Here’s the analysis by James Pethokoukoukis (via @irishspy):
Now is not time to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Neither the Reid budget plan nor the Boehner budget plan packs the fiscal wallop of Cut, Cap and Balance. But significant progress on cutting debt can still be made before the Aug. 2 (or is it Aug. 8 or 10 or …) debt ceiling deadline. And by that measure, the Boehner plan is not only far better than the Reid plan, it is a pretty darn good plan in and of itself. While both plans would cut some $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending over a decade, Reid would then close up shop until 2013. The only other major cuts would be to future defense spending that no one really expects to happen….
Boehner, on the other hand, would keep the debt cutting process going and more likely result in substantive spending cuts of $3 trillion, nearly three times the Reid plan. (And if you tack on the Reid defense cuts, you suddenly have a $4 trillion plan, including interest savings. The raters would like that.) I don’t think spending hawks should fear the Boehner debt commission if it has real teeth and doesn’t create a trigger for higher taxes.
What thinks you?
I think there is upside in keeping the issue alive for the next year, in the framework where the only thing on the table is budget cuts. I’d call it a single or a double, but not a strike out, with another appearance at the plate in about six months.
Update: Via The Hill:
In the closed-door meeting Tuesday, Cantor praised Boehner’s leadership and acknowledged that “the debt limit vote sucks.” But he told lawmakers that they had only three choices: allow the country to default on Aug. 2, pass a Senate bill that Boehner has denounced as “full of gimmicks” and a “blank check” for President Obama or support the GOP leadership and “call the president’s bluff.”
Cantor “said to stop grumbling and whining and to come together as conservatives and rally behind the speaker and call the president’s bluff,” the Republican with knowledge of his remarks said.
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U.S. Can Avoid Default Until September: Silvia
“The U.S. government can avoid a default for at least a month after the Aug. 2 deadline to lift the debt ceiling set by the Treasury Department, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC.
“The Federal Reserve and the Treasury can work together to generate enough cash probably for the next two or three months to avoid any kind of automatic default on the Treasury debt,” Silvia, who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in an interview on Bloomberg”
Bloomberg
“U.S. Can Avoid Default Until September:”
Considering that revenues exceed debt service by a factor of 11:1, the US can avoid default indefinitely even if the debt ceiling is never raised.
What is at risk is NOT a default. Debt service gets paid first, no matter what, even before entitlements. What’s at risk is a partial government shutdown, during which the Executive gets to pick and choose what gets shut down and what stays open. There’s sufficient revenue to pay debt service, the big 3 entitlements, the military and roughly half of what’s left.
Coming up, 15 minutes of fame..
Are you kidding me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGyVNippvA
IMHO, due to go viral
I think that Speaker Boehner is doing the best that he can, and deserves support rather than the constant sniping. You cannot find better spear carriers than Cantor and Ryan.
I just heard Speaker Boehner with Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh was sweetness and light until the phone call ended. Then the sniping began.
Phooey. A pox on all of those who sit on the sidelines and throw rocks (self censored for the sake of propriety). If we won’t support the people who are actually in the arena carrying the fight for us, then we deserve what we get.
The Republicans have to get to the next election as well and they must convince the American people they are worthy to control all parts of government again. If standing up for righteousness begets the opposite, is it still righteousness?
House GOP revolts against Boehner/Cantor. Try calling us “whiners” again. Insulting us conservatives always a good strategy. Worked great for McCain in 2008.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/26/house-gop-revolts-against-boehner-debt-plan/
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