Chambliss: Government shutdown is up to Obama
If you think the 112th Congress was a weak, unproductive bunch, you’re not alone. Saxby Chambliss agrees with you.
“Unfortunately that’s the way it feels inside, not just outside,” Georgia’s senior senator told me over coffee at his Cobb County office Tuesday. “Harry Reid’s leadership [in the Senate] leaves a lot to be desired, and the in-your-face stuff that the president’s thrown at us has gotten a lot of backs up on our side, in both the House and the Senate. You throw the presidential election in there and it just kind of all came together, and nothing got done.”
Readers who are not GOP partisans would probably add House Republicans to Chambliss’ list of Washington’s bad actors. But after spending the past few years working with a handful of his fellow senators to fashion a big, bipartisan deal to reform the federal tax code and reduce spending, to no avail, Chambliss conveyed disdain for the way the Jan. 1 agreement to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff came about. And he blamed President Barack Obama.
“He was pretty open about the fact that, ‘Look, if we go off the cliff, if you guys don’t give me what I want, if we go off the cliff, I’m going to get what I want. And then I will spend the first three weeks of January beating the heck out of Republicans, and then I’ll present my plan of [tax cuts for those earning] $250,000 or less and dare you guys to vote against it.’ That’s just not the way that you get major things accomplished.”
What Obama did accomplish — higher taxes on some high earners — bought little time before the next showdown. By March, Congress and the president will face a trio of expirations: the debt ceiling, the delay in automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, and the temporary funding Congress has enacted in lieu of a budget for almost three years now.
“Some people might argue that the debt ceiling is the least pressure point [of the three] because you’ve got to pay your bills,” Chambliss said, “and that’s what [Obama] keeps saying, that ‘I … dare you to not allow us to pay the bills that you’ve incurred.’
“Well the fact is, the Democratic Congress incurred the bills. This administration incurred the bills. The Republicans have been in charge of the House for two years; this money was basically spent in the two years before that when you look at the stimulus package and the other spending that he put in place to create the massive deficits. So for him to come out and say, ‘You guys are obligated to pay your bills’ — I didn’t vote for any of that stuff.”
Because the debt ceiling isn’t really about whether to default on the national debt — the Treasury takes in far more revenue than it needs to make debt payments — the more likely short-term alternative to raising the debt ceiling is a federal government shutdown. (Which is not to suggest there would be no consequences, or only mild ones, for taking that route.)
Chambliss said he hopes it doesn’t come to that, but once again he put the onus on the president. In the past, he noted, Obama has embraced both the need to reform entitlements and a ratio of $3 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases.
“If [Obama's] serious about that, then … the likelihood of a shutdown would certainly be minimized. If he gets his back up and says, ‘We’ll only do this if we get more revenue,’ then I’d say the chances of a shutdown are pretty good. … If he wants to get serious, show the world marketplace that we are going to lead in this area, he’ll have that opportunity. If he doesn’t, then something dramatic has got to happen, and a shutdown could be it.”
Chambliss is up for re-election next year, and it’s no secret tea partyers and Democrats alike are eyeing his seat for a possible challenge. “I’ve never backed off from a fight,” he said. Fine, but does the bitterness in Washington ever make him think twice about running again?
“This is an eight-year decision for me. It’s two years [campaigning] plus six years” in office, he said. “And if I thought the next eight years were going to be filled with contentious debates and the wrong way to govern that we have just gone through in the last two months, it would have a significant impact on my decision. But yeah, right now my plans are to run.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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236 comments Add your comment
Centrist
January 10th, 2013
5:20 pm
@ MarkV – At least you are posting about the subject matter.
Sequestration was passed by the Senate, House, and signed by the President. It will be up to all three of those parties to change or postpone it – otherwise there will finally be large spending cuts.
If there is a partial government shutdown over the debt ceiling increase or lack of a budget and yet another Continuing Resolution may be part of the March deadlines, it won’t matter who the public “blames” – most politicians are safe in their states and districts. Congress may have a low poll rating, but the individuals are popular by their constituents who elect them.
Dusty
January 10th, 2013
5:30 pm
Good night POLITICO
Democrat conspiracy? NO.. No.That takes planning. The Democratic speaking from the White House, is doing the push on mindless spending. They are so far ahead of Bush on raising debt without cuts that it is almost ludicrous except no one is laughing. It is too mindlessly sad.
But you do not notice little things like that. Yeah, we know.
MarkV
January 10th, 2013
5:33 pm
Centrist @ 5:20 pm
It seems to be accepted as a fact that the politicians are safe in their districts and states. I think that is true only as most generalization are, that is, in a limited way. I suspect there would be a sufficient number of those, whose political fortunes would change, or, who would believe that it might happen. I am unwilling to give up on the power of the people.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 10th, 2013
5:42 pm
MarkV: If Chambliss (or Kyle) thinks that Obama would be blamed for a government shutdown, it should be used as an illustration of wishful thinking.
———————-
Chambliss was speaking of people who think, not the Democrats or the media.
josef
January 10th, 2013
5:43 pm
DUSTY
Loves me some Poe-etry!
