Source:U.S. Senate Democrats- Leadership, talking about Minority Mitch McConnell and the debt negotiations. |
"Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer, Barbara Mikulski, Robert Menendez, Ben Cardin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Richard Blumenthal called on Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to to erase his line in the sand on including revenues in debt deal."
From the Senate Democrats
And the only way there will be a debt ceiling bill and extension of the debt ceiling that the GOP House will agree too, is a debt ceiling bill that includes budget cuts. The Democratic Senate has already agreed to that, as long as it includes eliminating tax subsidies like corporate welfare, subsidies for big oil, eliminating the Ethanol subsidy that the Senate already voted to do last week.
On Tuesday Senator Tom Coburn and Senator Joe Lieberman introduced a Medicare reform plan that would means test Medicare and projected to save the Federal Government 60B$ a year. Democrats should accept that and Republicans should go for eliminating corporate welfare if they are truly free market Conservatives. (Which at the very least is debatable)
The Far-Left fringe of the Democratic Party wants a clean debt ceiling bill: they are high or drunk if the believe they'll ever see that with a Republican House.
The Far-Right fringe of the Republican Party doesn't want to see any debt ceiling bill. They should be in mental institutions if they really believe thats ever going to happen with a Democratic Senate and White House.
Both sides are going to have to come together here or neither side will get anything that they want: thats how divided government works. Both sides have to give in or nothing will ever happen.
As a Democrat I wish we never lost control of the House last November, but we already lost that battle and we have a lot to do. And Republicans simply have to be part of that process or nothing will get done.
Shared sacrifice is exactly that, that everyone contributes and gives up something that they have and want. And that everyone sacrifices based on how much they can afford to give up but everyone contributes to the pot. So both sides are going to have to come together and contribute to the pot.