Dems call GOP’s bluff, force House Republicans to vote down their own budgetPretty clever. If that doesn't shine a glaring spotlight on GOP disingenuity nothing will.House Republicans scrambled Friday to vote down their own extremely conservative budget after Democrats called their bluff and withheld opposition, forcing GOP lawmakers to defeat the bill themselves.
The proposal, put forth by the Republican Study Committee, was a more extreme alternative to the plan offered by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan [[R-WI). It sought to make massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare while providing even larger tax breaks for high income earners.
A proposal like that would ordinarily have no chance of passing, typically earning total opposition from Democrats and dissent from enough Republicans. Yet voting on it would serve to please the GOP's right flank, while passage would tar the party with seeking to gut America's social safety net.
But, far from unified opposition, a total of 172 Democrats voted "present." That shocked Republicans, forcing some of them to flip their "yes" votes to "no."...
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