“Avaunt! tonight my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight with a paean of old days!”
I think, from “Lenore.” Pardon any errors, coming from the recesses of memory…
MarkV
January 10th, 2013
5:43 pm
Dusty @ 5:01 pm
Dear Dusty,
I was not asking you to post the number of “put down” posts by liberals here.” Just to take, once, some substantive statement by a liberal (preferably mine), and show WHY it was wrong. Is that not simple enough?
——————-
I have not read James Herriott’s books yet, but as a big dog lover I plan to do that.
How did you like the Downton Abbey episode on Sunday? I enjoyed it very much.
mbtc
January 10th, 2013
5:44 pm
We could grow ourselves out of much of this deficit if the Republicans quit trying to sabotage the economy for political gain.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 10th, 2013
5:50 pm
Good job, marxists, sending holder over to meet with the good and decent folk of the NRA. I’ll bet that didn’t rub any nerves raw.
And yes, you’ve been reduced to begging us for something, anything, a ban on 30 round clips, just give us a little bone so we don’t look like the fools that we are.
Go pound sand.
Stepped in it bigtime, didn’t ya?
Dusty
January 10th, 2013
5:52 pm
Centrist & MarkV
Sadly, both of you failed to notice that Chambliss, with a joint committee, worked several years on the fiscal problems that are overtaking us. His group presented a worthy plan of cuts and changes (somewhat sponsored by Obama). It was rejected on all sides including the president..
Therefore we have no plans other than wait until March. Chambliss is the subject by the way, a fair senator who has worked very hard to solve problems. He has few counterparts in the Democratic Party.
Hillbilly D
January 10th, 2013
5:53 pm
josef
Have to point up a technicality here, the Magnolia State seceded from the Union, January 9, 1861 (inauguration was March 4 in those days). So Granny’s Diocletian isn’t technically eligible to make your list.
Politico
January 10th, 2013
5:54 pm
Aesop
Stepped into (if that’s how you want to phrase it) a reelection victory in November. 3 more Senate seats and 7 more House seats……..
Yep, “stepped in it big time”
Thanks for finally acknowledging the obvious.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 10th, 2013
5:55 pm
mbtc: …if the Republicans quit trying to sabotage the economy for political gain.
————————
Not intended as a credible statement.
Hillbilly D
January 10th, 2013
5:59 pm
a ban on 30 round clips,
They ought to read up on what Alvin York did with a bolt action Enfield rifle and a standard issue .45.
Dusty
January 10th, 2013
6:00 pm
MarkV
Take about ANGRY!! I anxiously awaited the new issue of Downton Abbey. Settled in my easy chair and POOF! My TV went whacko and I missed the whole show. My TV is almost new!!
There’s a conspiracy out there, I tell you. A conspiracy! (What happened?)
MarkV
January 10th, 2013
6:03 pm
Dusty @ 5:52 pm
Dusty,
You are assuming! My critique regarding senator Chambliss was strictly with respect to the statements quoted by Kyle. I believe he and his history in the Senate are much better than what those statements, possibly made with an eye on the possible challenge, would indicate.
josef
January 10th, 2013
6:04 pm
HILLBILLY
Heh, heh! You’re channeling her gray ghost, all right! When we were being taught the Yankee Sharia version of history in school and were to recite that Abraham Lincoln was “our” 16th President, Granny took on the teacher, citing what you said and then noting that Mississippi was not reconstructed until after Lincoln’s death, therefore he was not “our” 16th President.
However, you will note that I put Abie and Jeff Davis in a tie for second place on the worst list…two egomaniacs perfectly willing to sacrifice those hundreds of thousands of lives to further their own arrogance and conceit…
MarkV
January 10th, 2013
6:06 pm
Dusty @ 6:00 pm
That was as unkind piece of fate as one can imagine. I am really sorry.
Dusty
January 10th, 2013
6:06 pm
Hillbilly
How many Germans did York kill in WWI? If I have it right,he grew up squirrel hunting. With that experience, he never missed his target.
josef
January 10th, 2013
6:11 pm
Hillbilly
I thought about you when I was reading this from a MAJOR historian on the French and Indian Wars who was, refreshingly, open minded on the Noble Savage. In discussing one of the battles he said that “the Indians, smelling defeat in the air, had, logically, withdrawn!”
Dusty
January 10th, 2013
6:11 pm
Thank you, MarkV. May Downton Abbey repeat itself!!
indigo
January 10th, 2013
6:12 pm
Aesop
Who are these “marxists” you speak of?
Hillbilly D
January 10th, 2013
6:13 pm
Dusty
And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush… As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting… All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York
josef
As to our conversation the other day, if there’d been no Louisiana Purchase, there’d probably have been no territories for the ego-maniacs (and there were more than those two) to fight over.
Centrist
January 10th, 2013
6:13 pm
Any bloggers here think the Republican House will agree to increase the debt, continue spending as is with a Continuing Resolution, postpone or remove sequestration in March?
There will be blood (spending cuts) one way or the other. Targeted cuts will eventually replace meat cleaver sequestration cuts. Probably not until after the deadlines – government is now only in the business of posturing and crisis management with little or no advance planning, bargaining, or compromise until absolutely necessary.
