Boehner is a weasel ~ and a dumb weasel no less ~ maybe someone should remind him that the people, by wide margins both in the Electoral College and the popular votes, rejected the GOP/TP games ~ ~ ThinkProgress has a good summary on "Plan B", which I'll post next ~ Sooz

Boehner hopes to avoid blame, gives Dems ultimatum
By Steve Benen - Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:28 PM EST

The optimism about a bipartisan fiscal agreement before the looming deadline is gone. House Speaker John Boehner, instead of making a counteroffer to President Obama's latest proposal, is now giving ultimatums and preemptively trying to avoid blame for the increasingly likely failure.

[Sooz comment: the clip at this point in the original is accessible via the end link]

This afternoon, Boehner appeared before Capitol Hill cameras, spoke for 52 seconds, demanded that Democrats accept his "Plan B" approach, and walked away. After the Speaker insisted that Obama's offer was insufficiently "balanced" -- it relies on accounting that Republicans have traditionally supported -- Boehner said:


And with that, Boehner turned on this heel and left. As a practical matter, the Speaker wasn't just walking away from the cameras; he also seemed to be walking away from the entire fiscal talks that he initiated.

Note, it would have been pretty easy to say, as Obama indicated a couple of hours earlier, that he intends to keep working with the president towards a resolution, and he's encouraged by the recent movement on both sides. Instead, Boehner said Democrats can either accept his latest scheme or accept the blame.

As a rule, officials only start preemptively trying to avoid responsibility for failure when they expect to get blamed. For that matter, it's also a reliable rule that those saying my-way-or-no-way are not serious about working out an acceptable compromise.

One question to keep an eye on, which we do not yet know the answer to: after Obama and Boehner got awfully close to a deal over the weekend, did Republicans move away from the bipartisan agreement because Boehner deemed it insufficient or because his caucus told him to deem it insufficient? It's been an ongoing problem in the GOP conference for two years -- their leader is more often taking orders than giving them.

Regardless, if the talks collapse, as now appears likely, it'll be the second time in two years in which Obama offered a congressional Republicans a very generous offer -- to the consternation of the president's own allies, it's basically a center-right package -- on an issue they occasionally pretend to care about, only to have GOP officials refuse to compromise.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/19/16023210-boehner-hopes-to-avoid-blame-gives-dems-ultimatum?lite

Hopefully, Jab or Sid will be able to post the chart ~ you'll see that Boehner-the-weasel's description does indeed "... leave[] out some crucial details" ~ ~ Sooz

The Facts About ‘Plan B,’ The House Republican Bill To Hike Middle-Class Taxes
By Pat Garofalo on Dec 19, 2012 at 2:00 pm

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday released the Republican “Plan B” for averting the so-called “fiscal cliff”: a bill to allow the Bush tax cuts on income in excess of $1 million to expire. The White House has already said that President Obama would veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk, but House Republicans are forging ahead with a vote, claiming that their bill is a “net tax cut.”

Boehner’s website lays out the plan here, but leaves out some crucial details, which ThinkProgress provides below:

[Sooz comment: I can't copy/post the chart image ~ it is accessible via the end link and I encourage all to take a look ~ I'm hoping Sid or Jab will save the image to their sites and then post it]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/19/1359961/boehner-plan-b-facts/

Have the infamous "Snipping Tool"?

YAYYY, Sid! ~ thanks so much ~ the chart is enraging and explains the "some crucial details" Boehner neglected to mention ~

Sooz

Boehner is an ineffective, dishonest, and extremely weak Speaker ~ but the bigger problem is the House GOP/TPers ~ until their numbers are pruned further, there is no way of "controlling" them short of giving them whatever they want ~ and what they want is detrimental to all of us except for those who pull their puppet strings ~ ~ Sooz

Boehner struggles, scrambles to pass tax gambit
By Steve Benen - Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:37 AM EST

On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner was very close to reaching a fiscal deal with President Obama. On Wednesday, Boehner was moving away from his own negotiations, presenting a transparent p.r. stunt as an alternative, and finding that his own Republican colleagues have very little interest in following his lead.

In his extremely brief press statement yesterday afternoon, Boehner boasted in passing that the House "will pass" his plainly ridiculous "Plan B." The bravado was misplaced -- the Speaker proceeded to spend the day pleading with House Republicans to do as he asked, and was even forced to add new spending cuts to his doomed proposal in the hopes of enticing his own GOP caucus to help bail him out of the jam Boehner put himself into.

Making matters slightly worse, Boehner was forced to scrap a scheduled vote on Obama's original offer -- tax breaks on all income up to $250,000, higher marginal rates for higher income -- in part because it might pass (which would undermine the Speaker's leverage) and in part because he couldn't risk it failing (if all else fails, he might need to pass it before Dec. 31).

And in case these troubles weren't quite enough, an analysis of "Plan B" from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center concluded that "nearly half of households in the top one percent would see a small tax cut under Boehner's plan," thanks to cuts in taxes on capital gains, estates, and dividends, while "lower and middle income households would see a tax increase under his plan," thanks to the elimination of existing tax policies designed to help working families.

John Boehner, in other words, isn't having a great week.

But there's a larger thesis to keep in mind, regardless of what happens in today's House vote: the Speaker is ostensibly the leader of the House Republicans, but he remains incredibly weak, heading a group of lawmakers who are largely indifferent to his preferences.

Kevin Drum had a good piece yesterday, noting just how little has changed "in Republican-land," even after the Democrats' successful 2012 elections.


