McConnell Bumbles When Asked For GOP Alternative To Obama’s Budget: We’re ‘Getting Down In The Weeds’

from ThinkProgress

Since President Obama unveiled his budget last month, Republicans have been relentlessly attacking his comprehensive proposals. Last week, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that Obama “should be focusing on the ‘economic crisis,’ as opposed to holding four-hour meetings on health care.” Today on ABC’s This Week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) kept up the drumbeat, saying, “It taxes too much, it spends too much, it borrows too much.”

However, host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed McConnell for a comprehensive Republican alternative budget. Each time, McConnell simply attacked Obama’s plan. He said that he and his colleagues would be offering amendments to “reframe” what the Democrats have proposed, but don’t plan on offering a comprehensive plan:

McCONNELL: [W]e are going to offer a number of amendments to the Democratic proposal. […]

STEPHANOPOULOS: But shouldn’t you have a comprehensive approach that lays out the trade-offs? If you just have rifle-shot amendments, you don’t have to make all the trade-offs that you have to make in an overall budget.

McCONNELL: Well, we’re just sort of getting down in the weeds here about procedure. Through the amendment process, we would absolutely reformulate the Democratic plan. Whether you have a comprehensive approach or whether you offer an amendment is something a parliamentarian can debate.

(More here)