Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Why Romney Is MIA On Debt Ceiling

Mitt Romney, that summer soldier and sunshine patriot, has apparently retreated from the call to war. So thinks some in the conservative media who fight valiantly from their million dollar trenches. Mark Halperin laments that Romney is "no profile in courage on the Beohner scheme."

Let's take this one step at a time. First, a quick 57 second video on why raising the debt ceiling is necessary. Please watch the video and tell me how not raising the debt ceiling is a good idea.



You got that? It's really quite simple. That's why Beohner wants a deal. That's why Romney doesn't want to say anything. There are really no good options for Republicans who want to win a general election.

1. They can demand that the debt ceiling not be raised. This is not going to be a popular move come 2012. Especially if the economy crashes. But at least Michelle Bachmann will win the hearty endorsement of those fighting in their million dollar trenches. And then there is Tim Pawlenty, who will gladly have the debt ceiling raised, if only Congress will go through the completely futile charade of trying to muster up support for changing the Constitution into requiring the federal government to limit its spending to 18% of the GDP.

2. They can blast talk radio for not understanding anything about the federal budget and thus demanding that the debt ceiling remain untouched. This also is not a good option, especially if you are trying to win the Republican nomination.

3. They can try their best to avoid the discussion. Enter that summer soldier.

It may not be a profile in courage, but it really is the best option. 

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pablo, here's another point of view on why Romney is being somewhat reserved in his comments about the debt ceiling.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2015700829_dionne25.html?prmid=op_ed

Massachusetts Conservative said...

That's simply a lie. Mitt is not MIA on the debt ceiling. He supports cut, cap, and balance. He said at the NH debate that unless he got cut, cap, and balance passed, he would not raise the debt limit.

John said...

Great work Pablo. I hate it, but the debt ceiling will have to be raised.

And it will be. Mark my words, on monday, just before the stock market opens, an agreement will be announced. If they wait any longer, the stock market will start to dive (it may fall this week as well of course). It's just like the budget deal; they'll wait until it's like an hour left until deadline and then they'll reach an agreement. It's just a show.

Most likely, they'll agree on 83 % cuts and 17 % tax hikes. That way, Republicans can go home to their districts and tell people how they forced Obama to bigger cuts than he'd ever agree to (1 % bigger than he'd ever agree to, but anyway).

Anonymous said...

Romney's eye is on the jobs ball--the issue voters are most concerned about.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Mitt Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul, with brevity, suggests - kind of - that the Republican frontunner is supportive of House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling plan, which is coming under a growing amount of fire from pro-growth groups:

“Gov. Romney thinks President Obama’s leadership has been an historic failure. He applauds Leader Boehner for standing firm against raising taxes when our nation can least afford them.”

It's the most important issue of the day nationally, but so far Romney - who's engaged in a cautious, less-is-hopefully-more strategy - hasn't issued a statement in his own words, or weighed in on the current developments, something most of his rivals have been doing. On the other hand, given how politically unpredictable the situation is, the strategy may pay dividends down the road.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59967.html#ixzz1TGS7PAtZ

-Martha

Pablo said...

Anon,

I think that article is fairly on. Romney avoids a landmine as well as keeps his attention on the issue that the voters care about -- jobs.

Pablo said...

Massachusetts Conservative,

Please explain the quote above from Romney's spokesman that Martha just posted. It sounds like Mitt supports Beohner's deal.

Pablo said...

John,

There is no way on God's green earth that Republicans agree to any plan that has any tax increases. The 83/17 plan is what Obama wants. Republicans are demanding a 100/0 plan and they will gladly not raise the debt ceiling if they don't get it.

Here is to hoping that all of the common sense comes into play and that we avert a disaster.

John said...

Pablo and Martha

Jobs are not a separate issue. If the US defaults, you won't get any new jobs. It will be more like a great depression with unemployment in the 20's or 30's. Could even lead to a world war as I outlined in an earlier post.

So it's no excuse to say "I'm focusing on jobs so I don't have time for the debt ceiling". And if voters don't understand that those two issues are related, well for God's sake teach them! Am I really the only one who thinks that conservatives should try educating voters?

John said...

Btw pablo, I'm on Skype if you want to talk.

Pablo said...

John, the US government will more than likely not default on its loans. It will cut nearly half of government overnight if it doesn't raise the debt ceiling. This is going to have devastating effects on jobs in the US.

Right Wingnut said...

So...

Previously, he stated he wouldn't support an increase in the debt ceiling without a balanced budget amendment...now, he supports Boehner's deal, which only cuts $1 billion from the budget this year?

Flip flop...flip flop...flip flop...

What a coward.

Right Wingnut said...

Pablo,

So...Mitt is avoiding the issue to help his election chances.

Isn't that how we got in this mess in the first place? I have no doubt that a Romney presidency would be ruled by similar political expediency.

Right Wingnut said...

