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Boehner On The Brink

This is real drama: But on the matter causing all the Congressional stress, the speaker offered no clue as to how he expected Congress to get out of the dead end it has found itself in, with the government shut for a fourth day and no clear path to raise the federal debt limit to avoid the […]

This is real drama:

But on the matter causing all the Congressional stress, the speaker offered no clue as to how he expected Congress to get out of the dead end it has found itself in, with the government shut for a fourth day and no clear path to raise the federal debt limit to avoid the nation’s first default. “We are locked in an epic battle,” the speaker told his rank and file, those who attended the meeting said, urging them to “hang tough.”

The overarching problem for the man at the center of the budget fight, say allies and opponents, is that he and his leadership team have no real idea how to resolve the fiscal showdown.

They are only trying to survive another day, Republican strategists say, hoping to maintain unity as long as possible so that when the Republican position collapses, they can capitulate on two issues at once — financing the government and raising the debt ceiling — and head off any internal party backlash. Republican lawmakers say Mr. Boehner has assured them privately that he will not permit a default.

What a freaking disaster. The NYT got this jarring quote:

Asked what the House was doing, Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California and a Boehner loyalist, said: “You really have to call Cruz, I’m not even joking about that. That’s really what you have to do, because he’s the one that set up the strategy, he’s the one that got us into this mess, and so we’ve got to know what the next move is.”

Meanwhile, Politico reports that Senate Republicans are just about ready to string Ted Cruz up. Excerpt:

But as the government shutdown heads into day three, a number of Republican senators privately blame the Texas freshman for contributing to the mess their party finds itself in. And now that they’re in it, they say it’s up to Cruz to help find a solution.

“It was very evident to everyone in the room that Cruz doesn’t have a strategy – he never had a strategy, and could never answer a question about what the end-game was,” said one senator who attended the meeting. “I just wish the 35 House members that have bought the snake oil that was sold could witness what was witnessed today at lunch.”

It’s clear that the GOP is going to crack. But will it extend to the foundations?

UPDATE: Reader Fulton calls the next phase of this drama:

The Cruz strategy seems pretty clear to me – when a deal is made he’ll denounce it as a sellout and be feted as the last pure Republican by the usual suspects. It’s all about Ted.

I think that’s right. Cruz is going to be the leader of the Remnant, boldly standing against the RINOs.

BTW, I love this story about the Republican Congresswoman from North Carolina who was happy to let 800,000 Federal workers do without their paychecks, but she wasn’t going to suffer herself — until public pressure forced her to cave. This priceless quote, initially justifying her hypocrisy:

“I need my paycheck. That is the bottom line.”

 

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