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The Tea Bag Ruptures As Meaningless Debt Ceiling Bill Passes The House
After John Boehner reworked his bill to make the tea party happy, the House passed a bill which is now DOA and completely meaningless.
The final vote total was 218-210. Boehner got two votes more than he needed for passage.
The most interesting thing about this vote is that the entire Democratic caucus stayed together. Not a single Democrat supported the bill. Democrats who did nothing but bicker and feud while in the majority are now standing together as one against a bitterly divided GOP.
Boehner finally got the support of the House tea partiers by adding a constitutional balanced budget amendment to the bill, but this bill has no chance of moving forward. This means that the House GOP wasted critical days fighting with each other and pushed the country closer to default.
The Boehner bill doesn’t solve anything. It is a piece of ultra far right legislation that has already been rejected once by the US Senate, and they will waste no time rejecting it again. Speaker Boehner made numerous political miscalculations during his efforts to get a bill passed, but perhaps his biggest was that he did not even bother to consult House Democrats to see if he could come up with a bill that would get enough Democratic support to get around the tea party caucus.
This vote revealed that John Boehner is nothing more than a hopeless slave of the tea party. Boehner isn’t a leader. He is a follower who had to bend over backwards to get the support of enough tea partiers to pass the bill. Speaker Boehner was publicly humiliated. He suffered a resounding defeat. All the while Democrats have gotten to sit back and watch the House Republicans destroy themselves. The problem is that as the Republicans implode they may take the rest us down with them.
It is clear that the Republicans are fractured, bloodied, and bruised. They aren’t going to get anything out of the Democrats, and they might not be able to stop fighting with each other long enough to pass anything.
At the end of the day, the United States of America may default because the dysfunctional Republican Party collapsed under the weight of a crisis.
The House GOP’s debt ceiling follies should be proof to one and all why the GOP has been and will continue to be unfit to lead this country.
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24 Responses to The Tea Bag Ruptures As Meaningless Debt Ceiling Bill Passes The House
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Cathy
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Applause! Great article–thank you!
Jim H
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
We all knew that there was no bill that would both satisfy the Tea Party and stand a snowball’s chance in the Senate or on President Obama’s desk. At least this time, Eric Cantor didn’t tell everyone the House bill becomes law if the Senate didn’t act on it in a timely manner. Maybe one of their caucus read “Senate Mouse, House Mouse” and wrote a book report.
Brian Daniels
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
You are incorrect, sir. I believe the speaker of the house bent over in the other direction.
Basheert
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Speaker Boehner showed he is a pussy. A wimp and a cheap drunk. And he has destroyed the Republican Party (well he did have some help). What a e.monumental waste of time the House GOP is. What a shame for our country.
Harry Reid’s bill is pretty much as sucky as Boehners bill – in essence it is Catfood Commission II – with a prediction that within 2 years, Medicare, Medicaid AND Social Security will be ripped to shreds under this piece of Reid garbage.
Unfortunately we have a President who is showing more and more, day by day, that he has no ability to flex his muscle and use the power WE all handed him. It is nice that he likes to compromise, and I’m sure he knew his Administration would be rocky in this country, but the abject outright racial hatred and just plain stupid TBigotry we are seeing is ridiculous and he refuses to be the strongman and save our country.
The TeaBaggers will go the way of the Whigs. They’ve got nothing – zip – nada – bupkis. The John Birch Society mentality is not going to be a strong political force in the US – ever. They all need to take their hoverchairs, and head off to the bake sales and the Lodge meetings. The ignorance displayed by this group if morons is astounding and tiresome.
We just keep hoping that President Obama will stop trying to tack further right than the TeaBaggers – he’s going to fall over if he leans over anymore and gives in to the demands of the right wing wackos.
buckeyewill
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
The whole debate is a FRAUD…just like the Tea Party. NO mention of cutting defense spending, ending 2 wars, closing military bases overseas,etc.
Will we ever have an adult talk about the Military-Industrial Complex that Ike warned about?????
Jason Easley
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Never going to happen. Democrat or Republican the MIC it too strong. The Reid bill factors in the savings from ending two wars. Maybe you didn’t catch that part, but they are at best paper savings from events that are already happening, but it isn’t accurate to say that it isn’t being talked about at all.
sim
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
For your kind information, the President hasn’t signed the bill. Go spew your disgusting impatience and hate elsewhere.
Ingarose
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
I don’t think that ‘basheert’ spewed hatred. He simply mentioned certain things the way he sees them (and he is not totally wrong). If anyone who says anything negative about the policies of the president is called names on this site, then it is no better than other one sided sites.
Jason Easley
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
But there are no entitlement cuts in Reid’s bill, so what makes you think that?
Jason Easley
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
I would respectfully suggest that it isn’t that the president is not flexing his power, but it is the fact that the power that many Americans believe a president has is imaginary. Times have changed and unless it is a matter of the Commander in Chief role, presidents are boxed in when it comes to unilateral executive power.
Dan Skinner
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
I thought you had to go to prison to get rammed by that many people at once.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Oh KINKY!
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
there are a couple of things happening here Mr. Jones. One of them may be that speaker Boehner has every intention of causing a default. One of the other things may be that he is as you say a pawn of the tea party which I don’t understand. He could get a bill through at this late hour simply by putting something in that just raises the debt ceiling. He would have enough common sense Republicans and almost all the Democrats to vote for it. He could get this done and tell the tea party to go to hell. Just because they threatened to primary him doesn’t mean they have a candidate which would beat him.
