It now looks as though the House is poised to pass a version of the Boehner plan that would force a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment in order to raise the debt by enough to fund the government through the 2012 election.
In other words, the House is reshaping its proposal, which already would have faced trouble in the Senate, to make it even more conservative. In fact, it’s now not far from a version of Cut, Cap, and Balance. And unlike with the original Cut, Cap, and Balance bill, which passed on a bipartisan basis, Boehner won’t get any Democratic votes.
Assuming the bill is passed today, the focus will shift to the Senate. Harry Reid, as of now, is stating that the Senate will work on his own compromise measure instead of whatever the House passes. The one advantage that passing the updated Reid plan will have for the GOP is that the Senate Democrats will have to negotiate with themselves and vote for a compromise, taking the spotlight off of the Tea Party House Republican holdout.