24 Months to a New Republican Majority — A Plan for Victory
House Republicans stuck with John Boehner of Ohio to head their caucus, with Roy Blunt of Missouri remaining his deputy as party whip.
Blunt distributed this material to his colleagues:
It would be nice to assume that this signals an inspiring competition to establish which party is more responsive to the voters and will rush to reform ethics, health care, Iraq, Energy, etc. But I fear that the intention of the Republicans is sophisticated sabotage to try to amend each proposal with poison pills.
For example: They may say they are for raising the minimum wage as long as the Democrats agree to end the Estate Tax which lowers government income when the debt is climbing. Perhaps the Blue Dogs can broker a compromise in which the Estate Tax threshold is adjusted rather than completely eliminated.
These are interesting times.
Blunt distributed this material to his colleagues:
"24 Months to a New Republican Majority — A Plan for Victory," Blunt outlined 60 Democratic seats carried by President Bush in 2004 where Republican leaders will apply pressure either to flip Democrats on the floor or punish them in campaign materials for voting with party leaders.
"We must hold our Conference together to deny [presumptive House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) victory and force vulnerable Democrats to take tough votes," Blunt wrote. "This won’t be as simple as going to the floor every day and simply voting ‘no.’ We will have to offer well-crafted alternatives that allow some of our Members to vote ‘yes’ on a better plan before voting on the Pelosi plan."
Blunt outlines amendments he would offer to projected votes implementing pay-go rules in the budget process, raising the minimum wage and allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, each of which is expected to be part of package offered by Democrats in the first 100 hours of their majority."
It would be nice to assume that this signals an inspiring competition to establish which party is more responsive to the voters and will rush to reform ethics, health care, Iraq, Energy, etc. But I fear that the intention of the Republicans is sophisticated sabotage to try to amend each proposal with poison pills.
For example: They may say they are for raising the minimum wage as long as the Democrats agree to end the Estate Tax which lowers government income when the debt is climbing. Perhaps the Blue Dogs can broker a compromise in which the Estate Tax threshold is adjusted rather than completely eliminated.
These are interesting times.
posted by Paul Silver at 9:41 AM
