Republicans In Disarray – Throw Them An Anchor
I have to admit that I’m getting a tingle watching the Republicans circle down the drain. The GOP painted itself into a corner and are reaping the rewards of embracing their craziest extremes. We all know that Wall Street lowered the boom on the GOP but Kevin Drum got an email from an investment banker laying it out.
They said it was common knowledge that McConnell was taking very serious back-channel heat from Wall Street because the conclusion was that there was no reliable leadership in the House with Boehner unable to control his caucus and Cantor making his leadership play now. They view Boehner as out. In other words, McConnell is Wall Street’s only viable player and so he is taking all the calls. And those calls are not saying to insist upon cuts only come hell or high water. They are saying raise the F-Ing ceiling NOW.
Yeah, pretty much. A new poll from Gallup confirms that Republicans are out-of-step with the country. They are even out-of-step with their own party. Republican voters want a mixture of cuts and tax increases.
Few Americans, however, take the view that spending cuts alone should be made in a deal, with no tax increases at all. In fact, only 26 percent of the Republican voters surveyed in Gallup’s poll took that position, along with 20 percent of voters overall.
We can also use the Gallup poll to tease out what mix of tax increases and spending cuts the public would like to see in a deal. Assume that the people who told Gallup that they wanted “mostly” cuts would prefer a 3-to-1 ratio of spending reductions to tax increases, and that those who said they wanted mostly tax increases would prefer a 3-to-1 ratio in the opposite direction. (The other choices that Gallup provided in the poll — an equal mix of tax increases and spending cuts or a deal that consisted entirely of one or the other — are straightforward to interpret.)
The average Republican voter, based on this data, wants a mix of 26 percent tax increases to 74 percent spending cuts. The average independent voter prefers a 34-to-66 mix, while the average Democratic voter wants a 46-to-54 mix.
Republicans really missed a historic opportunity to get spending reduction on their terms but their anti-tax religion is getting in the way. I almost feel sorry for John Boehner for reaching his dream job as Speaker and then having to deal with the teajadis.
Wall Street is ratcheting up the pressure. Moody’s announced they are considering downgrading US debt.
Tags: Budget, Debt Ceiling
The spin from ABC news this morning was that Obama was “testy” and that Obama “walked out” on negotiations. That came straight from the GOP, so it is safe to say that they still hold all the media cards.
Obama can still trump the GOP’s noise machine if he works at it.
UI – premature triumphalism. The right and its minions were caught off guard because they believed their own bullshit about what voters want. But they are regrouping as we speak. The only thing that will seriously damage the GOP is a final vote that includes tax increases or, to a lesser extent, a clean debt limit increase.
McConnell is busily waving the white flag and trying to twist the arms of the teajadis.
Ingraham wanted to know why McConnell was so certain Obama wouldn’t blink first. And McConnell is rolling out the next refrain — it’s *his* economy.
I haven’t listened to all 10 minutes of the clip at Mediaite (sorry), but did hear a small portion of McConnell’s spiel this AM on NPR. It is worth hearing….
A clean debt limit increase will make the Tea Partiers’ heads explode the same as tax increases. The biggest problem McConnell and Boehner face is the Tea Party’s inability to prioritize and compromise combined with its love for bumper sticker policy… and a passion for burning down the house.
I call this the Christine O’Donnell syndrome – a belief that losing is winning. And, make no mistake, O’Donnell supporters don’t consider losing a Senate seat a loss.
I’m not seeing a way out for GOP leadership. They are dealing with a group of supporters who are happiest when destructive.
Very well said pandora.
Bill Gross from PIMCO takes to the WaPo this AM to tell Republicans to raise the debt ceiling.
That’s sort of a big fucking deal.
McConnell’s quotes are amazing. He says out loud that he doesn’t want to take responsibility for the economy, and his first priority is that Obama not be re-elected. This is fantastic fodder for campaign ads targeting the whole GOP. We knew this all along, but it is really amazing to hear it said explicitly in McConnell’s own voice.
Thank you, Jason!
And Cassandra is correct about Gross’ comment being a BFD. The GOP is in big trouble. They are now in a position (of their own making) of having to choose between their voting base and their check writers. They will have to choose a side, and when they do they will lose the other group. There is no have your cake and eat it too scenario.
Pay attention to what’s going on in Sussex. They spit on the Greenville crowd almost everyday – calling them RINOs, elitists, the cocktail party set, etc – without ever considering what will happen to their party without those people opening their checkbooks.
The Tea Party’s one, and only, mantra is we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore. Mad at what? Who knows, it keeps changing – but they are really, really good at being mad.
Greenville would be perfectly happy to get their tax cuts from Sussex teabaggers if Markell wasn’t already providing them. Not picking on Markell in particular, but this is the dynamic everywhere – Democrats are now the equivalent of yesterday’s moderate Republicans.
NO, the majority of them wouldn’t. That’s why they wanted to elect Markell in the first place — they prefer a moderate Democrat to a hardcore conservative. Don’t get me wrong, some of them are so far right they make Christine O’Donnell sound moderate. But most of them have nothing bad to say about Markell, and it’s not because of the tax cuts.
