Posted on Nov 4, 2023
On debt commission, don’t trust partisan wolf in bipartisan sheep’s clothing
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After three weeks of paralysis, the House finally has a new Speaker.
In a speech from the floor after being elected with unanimous Republican support, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) struck a practical, even affable tone, as he laid out his vision for the House.
But we shouldn’t mistake tone for substance. And while we hope the Speaker opens the door to bipartisan compromise and agreement — a necessity in divided government — he doesn’t exactly have a sterling record of bipartisanship.
In fact, Mr. Johnson has been a near constant roadblock to bipartisan accomplishment during his tenure in the House of Representatives. He voted against the effort to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6. He voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law. He voted against the bipartisan renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. And, just a few weeks ago, he voted against a bipartisan compromise to keep the government open through Nov. 17 and avert a costly, needless shutdown.
Given this illustrious partisan history, it was curious to me, as I heard Speaker Johnson deliver his opening monologue, that he kept calling for bipartisan compromise — especially as it relates to slashing government spending.
In a speech from the floor after being elected with unanimous Republican support, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) struck a practical, even affable tone, as he laid out his vision for the House.
But we shouldn’t mistake tone for substance. And while we hope the Speaker opens the door to bipartisan compromise and agreement — a necessity in divided government — he doesn’t exactly have a sterling record of bipartisanship.
In fact, Mr. Johnson has been a near constant roadblock to bipartisan accomplishment during his tenure in the House of Representatives. He voted against the effort to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6. He voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law. He voted against the bipartisan renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. And, just a few weeks ago, he voted against a bipartisan compromise to keep the government open through Nov. 17 and avert a costly, needless shutdown.
Given this illustrious partisan history, it was curious to me, as I heard Speaker Johnson deliver his opening monologue, that he kept calling for bipartisan compromise — especially as it relates to slashing government spending.
On debt commission, don’t trust partisan wolf in bipartisan sheep’s clothing
Posted from thehill.com
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Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."A new bipartisan commission will merely repeat that same dynamic. If it follows the history of the Simpson-Bowles farce under President Obama, it will go something like this.
The commission will spend millions of taxpayer dollars and propose modest revenue increases and massive spending cuts. The same group of obstructionist conservatives who demanded greater austerity than proposed by the bipartisan commission in 2011 will do so again, scuttling any hope of compromise, while forcing Democrats to take unpopular positions on deep spending cuts to valued programs like Social Security and Medicare.
The truth is a bipartisan debt commission is just a partisan wolf in bipartisan sheep’s clothing. In the end, Democrats should take a page out of Mike Johnson’s book. On slashing government spending through a bipartisan fiscal commission, stand on your core principles and reject bipartisanship.
Everett Kelley is national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, which is the nation’s largest federal employee union, representing 750,000 federal and D.C. government employees."
..."A new bipartisan commission will merely repeat that same dynamic. If it follows the history of the Simpson-Bowles farce under President Obama, it will go something like this.
The commission will spend millions of taxpayer dollars and propose modest revenue increases and massive spending cuts. The same group of obstructionist conservatives who demanded greater austerity than proposed by the bipartisan commission in 2011 will do so again, scuttling any hope of compromise, while forcing Democrats to take unpopular positions on deep spending cuts to valued programs like Social Security and Medicare.
The truth is a bipartisan debt commission is just a partisan wolf in bipartisan sheep’s clothing. In the end, Democrats should take a page out of Mike Johnson’s book. On slashing government spending through a bipartisan fiscal commission, stand on your core principles and reject bipartisanship.
Everett Kelley is national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, which is the nation’s largest federal employee union, representing 750,000 federal and D.C. government employees."
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