Michelle Malkin | The GOP Crappy Meal: It’s Not Perfect, But It’s Better Than Nothing!; Update: VOTE POSTPONED; Woodshed time for GOP holdouts; Bill to be “tweaked” «

The GOP Crappy Meal: It’s Not Perfect, But It’s Better Than Nothing!; Update: VOTE POSTPONED; Woodshed time for GOP holdouts; Bill to be “tweaked”

By Michelle Malkin • July 28, 2011 05:29 PM

Ok, fellow Tea Party hobbits, the vote on GOP House Speaker John Boehner’s compromise debt deal package is almost upon us. If you follow my Twitter page, you can get my day’s worth of updates on all the internal battles. The Chicago tactics now being threatened against conservative dissenter Rep. Jim Jordan. The McCain smackdown. Et cetera. Et cetera.

I noted earlier this week that the fissures between GOP establishment and grass-roots conservatives echo the TARP divide.

Since Boehner dubbed the TARP bailout the “crap sandwich,” it’s only fitting that this debt compromise be dubbed the GOP Crappy Meal. As they keep telling us in all their marketing press conferences:

It’s Not Perfect. But It’s Better Than Nothing.

(Speaking of Crappy Meals, I’ll be announcing a winner of the Happy Meal makeover contest tomorrow. Stay tuned. Perhaps a new round of GOP Crappy Meal photoshops is in order?)

Remember: When Democrats say “balanced approach,” they mean it’s up to the GOP to perform the downward dog yoga pose.

While the impact of Boehner 2.0 is highly exaggerated on both sides on the House floor, be sure to read this analysis from Cato and see this chart:

Not good enough. Not by a long-shot.

If this is making government “live within its means,” the Tea Party movement was all for naught.

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Update: 5:30pm Eastern…Debate is wrapping up on the House floor. Vote is down to the wire. The Hill has the latest whip list.

House Republicans against/leaning no on Boehner plan (25)
Undecided/Still reviewing/Unclear (33)

The magic number: 216. Boehner can only afford to lose 24.

Update: After more than 2 hours of debate, House GOP leadership postponed the vote.

They don’t have the numbers.

Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is delaying the House vote on his plan to cut the deficit, Republican and Democratic sources told National Journal on Thursday. Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office said the vote would still take place later in the evening.

A Democratic source said only that Boehner was pushing back the vote. A senior Republican source said the House speaker, who was facing opposition in his caucus, had “delayed” the vote.

“The vote will be this evening,” said a spokesman for Cantor’s office.

Cue arm-twisting and re-districting threats on steroids…

Update: Holdouts have been called to Boehner/Cantor woodshed for whipping.

GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert came out of the meeting — still a now — “bloody and beaten down, he reportedly said. But still holding fast.

Update 9:21pm Eastern…Buzz on Capitol Hill is that the bill will be sent back to the rules committee for “tweaks” to win more votes.

Yep, they’re adding crapples to sweeten the GOP Crappy Meal deal.

How about tweaking it into the trash and sending Cut Cap and Balance back to the Senate?

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Call list via Freedomworks:

Joe Barton (Texas) (202) 225-2002

Dan Benishek (Mich.) (202) 225-4735

Dan Burton (Ind.) (202) 225-2276

Michael Burgess (Texas) (202) 225-7772

Kevin Brady (Texas) (202) 225-4901