The Washington Post is reporting that House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican leaders, like Sen. John McCain, have ramped up the pressure on fellow Republicans to pass Boehner's revised debt-ceiling bill. After much public squabbling within the GOP, Boehner told his fellow republicans to "get their a**** in line."
Paul Kane and Lori Montgomery report, "House GOP leaders mounted a furious bid Wednesday to win support for legislation designed to ease the nation's debt crisis, delivering a tongue-lashing to their most conservative lawmakers and casting Thursday's roll call as nothing less than a vote of confidence in their stewardship of the chamber."
They also reported that "House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio) began Wednesday by ordering his fellow Republicans to fall in line and continued pushing for support throughout the day. He and his lieutenants repeatedly warned rank-and-file Republicans that Boehner's plan was their only alternative to a Democratic option offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) or the financial calamity that could be precipitated by a government default."
We're wondering why it has taken Boehner and McCain so long to call out fellow Republicans? To push an issue like this to the breaking point unnecessarily is ridiculous. Boehner's plan has been revised to include the $917 billion in spending cuts that he originally promised, so this is probably as good as it is going to get on the GOP end, which is what Boehner and McCain want Tea Party members to understand.
Something they absolutely need to understand is that if we default because of their shenanigans, not to mention lose our top credit rating, then Tea Party members will see some real change during the election — i.e., Tea Party members being voted out of office. They need to realize that standing for something and standing in the way of something unnecessarily are two different things.
Read more at the Washington Post.
In other news: John McCain Slams Tea Party, Bachmann.