House GOP Fractures When Faced With Actual Spending Cuts
Faced with bill including actual spending cuts, House Republicans flinch. Roll Call: "...it’s become the best available example of what President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans brought on themselves precisely two years ago, when they sealed the deal that raised the debt ceiling but started Washington down its slippery slope into the sequester ... The [transportation and housing] bill foundered not only because a couple dozen conservative Republicans thought it would spend too much, but also because a small but pivotal number of Republican moderates had joined virtually all the Democrats viewing the depth of the proposed cuts as too deep."
"House Republicans pull spending measure, focus on bills to embarrass White House" headlines W. Post.
House Appropriations Chair rips sequester. The Hill quotes: "With this action, the House has declined to proceed on the implementation of the very budget it adopted just three months ago. Thus, I believe that the House has made its choice: sequestration — and its unrealistic and ill-conceived discretionary cuts — must be brought to an end. And, it is also clear that the higher funding levels advocated by the Senate are also simply not achievable in this Congress.”
Republicans can't stomach cuts dictated by own budget, notes TPM's Brian Beutler: "...many close Congress watchers ... have long suspected that their votes for Ryan’s budgets were a form of cheap talk. That Republicans would chicken out if it ever came time to fill in the blanks. Particularly the calls for deep but unspecified domestic discretionary spending cuts. Today’s Transportation/HUD failure confirms that suspicion ... their plan was to proceed as if the Ryan budget was binding, and pass spending bills to actualize it — to stake out a bargaining position with the Senate at the right-most end of the possible. But they can’t do it."
Can Shutdown Be Stopped?
Boehner trying to convince caucus to avoid shutdown, reports CNN: "During a closed door meeting on Wednesday with House Republicans, Boehner tried to 'gently hold members' hands and walk them away from this,' said one GOP source who was in the room ... Boehner and top House Republicans leaders mapped out a plan with their members on Wednesday to spend the five-week August recess touting what they've done to chip away at Obamacare so far and to emphasize the issue will be a major focus this fall."
"Boehner’s Passive-Aggressive Style Heightens Risk of Government Shutdown" argues National Journal's Norm Ornstein: "By encouraging the extremists through his rhetoric, and by not looking to compromise spending at all in the House process, Boehner has bought some time and averted some criticism and any chance of a revolt. But that also means that if he endorses a compromise that will fund the Affordable Care Act, move spending levels back at least to the sequester numbers, and extend the debt limit without preconditions, a sizable share of his caucus will go ballistic."
WH, 8 GOP senators to meet over budget. WSJ: "Neither side seems to believe that a deal is in sight. The senators haven’t yet determined whether to pursue a comprehensive plan that would reduce the nation’s deficits over the next several decades, or a more modest strategy that would ease the sting of the across-the-board cuts known as the sequester..."
President Obama draws lines. The Hill: "His message was unequivocal: no negotiating with Republicans on a debt-ceiling increase and no reductions in the sequester cuts to defense unless domestic programs are spared as well ... The president told Democrats that stimulating the economy should take priority over reducing the deficit. He argued that even as the federal deficit has dropped faster than projected, unemployment has remained stubbornly high."
Military grapples with sequester. McClatchy: "The military faces one of two options in order to meet mandatory across-the-board budget cuts, says Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel: chopping the number of personnel or limiting its technological edge. That might mean reducing as much as 29 percent of soldiers, 18 percent of Marines and three Navy carriers through 2019."
Breakfast Sides
Goldman Sachs tries to defuse criticism of its ownership of physical commodities. NYT: "Goldman Sachs has offered to speed up delivery of aluminum stored in warehouses that it controls as federal authorities examine how delays at the facilities have driven up the price of the metal ... An investigation by The New York Times found that [its warehouse unit] routinely shuffled tons of the metal from one warehouse to another, a tactic that profited Goldman but pushed up the price of aluminum across much of the nation ... Last week, in the face of rising regulatory concerns about the big banks’ commodities operations, JPMorgan said it was looking to sell its physical commodities businesses, which include sprawling storage and transportation facilities. But Goldman does not appear to be following suit."
Wave of fast-food worker strikes highlights low wages. NYT: "From New York to several Midwestern cities, thousands of fast-food workers have been holding one-day strikes during peak mealtimes, quickly drawing national attention to their demands for much higher wages ... These strikes ... are far different from traditional unionization efforts that generally focus on a single workplace. The national campaign, underwritten with millions of dollars from the Service Employees International Union, aims to mobilize workers — all at once — in numerous cities at hundreds of restaurants from two dozen chains."
Senate Republicans have not been hurt by "yes" votes on immigration. Bloomberg: "Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lamar Alexander ofTennessee haven’t drawn new primary challengers after voting June 27 with Democrats and 11 Republicans for a broad immigration measure ... Their experience may inform House Republicans concerned that supporting new immigration laws will attract Tea Party-fueled primary challengers ..."
"The Greek Bailout Isn’t Working" says NYT's Vikas Bajaj: "...on Wednesday, a member of the I.M.F.’s board [issued] an unusual and refreshingly candid statement. 'Recent developments in Greece confirm some of our worst fears ... Implementation has been unsatisfactory in almost all areas; growth and debt sustainability assumptions continue to be overoptimistic.'"
