Jim Meyers and Kathleen Walter
Newsmax
26 Dec 2012
Longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley tells Newsmax that Republicans have a “great deal of leverage” on President Obama because they can refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless he agrees to spending cuts.
The Iowa Republican also says the president wants the nation to go over the fiscal cliff because it will raise everyone’s taxes — then he can be seen as saving the middle class by lowering their taxes in the new year…
…“If we do go over the cliff then the focus next year’s going to be on raising the debt ceiling and we’ve got a great deal of leverage on the president on raising the debt ceiling because we don’t have to raise it unless we’re going to get some reduction in expenditures.
“The proposition that was established in August of 2011 is a pretty good proposition that Republicans are willing to follow now — for every dollar increase in the debt ceiling, we’re going to have to have a dollar decrease in expenditures.”…
The complete article is at Newsmax.
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Related: Rep. Ros-Lehtinen invites Sen. Harry Reid to discover the real meaning of the term ‘dictatorhip’
In his usual pernicious and tasteless manner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor today to odiously proclaim that House Speaker John Boehner is running congress like a “dictatorship”
Read the whole thing.
Update: New Tone: Steny Hoyer Compares GOP Debt Limit Tactics To Hostage Taker Threatening To Shoot A Child…
Also, What’s the point of a debt ceiling?
Update 2: Exclusive: McConnell Calls Out Obama’s Negotiation Charade
The office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) responded to reports today that President Barack Obama called him and other congressional leaders to receive updates about negotiations to avoid the Jan. 1 “fiscal cliff” by noting that it was the “first time McConnell has heard from any Democrat, including the President, on this since Thanksgiving.”…
