July 13, 2011 10:11 PM UTC

Debt-Ceiling Abyss Awaits GOP (Yes, Cory Gardner Too)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Politico’s David Rogers updates on the collapsing GOP debt-ceiling front lines:

Washington’s political mood darkened dramatically Tuesday, as the debt ceiling crisis showed signs of spinning out of control and Republicans began looking for an escape path from the default showdown they helped create…

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set the day’s tone early with a blast aimed at the president but implicitly undercutting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s efforts to craft a $2 trillion deficit-reduction package with the administration. This followed Cantor’s role in pulling back Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) from pursuing a still larger, $4 trillion, 10-year deal with Obama. And McConnell in turn got his own thumping from House Republicans who quickly dissed his suggested backup plan that would allow the debt ceiling to increase this month, subject only to a resolution of disapproval from Congress.

“As long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is probably unattainable,” McConnell said grimly…”We’re certainly not going to send a signal to the markets and to the American people that default is an option,” McConnell told reporters. “What we’re not going to be a party to in the Senate, I’m pretty confident, is default.” [Pols emphasis]

…Under the plan, Congress would authorize upward of $2.5 trillion in new borrowing authority for the Treasury that would become available in three increments: $700 billion this month, $900 billion more in the fall and a final $900 billion next summer. Obama would be required in each case to list corresponding savings, but under the new rules of the road, Congress could only stop each increase by adopting a veto-proof resolution of disapproval.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal would give the GOP a few speechification opportunities, but essentially would end the debt-ceiling “crisis”–and the mere proposing of it severely weakens the hard-line position(s) of House Republicans, themselves breaking down in intraparty confusion and rivalry between Eric Cantor and John Boehner. Apropos, KCNC News4 interviewed freshman Rep. Cory Gardner yesterday afternoon on the debt-ceiling negotiations, where he was loaded up…with the previous day’s talking points?

Republican Rep. Cory Gardner talked with CBS4 about what he thought about the negotiations. He said he thinks lawmakers and the president will meet the Aug. 2 deadline. [Pols emphasis]

“We will continue to meet our obligations, but we’re going to do it by cutting spending, by eliminating this credit card debt we’re in, make sure we’re not raising taxes,” Gardner said.

The President says both sides need to make sacrifices. Gardner talked about some of the things Republicans might be willing to give up.

“I think anytime you’re asking the American people to increase spending by trillions and trillions of dollars, that’s a sacrifice because they know they’re going to be paying for that down the road,” Gardner said…

Of course, in another Politico story today, Gardner is substantially less hopeful:

Ultimately, many House Republicans who have called for spending cuts to exceed any increase in the debt limit understand that $2.4 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years doesn’t outweigh $2.4 trillion in increased borrowing authority over the next 18 months or so.

Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said even the high estimate of $2.1 trillion identified by the vice president’s panel “won’t do it for a lot of people” by itself.

It’s possible that resolution of this debate will occur quite close to the August 2nd deadline set by the Department of the Treasury to extend borrowing authority. Until that time, bit players like Rep. Gardner will be forced to read from a rapidly-changing script, which really sucks for him politically. But the latest developments suggest that every Republican position is fatally weak, and the “Tea Party” is not going to get anything close to satisfaction. Polling clearly shows Americans prioritize saving Medicare and Social Security over deficit reduction. This could be a moment you’ve been waiting for for two years: when the “Tea Party” faces the stark reality of an unworkable extreme agenda, with no more fudge factor, and they simply lose.

With that in mind, the president should be able to give up much less than he had reportedly offered to Speaker Boehner in the failed “Grand Bargain” negotiations, while whatever political advantage the GOP entered this fight with has already been squandered. It isn’t winning them any political support they don’t already have, and it’s costing them a lot more.