He said at the NH debate that unless he got cut, cap, and balance passed, he would not raise the debt limit.

MassCon,

Do you have a link to a quote indicating what you said? I tried to find one. I'll look some more.

Anonymous said...

Fred Thompson is right on the money:

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/272744/open-letter-house-gop-fred-thompson


-Martha

Anonymous said...

RW is half right. Romney signed the CUT CAP AND BALANCE pledge, which encourages members of Congress to not vote for any debt increase unless all three conditions are met.

That's why his statement is vague:

'He applauds Leader Boehner for standing firm against raising taxes when our nation can least afford them.'

But seriously, the House GOP needs to sign on and stop the nonsense.

I wish Romney hadn't signed that pledge.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Here's what he said in the debate, RW:

QUESTIONER: If you were president of the country today, what would you do about the deficit?

ROMNEY: Three things, because we have this emergency coming up with the debt ceiling–

QUESTIONER: [...] Do you think we should raise the debt limit, and if yes, why do you call it a limit?

ROMNEY: The answer for the country is for the president to agree to cut federal spending, to cap federal spending,and to put in place a balanced budget amendment. And that is the answer for the country. [...] It is within, in my view, the president’s power to say to the leadership in the House and the Senate, “I will cut spending, I will cap spending, I wil pursue a balanced budget amendment.” And if the president will do those things, this whole issue will disappear.

-Martha

Right Wingnut said...

Martha,

He has also called cut, cap, and balance "the line in the sand" for raising the debt ceiling.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59001.html

I see troubled waters ahead for Mitt on this issue.

Anonymous said...

RW,

I want to win in 2012, including the senate. This debt ceiling debate will hurt our chances if the House holdouts don't shut up and be happy with what Boehner was able to accomplish.

The House needs to realize that we hold 1/2 of 1/3 of government. We can't get our way on everything. The American people's number one concern is jobs and the economy.

Romney is doing exactly what he should be doing.

-Martha

Right Wingnut said...

Martha,

Regardless, Mitt kinda, sorta flipped on this issue. It went from CCB being the "line in the sand" to a vague, weak statement from his spokesperson about Boehner's efforts to prevent tax increases. We're cutting an entire $1 billion dollars from this year's budget. The federal government spends $10 billion per day. C'mon...

Anonymous said...

Pablo, you're embarassing yourself. Please try to research on Mitt's position on #Cut,Cap,Balance first before you open your mouth or in this case write something untruthful about Mitt. You making yourself looks like Obama, the incompetent guy. I know you're smarter than Obama...but please work harder and don't be like those lazy, liberal journalists out there.

Anonymous said...

RW, yes I agree, Mitt's position is a little tricky. But I don't know what else he can do, and I also don't think it matters a whole lot.

-Martha

Anonymous said...

Anon, not too long ago, Pablo wrote a post about Romney and the cut cap and balance pledge.

BTW Pablo. The first comment was mine, I forgot to sign my name.

-Martha

Massachusetts Conservative said...

I don't think anyone cares that Mitt agrees with Boehner on opposing tax increases. It's not like he endorsed Boehner's plan.

If anything, his statement on Boehner's plan was a non-statement, attempting to praise Boehner for opposing tax increases, without endorsing Boehner's plan.

Anonymous said...

RW,there's someone who really flip-flopped on the debt ceiling:

“It is not the apocalypse,” she said, and questioned the need for the urgent negotiating sessions Republicans and Democrats were conducting in search of a debt-limit agreement (ongoing at press time). “The fact is that we have $2.6 trillion in revenue coming in, and if we just use some common sense there—take that revenue, service the debt first, take care of national priorities—we don’t have to increase debt.”
Such an approach would require some drastic spending cuts, of the sort that can become politically uncomfortable for Republicans. Palin said bring it on. “There is so much spending that is not a priority for national security or for those constitutionally mandated services and accepted services that the public wants to see their federal government provide—take care of those things,” she said. “Everything else is going to have to wait, and that’s just reality.” She would like to revamp, or even eliminate, whole agencies—the Department of Energy, for example—as Reagan once spoke of doing. “That’s the kind of grand reform that is very, very difficult to do. But it can be done.”
Palin made it clear that she’s against any deal that raises the debt ceiling and would hold House Speaker John Boehner’s feet to the fire if he agreed to one. “No, we have to cut spending. It is imperative, and I will be very, very disappointed if Boehner and the leaders of the Republican Party cave on any kind of debt deal in the next couple of months.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/07/10/palin-plots-her-next-move.html

Yet, she told Hannity that it needed to be raised.

Which is it?

-Martha

Anonymous said...

I think she told Hannity that it was inevitable that it was going to be raised...not that it had to be.

jerseyrepublican

Glenn Becker said...

What this country needs is a President who will sign a pledge to refer all issues that reach the Oval Office to Grover Norquist for his determination.
Hell, we've already got a House majority that does this, and look how well that's working.