For Republicans, the debt talks have shown three leaders calling three different plays, each trying to push and pull congressional Republicans in his direction. So far, all three have failed to find a plan that all of them can support.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared on June 19 that there wasn’t enough time to approve any of the plans to raise the government’s debt ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline. He proposed a short-term hike to buy more time.
Two days later, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) declared short-term deals a non-starter and said “there are no votes” for any grand bargain including higher tax revenue.
The next night, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) snuck into a secret meeting with President Obama to launch an effort for a “big deal” including hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenue.
McConnell, Boehner and Cantor say they are on the same side and never publicly criticize one another. But for the past five weeks, each has appeared to play to different audiences inside the Grand Old Party, with different motivations, according to aides and Republican lawmakers.
With an eye on history, Boehner has repeatedly sought to throw the “Hail Mary” pass by getting a massive deal that would create a path toward reining in runaway debt.
With an eye on the 2012 elections, McConnell privately has doubted Boehner could get Obama to agree to a large spending-reduction plan with no tax increases, so he worked on back-up plans.
With an eye on the 87 freshmen who propelled the GOP into the majority, Cantor served as the protector of the House conservative flank.
This chasm has emerged as the key stumbling block in ongoing efforts to cinch a final deal to avert a potential federal default. Only in the past 24 hours have they appeared to encircle the same plan: a revised version of McConnell’s idea for a temporary increase. Even that faces obstacles. On Saturday, Obama again pronounced his staunch opposition to such an idea.
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