Seven hours ago, House Republicans were fired up and ready to kill the bipartisan fiscal agreement that the Senate passed easily last night. Tonight, however, the House passed the Senate deal without too much trouble, 257 to 167.
House Speaker John Boehner was, as expected, forced to ignore the arbitrary, so-called "Hastert Rule," and bring the bill to the floor despite the opposition of most of the majority caucus. By the time the gavel fell, however, it was far more than a sliver of House GOP members who bit the bullet and grudgingly supported the compromise -- 85 Republicans voted for the bill tonight, while 151 voted against it.
Of particular interest was the division among GOP leaders. Boehner and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan voted for the Senate compromise, while House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy voted against it.
The rumors of sharp fissures among Republican leaders are true, and Boehner and Cantor are obviously not on the same page. It's a dynamic that's well worth watching as the new Congress gets underway, and the House GOP leadership tries to govern with an even smaller caucus.
Regardless, while Boehner surely wished he enjoyed more support from his own members, Cantor does not end the evening looking especially strong -- he briefly led the insurgency against the fiscal agreement this afternoon, and ignored the wishes of his own Speaker, but the effort to derail the deal ended up failing badly.
President Obama, who will sign the completed agreement quite soon, is scheduled to speak from the White House briefing room any minute now.
But as the dust settles, it's worth considering how the day unfolded in the House. The GOP caucus gathered for a preliminary, midday meeting at which Republicans insisted on "amending" the bipartisan bill -- making it far more favorable to the right -- and then sending it back to the Senate with an ultimatum: pass the House version or else.
But by the time House Republicans gathered for a rare evening meeting, the push behind the effort had fizzled, and the earlier threats started to look like empty bluster. So, what happened? A few things, actually.
First, GOP members realized that amending the Senate package would necessarily unravel the entire process, and there would be no doubt in anyone's mind who would receive -- and deserve -- the blame for higher taxes and sweeping austerity measures that would do real harm to the economy: House Republicans.
Second, there was limited support for an amended bill, anyway. Remember, Boehner's "Plan B," which died an ignominious death just two weeks ago, set the higher marginal income tax threshold at a $1 million and included all kinds of right-wing goodies intended to secure Republican support. It failed miserably. The amended Senate bill would have set the threshold at $450,000 and it would have generated zero Democratic votes. It quickly became apparent that the proposal couldn't pass, and wasn't worth pursuing.
The clock only made matters worse -- GOP leaders, having already missed the New Year's Eve deadline, maintained they wanted to wrap this up well in advance of financial markets opening in the morning.
And that left the House with a choice: either pass or kill the deal. With the help of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her disciplined caucus, the chamber chose the former.
One other thought to keep in mind as members head to the cameras tonight: House Republicans had no say in shaping this deal, but that was by design. I saw Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) complain this afternoon that he thinks the Senate acted like a "dictatorship" that wants to rule over the House.
Let's not forget recent history -- which is to say, the history from last week. The White House worked with the Speaker and his office on a compromise, and Boehner abandoned the talks. A few days later, Boehner's caucus abandoned him, leaving a scenario in which the entire chamber was lost and directionless.
And it was at that point, the Speaker announced, "Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff." In other words, the House GOP leadership gave up and ceded power to the Senate and the White House.
House Republicans weren't really in a position to wait until Jan. 1 and then decide it had changed its mind about who deserved to have a hand in crafting a bipartisan agreement. The Senate didn't play the role of a "dictatorship"; it simply did the work the House was unable and unwilling to do.
And now, the process is over, and the bill heads to the White House for the president's signature. We'll have plenty more coverage in the morning.
Leave a Comment:
Nancy Pelosi yet again shows she can manage the House Democratic Caucus. Harry Reid on the other hand, is starting to look a bit like Boehner. Maybe it's time for New Democratic leadership in the Senate. A woman? Boxer? Feinstein? Murray?
In my dreams, Barbara Boxer would be Senate Majority Leader.
They should replace the whole congress with women. This macho man pissing contest has to stop. Women would not let children go hungry.
As in 'Clash of the Titans' ; when people stop worshiping these demigods, they lose their power. Perhaps the altar of the teabag will continue to lose its congregation. The clay feet are visible for anyone willing to look.
Despite all this "bipartisanship," one fact remains.
The Republicans will not directly work with the President.
Granted, he brought them in and sat them down, but for all the times they walked out on him, you can't tell me they worked with him on any of this.
In the end, it was McConnell and Vice President Biden. McConnell knew he could get some wiggle from the Vice President, but not from Reid. We got less than what we wanted but, more than we could have ended up with.
We also confirmed that John Boehner couldn't hold a caucus together even if he had superglu and zip ties. He still has a bunch of tantrum throwing tea partiers to deal with, and he's just a complete failure. He should be replaced, the alternative is worse. Be careful what you wish for.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Thanks for the great debate and discussion this past year, looking forward to more.
Ms. Maddow, thanks for doing what you do. I'd rather listen to you than the big network goombahs. This Veteran thanks you for keeping the focus on our military folks, and making sure the rest of the nation knows what Veterans face when coming home from war.
