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The Spectacle Blog
I’ve always liked Rep. Fred Upton personally, and I’ve never been as down on him as some other conservatives. He’s a good guy, a hard worker, and a thoughtful man. But it boggles the mind that Speaker Boehner just appointed him to the debt/budget supercommittee, along with Jeb Hensarling (a great pick) and Dave Camp, an obvious choice since he is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Upton? And this is supposed to reassure conservatives that the committee won’t go wobbly by allowing real tax hikes?
Upton’s record on taxes, it must be said, is pretty good. Most of his diversions from conservatism have come on other issues. But the fact remains that he isn’t exactly a hard-liner; his whole modus operandi is to seek compromise. If the committee caves on taxes, it will be no surprise if the Republican who caves is Fred Upton.
Meanwhile, it is beyond mind-boggling that the biggest expert we have on our side, Paul Ryan, isn’t on the supercommittee. What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks?! Nobody understands all this stuff better than Ryan; nobody explains it more understandably than Ryan; nobody enjoys credibility with the media like Ryan does. And, for that matter, nobody intimidates — yes, intimidates, by sheer force of intellect — Barack Obama like Paul Ryan does. Keeping him off the committee is akin to the Colts earning a Super Bowl berth and then voluntarily de-activating a healty Peyton Manning.
My hopes for the super-committee just dropped by about 75 percent, and my fears rose accordingly.
Update:
Ryan put out a statement saying he asked not to be on the supercommittee. His logic makes no sense to me, and Boehner should have convinced him it is his duty to serve on the supercommittee. Meanwhile, even if Ryan just won’t do it, it still makes no sense not to have a more solid conservative than Upton. Why not a pro-defense, anti-tax freshman like Allen West? Why not RSC Chair Jim Jordan? The Upton choice makes no sense.
Also, the Senate GOP choices now are in, too. I like them a lot better. Nobody is more solid than Jon Kyl. Pat Toomey is a conservative’s conservative, and as anti-tax as anybody in Congress. And Rob Portman, as former director of OMB, is a real expert — and he was OMB director exactly during the time Bush was pushing his tax cuts, which he thus has a stake in protecting.
Further Update:
A wise person, in the know, notes that Upton’s Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, and that Republicans want Medicaid savings in the final deal — and that Upton is thought to be solid on Medicaid issues. This at least helps explain the choice, but in my mind still doesn’t justify it. Another idea: If not Ryan, then why not Budget vice chair Scott Garrett of New Jersey, with his 100 ACU rating?
On the other hand, the Dems may have given conservatives a gift by appointing Max Baucus. He can be an unpleasant personality, but he really is a deal-maker who has been genuinely more moderate on some issues, including taxes, than some other Demo senators.
View all comments (16) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Quin Hillyer
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/08/10/upton-instead-of-ryan
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martin j smith| 8.10.11 @ 11:42AM
I have no confidence in John Boehner to not cave in on anything involving negotiations with the Socialists. he has shown on several occasions that he takes bad deals and claims victory. It is too bad but as is said: He is who he is ? But who he really is, I wish I knew.
Teflon93 | 8.10.11 @ 11:49AM
Upton has an American Conservative Union lifetime rating of 73.23, Hensarling of 98.96, and Camp of 88.87. In other words, Boehner's picks were quite a bit less conservative than Harry Reid's were liberal.
Ryan's is a 92.67. Hmm, wonder why he wasn't picked?
Pecos Pete| 8.10.11 @ 11:51AM
With war hero Kerry on the committee the committee will either recommend both tax hikes and no spending cuts or else will hang with a 6 to 6 tie.
NVA Patriot| 8.10.11 @ 11:55AM
These picks combined with the senate picks announced simply means Rush is right by some means, the committee will amount to nothing as all past committee's have
...And after Wisconsin a lot ot Tea Party folks are going to feel v. empowered. Upton messes up on the committee and he will be primaried and out...
dc| 8.10.11 @ 12:00PM
Quin et al., the fate of this committee was sealed prior to Boehner's picks. The Demons' pick of Patty Murray, a drooling socialist moron, ensures that nothing will come of any of this. It's a gross waste of time, a distraction, an excuse--at best. You can't make deals with people who want to kill you. Patty Murray is a pure tool of the worst elements of the hard Left, an empty vessel that bubbles over with whatever poison is poured into it at the time--so forget it, Rush is/was right, start passing real legislation and forcing Il Duce Nero to veto it. That's all that can be done right now. Oh, and buy guns and land, because the Euro-rioting will start here soon.
Jeff| 8.10.11 @ 12:14PM
Boehner the bonehead strikes again!
Derek Leaberry| 8.10.11 @ 12:25PM
Tax increases are coming. You can bet on it. This is a case of Speaker Boehner getting revenge on the Tea Party for spoiling his $ 4 trillion deficit deal with no real cuts. Boehner can not be trusted and, in fact, should be politically destroyed.