Kyle Wingfield
January 10th, 2013
6:13 pm
And with that, immediate commenting is off again until tomorrow morning.
Hillbilly D
January 10th, 2013
6:13 pm
Dusty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York
josef
As to our conversation the other day, if there’d been no Louisiana Purchase, there’d probably have been no territories for the ego-maniacs (and there were more than those two) to fight over.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 10th, 2013
6:14 pm
I thought the GOP was the party of old white men, so why is it old white men the only ones selected for Barry’s Bungling Bozo Brigade (cabinet)? Seems Charlie Rangel, just off disenfranchising Hispanic voters in his district, is upset with Barry’s lack of diversity.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/charlie-rangel-hits-obama-on-diversity-86005.html
Dusty
January 10th, 2013
6:16 pm
JOSEF
So glad you joined us. I look forward to seeing you here more often (As long as you don’t turn on Robert E. Lee and say he threw his grandma out in the snow or something! But Davis…OK..).
Good night
Ol' Timer
January 10th, 2013
10:06 pm
Ol’ Saxby is a freakin’ weather vane — responding to the way the wind is blowing. His pandering is so outrageious — he bends over backwards to pander to the point where if he’s not careful he’s going to end up kissing his own arse.
ODD OWL
January 11th, 2013
1:37 am
The time has come for the President and the Democrats to draw a line in the sand and put an end to this Republican obstructionism…
d
January 11th, 2013
8:19 am
Since the Republicans are such lovers of the Constitution, they should read it: “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law…” Article I, Section IX. “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” – Amendment 14, Section 4.
President Obama cannot write legislation. Only Congress can. One thing that has to be understood in any governing body is that when a vote is taken, whether or not you were on the winning side, you have to go with the decision and will of the majority. Congress wrote the trillion dollar deficit. Defaulting on the national debt IS not a government shut down – it is a ticket right back to the recession we are so slowly climbing our way out of – and probably digging the hole even deeper than last time.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 11th, 2013
9:58 am
There will be blood (spending cuts) one way or the other.
————-
Your metaphor is slightly off. There already IS blood…Obozo is bleeding red ink at unprecedented levels.
You might have said “there will be healing”.
Obozo will continue to try to bleed the productive for the benefit of his moocher base, though.
Kyle Wingfield
January 11th, 2013
10:06 am
Immediate commenting is back on, and there’s a new post upstairs.
MarkV
January 11th, 2013
10:19 am
Dusty @ 6:00 pm
Dusty,
When you wrote “(What happened)” in your mail about your TV disaster, I did not know if you meant the breakdown or the Abbey episode. If the latter, and you wanted, I would be glad to summarize the main events.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 11th, 2013
11:54 am
Given the impressive list of things Politico doesn’t know about me (or anything else), I’m not surprised she doesn’t know whether I’m a liberal or not.
MarkV
January 11th, 2013
4:37 pm
To Dusty:
1. Robert, Earl of Grantham has lost practically all his (= Cora’s family) money in an unwise investment in a railroad.
2. It looks like Mathew is going to inherit a lot of money, but has scruples accepting it. Mary is upset because of that.
3. Branson and Sibyl arrive (the trip secretly financed by the Dowager). Branson brings Mary and Matthew back together.
4. Cora’s mother, Martha (Shirley MacLaine) arrives. Some wonderful exchanges with her and about her from the mouth of the Dowager.
5. Mary and Matthew get married.
6. Edith shows her affection for and to Sir Anthony. Robert tells him to leave Edith alone because he is too old for her. Edith is heartbroken, Martha makes Robert relent, and they are back together.
7. Mrs. Hughes may have breast cancer, the biopsy results will take 2 months.
8. Anna keeps visiting Bates and is looking for clues to exonerate him.
9. O’Brien’s nephew Alfred gets hired as a new footman. Thomas refuses to help Alfred, and a prank is played on Thomas to discredit him.
10. Daisy has eyes for Alfred, but he has them for Martha’s American maid.
Please let me know if you want more details.
the red herring
January 11th, 2013
8:29 pm
Gingrich/rep congress forced clinton to run a balanced budget. he did not want to do it. bush’s last two years were with pelosi/reid in control of spending and he failed to be a strong leader—then comes obama to overspend with pelosi/reid still in charge and he does just that to an extreme—all the while crying “it’s bush’s fault, it’s bush’s fault”. the democrat overspending is what has lead to this mess and the spending must be cut. same with clinton followed by dodd/frank to force banks to lend to people who couldn’t afford their loans—then they want to cry “wolf” again by saying “it’s the banks and their predatory lending”—no it was the democrats in congress forcing the banks to make loans to people who simply couldn’t pay them. when you have quality folks like paul ryan and mitt romney lose to chicago politics and “vote for me and i’ll give you more free stuff” then the country will get what it deserves. believe me the u.s.a. has hard times ahead and it’s because of obama and his policies not being held in check. i am praying for the house of rep. and the tea party folks to stand tall. it will be difficult but it is our only hope in the next 4 years.