Why the tea party thinks that they must cause a default to get their point across is beyond me because it is self-defeating. Anyone who supports the tea party today and goes to a default with them will not support them after the default. If there are seniors out there with any sense they would realize that the tea party wants to take away their health insurance and wants to cut their Social Security until it’s totally gone. How can anyone support that? How can anyone with parents who were in their Golden age support that? It’s going to be a long time before anyone stops taking Social Security pay out of your paychecks, are the young people of today going to pay into Social Security and say that they’re not going to get anything and do it happily? And still support the tea party?
I say the tea party has to go if they want this country to default. What they are saying is as they want people’s 401(k)’s to come crashing down just like it did a couple years ago. And quite frankly on a conspiratorial note it would not surprise me if all of this wasn’t designed to give the banks more of our 401 money. would I vote for the tea party who wants me to lose my 401(k) which would put me on the state welfare roles?
the tea party people are just not smart. Either that or they are simply clones or drones for the Koch brothers
buckeyewill
Jul. 29th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Yes, default will ruin people’s retirement fund, and ruin the Middle Class via hikes in the interest rates.
Not only the Tea Party ruin America, they also ruin individual states with their foolishness.
A Walkaway
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
The Koch bros are only two of the people funding everything harmful. They’ve been on the radar for years, along with several others – in the research done to try to counter dominionism. I’ve been actively involved in the struggle since 2004, and the names kept popping up at least that far back.
The people at the top of Amway (which is connected to dominionism too) are also big-time funders. Blackwater (defunct now) is also connected. There are connections you might be surprised at.
Watch for the book “Fringe America! ~ God, Guns & Greed” by Leah Burton which connects a lot of the dots, including to people like the Koch bros.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
I will definitely raed that book, have great respect for Leah
ARISTOPHRENIA
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 7:34 am
Here is what is happening.
Basically they want to destroy government and corporatize it. Pretty simple, and pretty obvious really.
It has been a stated, clear and guiding principle of the right for a long time.
There have been several attempts at straight out corporate control – one of which is well documented and led to charges of treason exposed by Smedley Butler.
Raytheon attempted to take control of Texas welfare during Bush juniors tenure, Clinton stopped it.
The aim is to put the US on an equal footing with China, this requires removing high paid workers, the welfare state and the road blocks to the types of control that exist in the China – in order for the US to compete they must be able to enact laws as easily, unilaterally and without dissent as the communist party can.
This can only be acheived through corporatisation of the united states (facism).
The only means to acheive this is to – well bankrupt the government both financially and of course legitimately (in other words remove its legitimacy in the eyes of the people so they are more willing to accept a corporate rule).
Corporates ruling is of course perfect to every American ideal – competition, efficiency, unwavering faith in the free market and the “INVISIBLE HAND” – so the people will unfortunately lap it up.
I don’t think it takes a lot for people to understand that the US is heading for some serious violence – domestic, civil. However I genuinely do not think that the current form of the US will not be the same in ten years. Basically everything you are seeing is perfect , any violence, civil disobedience, attempts at ceding
will be used to provide the solution of corporate rule – as will financial collapse.
This is pretty much what is en effect right now in every single way, shape and form – but name.
Corporations run the US, from the military, secret services, to domestic spying, to finance etc. Government is already almost nothing. All it takes is the peoples stamp of approval and i think even BLIND FREDDY can see that things like this are what will provide the ink for that stamp.
When you view things from this perspective – everything makes perfect, perfect sense.
Never forget who runs the tea party – the Koch Brothers.
The Glenn Beck Review
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 10:10 am
There needs to be overwhelming pressure on the White House beginning August 1st to have Obama invoke the 14th Amendment and extend the debt ceiling until or unless Congress acts.
Even the Koch brothers should want the debt ceiling extended as they would stand to lose money/wealth/value along with the rest of us. The ONLY people, who do not want it extended are either ignorant of the consequences, stupid or insane.
A Constitutional crisis is preferable to having the good faith and credit of the United States undermined. Our money, Federal Reserve Notes, are backed by one and only one thing: the “notes are backed only by the ‘full faith and credit of the U.S. government’—the government’s ability to levy taxes to pay its debts.” The Tea Party Republicans threaten both the credit of the government and the ability to levy taxes. All signers of Grover Norquist’s pledge threaten the government’s ability to levy taxes to pay its debts.” When pundits discuss the upshot of defaulting on our debts, few, if any, discuss what that would do to the value of the dollar.
maruawe
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Personally I am fed up with all three parties as well as the president. All of them appear to be dupes to their ego’s. Party affiliation should be left at the door and do what is right for the American people…their idea that they are the the appointed gods of the citizens.
what we need to do (probably won’t happen but) is set term limits for congress and weed out the ones that don’t work for the betterment of this country, But as long as we have to vote party at the polls this won’t happen, to many dumb people will vote for the party slate instead of the candidates that will help and not hinder…. One has to ask”why would a person spend millions of dollars to get a job that pays less than $200.000 dollars a year…….”
maruawe
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 11:08 am
You can blame whoever you wish to blame ,but it’s a collective blame on them all.
Mo
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
“The House GOP’s debt ceiling follies should be proof to one and all why the GOP has been and will continue to be unfit to lead this country.”
Alas, I find it impossible to believe that aging Republicans would ever, ever change their political affiliation and not continue to vote Republican, even if their Social Security checks got axed.
Cognitive dissonance being the kind of thing it is, they’d dig up anyone and anything to blame who wasn’t a Republican. And believe their insane rationalizations.
Cathy
Jul. 30th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Recommend reading Fareed Zakaria’s opinion that the damage has already been done on CNN today as an excellent second to this article. Both point out the damage caused by the GOP in their quest to destroy President Obama.
Don Roberts
Aug. 3rd, 2011 at 9:44 pm
The Tea Party is a one-trick pony. They got one-song and one-dance and it’s getting old.
What they are doing is waking a sleeping giant – and we haven’t even gotten started.
Damn the torpedos.