Erick Erickson's Blog, page 131

The President Rejects the Bipartisan Plan

The President has rejected the short-term bipartisan deal that Reid and Boehner concocted.

Now Boehner is losing the headlines with the media claiming Reid will offer no tax increases and more spending cuts than Boehner, not that they are real.

It's just another reason the House needs to draw a line in the sand and demand Cut, Cap, and Balance. Stop negotiating. Fight.

You can listen to me talk about this one at the bottom of this hour right here.

Saxby Chambliss's Office Says I'm Lying

I read from an email from the Republican Communications Director for the Senate Budget Committee. A listener to my show this morning called Saxby's Washington Office and they said I was lying.

Well, read for yourself what the Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee say about Saxby Chambliss's proposal:

It seems the G6 plan does not balance elimination of deductions with reductions of rates in a way that would prevent a net increase in taxes and that, in fact, a substantially higher net tax burden would likely be imposed.

As a result of such an imbalance, Americans would lose more of their money to the government through losing deductions than they will gain from lower rates. This is common sense to any American. At the end of the year, when an individual is filling out his or her tax return it will be of little consolation to that taxpayer if he or she is paying taxes at a lower statutory tax rate, if their overall amount of taxes goes up.

Specific tax hikes that Americans could face under this approach:

Tax increases that hit American families:

Eliminating 2/3 of the home mortgage interest deduction.
Eliminating 2/3 of the deduction for charitable contributions.
Phasing in a $1,250 average tax increase on health insurance.

Tax increases that make businesses less competitive:

Tax rates on capital gains and dividends would nearly double from 15 to 28 percent.
Small businesses that create two-thirds of our new jobs would lose the ability to immediately write off their purchases of capital equipment, hurting their ability to expand.
Companies that invest in research and development would no longer receive a tax credit.
Tax incentives that promote energy production would be eliminated.
Eliminates the employer wage credit for activated military reservists.

That's not me coming up with this stuff. That's Saxby Chambliss's Senate Republican colleagues.

7.5 Hours on Radio Today

I'm going to be on the radio for 8 hours today — 4.5 for Neal Boortz's show and 3 for mine this evening. It will be a long day of talking and you can listen to it all by clicking right here.

You can also call in at 1-877-310-2100 for Neal's show and this evening for mine you can call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

I'll be on 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET today and again this evening from 7pm to 10pm ET.

Consider this an open thread.

In Other Words, House Republicans Should Hold the Line on Cut, Cap, and Balance

The Wall Street Journal reports that Bank of America is probably going to cut the U.S. credit rating anyway.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch says in a note that the U.S. credit rating will likely be cut to AA by the end of the year. Even though the house believes a stopgap deal will come at the last minute, any follow-up deal is likely to be disappointing and will fail to provide a credible long-term fiscal solution or lift rating agency concerns.

In fact, in the past 30 years, we have had 17 deficit commissions and the national debt has gone up $13 trillion. Any new deal would just be par for the course on this. Congress will not account honestly for its spending and Barack Obama wants more taxes to spend even more.

The only plan that can pass by August 2nd and that will actually put us on a long term path to a balanced budget is Cut, Cap, and Balance.

The U.S. House Republicans should hold the line on this. They should absolutely not yield and not deal and not compromise. Compromise is not a dirty word for any old reason. It is a dirty word because the compromises we have been subjected to in Washington have gotten us into this mess.

Hold the freaking line.

House Republican Leaders Cave in Less Than 24 Hours

This is embarrassing.

On Fox News Sunday, John Boehner began the day saying that he wanted a deal that kept to the principles of "Cut, Cap, and Balance."

He concluded Sunday by telling House Republicans that Cut, Cap, and Balance was off the table due to Senate opposition.

Twice the House GOP has staked out a position. Twice they have been shot up and beat to hell by the Democrats for daring to do so. Twice their leaders then threw in the towel on their plans. First on Paul Ryan's plan and now this.

No wonder so many House Republicans are privately expressing so much anger at their leadership.

To make it worse, Republican Leaders on Capitol Hill are offering up what is being called a "Super Congress". In this plan, 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans would get together, come up with an agreement to make spending cuts and raise taxes. Then neither house in Congress would be able to stop those reforms — no filibuster could be used.

We've seen these sorts of commissions throughout American history. We always wind up with the tax increases. We never get the spending cuts.

