Republican Senatorial Leadership Vote to Allow "Clean" Debt Limit Increase to Go Forward

UPDATE: Jeffrey Lord makes the following point today:

Like President Richard Nixon, like President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama is defying the law. There may well be no will political or otherwise to impeach this president. But however it is done, Congress — that specifically means the purse-controlling House — cannot just sit there and do nothing.

The sauce for Nixon and Clinton’s law-defying geese must in some fashion be sauce for Obama’s law-defying gander.

Impeach the President?

The votes aren’t there.

But let the President get away with The Obama Precedent? Systematically violating the Constitution?

If the votes in the purse-controlling Boehner House aren’t there to do something about that — then why are they there?

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When there was a chance for Republicans in the Senate to stop the debt ceiling hike (or at lease gain concessions), the party leadership voted against stopping the bill or gaining concessions.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas*
John Barrasso of Wyoming
Susan Collins of Maine
Bob Corker of Tennessee
Jeff Flake of Arizona
Orrin Hatch of Utah
Mike Johanns of Nebraska
Mark Kirk of Illinois
John McCain of Arizona
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
John Thune of South Dakota

But, of course, when they didn't have a chance to stop the debt ceiling hike, they all stood firmly against it.

With Republican senatorial leadership like that, no wonder the country is in such a mess.

And then there's House Speaker John Boehner who voted for the debt limit increase in the House vote:

"It's a disappointing moment," Boehner told reporters before the House vote. "This is a lost opportunity," he said.

As he left the podium, Boehner started singing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah."

With leadership like this, how much difference will it really make if Republicans win the Senate as well as the House in 2014? They'll still be vetoed by the President. So, any negative action they take on funding will "shut down the government" or incur "debt default". That only leaves passing "clean" bills for mega-spending and mega-debt increase.
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*Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, voted "aye" in the cliffhanger cloture vote, Roll Call reported. The two voted for the measure when the count briefly appeared short of the 60 votes needed. (UPI)

Yesterday, however, ". . . John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, said he would probably not vote for the clean debt measure. (NPR)