American voters 'cut loose' from elected government by House Speaker Boehner as he makes deal with Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats to add $100 billion unfunded spending-National Journal

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3/16/15, "Boehner's New Strategy: Enlist Democrats First, Not Last," National Journal, Daniel Newhauser

"The House's hard-core conservatives have gotten used to losing at the end of a long legislative fight. But for the first time in the 114th Congress, Speaker John Boehner is cutting them loose from the get go.

Boehner and his top chairmen will pitch a permanent "doc-fix" deal to Republicans Tuesday morning that would have been unheard of in the GOP-led House of the last few years: an entitlement change that adds tens of billions of dollars to the 10-year deficit and that they know fiscal hawks will vote against. What's more, Boehner and his team negotiated the deal with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats first.

That is a noted strategy shift for Boehner, who on several recent occasions—including last month's Homeland Security Department funding standoff—has only gone to Pelosi as a last resort and, instead, relied on 218 Republicans to pass right-leaning bills. Now he is not bothering to try to appease the most vocal hard-liners in his party, members who—Boehner's allies have argued—were never going to come around to his side anyway.

Perhaps even more interestingly, the proposal—which could reach the floor as soon as this week—is coming in part from Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, who so insisted on offsetting all spending when he chaired the Budget Committee that he might have voted against this very deal a few years ago....

"The interesting thing is how Paul argues this. His first big move from the committee is to allow 100-plus billion dollars in entitlement spending to go unpaid for?" the source continued....

Meanwhile, House Democrats have agreed to the policy without insisting on tax increases in return. What they get instead is a two-year reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program at levels agreed to in the Affordable Care Act [ObamaCare]. And even that is a relief for GOP leaders; CHIP not only splits the Republican Party, but it expires in September, just as government spending is set to run out.

Amid another potential shutdown jam, GOP leaders would also likely have to deal with Democrats to get it passed then or concoct their own policy and suffer attacks from Democrats accusing them of endangering or making draconian cuts to children's health care programs.

All that is enough, aides said, for Boehner to make the decision to deal with Democrats up front.... 

"A permanent solution to [the sustainable growth rate] is something that members would be very supportive of, and obviously getting CHIP for two years at ACA levels is a very big accomplishment," said a Democratic leadership aide. "It's just wait-and-see right now, and the next crucial point is [Tuesday's] Republican conference meeting....

The deal would expend means testing for Medicare patients for doctors visits and prescriptions, meaning those with higher incomes would pay higher premiums. It would also impose a $250 out-of-pocket copayment for doctors visits on patients who supplement their Medicare coverage with so-called private Medigap coverage."...




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