Well, the only way to test my theory is to have a liberal/progressive Democrat promising tax hikes on the rich, run against a teabagger who promises tax cuts. I guess we’ll never find out, at least not in Delaware. Maybe in the 2012 Presidential election we will have that contest and put my hypothesis to the test.
This isn’t about where Greenville gets its tax cuts – it’s about the base’s/Tea Party’s (in this case Sussex) view of elitists controlling what they now consider their party.
Of course the base will keep the tax cuts – that’s not the issue. The issue is that in exchange for tax cuts the “elites” must surrender all control of the GOP. This becomes a huge problem when those who want to be in charge venture into economics they do not understand and inadvertently hurt the check writers. (see: debt ceiling)
That’s the problem. The Tea Party sees no real consequences to not raising the debt ceiling. They actually compare it to dropping HBO from the family budget. Not. Kidding.
And it’s not as if they’re telling business/Wall Street to “suck it up,” it’s that they truly believe that nothing bad will happen. Allow me to welcome business and Wall Street to their base’s delusions. Nice to have you join us.
Depends what the liberal/progressive Democrat intends to do with taxes on the rich. Keep in mind that the proposals John Kowalko has made the past couple of years have looked more toward higher fees for corporations than higher taxes on rich individuals.
And no, I don’t expect you’ll ever find your theory tested in Delaware. Tom Carper cut taxes, mostly on the rich, 7 times in 8 years. Ruth Ann Minner used every accounting trick available rather than restore any of those cuts. The most progressive governor Delaware has had in my nearly 40 years here was Russ Peterson, a Republican.
Colbert explains it all.
“It’s about the base’s/Tea Party’s (in this case Sussex) view of elitists controlling what they now consider their party.”
Absolutely. I have been asking the Delaware Politics folks for two years now where they were going to get their money if they throw the Greenville crowd out of the party. I’ve gotten two years of crickets.
A high-ranking GOP party person told me that if you take out John Burris’ contributions, the state party gets less than 5% of its funding from Sussex County.
Apparently the CEO of Target has maxed out contributions to Bachmann. The test of my theory is underway. He is willing to defund all his customers in his mad quest for lower taxes and busting unions.
That 5% stat is making me LOL. It fits with the whole teabag worldview of not tipping waitresses and not paying taxes.
A high-ranking GOP party person told me that if you take out John Burris’ contributions, the state party gets less than 5% of its funding from Sussex County.
And here’s the rub when it comes to the money… they don’t care and honestly don’t believe it matters. Now, take this lunacy and spread it out across the country.
If business and Wall Street are shocked they haven’t been paying attention to the monster they created.
Republicans are really getting squeezed by Wall Street right now. McConnell has tried to turn it around as it’s not *us* that is holding the debt ceiling hostage, it’s Obama but he’s being undermined by his own caucus. It’s a little too cynical for even the press fluffers to overlook.
The teajadis are playing this as Obama says we can’t pay our bills bit I think different. Wall Street is saying it’s not just Obama. It’s interesting how much the lazy media way of covering politics as a team sport is blowing back on the GOP in this case.
I’m also amazed that Mitch McConnell went on camera saying the GOP doesn’t want any responsibility for the economy. Democrats sure have a lot of fodder running against the party of no in 2012.
Puck: I’m not defunded, but I’m also no longer a customer. Closer to the bottom line, my wife the Obama fan and Target shopper is now an Obama fan and former Target shopper.
Democrats converging on making Eric Cantor into Jack from Lord of the Flies here.
Via Kos, there is this by Krugman. Please not that one of the people who has “turned a blind eye” to the depth of Republican irresponsibility is President Obama.
I am liking the Obama we have seen the last few weeks. His insistence on tax increases is the only thing exposing the irresponsibility and insanity of Republicans. As long as Obama keeps defending me, by calling for taxes on the rich, then I will have to defend him.
There is still plenty of opportunity for Republicans to win though. It is all up to Obama’s spine now.
I think by proposing the $4 trillion cuts, Obama may bepreparing to give in on taxes and is laying the groundwork for a budget fight. Bernanke and Wall Street are already saying $4 trillion is too big and will damage the economy. So Republicans will end up passing budget cuts that are less than Obama’s best offer, neutralizing the “big spender” attacks on Obama.
It is all up to Obama’s spine now.
Actually, no.
This is beginning to look like Reid and McConnell will be fashioning up something to get past this stalemate. And I don’t see this as good for Democrats.
I hope I’m wrong, but the minute this gets out of Obama’s hands, I think this gets worse.
It is always in Obama’s hands as long as he has veto power. That’s why I say it is all up to Obama’s spine. Of course most of the veto scenarios are unlikely.
Obama’s statement about a “balanced” proposal is pretty clear that he means there is some ratio of cuts to revenue. Signing a bill that is 100% cuts would be unbalanced and would mean a collapse of Obama’s spine.
The path is clear for another Obama capitulation complete with a “Had to save the hostages” justification. I’m just saying, he is making a lot of noises right now that indicate he won’t go down that path again. Maybe he learned something from December.
But if Reid and McConnell go much farther down their path, it will be because Obama has given it the green light.
cassandra_m is setting it up so when social security and medicare are cut she can blame it on Reid and McConnell because, of course, Obama can’t possibly be responsible for his own broken promises, policies, and results, including 9.2% unemployment and 1 in 4 children in America living in poverty.