Greg Sargent reported at the Washington Post’s Morning Plum yesterday:
Ryan’s confidants tell CBS News he will not horse trade with the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 40 or so deeply conservative members who have been demanding changes to House rules and other very specific promises from candidates for Speaker in exchange for their support.
One Ryan confidant says he won’t make any concessions to the House Freedom Caucus: “otherwise you’ve sold yourself to them from the very beginning, and set yourself up for failure.” And remember, the Freedom Fraud Caucus is basically running a scam in which they are demanding the GOP leadership employ tactics they know will fail.
Ryan should consider this overnight before announcing his decision to his Caucus on Wednesday: he will have to deal with the same mutinous radical extremists that the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, has failed to control.
The GOP House Freedom Caucus is the farther-far-right extremist caucus. The far-right extremist caucus is the Republican Study Committee, and they are in the mood for demanding concessions, so so much for Ryan’s “no concessions” stance. Boehner vs. the RSC on Debt Limit:
Speaker John A. Boehner has signaled an interest in raising the debt ceiling before he resigns, but the Republican Study Committee is drawing its own conservative line in the sand in advance of the Nov. 3 deadline.
The RSC released on Tuesday its “Terms of Credit Act,” a multipart plan that addresses the debt limit by “tackling the root drivers of our growing national debt,” according to the group’s statement.
While it has no chance of approval in the Senate or by the president, the timing of the legislation’s unveiling is significant, and not just because the debt ceiling needs to be raised in a matter of weeks.
RSC Chairman Bill Flores of Texas has said he will run for speaker should Ways and Means Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., sit the race out. Ryan’s decision could be known as early as Tuesday night, with the GOP conference holding a special meeting at 7 p.m.
As a sizable contingent of members of the House GOP conference clamor for more conservative and inclusive representation in the leadership ranks, Flores is presenting a plan he hopes will resonate with colleagues.
Through a series of provisions, the bill would, according to the RSC, increase the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, which would eliminate the need for another a debt ceiling increase until “about” March 2017.
Among other things, the bill would set up a process to require lawmakers to make good on the priorities set forth in the yearly, non-binding budget resolutions.
If authorizing committees don’t successfully “follow through” on producing legislation that hits certain targets outlined in a given budget blueprint, then a process is triggered to allow the Rules Committee and stakeholders on other congressional panels to consider amendments to accomplish that goal. If that doesn’t work, any lawmaker would be permitted to force a vote on the House floor that would cut spending in a specific area.
Other provisions would require a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment, a 21-month freeze on “burdensome federal regulation[s],” and, after Oct. 1, a change to Senate rules to allow appropriations bills to pass by simple majority rather than via a 60-vote threshold Democrats routinely block.
That filibuster reality will ultimately keep this bill from passing in the Senate — though even if it was considered in the House and was able to sail through the other chamber it would still be vetoed by President Barack Obama.
The House will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the legislative agenda over the next few weeks, where the debt limit and speaker elections are likely to come up, if even in passing.
Ryan will meet with the House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday night, but the list of demands have already been made by the Republican Study Committee. Ryan to huddle with conservatives:
Rep. Paul Ryan will meet with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday evening, a sign the Wisconsin Republican is seriously considering running for Speaker.
Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck confirmed the meeting, and said the Freedom Caucus requested it. [No doubt to deliver their list of demands.]
The meeting will take place before an evening vote series and a special closed-door meeting of all House Republicans set for 7 p.m.
[Ryan’s] allies say he won’t run if the Freedom Caucus — a bloc of roughly 40 conservative hard-liners — place certain conditions on his candidacy, including a list of procedural and rules reforms they want to see implemented.
Paul Ryan clearly does not have the stones to be Speaker of the House and to rein in such a fractious, mutinous GOP caucus. His only smart move is to say “I don’t need this; thanks but no thanks.”
Ryan still harbors fantasies of becoming president someday. The only Speaker of the House ever elected president was James K. Polk. And only one vice presidential nominee of the losing party ticket has ever been elected president — Franklin D. Roosevelt. Paul Ryan is no FDR.