House Republicans continued with the piecemeal government funding approach Thursday, even as chatter turned to whether Speaker John A. Boehner could finally pull off a “grand bargain” on government spending and the debt limit.
On Wednesday, the Ohio Republican met with groups of GOP lawmakers who want to pass a clean CR to reopen the government. Boehner and the lawmakers discussed the possibility of a “grand bargain” — a new one that would raise the debt ceiling, fund the government, address the sequester and extract concessions on Obamacare.
But later Wednesday night, the speaker met with President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the White House. And the negotiations — or lack thereof — seemed to have left a sour taste in the mouth of Republicans.
“The president reiterated one more time he will not negotiate,” Boehner said just after the White House meeting.
While it’s clear leaders were unable to immediately find a solution to reopen the government, the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, covered the CR and the debt limit, which expires Oct. 17. National Review’s Robert Costa also reported that Boehner brought up the idea of a “grand bargain” at the White House Wednesday evening.
Costa quoted a Democratic source as saying:
“Boehner raised the prospect of a grand bargain-type deal at the White House meeting and was laughed at because everyone feels like they’ve heard this song and dance before. The general feeling is, if he’s really ready to make some tough choices — read, revenue — then great. But the history of this from where we sit is Boehner talking a big game, then bailing as soon as he runs into the inevitable resistance from a certain faction in his caucus.”
Previous attempts by Boehner to craft a broad budget deal with the president have been swatted down by conservative elements of the House GOP.
This time could be different — if Boehner is willing to buck the tea party wing of the House GOP conference. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Boehner has assured some GOP lawmakers he will not allow the U.S. to default on its debt — a scenario that would likely have catastrophic consequences for U.S. economy and the world.
As The New York Times reported, one Republican lawmaker said Boehner has said he would allow a debt ceiling increase to pass with a majority of Democratic votes:
“The lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of not being named, said Mr. Boehner indicated he would be willing to violate the so-called Hastert rule if necessary to pass a debt limit increase. The informal rule refers to a policy of not bringing to the floor any measure that does not have a majority of Republican votes.”
GOP aides cautioned that Boehner has long said he would not allow a debt default, and that he also will still demand concessions from the White House to pass an increase in the debt limit.
But still the partisan rhetoric and warfare continued.
On the Senate floor Thursday, Reid said that Boehner privately told him weeks ago he wanted a clean CR at the current funding levels — just the legislation Democrats are insisting on now.
Also on Thursday, Cantor criticized the president for his “my way or the highway” stance. REad more at link below--
http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-works-behind-the-scenes-on-grand-bargain/
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