The GOP’s problem: There’s no bridging the gap between Tea Party and reality

[ProSense]

Greg Sargent

* The GOP’s problem: There’s no bridging the gap between Tea Party and reality:

Why do the Tea Party and the right adamantly oppose Mitch McConnell’s proposal to transfer control of the debt ceiling to the president as a way out of an impasse that many think is badly damaging the GOP?

The answer, paradoxically, lies in the beauty of the McConnell plan: It was crafted to allow Republicans to repeatedly vote against raising the debt ceiling without actually stopping it from being raised.

McConnell and other GOP leaders know full well the debt ceiling must be hiked. But they also know full well that this is entirely unacceptable to large swaths of the base who now see this as their number one ideological cause celebre, on a par with the now-forgotten drive to repeal Obamacare. So his plan tries to solve both these problems at once. It provides for Republicans to vote to “disapprove” of each debt ceiling hike the President pursues. But since they need a veto proof majority to block each debt limit hike, those “disapproval” votes won’t actually stop the hikes from happening — keeping the business community happy and averting economic and political disaster.

The problem for GOP leaders, however, is that the Tea Party and the right are dead serious about this stopping-the-debt-ceiling-hike thing — reality and the consequences be damned. Solid majorities of Republican voters and Tea Partyers don’t even think failure to raise it will be a problem. Symbolic votes to “disapprove” of debt ceiling hikes aren’t enough. Anything short of stopping the debt ceiling from going up is unacceptable. The McConnell plan would surrender the GOP’s ability to do this. Therefore it’s a total cave-in.

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[TheCowsCameHome]

1. The ultimate bridge to nowhere.

Ted Stevens would be proud.

[Peacetrain]

2. Exactly...there is nothing you can give them to be a part of a governing body

they are insane....truly insane, in the way the followers of the Hitler were insane. They are working under the delusion that they have a mandate from the "people" while not listening to the "people" at the same time. It is a no win situation. Backed by the Kochs money
So you have a totally dysfunctional group now controlling the majority of state houses and legislatures.. and the house.

They signed a blood oath to one man.. norquist.. and they will take the country down.

The only saving grace we have now is that we have the senate, the Presidency and a few terrified regular republicans and a populace going "what the hell did we put in office?"

Problem is, once in , they are like cockroaches.. you just cannot stamp on them ... you have to have a complete delousing of the property.

SO that means Democrats.. and the Democratic Party is the ONLY thing big enough to take them on, is going to have to try and take them out on a state level as well as a Federal level.

[wiggs]

3. It's not a cave in if you lie and point fingers so that your base

has no idea what really happened.

90% of talk radio (conservative) will still blame dems and Obama for the world's ills.

As if they needed some real life excuses (they don't) what will happen is that the House will pass some crazy tea party bills. These bills will not pass in the senate, of course. Congress will then go back and craft some compromise bill that will BARELY pass in the House (needing full dem support and just enough pug support by pugs in safe districts who were told by leadership to vote yes) and will pass in the senate and Obama will sign it just in time to avert major problems. Again...all of RWdom will say that if it weren't for those devious dems we would be balancing our budgets and that it proves that 2012 is the most important election of our lifetimes and Obama must be a one term president.