House Republicans in revolt

[Drocket]

This is breaking news, so there's not a whole lot of sources yet. The one I'm using is rather strongly liberal-slanted, but they're usually pretty accurate with regards to facts...

House Republican leadership is scrambling after being unable to pass a major budget bill following defections from numerous members of their own party, RAW STORY has learned. Rank-and-file Republicans are upset at the extent of spending cuts in the bill.

Earlier this year, the House Republican leadership had passed a budget which enjoined lawmakers to cut spending by $35 billion while retaining $70 billion in tax cuts. The proposed budget would have cut spending by $50 billion, while retaining tax cuts.

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It’s not clear exactly what the next step is. The Republican leadership is expected to rewrite the bill and bring it to the floor again next week.

Already, GOP leaders took out provisions that would have opened the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. At the time of this writing, it was unclear what specific provisions individual Republican members were opposing.

The Washington Post wrote today, "Republicans concede they are well short of the votes needed to pass a bill that would require longer work hours to qualify for welfare, allow states to impose new costs on Medicaid beneficiaries, cut assistance for child support enforcement, trim student loan spending, cut back agriculture supports, and curb eligibility for food stamps."

"They are a long way away from getting the votes," Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) told the Post. "Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, whatever -- for every person, there's an issue."

The rank-and-file Republicans are finally realizing that their leaders have taken them down a dangerous path, one which alienates them from the vast majority of what Americans believe. What with revelations of tortue, secret prisons, leaking undercover agent's identity for political gain, perjury, the whole Abramoff affair, the entire Social Security debacle, and now trying to pass massive cuts in popular social programs... The Republican house of cards is definitely coming tumbling down.

 

[alonzomourning23]

The extreme closeness bush has created between himself and all republicans (it seems more tight knit than previous presidents) means they almost have to attack bush to avoid being damaged. I wonder how many are legitimately revolting, and how many are doing it for political reasons.

 

[Drocket]

In the end, it doesn't really matter why they're revolting. What's important is that this presents an opportunity to return this country to some semblance of sanity. Repeal the ill-considered tax cuts for the wealthy, reign in the out-of-control military spending, and return out country to financial solvency. And that doesn't even get into things like making sure our military doesn't keep sticking light bulbs up people's butts.