Republicans who seek our support during an election cycle declare emphatically that they will deal with the deficit upon being elected.  Once elected, however, they far too often evince nothing but apathy towards efforts to solve our budget crisis.  Worse yet, they even work assiduously to create new deficits.

Ever since Republicans won control of the House in 2010, instead of looking for spending cuts to offset existing deficits, they are constantly looking for ways to create new deficits, albeit with the fervent pledge to offset those new deficits.  Yesterday, several lawmakers showed us just how indifferent they are to deficit spending.

Commenting on concerns of deficit spending, John Mica, the author of the House highway bill, offered this caviler response: “Honestly I don’t pay that much attention to the financing portion because it’s not mine. But they’ve promised to find ways to fund this and so far they’ve kept their word.  It will be done. It will pass. Then I will say Amen.”

Yes, we understand that Mica is Chairman of the Transportation Committee, not Ways and Means or Appropriations.  But does he really regard the cost as such an ancillary footnote to the bill that he need not consider it when drafting the underlying bill?

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Republicans who seek our support during an election cycle declare emphatically that they will deal with the deficit upon being elected.  Once elected, however, they far too often evince nothing but apathy towards efforts to solve our budget crisis.  Worse yet, they even work assiduously to create new deficits.

Ever since Republicans won control of the House in 2010, instead of looking for spending cuts to offset existing deficits, they are constantly looking for ways to create new deficits, albeit with the fervent pledge to offset those new deficits.  Yesterday, several lawmakers showed us just how indifferent they are to deficit spending.

Commenting on concerns of deficit spending, John Mica, the author of the House highway bill, offered this caviler response: “Honestly I don’t pay that much attention to the financing portion because it’s not mine. But they’ve promised to find ways to fund this and so far they’ve kept their word.  It will be done. It will pass. Then I will say Amen.”

Yes, we understand that Mica is Chairman of the Transportation Committee, not Ways and Means or Appropriations.  But does he really regard the cost as such an ancillary footnote to the bill that he need not consider it when drafting the underlying bill?

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Our voices are finally being heard – sort of.  When we started voicing opposition to the highway bill there were few conservatives speaking out against it, and even fewer members of the House who were willing to oppose it.  Now, there is so much opposition to the bill that John Boehner was forced to delay the vote on the highway bill, which was previously scheduled for today:

Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference Wednesday morning that it was “more important that we do it right than that we do it fast” in explaining his decision, a clear signal GOP leaders lack the votes to win approval of the package.

“Given the volume of amendments and the need for a full, fair, open and transparent process, we may not finish energy/infrastructure this week,” Boehner told his conference, according to a source in the room. “If we need more time to debate and consider amendments, that’s perfectly fine with me. It’s more important that we do it right than that we do it fast.”

The bottom line is that Boehner and McCarthy are lacking the votes.  They plan to suspend consideration of the bill until after next week’s President’s Day recess.

But there is another issue regarding the offsets of the bill.  CQ is reporting that “lawmakers needed time to examine their options for offsetting the bill’s cost, because a proposal involving federal employee pensions is also being used in a package (HR 3630) that would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and other expiring provisions.”  According to media reports of the tentative ‘extenders’ deal, $15 billion in savings from pension reform will go towards the $50 billion deficit created by a 10-month extension of unemployment benefits and Medicare doc fix.  It’s sad that there is such a dearth of items they are willing to cut that they need to recycle the same offsets for multiple bills.

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Our voices are finally being heard – sort of.  When we started voicing opposition to the highway bill there were few conservatives speaking out against it, and even fewer members of the House who were willing to oppose it.  Now, there is so much opposition to the bill that John Boehner was forced to delay the vote on the highway bill, which was previously scheduled for today:

Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference Wednesday morning that it was “more important that we do it right than that we do it fast” in explaining his decision, a clear signal GOP leaders lack the votes to win approval of the package.

“Given the volume of amendments and the need for a full, fair, open and transparent process, we may not finish energy/infrastructure this week,” Boehner told his conference, according to a source in the room. “If we need more time to debate and consider amendments, that’s perfectly fine with me. It’s more important that we do it right than that we do it fast.”

The bottom line is that Boehner and McCarthy are lacking the votes.  They plan to suspend consideration of the bill until after next week’s President’s Day recess.

But there is another issue regarding the offsets of the bill.  CQ is reporting that “lawmakers needed time to examine their options for offsetting the bill’s cost, because a proposal involving federal employee pensions is also being used in a package (HR 3630) that would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and other expiring provisions.”  According to media reports of the tentative ‘extenders’ deal, $15 billion in savings from pension reform will go towards the $50 billion deficit created by a 10-month extension of unemployment benefits and Medicare doc fix.  It’s sad that there is such a dearth of items they are willing to cut that they need to recycle the same offsets for multiple bills.

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Renee Ellmers (R-NC), took on Henry Waxman (D-CA) in spectacular fashion today in a joint House-Senate hearing on the payroll tax cut extension.

“What you say is completely and totally incorrect.”

Unfortunately a transcript is not yet available, but Rep. Ellmers takes the whole committee to task on ineffectiveness, useless rhetoric, and grandstanding, in a classic rant. It is especially satisfying to hear someone in Congress call out Democrats on their use of “emergency” rhetoric after failing to take care of any of our economic problems, or even pass a budget, last year. More of this, please.

