July 19, 2011 12:36 AM UTC

GOP Seeks Face-Saving Exit From Debt Ceiling Debacle

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• by: Colorado Pols

Politico’s David Rogers updates:

President Barack Obama and the two top House Republican leaders held an unannounced meeting at the White House Sunday, trying to get debt talks back on track with just two weeks left before the threat of default.

Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor were both part of the discussions which come even as the House GOP has scheduled floor votes Tuesday on a newly revised debt ceiling bill that is remarkable for its total absence of compromise at this late date and represents a real shift to the right…

Republican insiders argue that the floor votes are a necessary step to establish a conservative record before compromises are made to get past the crisis. [Pols emphasis] In fact, at a meeting Friday with Obama’s chief of staff, Bill Daley, Boehner floated a new version of the $4 trillion compromise he has previously pursued with the president. Cantor was also in that meeting as the two Republican leaders try to avoid a repeat of the divisions that have plagued them in these talks.

But at this late hour, the House bill represents a major political escalation that risks undermining Boehner’s standing. And going into 2012, congressional Republicans seem focused on driving their conservative base, displaying little confidence that one of their presidential candidates will oust Obama.

The Republican drive for major spending cuts in exchange for a vote to raise the “debt ceiling” statutory borrowing limit has faltered around one key issue: raising government revenue in addition to cutting spending to arrive at a balanced solution. The GOP’s credibility on the issue of fiscal responsibility used to be their great strength; a few weeks later, the dogmatic rejection of any increase in revenue has become a fatal weakness. Polls show that the American people will blame Republicans, not the President, should the crisis fail to be resolved.

As we’ve noted, the same polling shows that 67% of the public–67%–wants tax increases to be a component of any long-term deficit fix. The “cuts only” demand from the GOP has not only failed to gain traction; it’s confirmed something very important philosophically about the two sides. One side fundamentally values institutions like Medicare as the public does; the other side does not. Republicans have succeeded in one part of their objective in the debt limit debate–they deserve credit for moving their all-consuming issue of spending and deficits into prominence with the public and with Democrats, albeit via hypocritical recriminations and questionable facts.

The trouble is, even if they can hog the spotlight, they don’t have a monopoly on the solution. And with the consequences spelled out in sharp relief thanks to the Medicare privatization budget eagerly approved by the GOP-controlled House, the voters can see more clearly than ever that the underlying philosophy Republicans are selling isn’t what they want.