In the last thirty years there have been 17 deficit commissions. The deficit has gone up $13 trillion. The cuts are always accounting gimmicks.

House Republicans should hold the freaking line. They should say "Cut, Cap, and Balance" or no deal. They should not succumb to fear. They should not be in such a race to avoid August 2nd that they get a bad deal.

History shows us how this will end up: taxes will go up and spending will go up.

It's time to stop pouring alcohol for the alcoholic. It is time to stop raising the credit limit so the spendthrifts can spend some more. It is time to hold the freaking line.

Cut, Cap, and Balance is the only plan that can be passed by August 2nd. It needs just four more votes in the Senate where it is tabled, not dead.

If Republicans in either house are seeking forgiveness for cutting deal, they will get none from the American people. If they haven't been paying attention, while they've been holding the line on cut, cap, and balance, their poll numbers among the young and poor have been going up.

Hold the freaking line.

Morning Briefing for July 25, 2011

RedState Morning Briefing

For July 25, 2011

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. Hold Fast In the Face of Fear

2. God and Oslo

3. House Republican Leaders Cave in Less Than 24 Hours

4. The Unanswered Questions for GOP Leaders from Freshmen

5. Dear Kelly Ayotte, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rob Portman, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio

6. Putting Saxby Chambliss, Mike Crapo, and Tom Coburn in Perspective

7. House Republicans Should Not Rely on Democrats For Votes on the Debt Ceiling

———————————————————————-

1. Hold Fast In the Face of Fear

I've gotten lots of calls about compromise this weekend. Senators have called. Congressmen have called. Staffers have called.

I try not to be too committal on these calls because I like to have a bit of time to think.

Here's my response: don't compromise. I've thought about it. I don't think you can get any compromise worth supporting because like an alcohol refusing to admit he has a drinking problem, Washington politicians are refusing to admit they have a spending problem. When they cut spending, they do it dishonestly — through accounting tricks and cuts to growth rates, not actual cuts. We can't send Congress to rehab. We cannot allow yet another Washington deal.

We sent you there to end Obamacare and cut Washington spending. Don't fail on both fronts, please.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. God and Oslo

Friday, I filled in for Neal Boortz on his syndicated show and was live on air as the news was breaking from the horror in Oslo, Norway.

With Al Jazeera, international news networks, and domestic networks all raising the link to an Islamic radical Norway was deporting, I put on twitter that the odds were it wasn't an angry Lutheran doing the bombing and shooting and noted on the radio the possible links to Islamic radicals.

Turns out, the now captured shooter, who I think we can probably say is connected to the bombing, lists himself as a conservative Christian on a Facebook page.

I was wrong. But the reaction to me and others being wrong and to how the news is handling this event is quite instructive.

In the Arkansas army shootings and the Ft. Hood shooting and a host of others, the media and the left have sought to downplay any possible connection to Islam the attackers or would be attackers have had. And when those of us on the right have pointed it out, we've been accused of racism and those on the left have demanded to know why it even mattered.

Contrast that with the coverage of the Oslo shooter and already the New York Times is making sure in its first few paragraphs everyone knows the guy described himself on Facebook as a "conservative Christian."

It reminds me of the left-wingers who always point out that Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh were Christians. They ignore the fact that McVeigh himself described himself as at best an agnostic, though more clearly an atheist, and Rudolph's FBI file showed he belonged to an extremist cult more Aryan than Christian.

But why all the angst from the left on this.

There are a few instructive points.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. House Republican Leaders Cave in Less Than 24 Hours

This is embarrassing.

On Fox News Sunday, John Boehner began the day saying that he wanted a deal that kept to the principles of "Cut, Cap, and Balance."

He concluded Sunday by telling House Republicans that Cut, Cap, and Balance was off the table due to Senate opposition.

Twice the House GOP has staked out a position. Twice they have been shot up and beat to hell by the Democrats for daring to do so. Twice their leaders then threw in the towel on their plans. First on Paul Ryan's plan and now this.

No wonder so many House Republicans are privately expressing so much anger at their leadership.

To make it worse, Republican Leaders on Capitol Hill are offering up what is being called a "Super Congress". In this plan, 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans would get together, come up with an agreement to make spending cuts and raise taxes. Then neither house in Congress would be able to stop those reforms — no filibuster could be used.

