The Real World: Costs of Republican Intransigence

This article is well written and to the point.  Some Republican members of the House and Senate need to understand they represent all their district and/or state not just the Tea Party.  The threats coming out of some members like Jim DeMint in the Senate made my blood boil with his comments in an email from World Net Daily and is exactly what Koffler is talking about.

DeMint has NO plan but he is threatening the House Members to vote 'NO' on any debt ceiling rise or they will be out of power for years.  What's he going to do, join with the National Tea Party leaders to take out Republican incumbents that don't vote the way he wants.  For $29.99 you can also join the World Net Daily campaign to fax all House Members using DeMint's comments.  NOTE:  Wrongly identified the cost of faxing at $29.99 to Jim DeMint originally when it should have been Joseph Farrah of World Net Daily:

Farah was referring to Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina who told ABC News today that Republicans who support raising the debt limit without first passing a balanced budget amendment and massive across-the-board spending cuts will be out in 2012.

"You're gone," he said, "destined to be swept out of Congress by a wave of voter anger. Based on what I can see around the country not only are those individuals gone, but I would suspect the Republican Party would be set back many years. It would be the most toxic vote. I can tell you if you look at the polls, Democrats, Republicans, independents, they do not think we should increase the debt limit."

Farah says DeMint is absolutely right. 

If he is so powerful, why couldn't he get a vote on the House debt bill which the Senate tabled.  There is a reason he is not in leadership as we are seeing right before our eyes -- he only has one agenda 'my way or no way' which is also the agenda of Obama.  Now DeMint is also telling House Republicans what to do?

Bad way to run government because in negotiations are the name of the game so often and no one usually gets everything they want.  You make the best deal possible and live to fight another day.  We should be thankful we even have the House because without the Republican leadership, a Pelosi house would have given Obama a blank check which many like DeMint have conveniently forgotten.

Did DeMint and others along with the National Tea Party actually think that winning the House was going to be the way to ram their conservative agenda through with Obama in the White House set to veto.  If it was, naive is the word.  So is DeMint going to use the debt ceiling to raise more money to defeat Republican incumbents who don't do what he says?  Time will tell.

This is one Republican not wanting to risk the credit rating of the United States to score political points and understands that we only control one leg of the three legged stool to get things passed and signed into law.  Looks like we elected a group of people who don't understand how government works and are part of the 'my way or no way' crowd which doesn't work for either side and is not 'The Real World.'  The people with backbones are going to stand up and be counted by voting for the House bill while others continue to whine and run to the media.  I have called several offices of Republicans to give them my support on getting the cuts necessary to raise the debt ceiling and not take a chance of what could happen with default.

The Costs of Republican Intransigenceby Keith Koffler on July 27, 2011, 10:16 am 

The GOP is set to self-immolate. Which is fine for starting Arab Springs, but real bad for governing and gaining power in the United States. 

Republicans have before them two options – one by House Speaker Boehner and the other by Senate Majority Leader Reid – that extend the debt ceiling without raising taxes. 

Obama will sign either one in order to avoid a default, you can be sure. Republicans are in the drivers’ seat. And they’re going to throw it all away because the cuts aren’t enough.

I have a plan. It's not a good plan, but it is a plan.
Photo by Keith Koffler

Republicans are right to seek a deal that makes vast cuts in spending. President Obama has raised spending to a 25 percent of GDP, the highest ever.  

But they are wrong to insist on their perfect world in which entitlement reform and discretionary spending cuts solve the deficit problem without any tax increases at all. Because unfortunately, the United States is part of the Real World. 

Let me describe The Real World: 

Republicans do not control the Senate or the presidency. 

This is not because God made Obama president and Harry Reid majority leader.   

The American people did. And God is not going to interfere and make Obama and Reid do serious entitlement reform and major cuts to spending. If Republicans want these changes, they need to elect Republicans to at least one of these positions in 2012. 

In the real world, the amount of taxes currently collected by the federal government, at about 14.5 percent of GDP, is currently at its lowest level since the presidency of Harry Truman. The last year of the Reagan administration, it was just above 18 percent. Did you know that? 

That’s not to say that taxes shouldn’t be right where they are, and that Obama isn’t seeking an increase in taxes so he can keep spending as high as possible on the health reform law and other “investments” – aka “spending” – that are the things that really get him out of bed in the morning. 

Excerpt:  Read More from Keith Koffler at The White House Dossier Blog

It is so refreshing to read these articles from someone who is not afraid to tell it like it is.  Shame that some Republicans are not facing 'The Real World' and prefer to live in their fantasy world where they control everything.  Sorry to burst DeMint's bubble but as has been said before he costs us some seats in the Senate along with the Tea Party Express by getting involved in primaries when they should have stayed out.

Then we have the DeMint backed Senator Lee of Utah who won't vote to raise the debt ceiling until a balanced budget amendment is passed which means a NO vote for a long time.  No way is a budget balanced amendment passing the Senate this year or next but like his mentor DeMint and others they will risk taking control of the Senate to grandstand by saying they will vote NO about raising the debt ceiling without even reading the bill.  One of GOP candidates voted no after signing a pledge to vote yes on the Cap, Cut, and Balance -- Michelle Bachmann followed the lead of her mentor Ron Paul to vote NO against her own pledge.

We call on House Republicans to stand tall and pass the best bill they can get that Obama and the Senate will get on board.  It is not going to be perfect -- far from it, but if they don't pass a bill and the United States defaults, then the House will be blamed.  Forget entitlements for now as they are not going to be part of this debt ceiling bill because there are not enough votes in the Senate.  Just be happy there are no new taxes and time to vote as Majority Leader Cantor has said instead of whining.

Fortunately, most thinking members of the House are not willing to take that chance and we expect a bill to be passed out of the House that the Senate can vote on and Obama can sign if Obama doesn't move the bar again. Those Republicans voting to increase the debt ceiling will be our heroes for putting America first and not default despite pressure from the Tea Party who has vowed to defeat them.  They will have put Country before Party and their own reelection.  Now that is what you call sacrifice.