Austin Scott joins Georgia Republicans in favor of John Boehner debt-ceiling plan
Over the course of the day, we’ll try to keep up with where Georgia’s Republicans are on House Speaker John Boehner’s debt-ceiling/deficit reduction plan, which will probably be voted on after the markets close today.
Some of you have wondered why we’re not counting Democrats. They’ve pretty much lined up against the legislation — this is primarily an internal GOP fight. At this point, we count five Republicans in favor, three against.
A 6 p.m. vote has been postponed while Boehner’s troops collect votes. Consider every vote essential:
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, indicates he’s ready to support House Speaker John Boehner’s debt-ceiling plan. Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com
– Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County: This morning, he indicated he’s a “yes” vote.
“Having looked at the whole thing, I think we did make some positive adjustments with a few little changes we made. It looks like we’re getting about 60 percent of what the [Paul] Ryan budget did. We are stopping the growth, changing the baseline,” Westmoreland told Jamie Dupree of AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB. “While we’re still heading toward the iceberg, we are turning the Titanic a little bit.”
– Tom Graves of Ranger: A strong no vote. “Compromise is what’s led us to the mess we’re in right now. We can’t compromise our way out of this,” Ranger said in a Wednesday morning C-SPAN defense of his decision to oppose the Boehner plan
– Paul Broun of Athens: A strong no.
– Tom Price of Roswell: In an interview with Rob Johnson on WGST (640AM) this morning, Price strongly hinted that he’ll vote for the revised debt-ceiling/deficit reduction package pitched by House Speaker John Boehner – if he can be assured that House Republicans will be allowed to vote on a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget on Friday.
“Companioned with a balance budget amendment,” Price said, “That’s a reasonable course of action at this time.” The congressman, of course, added that the Boehner package doesn’t include as many budget cuts that he’d ideally like to see.
– Austin Scott of Tifton: Listed as “leaning yes” by The Hill newspaper in Washington. “I’m looking forward to reading the final draft, checking the numbers and everything in it. But I’ll tell you this: The speaker’s got a lot more votes than the people who don’t want it to pass say he has,” Scott said Wednesday in an interview with Jamie Dupree of AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB.
Scott said he is most worried about the impact that federal government’s inability to pay its bills would have on the economy. “The longest way out of this recession is to allow the default – so that’s not an option, in my opinion,” he said.
CNN lists Scott as one of the most heavily lobbied targets of Boehner’s leadership team.
At 8:20 p.m., Dupree had this quote from Scott:
“It is the most responsible option and I plan to vote for it tonight.”
– Jack Kingston of Savannah: Listed as undecided by Hotline and The Hill newspaper. But this morning, Kingston indicated he, too, will back the Boehner plan:
“I think it’s the last chance we have to do something sane,” Kingston said in an interview with Frank Barnas of Newstalk105.9 WVGA in Valdosta. “What I don’t want to be in next week is, you’re past the deadline, the Social Security checks, the veterans’ checks get put on hold, the market drops 500 points – then what we’ll see is a panic by the politicians in Washington to, okay, raise the debt ceiling $3 trillion and no strings attached.”
– Phil Gingrey of Marietta: Decidedly no.
– Rob Woodall of Lawrenceville: In a test vote this afternoon, Woodall indicated in a floor speech that he should be considered a “yes” vote.
“This bill does not do everything I want it to do,” he said. “But do you know what this does do? This says we’re not going to increase the credit line by a penny unless we’re cutting a penny, too.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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176 comments Add your comment
BuckheadBill
July 28th, 2011
4:07 pm
Dr. Broun, when you run against Johnny Isackson, you have my vote.
middleclass centralist
July 28th, 2011
4:07 pm
Congressmen Graves, Broun, Gingrey, and the rest of the right wing House Republicans will allow our country to default just ot protect the wealthiest 1%. They are prostitutes to the rich and don’t give a rat’s a$# for the other 99%. A balanced approach of rvenue increases and budget cuts is the answer. Thes right wing fanatics in Congress should cut their own salaries and staff by half to show they are serious about cutting spending. Where were all these fiscal conservatives when Bush increased the deficit by 86% during his rein of terror? It’s time to brand the Tea Party nust as domestic terrorists whose aim is to destroy our economy.
RL
July 28th, 2011
4:08 pm
RetiredSoldier
July 28th, 2011
3:55 pm
The wars you listed while the country was led by great men were not wars of choices (although you could debate that regarding Vietnam). We should have gone into Afghanistan but Iraq was/is a a $1,000,000,000,000+ debacle. And while I am at it Bush cut taxes by $1,800,000,000,000+ at I time he was fighting two wars. And some people wonder why we are in the mess we are in. Where have you been for the last ten years?