Quite right. Keep in mind, by all indications, Boehner was encouraged by Obama's latest offer, so much so that he took it to his Republican colleagues for consideration. In a familiar dynamic, the followers told the leader what to do -- Boehner "got an earful" about the president's offer from his own team, with Republicans explaining how "angry" they are about Obama's proposal.

And so, Boehner was left in a very awkward, almost pathetic, position. He can negotiate an agreement with the president, but he can't get House Republicans to go along. The Speaker can push a ridiculous "Plan B" in a bit of Kabuki theater, but Republicans don't like it, either, and it can't pass the Senate or get the president's signature (the White House issued a formal veto threat yesterday).

Oh, and did I mention that Boehner is just days away from a vote on whether he'll be Speaker in the next Congress?

Boehner can't negotiate with the president and he can't avoid negotiating with the president. He doesn't want a failed fiscal process and he can't find a solution that will prevent a failed process. He can't endorse a good deal, because his radicalized party won't let him, and he can't endorse a bad deal, because it won't become law.

What a fiasco.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/20/16042474-boehner-struggles-scrambles-to-pass-tax-gambit?lite

Boner's stuck in his own trap.

Exactly, oskar ~ and I'm enjoying that part ~ but what concerns me is what he tries next ~

Sooz

Methinks Obama and the Dems might have a few surprises of their own.
Either way, the GFOP needs to take a good look at itself or else they're liable to lose the House midterm and be relegated to the fringes of US politics.
As long as they coddle the radicals they'll lose ground so they need to defund the radicals and take whatever hit they need to take and rebuild.

I'm thinking losing the House in the 2014 midterm election is exactly what is needed and likely to happen given the current House GOP/TP sociopathic mindset exposed below ~ ~ there are several "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

House Republicans Cut Food Stamps, Obamacare, And Wall Street Oversight In Ill-Fated ‘Plan B’
By Pat Garofalo on Dec 20, 2012 at 12:38 pm

House Republicans today, in addition to voting on Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) so-called “Plan B” — which extends the Bush tax cuts on income up to $1 million — will also vote on a bill to replace the spending cuts scheduled for the end of the year.

As The Hill reported, the bill closely mirrors a measure passed by House Republicans in May known as the “The Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012.” (Here is the underlying legislation, which will include these minor tweaks.) That bill voids both the military spending cuts and domestic spending cuts set to take place in 2013 and replaces them with a host of cuts to domestic spending, including:

– Cuts to food stamps that could knock millions of low-income Americans out of the program;

– Cuts to Meals on Wheels, a program that delivers meals to seniors or other individuals who are unable to prepare their own food;

– Cuts funding to health exchanges that will be created under Obamacare and funding for Medicaid included in the same law;

– Cuts to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that will yield no cost savings, but will make bailouts of big banks more likely;

– Denying the Child Tax Credit to the parents of American children, if the parents are undocumented immigrants.

The White House threatened to veto this set of spending cuts back in May, calling them “a particular burden on the middle-class and the most vulnerable among us.”

The inclusion of these cuts is ostensibly to placate House Republicans upset at Boehner for advancing “Plan B,” which does nothing on the spending side of the federal government’s ledger. Plan B already includes provisions that will cut taxes for some of the wealthiest Americans while raising them for low- and middle-income families.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/20/1367271/gop-spending-cuts-added-plan-b/

A guaranteed vote loss tactic.

The fascists think the people are stupid - and that will be their undoing.

i would rather have the fiscal cliff than the stupid GOP compromise.

It's nice to know Plan B was pulled. I hear a song playing now..."Wing nuts roasting by an open fire".

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/20/politics/ ... index.html

..."Wing nuts roasting by an open fire".

LMAO

Didn't filibuster his own motion this time?

I thinks its lights out for Bohner as Speaker. He had to pull his own bill. If he couldn't even get a vote on his POS to try to put blame on the president he is doomed. I think Cantor goes down with him. Who will the Republicans choose- another crazy idealogue or someone who can save the Republican Party for 2014?

Should be an interesting tax season if this shyte doesn't get resolved.

I am not sure there is anyone in the GOP who can save this Party.

What about that Rinse-n'-Probe-Us dude?

That was McConnell, oskar ~ but I'm sure Boehner would've done so if it were possible ~

I agree about "lights out" for Boehner ~ I'm not so sure Cantor will be defeated with him ~ Cantor has not been publicly supportive of Boehner ~ he's played more to the rank-and-file TPers ~ and, in fact, I'm thinking there's a chance that Cantor might be the next Speaker, which I predict would be just as disasterous ~ I'm also thinking Dee nailed it with her "I am not sure there is anyone in the GOP who can save this Party." comment ~ even if a sane/adult GOPer was identified, s/he would never be elected by the caucus ~

Sooz

I guess relying on the racist redneck vote wasn't a very good strategy to base a presidential campaign on.
They might want to try a bit of policy next time.

"They might want to try a bit of policy next time."

Racist redneck policy? That'll go over well.

They were too subtle about it this time.
The rednecks didn't "get it" since the word n***er was considered so unPC.

Here's the hard evidence that Boehner and pals are either [a] willfully stupid, or [b] practical jokers ~ this guy Buck deserves some kind of award for making this statement without dissolving into laughter ~ ~ Sooz

TPM LIVEWIRE
Boehner Spox: We’re ‘Hopeful’ That Obama Is ‘Finally Ready To Get Serious’
Tom Kludt - 6:18 PM EST, Friday December 21, 2012

Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), released a statement Friday night in response to remarks made by President Obama earlier in the evening on the looming fiscal cliff:


http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/boehner-spox-were-hopeful-that-obama-finally-ready