Boehner Blinked

 Published April 15, 2011 in the Lynchburg Ledger

In the first real confrontation between the Republican House and the Democrat-held Senate and White House since the 2010 election, the Republicans lost.

Republicans went toe to toe with the Democrats over the remainder of the 2011 budget.  The Democrat-controlled Congress failed to even consider a budget last year because it was an election year.  They opted instead to pass ObamaCare and further expand the size of government. 

The task of producing the budget fell to the Republicans with their newly elected majority in the House.  In the campaign, they promised to cut $100 billion from the current spending of $3.7 trillion for the fiscal year.  That equated to about $61 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends the last day of September.  That is only 1.6 percent of the proposed spending

In their budget proposal, they cut spending for programs that the government has no business funding.  There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to fund Planned Parenthood (which performed 332,278 abortions in the United States in 2009) and Public Broadcasting.

The threat, of course, was that if a budget was not passed, the government would run out of money and be forced to “shut down.”  Now in a government shut down, the government really does not shut down.  Essential services continue to be funded.  Social Security checks continue to go out, the military continues to function (but their pay is withheld), law enforcement continues to function, and except for the closure of some national parks, the average citizen would be hard pressed to find an effect of a government shut down.

As the deadline drew near, the Republicans offered another temporary extension, but it would have also funded the Department of Defense for the rest of the year.  Barack Obama indicated he would veto such a bill, holding our military hostage.  What a despicable act.

At the 11th hour, it was the Republicans who blinked.  They settled for only a $38.5 billion reduction, and gave up all the demands the conservatives were insisting on.  The concessions John Boehner made to Harry Reid and Barack Obama was to drop:

•           De-funding of ObamaCare.

•           Blocking EPA funding for regulating carbon.

•           The National Labor Relations Board will not be stopped from forcing an end to secret ballots in union contests.

•           Medicaid will not be block granted and turned over to the states.

•           Welfare spending will not be cut nor work requirements imposed.

•           The FCC will not be stopped from regulating talk radio

Some Republicans, such as Eric Canter, are praising the agreement where many others, such as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul and Dick Morris see it for the sell out that it is.

Sarah Palin tweeted, "GOP: don’t retreat! The country is going broke. We can’t AFFORD cowboy poetry & subsidizing abortion. If we can’t fight to defund this nonsense now when we have the chance, do you think we’ll win the big fight on entitlement reform later on?"

Bachmann called the deal a disappointment saying, "Sadly, we're missing the mandate given us by voters last November.”

Rand Paul said the budget compromise, “Does not set us on a path to fixing the spending and debt problems our country is facing. There is not much of a difference between a $1.5 trillion deficit and a $1.6 trillion deficit-both will lead us to a debt crisis that we may not recover from.”

Dick Morris wrote, “John Boehner has just given away the Republican victory of 2010 at the bargaining table...he has unilaterally disarmed the Republican Party by showing that he will not shut down the government and will, instead, willingly give way on even the most modest of cuts in order to avoid it.”

The Democrats now know that when push comes to shove, the Republicans will cave in.  This does not bode well for two important upcoming issues.

The first will be a vote in Congress to raise the debt limit so we can continue to borrow at an astounding rate.  Republicans need to dig their heels in and oppose raising the debt limit without a realistic deficit elimination plan that relies on spending cuts and not tax increases, which will only cripple and enslave.

The Democrats will howl and scream and say the financial credibility of the nation is at stake.  They don’t seem to realize that our massive borrowing has already destroyed our credibility.  The value of the dollar continues to drop, which accounts, in part, for the increase in oil prices.  The world petroleum market uses the U.S. dollar as its trading currency.

The Democrats can expect the Republicans to cave once again.  They may throw them a bone or two in exchange for raising the debt limit.  We need to tell the Republicans in Congress to oppose any increase in the debt limit.

Finally, there is the 2012 budget being proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan.  This is a very aggressive budget designed to get government spending under control.  It makes cuts everywhere, including entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.  If we are ever to bring spending under control, the proposed cuts are necessary.

Look for the Democrats to attack the Ryan budget just like they did the 2011 budget compromise.  Harry Reid accused Republicans of wanting to hurt and even kill women because of the attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.  The Republicans need to learn how to take it to the Democrats and dish it out to them they way they attack Republicans.

Rising in the presidential polls is an unlikely potential candidate, Donald Trump.  He is attracting attention because he isn’t afraid to take it right to Obama and the Democrats.  Republicans are going to have to learn from Trump and have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the Democrat lies and distortions.