Who is this Grover Norquist dude, and how did he manage to score so much influence amongst Republicans in the debt-ceiling debate? Alan Simpson — a Republican who helped head Obama’s bipartisan deficit committee earlier this year — called out Norquist for seemingly forcing the GOP into a no-compromise corner on tax increases. “If Grover Norquist is more powerful than the President of the United States and the Congress,” Simpson told Lawrence O’Donnell, “he should run for President.” Harsh words, bro.
Our debt crisis is a threat not just to our way of life but to our national survival. And the threat that we face is so real and so close that we do not have further time for gridlock or inaction. It’s necessary that we take strong, aggressive action now.Idaho Sen. (and deficit committee member) Mike Crapo • Revealing that he, along with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, would be voting in favor of the deficit committee’s proposal Friday. That means that, along with retiring Sen. Judd Gregg, three Republicans would be voting to send the proposal for a vote in Congress. Problem is, that brings the grand total up to around nine votes. Fourteen of the nineteen members need to vote yes. At least three other Republicans (including our boy Paul Ryan) and one Democrat (Max Baucus) will vote against it. But that may not matter, according to committee co-chairman Alan Simpson. ”Whether we get two votes or 18, this baby ain’t goin’ away,” he said. He’s right; the ideas will remain no matter what happens. source (via • follow)
Deficit Panel’s final findings: Mostly the same as the draft: These guys have offered up a plan that, among other things, would cut 200,000 federal jobs and trim defense spending. But will Congress go for it? source
» How will Congress adopt these ideas? Don’t expect a wholesale adoption of these ideas pushed forward by a bipartisan team of Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, but the ideas will definitely push Congress in a fiscally mindful direction.
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