Today, Republican Leader Eric Cantor announced a new “Dream and Pass” principle–the Washington Post:
“What this bill says is it reiterates again the deadline, and that the Senate should act before the deadline, and that’s what the American people are expecting,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Wednesday morning at a news conference with other House Republican leaders. “The bill then says if the Senate does not act, then H.R. 1 [the House-passed bill] will be the law of the land.”
Brian Beutler of TPM translates:
How do you make it look like you’re desperate to avoid a government shutdown while pursuing a negotiating strategy that’s inviting a government shutdown?
The option the House GOP has chosen is to introduce legislation called the Government Shutdown Prevention Act. Mission: Accomplished!
That legislation, if passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President, would deem controversial Republican spending cut legislation the law of the land if Congress blows past an April 6 deadline.
Sounds like the ‘So Be It’ GOP needs a quick refresher on the Constitution–Tying It All Together: Learn about the Legislative Process on House.gov explains:
After a measure passes in the House, it goes to the Senate for consideration. A bill must pass both bodies in the same form before it can be presented to the President for signature into law.
Democrats are committed to working with Republicans to create jobs, strengthen the middle class, and reduce the deficit in a responsible way–”hastily concocted” “symbolic” measures get us no closer to that objective.