We've seen these sorts of commissions throughout American history. We always wind up with the tax increases. We never get the spending cuts.

In the last thirty years there have been 17 deficit commissions. The deficit has gone up $13 trillion. The cuts are always accounting gimmicks.

House Republicans should hold the freaking line. They should say "Cut, Cap, and Balance" or no deal. They should not succumb to fear. They should not be in such a race to avoid August 2nd that they get a bad deal.

History shows us how this will end up: taxes will go up and spending will go up.

It's time to stop pouring alcohol for the alcoholic. It is time to stop raising the credit limit so the spendthrifts can spend some more. It is time to hold the freaking line.

Cut, Cap, and Balance is the only plan that can be passed by August 2nd. It needs just four more votes in the Senate where it is tabled, not dead.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. The Unanswered Questions for GOP Leaders from Freshmen

Forget the tax issue or the timetable for a moment; any proposed "spending cut" deal that fails to slash funding for discretionary spending and welfare programs to pre-Obama levels, as proposed in Paul Ryan's budget, is worthless. As Congressman Dennis Ross (R-FL) tweeted earlier today, "debt "deals" that count on 10 years worth of spending cuts are the Mr Snuffleupagus of budget tricks. No one sees them except pols."

If House leaders fail to stand by their own budget, freshmen members like Ross might pose the following question: was the entire Republican majority of the 112th Congress a waste of time?

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Dear Kelly Ayotte, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rob Portman, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio

Welcome to the Senate.

It ain't easy, is it?

Here's the thing you need to know. Right now, you are probably telling yourself you need to be reasonable. You are probably telling yourself you need to cut a deal.

I'm willing to bet you are telling yourself you should do something short term and in six more months or whenever, after everything has calmed back down, revisit the issue.

Senators, you are fooling yourselves. And I bet you know it.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. Putting Saxby Chambliss, Mike Crapo, and Tom Coburn in Perspective

This is really sad and pathetic. I can only guess they have struck such a bad deal because they negotiated from a position of fear. You never get a good deal when you are negotiating because you are scared.

The Senate Budget Committee is sending around an email pointing out some of the horrors of the Gang of Six's gangrene plan.

Consider this: Saxby Chambliss, Mike Crapo, and Tom Coburn agreed to raise capital gains taxes from 15% to 28%.

Likewise, employers would no longer get a wage credit for keeping activated military reservists on the job.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

7. House Republicans Should Not Rely on Democrats For Votes on the Debt Ceiling

I think conservatives need to draw one more line in the sand on the debt ceiling.

There is a growing worry that John Boehner and Eric Cantor will come up with a deal with the White House that will require Democrat votes to get through the House of Representatives. This would be a replay of the continuing resolution fiasco that cut little and cost much.

If Republican leaders come up with a debt ceiling deal that requires Democrats to vote for it in order to get to 218, the Republicans who put those leaders in power should boot them out of power. It's that simple.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Stupid Party

Having watched this debt ceiling fight play out over the past couple of months, I keep coming back to one inescapable conclusion: we need better generals.

The Washington GOP wants to force another vote on the debt ceiling right before the election. That's one of the ideas being kicked around in part of this grand deal.

Let's play this out:

We get to the last week. The Democrats and media say the GOP will destroy the economy and risk our credit rating. Barack Obama gets the debt ceiling increased. He is hailed in the press as able to bring everyone together.

In other words, the chicken GOP too afraid to fight it out in the press will fold like cheap suits and give Barack Obama a victory right before the election. Obama will wind up looking bipartisan.

Yeah, we need better generals. This is stupidity.

Dear Kelly Ayotte, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rob Portman, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio

Welcome to the Senate.

It ain't easy, is it?

Here's the thing you need to know. Right now, you are probably telling yourself you need to be reasonable. You are probably telling yourself you need to cut a deal.

I'm willing to bet you are telling yourself you should do something short term and in six more months or whenever, after everything has calmed back down, revisit the issue.

Senators, you are fooling yourselves. And I bet you know it.

We have had, in the past 30 years, 17 deficit commissions. After almost each one, taxes have gone up, but the spending cuts have never happened.

Republicans before you have been quite reasonable. So reasonable in fact that the country is on the verge of bankruptcy.

And each time, they've gotten to the breaking point and decided, "let's just do something to get us some breathing room and revisit it again in a few months."

