July 19, 2011 11:14 PM UTC

Bennet, Udall, Obama Unite Around "Gang of Six" Debt Plan

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

Politico’s Jennifer Epstein and Carrie Budoff Brown update:

In an appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama urged congressional leaders to embrace the “Gang of Six” proposal, which would slash the deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years, in part by raising about $1 trillion in new revenue.

“We have a Democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts, modifications to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare that would strengthen those systems and allow them to move forward, and would include a revenue component,” Obama said. “We now have a bipartisan group of senators who agree with that balanced approach. And we’ve got the American people who agree with that balanced approach.”

Obama’s decision to align himself with the Senate package aims to further marginalize House Republicans, who have resisted any deficit reduction plan that includes new revenues… [Pols emphasis]

Count Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado in, reports The Hill:

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), [said] he would support the gang’s plan, added: “There’s a lot of support for turning the gang into a mob.

“Count me in,” he said. “I’ve long held this is what we need to do. The credit agencies are saying it’s not enough to take care of the debt limit. We have to take care of the long-term fiscal scenario.”

Sen. Michael Bennet too, reports FOX 31’s Eli Stokols:

Bennet’s statement follows President Barack Obama’s press conference where he praised the plan, put forth by the so-called ‘Gang of Six’, as a “significant step” in the ongoing impasses over cutting the deficit and raising the debt ceiling…

“In our meeting, the ‘gang of six’ presented a plan that would meet those broad goals. Although nobody is going to agree with every single piece of this, or any comprehensive plan, the ‘gang of six’s’ bipartisan proposal provides a path forward towards meaningful deficit reduction – in fact, it would reduce our deficit by close to $4 trillion.

“I urge my colleagues to review this plan and hope we can bring it to the Senate floor for debate and an up or down vote,” Bennet continued. “I would support this plan if it were considered on the Senate floor.”

The broad contours of this plan ($3 trillion in cuts, $1 trillion in new revenue) are similar to the failed “Grand Bargain” negotiated between President Barack Obama and GOP House Speaker John Boehner–before Boehner abandoned that deal under pressure from his caucus. Once again, and this time with bipartisan support in the Senate, Obama has thrown responsibility for continuing the debt-ceiling impasse, and the resultant uncertainty plaguing the economy, firmly back on House Republicans. As the polls show, that is very bad for the Republicans.

The House GOP, as we’ve discussed at length, has backed itself into this corner with their insistence on a “deal” with no revenue increases whatsoever; obstinance disfavored by the public according to polls. With today’s development, it’s much more likely now that the House will be forced to agree, at least, to the McConnell “escape hatch” plan which surrenders their negotiating leverage in exchange for posturing–or agree to a plan that would reduce the deficit much more, but means defeat for their dogmatic stand against “increasing taxes.”

We can’t say we’ve been confident of the outcome in this high-stakes game at every point; there were several moments when it seemed as though Obama was taking significant political risks to get Republicans to the table. Increasingly, it looks like Obama will succeed in placing himself above a perceived partisan scrum, and that the GOP will lose more than any of this was worth. If there is an ounce of political sense left over there, they will put Grover Norquist out to pasture, and embrace a deficit deal consistent with the wishes of the voters–while they still can.