Mr. Benen, outstanding job since you've been with us, you've guided us through some pretty rough spots, thank you for sticking to the facts, and keeping us informed and well-read.
To the rest of the TRMS team, thank you..thank you, thank you!
I wish you all the best in the coming year.
So, let's queue up the next round of discussions, and get back on the horse. 2013 - it's going to be a long ride.
I am a little confused on the bi-partisanship bill?This bill going to be passed for a vote in the senate, but what will it mandate?
Does it have some agreement for the parties to finaly comprimise agree and work together, in some time restraint.
Meaning if the speaker Boehner and pres. Obama are deadlocked like in this fiscal cliff fiasco there would be a intermidiary body to rule on the stalemate?
So how do those 151 Republicans go back to their districts and explain that they voted against a tax cut for 98% of their constituents? I surely hope people hold their feet to the fire on this one.
Lost in all thisFISCAL CLIFF hysteria and headline grabbing soundbite crapola are the people N.J. N.Y. and all those devastated by Superstorm Sandy. They have been ignored and virtually kicked to the curb by both houses of congress.It's Katrina all over again.These grandstanding bastards have no shame,no sense of their duty to the people of this country.Their only interest is getting ink and stroking their ever so delicate egos.Of course their interest is only in themselves.Their should be a reckoning come the mid-term elections.Every voter should remember the bastard obstructionists who did not act when action was called for!!!!!!
This whole process was a circus. It will take a few days for the dust to settle and then the knives will come out. But in the end it was just sad to watch a bunch of people elected to office to serve this country only watch out for themselves and their petty grievances.
May I ask a question? There are people squawking about the $400,000 threshold- what exactly is the issue? The purpose was to ensure that people making less than $250,000 continued to receive the benefits of the Bush Tax era cuts and that has been achieved. And when you compare $400,000 to the million, billions and trillions of some- what difference does it make!?
Ideally, $250K, but I won't quibble right now over $200K difference. This way, we stabilize economy a bit more than if suddenly all those taxes went up. The payroll tax will hamper some earning wages below $110 who've gotten used to that 2.5% (not that noticeable for some, maybe for others?).
Anyway, I've already stated my displeasure that we have to go through this again in a couple of months, only it's the spending cuts we wrangle now.
Yep, get ready to do battle. making calls, sending emails regarding maintaining the New Deal. The GOP has all that in their sights. They are going to use all their arsenal on it. Social Security, Medicare included.
The payroll FICA tax reduction cuts the contributions to Social Security Retirement plan. In other words, that tax cut, 2% for both employer and employee takes money out of the system. Basically it weakens the system, and is exactly what most people in this country don't want to happen.
I know that the Government said they would put the funds that the tax took out of the SSA system back in from General Funds, but that is exactly what we don't want to happen. Once you put the money for Social Security in the General Fund, it becomes an item that is controlled by Congress and no longer a self funded retirement insurance program. We need to end the FICA Tax Holiday and allow the fund to be self funded, as it was designed by some, as it turns out, pretty sharp cookies. Unless, of course, you really think that Congress is the perfect custodian of your retirement plan.
I heard a retirement/investment councilor complain about the fact that Americans don't put enough money into a retirement program on NPR. He said he wanted to make it mandatory for 15% of earnings, part from the individual and part from the employer, be put into a retirement/investment program starting at age 21. So maybe we should not only end the FICA holiday but increase the contribution to 7.5% form the 6.xx% it is now. Put it in a fund that will be there when you retire versus hoping that when you have to retire, your 401K plan is at its highest value, unlike what happened in 2008.
Yeah, the key point that jumps out to me is the person is an investment counselor. There is a good chance there is an "interest" in their self, which may or may not be a conflict of interest? I am always on the lookout for what's in it for them.
I am not opposed to making a buck, but there is a lot of advertising that needs extra scrutiny. What are they selling and does this benefit me and how?
There's been a concerted effort and push to privatize the SS and Medicare, but the government is the biggest pool available to administer these things based on what you contributed and eligibility.
I do think the government is the most secure way to administer a mandatory minimal retirement and health program.
I do think it's best for youth to have a mandatory contribution into SS and Medicare. I was once young, retirement and health for my old age was the last thing on my mind.
This has been an intentional effort to sway opinions against SS and Medicare, both. It's not by accident people call the government into question and show how you could be wealthier if you privatized it.
http://zfacts.com/p/477.html
Pay attention to the Cato Institution 1983 link in the above link. You will see that there is a think tank working on "thinking" and messaging to those that benefit fro these things.
I do advocate for saving your own 401k, but there are ups and downs, as you've said. 2008 and I other major blowouts in Wall St. But you can invest your money in other things than stocks.
I think the payroll tax holiday will need to end, but we are slowly recovering from 2008 and these wars are winding down.
The GOP needs to get their house in order if they want to survive. Then again, perhaps it's best if the Tea Party splits off and they all battle for the Republican vote.