White House Gets Debt Ceiling Victory As Government Shutdown Threat Lessens

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Interesting!

excerpts:

White House Gets Debt Ceiling Victory As Government Shutdown Threat Lessens

Sam Stein
First Posted: 8/29/11 03:18 PM ET Updated: 8/29/11 03:28 PM ET

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WASHINGTON -- The White House appears to have achieved one of its primary goals following the debt ceiling deal, with congressional Republicans showing little interest in extending budget fights through the fall.

In meeting after meeting with liberal and labor constituency groups following the protracted debt debate, Obama administration officials offered three specific reasons as to why the resulting deal was not the cataclysm that progressives believed it to be.

For starters, it protected the Democratic Party's sacred cows: there were no cuts to Medicaid or Social Security or to Medicare benefits. Secondly, by averting default, the White House had escaped a hostage-taking situation bruised but intact. In meetings with progressive and labor organizations, White House director of public engagement Jon Carson and top economic adviser Gene Sperling stressed that the debt ceiling debate had been the one "brutal" battle that stood between the 2010 and 2012 elections. The administration's chief objective, they said, had been to lessen the bitterness of the pill the Democratic Party had to swallow.

"There was agreement in the room that House Republicans were willing to push us overboard to make their agenda happen," said one labor source briefed on the pitch President Obama made to the AFL-CIO's Executive Council days after the deal was reached. "No one wants to focus on the deal that was made. They want to focus on what we can do to make the economy work going forward."

Both of these defenses have their flaws, as was pointed out in various forums that administration officials attended. Entitlement programs may not have been in the final debt ceiling deal, but the super committee established under the final agreement will almost certainly pursue elements of entitlement reform -- and cuts to Medicare suppliers are part of the trigger that would kick in if the committee finds itself deadlocked. The notion of the debt ceiling debate being a poison pill, meanwhile, doesn't excuse what many stakeholders viewed as an uninspired negotiation strategy from the White House.

As for the third arm of the administration's pushback against critics, however, the president and his team do appear to be on a path to vindication. The spending levels set under the final agreement seem likely to preclude budgetary fights for the remainder of the fiscal year, despite being substantially higher than the alternative levels House Republicans proposed.

[101Scout]

Well... it's all speculation at this point. I personally saw a Wht House victory at had about 2 weeks prior to the debt bill hostage taking fiasco presented by the Repuke House. Now, we have 5 mths of a Super Lobbyist Committee to shake this thing down .... 5 more damn mths of blah blah blah torture!!! If the Wht House walks away with a victory for the ppl (Progressive Dems) by Dec, then I'll give Pres Obama a super thumbs up!!! If not .... he blew his chance to knock the bastards on their asses in July into August!! Period!

[webhead]

Scout, if the super committee fails to arrive at an agreement, then automatic cuts to defense will occur, and these cuts will be huge. THe size of the cuts is an incentive for REPIGs to make a deal. It appears Obama has the REPIGs, defense borrow & spenders, over a political barrel.

But your right, we shall see what the super committee comes up with by 11/23/11.

Debt Ceiling Deal Paves Way For Potentially Historic Lobbying Campaign

Sam Stein
Posted: 8/1/11 12:03 PM ET

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As it stands now, the debt-ceiling deal tasks a bipartisan committee with finding an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions. The committee can do this by looking at both entitlement reform and raising revenue and will have until Nov. 23 to finish its deliberations. If a majority of the 12 committee members vote for a package of recommendations, that package will be sent to both chambers of Congress for passage. No one will be allowed to amend the suggestions offered, nor will a filibuster be permitted. A vote will be held no later than Dec. 23.

To incentivize committee success even further, the debt-ceiling deal includes a host of triggers that would be pulled if its recommendations end up shelved. The triggers ensure an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years be passed into law. Those cuts would be split evenly between domestic and defense spending.

That means a massive potential hit to the defense budget. Over 10 years, roughly $486 billion would be cut from defense spending (or 8.4 percent of what is projected to be spent on defense over that same time period). By contrast, the trigger would result in roughly $126 billion in reductions to Medicare provider payments over 10 years (or 2 percent of projected spending on Medicare suppliers over that same period).

But those triggers won't be immediate. They will only come into place beginning in 2013, giving lawmakers and lobbyists a full year to try and push the committee's package -- or some alternative -- into law.

edit: Remember, Boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted! His Orangeness is hanging out there over the chopping block.

[101Scout]

Yeah, but the entitlement programs gets whacked at 50% too! Think how much pain that will bring beaucoup folks! Hell.... plus wiping out assistance programs too! That'll kill ppl faster than it's killing them now!

But, I smell a cave coming from the Dems side of that Super Lobbyist Committee. Baucus. Whatcha think?

[webhead]

I thought Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid was excluded from cuts.

Let me check my desktop later to see what I can dig up in my files. Give me some time, at latest tomorrow night.

edit:

Hey Scout, , never mind... I Googled and found this:

source; [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Troubling, however, is that the new law creates a so-called “Super Committee” on Capitol Hill to find an additional $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by Thanksgiving. Media accounts have suggested that Social Security and Medicare could be top targets for this new panel, including lower Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs), an increase in the Medicare eligibility age, and higher Medicare co-pays and premiums. The 12 members of this panel are expected to be named in the coming weeks. If the committee cannot reach an agreement – which would have to be approved, without amendment, by Congress and signed by the President – a “trigger” mechanism in the new law would automatically cut $1.2 trillion from federal agency budgets. Social Security and Medicare benefits would be exempt; however Medicare reimbursements to medical providers would be cut.

[N.U.]

This story doesn't take into account that there will be a large appropriations bill for the Irene damages that should show up in the next couple of weeks on Capitol Hill. Let's watch those republicans claim the Government is too poor to help fix the hurricane Irene damages.

[101Scout]

I thought Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid was excluded from cuts.

Let me check my desktop later to see what I can dig up in my files. Give me some time, at latest tomorrow night.

edit:

Hey Scout, , never mind... I Googled and found this:

You're right ... I had forgotten that they did say this right before August. So then ... let the tiggers 'do its thing'


Well then, it's all up to Baucus to just simply hold his ground then. I'm just not sure which ground he upholds anymore.