Politico...
Debt ceiling talks
see Senate, House GOP go separate ways
By Jonathan Allen & Manu Raju
7/20/11
Senate Republicans are starting to send a message to their increasingly
isolated House counterparts: It’s time to abandon the hard line or face
a public backlash.
Whether it’s the top two Senate leaders’ plan to avert a debt crisis or
the recently resurrected Gang of Six framework, most senators have
shown interest in the kind of bipartisan compromise that provides
political cover to all involved. But House Republicans leaped further
to the right this week, endorsing a Cut, Cap and Balance bill that
attracted just five Democratic votes. Some are clamoring for a vote on
a balanced-budget amendment that’s a nonstarter in the
Democratic-controlled Senate — and could prove an embarrassing failure
on the House floor.
House Republican insiders acknowledge that passage of a bipartisan
Senate plan would put enormous pressure on them to follow suit or get
blamed for any ensuing economic calamity. But most House Republicans
aren’t ready to move off their mark, forcing House GOP leaders to begin
to seriously contemplate a short-term solution to the impending default
on the nation’s debt.
“I understand what they’re trying to do. I believe that they’re
convinced that they’re carrying out the mandate [of the 2010
election],” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “The polling data
indicates Americans don’t want the government shut down. … I hope
[House Republicans] would be instructed by what happened in 1995.”
The subtle warning from McCain — a reference to then-Speaker Newt
Gingrich’s fateful showdown with President Bill Clinton 16 years ago —
speaks to the larger political and policy calculation that’s pitting
establishment lawmakers in the Senate against conservative newcomers in
the House. Most senators are anxious to see the debt limit increased
before Aug. 2 to avert an economic catastrophe — and, short of that,
they would at least like to avoid the brunt of the blame if the nation
defaults on its obligations and a financial calamity is triggered. But
many House conservatives aren’t making a similar calculation, rejecting
the warnings of powerful institutions from the Treasury to the White
House in a similar show of defiance that carried them to Washington.
The best place to stand to dodge partisan recrimination is on ground
also occupied by the other side.
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