RINOs strike again?

Maybe calling the Republican members of the Gang of Six RINOs is a bit unfair, but their complicity naivete deserves some name calling.  The House Republicans recently passed the best option being discussed to deal with the debt dilemma in Cut, Cap, and Balance (CCB) before it fell to the Democrat controlled Senate.  If some Senate Republicans had not been negotiating on the side with the Democrats, the CCB would have had a better chance of passing.  Almost all the media coverage was unsurprisingly about the Gang of Six deal being negotiated and largely ignoring the Gang of 234.

The Democrats have kept up their narrative with the mainstream media pushing it that the Republicans are being unreasonable in their stance that additional taxes should be off the table.  Republican Senators Tom Coburn, Saxby Chambliss, and Mike Crapo were simultaneously, however, in negotiations with the Democrats on a deal that promised to “raise revenues”.  Some of these so-called revenues were to come from closing out loopholes and eliminating deductions.  So, after conceding $800 billion in “additional revenues”, when they got to the signing table, Obama and the Democrats wanted $1.2 billion.  This should not have been a shock at all.  The media had all but announced a fair deal was all but complete setting the Republicans up to look like chumps.

The Democrats must have anticipated John Boehner would walk away because as soon as he did they had their talking points out.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee immediately responded:

This is inexcusable.  Earlier this evening, Republican Speaker John Boehner quit negotiations with President Obama, refusing to raise the debt ceiling to secure tax breaks for big oil companies and his billionaire jet-owning friends.  It’s now clearer than ever that Republicans won’t say yes to anything and would rather see our economy fall into catastrophic default than offend Grover Norquist and the Tea Party fringe by asking billionaires to pay their fair share.  Enough is enough. If Republicans would rather carry water for big oil companies and shadowy special interests than work on behalf of ordinary Americans, we are going to make sure their constituents know about it.

This is typical from the Democratic playbook.  The Republicans should know better by now.  Or are those of the old guard complicit?  Most of the Tea Party members know how to combat this and that is to not get in that arena with the Democrats.  Do not even play the game.  Those sent to office on the votes of the Tea Party know what their marching orders are and followed them with the CCB plan.  Now that that was defeated, they should immediately pass another plan that calls for an equal amount of debt ceiling hikes to spending cuts.  Say $500 billion or so.  That would buy the country a few months and give the Republicans an opportunity to regain some traction in the battle of public opinion.

The Cut, Cap, and Balance plan has been the best piece of legislation put forward to deal with the debt issue.  And in generic terms is supported by the American people by a 2-1 margin.  The American people will pressure their representatives to pass this plan.  It just needs more time in the spot light with no other distractions from other deals being discussed.  Once they pass the temporary measure making equal hikes to cuts, the CCB can then be brought forth again and passed through the House.  Let the Senate truly debate the merits in front of the American people and let the chips fall where they may.