If you don't fight, if you decide to take deal, make a compromise, or "let cooler heads prevail" at some point in the future, you'll be no better than those who got us to this point. You will become them.

You went to Washington because Washington is broken. Pay very careful attention to the choices you are about to make. Because I suspect many of you are about to make the same choices the people before you who broke the system made. Don't let fear, uncertainty, and market upset govern your decision making processes.

The only way out of this mess is to think different — to actually care enough to fight.

It's "Sh#!"

A House Republican who is in leadership called me tonight. He said what we are hearing about — the two tier plan — is "sh*t" and he's blaming Boehner. He agrees that Boehner is getting nervous and wants a deal.

But this two tier plan seems to be the Republicans' initial offer. Harry Reid is headed that way. Many Democrats want more.

So keep in mind for purposes of negotiations, House Republican leadership members are already referring to the starting point as "sh*t" and it will only get worse from here.

One of the ways they'll claim they are cutting $1 trillion is by pretending the Iraq and Afghan wars no longer exist. They'll also do another deficit commission.

There have been 17 such deficit commissions in the past 30 years. The net result? Taxes have gone up with just about each one and spending has never actually been reduced. We've gone from $1 trillion in national debt to $14 trillion.

Also, the GOP leadership seems to want another debt ceiling vote before the election. This would be political suicide for the GOP. They'd vote to increase the debt ceiling and Barack Obama would get a definite PR win by looking bipartisan right before an election.

I think the congressman is right. This is sh*t.

Hold Fast In the Face of Fear

"The only reason this is a crisis and the only reason they now want a last minute deal is because while House Republicans were working to save the country Democrats were busy scoring cheap political points."

I've gotten lots of calls about compromise this weekend. Senators have called. Congressmen have called. Staffers have called.

I try not to be too committal on these calls because I like to have a bit of time to think.

Here's my response: don't compromise. I've thought about it. I don't think you can get any compromise worth supporting because like an alcohol refusing to admit he has a drinking problem, Washington politicians are refusing to admit they have a spending problem. When they cut spending, they do it dishonestly — through accounting tricks and cuts to growth rates, not actual cuts. We can't send Congress to rehab. We cannot allow yet another Washington deal.

We sent you there to end Obamacare and cut Washington spending. Don't fail on both fronts, please.

In Washington, reporters and good government types lament all the time that "compromise is a dirty word these days."

You're damn right it is. We've compromised our way to $14 trillion in national debt and we're looking at another $2 trillion in national debt. As Jim DeMint noted on twitter, "We've already had 17 commissions over 3 decades and $13 trillion in new debt. No more commissions."

And John Boehner, if you've paid attention in the past twenty-four hours, has taken to wearing Depends he's so freaking scared. Tonight he is offering up a modified version of Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid's plan, saying it is faithful to Cut, Cap, and Balance, but they want to back door in unstoppable tax increases and most of the spending will just be accounting gimmicks.

Fear has no business entering into your negotiations. You guys calling me looking for alternatives and fallbacks, there is no fallback. There is no alternative. Hold the freaking line.

It's not just a statement. It is a real and legitimate policy.

See, what you are forgetting is that you have done all the work and the Democrats have done none of the work. This is the ants versus the grasshoppers. While you've been diligent passing Paul Ryan and Cut, Cap, and Balance, the Democrats have been out accusing you of killing Grandma instead of coming up with their own plan.

And now they, and your own cowardly leadership, wants you to compromise with the guys who've been bashing your face in instead of offering up their own ideas.

Don't do it. Don't give in. Forget about the doom and gloom. You have done what they asked. You came up with a plan. You took personal and political hits. The only reason this is a crisis and the only reason they now want a last minute deal is because while House Republicans were working to save the country Democrats were busy scoring cheap political points.

And now after all that, they want you to throw it all away.

If you compromise now, you and I both know the debt will keep going up. You and I both know they will decide to escalate the attacks on you as a tool to force capitulation. If you compromise, you will be doing what Washington always does. And what Washington always does has gotten us where we are.

Hold the freaking line. Seriously. It's not just a cute line. You've done your bit for God and Country while they've crapped on you. So now they either take what you've offered or they starve. This is a fight worth having.

Any sane person who watched the President on Friday has got to realize this guy knows you have the upper hand. Now go force the issue.