In a move that stunned even fellow conservative Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Arizona Senator John McCain voted against a proposal to establish a bipartisan task force to make recommendations on ways to close the federal budget deficit.
TheHill.com coverage here.
McCain, moving to the right to fend off the imminent challenge of radio talk show host JD Hayworth, who had used his show to attack McCain as a "RINO", voted against the measure along with 22 other Republicans. Speculation was that most of them didn't want to be seen as voting for anything supported by President Obama.
So, as an outcome of their partisanship, the President is now free to create his own deficit reduction commission.
There *were* Democrats who voted against the measure (it failed), and their votes could be presumed to be just as partisan - they know that a deficit reduction task force created by the President reaps political rewards for the President, rewards that he now doesn't have to share with the Rs.
That should have been the first clue for McCain and the other "too clever for their own good" Republicans in the Senate.
Wonder how long it will be before McCain and his fellow travellers will realize their mistake?
1 comment:
Congressional commissions are one more way congress abdicates taking responsibility while deficit spending continues. Commissions don't create additional options that aren't already known.
I would rather hold congress responsible rather than wait for yet another commission to come out with a report.
There are only four options available to any government, sell off assets, reduce spending, increase taxes and borrow.
I haven't heard of the US government selling off any assets (but maybe they did when I wasn't looking). The US government and the people that write the spending bills have had plenty of so-called emergencies with which to bamboozle the voters. Whether voters will pierce the fog put out by the incumbents remains to be seen.
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