GOP Leaders Set Stage for Debt Deal

Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are trying to blame President Trump for the deal cut with the Democrats to fund the government and to suspend the debt limit until December, but they set the stage for this debacle and should be held accountable.

Consider the following:

• McConnell and Ryan delayed action on these issues to intentionally manufacture a crisis that would pressure Republicans into supporting a bad deal.
• They preemptively surrendered to the Democrats by calling for “clean” bills with no spending cuts or budget reforms.
• They even called for a short-term funding bill that would create another shutdown crisis in December so they could pass even more liberal policies.

So while conservatives should be disappointed that the president agreed to this, nobody should buy the spin coming out of Washington that McConnell and Ryan are upset that the president cut this deal with the Democrats.

These are the same people who routinely cut deals with President Obama to pass massive spending, bailouts, and debt. And everyone knows that they were planning to do it again this month.

The truth is that McConnell and Ryan were upset that the president agreed to the deal so quickly. They wanted to pretend fight with the Democrats in another grand production of “Failure Theater” to make it look like they opposed the deal and only agreed to it reluctantly.

The biggest tell here is that McConnell and Ryan have pushed the debt deal through Congress. If they truly wanted something better, they could have written their own bill and passed it instead.

Isn’t it amazing how they’re willing to oppose the president when he wants something conservative (border wall funding, cuts in foreign aid, term limits, Obamacare repeal, etc.) but when he agrees to a liberal spending and debt deal they are suddenly powerless to stop it?

Conservatives shouldn’t fall for the lie that Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan oppose this debt deal and that the president is solely responsible for it. That simply isn’t the case.

And it’s time for conservatives in the House and Senate to get their party leaders to truly fight for conservative policies or replace them if they won’t. Americans expect Republicans to deliver on their promises, not sit back and blame the president for their own failures.

Thank you for remaining informed and engaged. There are a number of critical policy issues that will be addressed in the coming months and it will be important that we all make our voices heard.