Tom
July 28th, 2011
4:09 pm
Jeff – “Your democatic leaders are lying to you”? Ever heard about the pot and the kettle? Check your facts. Unemployment rate was 7.8 or 8.0 when Obama took office….and quickly rising. Quit spewing your lies and check your facts. If I had another 30 seconds, I could show how you lied several more times in your comments. You are not worth the effort. Lies don’t advance the conversation. Quit spewing your lies and check your facts.
Linusssi
July 28th, 2011
4:10 pm
The only way to correct any of these problems is with term limits. As long as we allow these guys to be career politicians, they will only worry about getting reelected.
td
July 28th, 2011
4:11 pm
RD
July 28th, 2011
3:38 pm
I do not know if this is true or not. I am not in Price’s district. I just know that he won re election by more than 70% of the vote. All I am saying is his own constituents must be pretty happy as a whole.
RL
July 28th, 2011
4:14 pm
Tom, the problem with Jeff is either he is hyper political and does not care about what is right for the country or clueless. He seems to have no interest in actual facts… which is the problem with a lot of people out there. They believe Rush or whatever bobble head the listen to…. nothing but a bunch of ditto heads and/or political hacks who care about nothing but beating the other side.
Atlantan
July 28th, 2011
4:15 pm
@Retired Soldier Libya – Obama
These R’s supporting Boehner’s new plan should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves. A yes vote should be an immediate apology to their constituent’s children and grandchildren. They took the easy way out and kicked the can down the road. They are spineless and have serious integrity and credibility issues. The Boehner plan is a joke.
Atlantan
July 28th, 2011
4:17 pm
@RL and other assorted closed-minded Democrats – Obama just extended the Bush Tax Cuts so aren’t they now Obama’s tax cuts? Get over yourself and your idiocy….
Red
July 28th, 2011
4:17 pm
A balanced approach is the answer? More revenue only means more spending and therefore more debt. If you think all revenue brought in would be solely applied to the debt, you went to Atlanta Public Schools. Add to the fact that it would require an enormous amount of revenue well beyond that ‘rich 1%’ you refer to to get the debt down. At least 46% of the debt burden is already being paid by those making $250K plus. To get the debt down you would have to tax even the Middle Class.
You HAVE to have dramatic cuts in spending to reduce the deficit. Note the states that have seen drastic cuts are now rebounding with many in the black. Jacking up taxes on people who pay far more than their share already especially with no guarantees that 100% is applied solely to the debt will not resolve this problem.
festus
July 28th, 2011
4:19 pm
Is it possible to accuse and try Congress for treason if they fail to protect the nation, and don’t raise the debt ceiling?
td
July 28th, 2011
4:20 pm
RL
July 28th, 2011
4:08 pm
Your numbers come up to $2.8 trillion and even if they were accurate then what about the other $13 trillion?
Atlantan
July 28th, 2011
4:24 pm
@Middleclass Centeralist – Why do you hate people who want to be fiscally responsible and demand the same of our government? How much income tax and capital gains tax should a person pay? How much do you pay and do you give more than required?
Why is evil to demand the government to cut back? It is citizens like you and your complete mindlessness that are leading to the decline in our country. Why don’t you go take some money from a child as that is exactly the policies you support will do to our children and grandchildren. Do you have no shame?
td
July 28th, 2011
4:24 pm
Linusssi
July 28th, 2011
4:10 pm
Newt tried it and they were declared unconstitutional by the SCOTUS. We have term limits. Every two, 4 or six years everyone has the right to go to the polls and vote out their representation.
Will Y'all Just Stop and Admit the Truth???!!!!!
July 28th, 2011
4:24 pm
2007 or 2008, the meltdown occurred on Bush’s watch; this AFTER came into office with a surplus.
Lily
July 28th, 2011
4:26 pm
Rep. Graves has lost my vote.
John Wayne
July 28th, 2011
4:26 pm
What canya say about a country that spends like a drunk in a saloon and is intimidated by ILLEGAL aliens, weasely news folks, bad actors, tuneless musicians, comedian wannabes and a bunch of sissys!?
Will Y'all Just Stop and Admit the Truth???!!!!!
July 28th, 2011
4:28 pm
Obama had the misfortune to come into office as the ship was sinking. He’s a good man, but his timing ain’t so great. I’d vote for him a million times over again because he is doing the best with what he’s got, but some folk are so POWER HUNGRY they’d rather stop one man than to pull the whole country up. I hope the voters remember who did what when and who is trying to help, who is trying to regain power, and who is hurting us all.
