I wrote about the odious Corker-McCaskill CAP Act a couple weeks ago:
McCaskill More Dangerous than Ryan (w/ Update, Ezra Klein: "more extreme than Ryan")
It's a terrible bill. Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly is reporting that the President and his adminstration are working against it behind the scenes in the senate, basing his report on Senator Corker's recent comments. WHITE HOUSE OPPOSES CAP ACT BEHIND THE SCENES
This is good news. The CAP Act is totally contrary to the Obama plan of shared sacrifice.
Here's some background:
With Democrats like Claire McCaskill, you don't need Republicans like Ryan. Earlier this year, she joined with Tennessee Republican Bob Corker to push a plan as bad as Ryan's, but more dangerous because she calls herself a Democrat. Really. David Dayen lays it out:
So what is McCaskill-Corker? It would mandate that spending, within ten years, go from 24.7% of GDP to 20.6% of GDP. Instead of looking at what society needs, and advancing programs designed to fulfill those needs, and then determining how to pay for them, then, this bill would artificially limit spending to an arbitrary number that is less than the 22% level of spending under Ronald Reagan. And instead of picking and choosing what programs to save under that cap, McCaskill-Corker forces OMB to make the decision of making “evenly distributed, simultaneous cuts throughout the federal budget.” This would include mandatory spending like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
Debt Limit Vote Could Yield Spending Caps
McCaskill More Dangerous than Ryan (w/ Update, Ezra Klein: "more extreme than Ryan")
Think about the size of these cuts. In 2021, the Congressional Budget Office projects U.S. spending will hit 24 percent of GDP without further spending cuts. Without tax increases (and probably even with tax increases) that figure isn't acceptable. So both the deficit commission's recommendations and Rep. Paul Ryan's Roadmap aim for something closer to 22 percent, and -- this is key! -- they offer concrete steps to get there. By setting their spending cap at 20.6 percent, McCaskill and Corker are asking Congress to shave off 3.4 percent of GDP without a plan. For perspective: 3.5% of GDP is the equivalent of all Medicare spending in 2011.
The Atlantic:The Cynical Politics of Claire McCaskill's Deficit Plan, Feb. 2, 2011
Ezra Klein called it "the second worst idea in Washington:
Spending caps are bad policy, and the McCaskill-Corker spending cap — which holds spending to 21.5 percent of GDP, or three percentage points lower than it is right now — is a badly designed spending cap. But beyond all that, it’s laughable to posit it as a compromise: It’s arguably the most radically conservative reform that could be made to the federal budget. More extreme, by far, than Paul Ryan’s plan.
snip
But the legislation is terrifically irresponsible, could become a dangerous flashpoint as part of the debt ceiling debate and would destroy much that she holds dear if it somehow did pass. This isn’t the Worst Idea in Washington, but it’s close.
The second worst idea in Washington
So it's good news to hear that the President is seeking to defeat this terrible, terrible bill.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Monday the White House is calling every member of the Senate, urging them to reject the "CAP Act."
"The White House is calling every individual senator and asking them to stay off of this bill," Corker told the Times-News editorial board Monday while promoting his legislation. "I see it as a part of the fulcrum of this (spending) debate. I'm hoping that it passes."
I haven't seen confirmation of this elsewhere, but if it's true, it's excellent news. The CAP Act is a disaster, and it's exactly the kind of thing the president and his team are going to have to work to defeat.
WHITE HOUSE OPPOSES CAP ACT BEHIND THE SCENES
We just cannot afford ignorant and cynical politicians in the Democratic Party like Sen. McCaskill. She's screwing working people, the Party and this President by co-sponsoring Corker's worse-than-Ryan bill. Claire will find justice at the ballot box if she continues to support the Republican defunding of our government.
And I am glad that our President is working against this bill.