Zack| 8.10.11 @ 1:29PM
Ryan doesn't want on because he can read the writing on the wall. The committee will most likely fail to make a recommendation or the Congress will fail to endorse the recommendations. Democrats aren't likely to get anything better than the "trigger" cuts unless Republicans allow new revenue (unlikely), and Republicans aren't likely to get any agreement from Democrats without allowing new taxes. Paul's smart enough not to tie his hitch to a lame horse.
big bob| 8.10.11 @ 1:33PM
I'm still trying to figure out how this arrangement is constitutional. We have a republic, where we elect representatives to vote for us. Now the representatives are electing representatives who are accountable to partisan leadership. What could go wrong with that? And no Freshmen, conservatives? Is this how Boehner gets his way and acts like Obama? In fact, the arrangement here is almost exactly what King Barry does every time: set up a commission to thresh out details that HE should be doing. Not only does Speaker Beohner cave, he is imitating the liar in chief. Now I feel really encouraged.
Zack| 8.10.11 @ 2:13PM
From libertarian lawyer Eugene Volokh (http://volokh.com/2011/08/08/the-constitutionality-of-the-joint-select-committee-on-deficit-reduction-established-by-the-recent-debt-ceiling-act/):
1. Article I, § 5 of the Constitution provides that “Each House may determine the Rules of its proceedings.” . . . And the Act makes clear that, “The provisions of this title are enacted by Congress ... as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of that House to which they specifically apply.”
2. This power doesn’t extend to actually allowing some other body, whether a Committee or not, to do things that themselves have the force of law. (See INS v. Chadha.) But under this proposal, the Joint Select Committee would simply submit its work product to Congress; as usual, the House and the Senate would decide whether to enact the law, and the President would decide whether to sign it. ...
DJS 1941| 8.10.11 @ 2:10PM
Ryan will be very busy until the end of Oct trying to get a 2013 budget passed. Hopefully he will do individual budget bills instead of an omnibus bill. That way they can fight over individual budgets such as EPA or Labor and let the ones like Defense go through with less problems.
Interested Conservative| 8.10.11 @ 3:06PM
I believe this is precisely the GOP approach, and if so, am impressed. Let Rep. Ryan, and the congress, as traditionally organized and functioning, proceed. Let the super-duper-committee provide a show. I'll take Portman vs Murray anytime, but the GOP will have to be very aggressive in the media.
Essentially, let the committe meet, discuss, leak, present, agonize, deadlock, and dismiss - the full Reagan at Reykjavic treatment. Meanwhile, the house passes its budgets on time and we replay the debt ceiling drama with a do nothing POTUS and a know-nothing Reid.
However, I share Mr. Hillyer's fears of a GOP political mess in the desire to reach a "grand deal". Please just pass a budget per the rules and tradition - just move it aggressively to CCB.
Rick V.| 8.10.11 @ 3:12PM
Be assured that if Rep. Upton has a "light bulb" moment, it will be dim and toxic.
Oldefarte| 8.10.11 @ 4:56PM
The Republicans should have RECESS-APPOINTED Rush Limbaugh or possibly Grover Norquist!!!!!!!!
Nick| 8.10.11 @ 7:58PM
Please, do not forget about Boehner the liar:
John Boehner is a liar and broke his word. He promised in the
2010 Pledge to America (remember that GOP?) to give
Americans THREE DAYS to read legislation
before a vote.
"Americans should have three days to read all bills before
Congress votes on them."
- John Boehner, Oct. 30, 2010
He's only been Speaker of the House for seven months, and he is
already breaking his word. How is this any different than when
SanFran Nan Pelosi did the same thing?
It's not like Boehner is incapable of keeping his word. That is, for
democrats. Remember H.R. 1, earlier this year? He let democrats
offer hundreds of amendments to keep "the Pledge’s commitment to an
'open process that makes it easier – not harder' to cut spending
[...]."
I guess we conservatives can just go pound sand, huh?
By the way, this grand deal has cut $4.5 billion from
national security spending for Fiscal Year 2012. These are
real cuts, $4.5 billion less spending
than FY 2011, not the phony C.B.O cuts from baseline
budgeting, which only reduce the growth of spending.
Thanks to this cry-baby Oompa-Loompa, we no longer have a veto
over that incompetent boob in the White House. Thank
you, sir, may I have another!
"'The American people are in charge of this country, and they deserve a Congress that acts like it,' said Boehner. 'Americans should have three days to read all bills before Congress votes on them--something they didn't get when the "stimulus" was rushed into law. We should put an end to so-called 'comprehensive' bills that make it easy to hide wasteful spending projects and job-killing policies. Bills should be written by legislators in committee in plain public view--not written in the Speaker's office, behind closed doors.'" (All emphasis minne.)
- Penny Starr, CNSNews.com, quoting John Boehner
"'Americans have lost trust with their government, which has too often ignored the will of the people in favor of party loyalty and a desire to pass partisan bills at any cost,' said the introduction to that part of the Pledge to America. 'Backroom deals, phantom amendments, and bills that go unread before being forced through Congress have become business as usual. Never before has the need for a new approach to governing been more apparent than under Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership [ARRRRRRRGH!]. Americans are demanding change in the way Congress works, and we are fighting to bring much-needed sunlight to the process and give the American people a greater voice in their Congress.'" (All emphasis mine.)
- Penny Starr, CNSNews.com, quoting the GOP's Pledge to America
HYPOCRITE!!!!!!!!!
Nick| 8.10.11 @ 7:59PM
Also, McConnell put Kyl on the select committee.
Kyl is retiring, folks.
He has nothing to lose by raising taxes on all of us.