The House Republicans are hilarious. To avoid taking the blame for another debt ceiling fiasco, they have devised a plan that avoids the all-or-nothing feel of prior negotiations. The president can select from a menu and order a small, medium or large.
The large includes implementing Paul Ryan’s Medicare voucherization plan.
The medium includes taking the food out of poor children’s mouths by slashing the SNAP, block-granting Medicaid, and implementing Chained CPI.
The small would means-test Social Security and raise the retirement age, while getting rid of some agricultural subsidies.
If the president chooses the large, the House Republicans will authorize enough debt payment to cover the remainder of Obama’s presidency. If he chooses the small, they’ll authorize a few more months of debt spending.
The president says he won’t negotiate on debt payments since the debt results from spending authorized by Congress.
If the House wants to spend the rest of the year demanding that Obama privatize Medicare, block-grant Medicaid, raise the Social Security retirement age, and starve poor children, I don’t think the Democrats will object. “Please proceed, congressmen.”
