negotiating power to shred Obamacare, or at least burn parts of it.
While Obama says he would not negotiate under the circumstances of a government shutdown, or under the threat of a potential default, he has shown time and again that he will never negotiate outside of those circumstances.
The truth of the matter is that this is the time when our nation will decide if it will stand up to tyranny. President Obama and Harry Reid are not part of a monarchy that cannot be challenged. If conservatives do not stand their ground it may just put an end to any hope that America can be truly free.