Uncle Joe
July 28th, 2011
4:28 pm
Close, but no cigar, Rep. Price! -a constiuent
td
July 28th, 2011
4:30 pm
middleclass centralist
July 28th, 2011
4:07 pm
Where is Obama’s plan? I would like to read it. I have not seen a plan in writing from any Democrat that raises revenue. Reid’s plan only cuts spending. If raising taxes on the rich was so important then why did Obama and the Dems not do it when they had total control of both houses (with super majorities) and the White house? Why did Obama and the Dems (controlling both houses) extend the Bush tax cuts? BTW: They are now the Obama tax cuts?
td
July 28th, 2011
4:35 pm
Will Y’all Just Stop and Admit the Truth???!!!!!
July 28th, 2011
4:24 pm
I am glad to see that you give the President the power to cause a world wide recession. Sorry to give you this news but a President does not have that type of power. Now a President can make the wrong decisions that will keep us in a slow growth pattern for years to come. This is what Obama is doing now.
RetiredSoldier
July 28th, 2011
4:35 pm
RL-
I can beat you on that. Obama extended the Obama tax cuts while fighting three wars. now what was your point again?
Grits
July 28th, 2011
5:06 pm
Vote to get a minor short term plan in. Then in 2012 when the Dims are out of power and the GOP has the pres, congress and senate the tragedy that Obamma has brought upon us can be repealed and cleared up. Recovery will take a while but then America can, will and must be America again!
Failure to Lead
July 28th, 2011
5:09 pm
Obama did not have the misfortune. He was in office with just as much ties to sinking the ship as anyone. Reid and Pelosi were as well. Obama was already in Congress and the Dems had control of the budget and spending back in 2007. They did nothing. Obama did nothing to stop it in Congress and did nothing to stop it as President. He is an empty suit with no leadership at all. Even on Obamacare he threw out to Reid and Pelosi to do all of the work. Now he hides behind Carney with absolutely no plan of his own. Epic fail!
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
5:14 pm
Jeff You have no idea what you are talking about- typical repub.
Will
July 28th, 2011
5:15 pm
How hard can this nonsense be for your to understand.
The republicans have stated very clearly that their number one priority is ensuring the President is not re-elected. I don’t believe this. Their number one priority, just like democrats, is to be re-elected and they are afraid of the next election if they do not do as directed by tea party activists.
If defeating the President is their number one priority, why on earth would you think they would work with the President regarding this matter? It does not matter what the President proposes, republicans will be against it.
Republicans don’t want a workable plan or a working government because they are so afraid of tea party activists that they will say and do anything, including ignoring this pressing concern.
What’s that you say, democrats do the same thing and are just as frightened of their special interest supporters?
Of course they are but is that the standard to which you adhere, to be no better than democrats?
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
5:18 pm
http://progressivetoo.com/2011/07/14/past-increases-of-debt-ceiling-since-kennedy/
Reagan increased the ceining by 199% Bush by 90% read much???
Frederick Douglass
July 28th, 2011
5:22 pm
td @ 4:35
The jobs have all gone to China, India, Honduras, any place where corporations can get the most for the least. This trend has been evolving since before Obama was in knee pants, the middle class was the backbone of America, and their spine has been severed over time. You sound like an intelligent person, quit being a right wing water bearer, you know the decline didn’t just happen yesterday. Hey, but keep on doing your sworn duty to spread lies, and facilitate a return of some right wing loon to the White House, time will tell what that gets us.
John
July 28th, 2011
5:24 pm
Write it down today – sometime within the next few hours, we will see the peak and the start of the decline of the “hell no tea party” members of Congress and Speaker Boehner will win the day on this House vote.
I don’t know where this will go as the Senate will very quickly vote down the Speaker’s hard earned win but I do know that the Broun/Graves/Bachmann/King radical wing of the republican House has been turned back and for that praise be to God!
I want my Republican Party back and, starting today, we are taking it back from these radicals.
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
5:30 pm
Will Dems do not do that. And you and all Repubs know that. It is the cowardly Repubs that are willing to drive this country over the cliff in order to get their way. In order to force the congress to have to deal with this issue all of 2012 before the election- strictly for the benefit of playing politics. That is the truth. You do not care one whit about the consequences . I have reachjed the point where I hope that we do default; that all interest rates go up across the board ; that the tea partiers and cowardly repukes get the blame that they deserve and that all of the repukes in the house are defeated in 2012. Your time is coming – your time is coming.
karen
July 28th, 2011
5:32 pm
TD, your kind of full of yourself and you make up facts as you go along. Tea Bag before your nap?
Black Conservative
July 28th, 2011
5:37 pm
@Failure to Lead
The POTUS voted agianst raising the debt-ceiling when he was a Senator back in 2006.