Renee Ellmers (R-NC), took on Henry Waxman (D-CA) in spectacular fashion today in a joint House-Senate hearing on the payroll tax cut extension.

“What you say is completely and totally incorrect.”

Unfortunately a transcript is not yet available, but Rep. Ellmers takes the whole committee to task on ineffectiveness, useless rhetoric, and grandstanding, in a classic rant. It is especially satisfying to hear someone in Congress call out Democrats on their use of “emergency” rhetoric after failing to take care of any of our economic problems, or even pass a budget, last year. More of this, please.

Mitch McConnell‘s minion are in full on spin mode trying to blame Speaker of the House John Boehner for botching the payroll tax cut extension. The only person who deserves any blame is Mitch McConnell. In this, the first deal he pretty much single handedly negotiated with the Democrats, he not only screwed up, but proved he has no freaking clue how to get the economy growing again.

The House has postponed a vote on the matter but members of the House are in open rebellion about it. In exchange for the Keystone Pipeline, which would probably make the President veto the whole thing anyway, the GOP would go for a two month extension of the payroll tax cut and raise fees on mortgages permanently.

Note the last bit. McConnell was okay raising fees on the American people permanently to offset a two month payroll tax cut. And it would not just raise fees on mortgages, it would, in effect, perpetuate the sad, sick cycle of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac controlling the mortgage industry with no reforms to either.

McConnell now wants us to know this is all John Boehner’s fault and John Boehner had intended to go along with it. Except that comes as news to plenty of people in the House. There is a larger point, though, that is being ignored.

Mitch McConnell negotiated a two month extension of the payroll tax cut and businesses in America, particularly small businesses, need to plan for a full year. The GOP has blamed Obama and the Democrats for “uncertainty” in the economy and Mitch McConnell sought to exacerbate that uncertainty playing political games with a payroll tax cut.

To compound the stupidity of it all the deal cannot even be implemented by most businesses in America. Mitch McConnell, who supposedly is on the side of job creators, seemingly has no clue how this payroll tax cut would affect businesses and clearly did not understand its implications enough to know just how wholly unworkable it is.

In other words, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate has become such a creature of Washington, he like the Democrats we fight, knows not a darn thing about how to get Washington out of the way of the job creators or, worse, he does not care.

Mitch McConnell‘s minion are in full on spin mode trying to blame Speaker of the House John Boehner for botching the payroll tax cut extension. The only person who deserves any blame is Mitch McConnell. In this, the first deal he pretty much single handedly negotiated with the Democrats, he not only screwed up, but proved he has no freaking clue how to get the economy growing again.

The House has postponed a vote on the matter but members of the House are in open rebellion about it. In exchange for the Keystone Pipeline, which would probably make the President veto the whole thing anyway, the GOP would go for a two month extension of the payroll tax cut and raise fees on mortgages permanently.

Note the last bit. McConnell was okay raising fees on the American people permanently to offset a two month payroll tax cut. And it would not just raise fees on mortgages, it would, in effect, perpetuate the sad, sick cycle of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac controlling the mortgage industry with no reforms to either.

McConnell now wants us to know this is all John Boehner’s fault and John Boehner had intended to go along with it. Except that comes as news to plenty of people in the House. There is a larger point, though, that is being ignored.

Mitch McConnell negotiated a two month extension of the payroll tax cut and businesses in America, particularly small businesses, need to plan for a full year. The GOP has blamed Obama and the Democrats for “uncertainty” in the economy and Mitch McConnell sought to exacerbate that uncertainty playing political games with a payroll tax cut.

To compound the stupidity of it all the deal cannot even be implemented by most businesses in America. Mitch McConnell, who supposedly is on the side of job creators, seemingly has no clue how this payroll tax cut would affect businesses and clearly did not understand its implications enough to know just how wholly unworkable it is.

In other words, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate has become such a creature of Washington, he like the Democrats we fight, knows not a darn thing about how to get Washington out of the way of the job creators or, worse, he does not care.

Here’s the background: the current hot topic of conversation in domestic politics right now is whether or not to extend a temporary payroll tax cut. It’s currently an object of some controversy on the GOP side, largely because it would involve effectively another 180 billion in spending; Democrats were in fact kind of gleeful about that, given that it promised to give Republicans a bit of a problem between specifically choosing between less spending and lower taxes (two things that have been long-term fiscal conservative goals). Unfortunately for the Democrats, they aren’t the only ones that can give their opponents uncomfortable choices: Speaker John Boehner made a deal where the tax cuts would be bundled up with provisions towards hastening the development of the ethical oil Keystone Pipeline. This reportedly will ensure that the tax cuts will pass the House.

The problem here is that the White House has decided that it would rather pander to homophobic, racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and anti-democratic conflict oil regimes abroad – and those regimes’ radical progressive allies at home – than to produce jobs for working class Americans (even the ones that work for private sector unions). The White House has thus announced that it will veto the bill (via @davidhauptmann) if it passes the Keystone jobs program language. Speaker Boehner has already made it clear that he’s aware of the threat, and is not allowing it to affect House business.

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