No vote of no confidence

...and in this case, "no vote " means that there was no vote.

I wasn't going to get political tonight. As most of you know, I am currently going through a crisis and I didn't want to get serious. I was halfway through a lightweight piece on something trivial. Then Congress melted down.

It happened just a couple of hours ago., and I didn't feel that I could (or should) ignore it. The Republicans in the House have given up trying to undermine Obama for the day and gone home. Remember, this was the day that House Speaker John Boehner said that the House was going to pass their "Plan B" plan to avoid the fiscal cliff; it didn't pass. It didn't even get a vote.

Here's what happened.

A couple of days ago, Obama made an offer ro Boehner and the Republicans. It was a generous offer. Overly generous to my thinking, and I hope he backs away from it; nevertheless, Boehner rejected it. Then Boehner pulled a stunt: He put forward his "Plan B" bill which he said would avoid the Cliff. It would have raised taxes for Americans making over $1 million. (The President originally asked for higher taxes on those earning over $250 K but later backed off to $400 K; I hope he backs off from that offer.)

(Plan B also would have ended the tax breaks in Obama's 2009 stimulus, including earned-income and child tax credits for lower income families. It would also have ended the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit which is helping 11 million families send their children to college.)

Boehner managed to get the blessing of tax cut guru Grover Norquist, that Conservative non-entity that refuses to believe he's a non-entity. Norquist said that since Boehner's plan didn't include a tax hike (and he had to go through a few logic back-flips to justify that bit of nonsense) then anyone who voted for Boehner's plan wouldn't be breaking their pledge to Norquist not to raise taxes, ever.

Now, Boehner didn't believe that his plan would get through the Democratic-controled Senate, but he really believed it would get through the House. He planed to pass his bill and then dare the President and the Democrats not to pass something, something that the Republicans could vote for without tears.

Boehner expected to put his bill before the House for a vote today. There was no vote. Boehner spent all day trying to get the votes for his plan, and failing. When it was obvious that a vote wasn't going to happen, he pulled his bill and recessed the House. Plan B was DOA.

Boehner's problem was with the Conservative wing of the Republican Party. These are the people who automatically reject anything that originates from Barack Obama, anything which includes a tax increase for anyone (even millionaires who don't need tax breaks). The right-wing members of the House couldn't support this bill because it wasn't hard-line-against-Obama enough, and coupled with Democrats (who weren't going to support a bill designed to ultimately embarrass them) the bill was as good as dead. Without Conservative support (or at least cooperation) Boehner's "Plan B" didn't stand a chance.

With Congress out until after Christmas, and with just a few working days available between Christmas and New Year, it doesn't look like we'll be stopping short of that Fiscal Cliff we've all been talking about.

The tragedy is that this didn't have to happen. If Obama's last offer had been brought up for a vote, it had a fair chance of passing the house. Obama's offer was a serious offer; as I said, I think Obama was giving too much away but that's the nature of compromise. Boehner's counter-offer was never intended as an actual offer; the idea was to pass it in the House, have the Senate reject it and then accuse the Democrats of not bargaining in good faith. It didn't matter to the Republicans that their proposal couldn't get by the Senate...they never planned for it to. They just wanted to shame the Democrats.

They shamed themselves, and they shamed John Boehner. Boehner is looking even less like a leader, and people are asking if he can survive as Speaker. I think he can, but it might be better for him not to. Certainly, a stronger leader might not have brought about this fiasco. A better leader might have realized that Obama's offer was about all he was going to get, and accepted it (or at least have welcomed it as a serious offer and a possible bases for compromise).

No vote on John Boehner's plan is a serious "no confidence" vote for John Boehner.

The Blues Viking

The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.

Boehner's Plan B fiscal cliff bill pulled amid dissension in GOP caucus (CNN)

A Closer Look At Boehner's Plan B: Tax Hikes For Parents And Workers (Forbes)

Beohner Abruptly Scraps 'Plan B' Vote in Setback (CNBC)

John Boehner 'Plan B' Wins Grover Norquist Support, But GOP Remains A Chorus Of Dissapproval (Huffington Post)