Republicans’ underhanded serve
By Dana Milbank,
WashPost
Published: September 14
What occurred beneath the Capitol Dome on Wednesday afternoon was the U.S. Open of political gamesmanship, and freshman Republican Rep. Tom Reed of New York was the event’s Novak Djokovic.
Just six weeks ago, Reed and 173 other House Republicans voted in favor of a deal to raise the debt limit and avoid default. Reed called it “a significant step forward” at the time. But on Wednesday, Reed sponsored a “disapproval resolution” on the House floor that would, if successful, throw the nation into default – and 227 of his GOP colleagues joined him in voting for it. They were, evidently, against default before they were for it.
“I come here this morning,” Reed explained (it was 2:34 p.m.), “or this afternoon, and offer this resolution to send a message to the president, to the world, to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that we cannot take our eye off the ball.”
Arguably, the very fact that Republicans were having this debate meant that they had lost track of the ball. Fourteen million Americans are out of work — and House Republicans were staging an encore presentation of this summer’s debt-limit fight, which rattled consumers and helped drag down the economy. Adding to the silliness, the Senate had already rejected this latest flirtation with default, and, in any event, House Republicans didn’t have enough votes to overcome a presidential veto.
(More here.)
WashPost
Published: September 14
What occurred beneath the Capitol Dome on Wednesday afternoon was the U.S. Open of political gamesmanship, and freshman Republican Rep. Tom Reed of New York was the event’s Novak Djokovic.
Just six weeks ago, Reed and 173 other House Republicans voted in favor of a deal to raise the debt limit and avoid default. Reed called it “a significant step forward” at the time. But on Wednesday, Reed sponsored a “disapproval resolution” on the House floor that would, if successful, throw the nation into default – and 227 of his GOP colleagues joined him in voting for it. They were, evidently, against default before they were for it.
“I come here this morning,” Reed explained (it was 2:34 p.m.), “or this afternoon, and offer this resolution to send a message to the president, to the world, to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that we cannot take our eye off the ball.”
Arguably, the very fact that Republicans were having this debate meant that they had lost track of the ball. Fourteen million Americans are out of work — and House Republicans were staging an encore presentation of this summer’s debt-limit fight, which rattled consumers and helped drag down the economy. Adding to the silliness, the Senate had already rejected this latest flirtation with default, and, in any event, House Republicans didn’t have enough votes to overcome a presidential veto.
(More here.)
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