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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMcConnell: "They knew I had a weak hand, given the time we had squandered on this quixotic venture"
"They knew I had a weak hand, given the time we had squandered on this quixotic venture that had no chance of success."
-- McConnell, in an interview with National Review, 10/17/13
COSTA: When did you know this standoff was finally ending?
MCCONNELL: I can tell you when I knew that wed end up here July. We had extensive discussions in July about how the defund strategy couldnt possibly succeed. And its really a matter of simple math: 54 is more than 46. And, of course, when you add in the president, you knew it had no chance of success. So I knew wed end up in the place where we ended up. What I could not have predicted is that wed end up in that place and have so few cards to play. To use a football analogy, by the time it was clear the House couldnt pass anything, I was on the two-yard line, trying to see how I could punt to get us into a better field position to live to fight another day without raising taxes or busting the [Budget Control Act] caps. Honestly, thats why it was a deal worth making. But it didnt have anything else attached to it because the House couldnt send anything that would give me any ability to negotiate. As you recall, thats the same problem we had last December 31 during the fiscal cliff. The speaker had an excellent Plan B with a $1 million threshold on taxes, but they couldnt pass it. If they had been able to send that over, wed have ended up a lot higher than $400,000, $450,000 for a couple.
................
MCCONNELL: This thing that passed the Senate, which, honestly, only maintained the status quo for a few more months, was better than what the House tried to pass and couldnt pass, because it has a longer CR, which is what we wanted. Thats how challenging it is when you cant get something more in line with what youd like to achieve over here. So, my job is to acquaint our members, the best I can, with the reality of our situation, and try to get them to enable me to get us all out of the ditch and my members werent happy being in a 16-day government shutdown and being a day away from rattling the markets by getting close to default. They knew I had a weak hand, given the time we had squandered on this quixotic venture that had no chance of success, but they asked me to find a way out and I did. Most of them voted for it, too, which I appreciated.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/361533/mcconnells-exit-interview-robert-costa
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McConnell: "They knew I had a weak hand, given the time we had squandered on this quixotic venture" (Original Post)
kpete
Oct 2013
OP
muntrv
(14,505 posts)1. Quixotic venture? That's an insult to Don Quijote!
babylonsister
(171,091 posts)2. I can tell you when I knew that we’d end up here — July.
What a complete asshole. His allegiance surely isn't to anyone but himself.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)4. +100000 nt
arcane1
(38,613 posts)3. Well, I'm glad he's at least not blaming the president for this.
malokvale77
(4,879 posts)5. I almost feel sorry for him...
but the republicans brought these mofos into our government, so they need to deal with it.
In the meantime, we need to crush them.