By Ed Randazzo
The recent experience with the 2011 budget in Congress has led me to take a hard look at the realities we will be facing shortly regarding the debt limit negotiations.
Fueled by the firepower of the tea parties, conservatives in numbers were sent to the House in Washington. Republicans gained control of the House, but not conservatives. The Senate is still controlled by the Debtocrats.
The decidedly conservative House freshman class has been vocal about their resolve to reduce the debt by cutting the budget but delivering on their promise will be extremely difficult if not impossible with the current make up of Congress. Real meaningful cuts were not attained in the 2011 budget negotiations and I fear a similar result in the debt limit negotiations.
The Debtocrats are all over the media already with dire predictions of default if the debt limit is not raised which, of course, is disingenuous but will be touted often enough and hyped often enough by the media to be perceived as true.
When Congress returns from its recess, we’ll see political rhetoric and posturing over the debt ceiling fight that the media will blow up out of all proportion. But in the end, Republicans will likely vote to raise the debt limit and gain only meager concessions.
What’s worse is that the tea parties will be disappointed again on the debt limit deal and may despair of support for the House frosh. If that happens, it will make the difficult fight over Ryan’s 2012 budget even more difficult.
Realistically, there’s a limit to what House Republicans can do when Debtocrats control the Senate and the presidency.
Perhaps the heady successes of 11/2010 have fostered some unrealistic expectations.
“Fueled by the firepower of the tea parties.” That’s funny, considering the local chapters of the tea party in Rapid are at war. Your comments are right up there with Trump taking credit for President Obama’s release of his long form birth certificate. The election of the GOP members last cycle was merely a correction for the previous cycle when the Dems swept into power. It’s the natural checks and balances of our political system at work, that’s why it’s funny you guys take credit for it.