RetiredSoldier
July 28th, 2011
5:38 pm
Tired and Sick-
For the hundredth time, assume you are right, where is the Obama/Reid/Pelosi plan/bill? It doen’t exist. The republican house has passed one and maybe shortly two bills to solve the problem. Sir you have no standing until you provide an alternative.
The average time between raising the debt ceiling? six months. During Reagan’s eight years it was raised 19 times. What’s your complaint again?
RetiredSoldier
July 28th, 2011
5:39 pm
Karen-
And you retort is name calling? Way to go lady.
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:01 pm
I’ll bet that within a year not even Joe Biden will admit having voted for Obama.
Tim
July 28th, 2011
6:05 pm
Retired Soldier, perhaps you didn’t read this:http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/13/fact-sheet-presidents-framework-shared-prosperity-and-shared-fiscal-resp
Yes, the plan that CUT SPENDING to REVENUES 3 to 1. Really, really glad you’re retired.
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
6:13 pm
RGB What are you 13??? Thanks for playing
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:13 pm
“Tim”:
I’ll bet Retired Soldier knows the difference between a press release and a plan.
A plan can be scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). A press release cannot.
Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, told the House Budget Committee this morning that his office was unable to estimate the long-term viability of the “budget framework” President Obama outlined in his April 13 budget speech.
“We don’t estimate speeches,” said Elmendorf. “We need much more specificity than was provided in that speech for us to do our analysis.”
Might I add, Timmy, that Congress cannot vote on speeches either. They cannot pass speeches into law.
But you and Obama have one thing in common: Neither one of you does his homework and therefore you cannot be taken seriously.
And you should thank Retired Soldier for serving his country so intellectually vapid folks such as you still have the right of free speech.
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:16 pm
“I have reachjed the point where I hope that we do default; that all interest rates go up across the board ; that the tea partiers and cowardly repukes get the blame that they deserve and that all of the repukes in the house are defeated in 2012.”
What a great contribution you make to the discussion.
Get some help: http://www.healthgrades.com/psychiatry-directory/ga-georgia
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
6:16 pm
RGB Lots of us served our country pal. That does not cut him nor you any slack when it comes to what you are trying to do to this country.
Frederick Douglass
July 28th, 2011
6:17 pm
RGB @ 6:01
Just like everybody, and their uncle on the right are denying that they had anything to do with foisting Dubya on us for eight years. I think I’d keel over if I heard one of you guys own up to the carnage that the Texas Tornado did to this great nation.
3 Time War Vet
July 28th, 2011
6:18 pm
Obama will be re-elected and the tea baggers and repubs will suffer the consequences of they wicked ways of trying to sabotage the American people and this country. We see your evil ways, we see your evil ways.
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
6:19 pm
RGB I will hope and pray for the rest of my days that your idiot repukes will get their due in 2012. You have no concern for this country nor for those that went before you and brought us to this point. You only care that you get your greedy way-NOW!!! And your greed is the perfect poster child for the terrible shape that we are in today.
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:24 pm
You people remind me of Lord of the Flies.
The Republicans want to pass a bill that will raisespending by at least $7 trillion over the next years. Not a dollar will be cut. From any program.
And you call them greedy. You should look in the mirror and you’ll see greed.
So-called 3XWV, that whole thing about sacrificing for your country was lost on you wasn’t it. That JFK quote is old news, isn’t it buddy?
Not bad for a 13-year old.
clem
July 28th, 2011
6:25 pm
boehner cannot herd his cats…..whatever happened to the jobs speaker….geez
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:25 pm
And BTW, none of you has a plan or an idea. Do nothing. Everything will be alright. Everybody go back to sleep. Just like the president.
Tired and Sick
July 28th, 2011
6:29 pm
RGB Your repukes want to make cuts only to programs for the poor and elderly- none for the defense budget. they further want to continue this conversation for the next 16 months. They are greedy as are you.
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:31 pm
It was the Obama administration that said the unemployment rate would go past 8.5% if we didn’t do what he said. We did. It did.
John Boehner was sworn into office earlier this year and has been on the job 7 months. Funny you’d expect a Speaker to do in 7 months what the Executive hasn’t done (or wanted to do) in nearly 3 years.
I’ll bet you think the White House janitor has real power over the economy. Or maybe the switchboard operator.
You folks need to develop a better understanding of managing your own expectations.
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:34 pm
What about “there are NO cuts” did you not understand.
Let me try a different approach. If someone were to develop a plan that increased federal government spending every single year and also increased the debt limit, would you favor it?
RGB
July 28th, 2011
6:36 pm
greed (grd)
n.
An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth. See Obama, Barack; Reid, Harry; Schumer, Charles et. al.