The Price of Politics (60 page)

197
Asked in an interview whether the Gang of Six releasing their plan:
Ibid.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with eight firsthand sources.

198
The president later recalled the meeting with Reid and Pelosi:
On the record author interview with President Barack Obama, July 11, 2012.

199
The draft proposal Nabors sent:
Author obtained copy of document.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with seven firsthand sources.

200
Boehner told me later, “Harry and I”:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

201
“What happened to common courtesy?”:
Author review of emails.

202
One reporter joked:
David A. Fahrenthold and Lori Montgomery, “Death of ‘Grand Bargain’ Boils Down to Two Men, Divided and Distrustful,”
The Washington Post
, July 23, 2011, p. A11.

203
“He was spewing coals”:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

204
Boehner later recalled, “He wasn’t going”:
Ibid.

205
“I was pretty angry,” Obama told me:
On the record author interview with President Barack Obama, July 11, 2012.

206
“I just got a call about a half hour ago”:
Compilation of Presidential Documents, “Remarks on the Federal Budget and an Exchange with Reporters,” July 22, 2011,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CPD
.

207
“I’d sat here and watched his performance”:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

208
“There was an agreement with the White House”:
“Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, Holds a News Conference,” CQ Transcriptions, July 22, 2011.

209
Later Boehner told me that he realized the importance:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with six firsthand sources and contemporaneous notes by a participant.

210
Leader Pelosi will not be able to join the call:
Author review of email.

211
How did the president feel:
On the record author interview with President Barack Obama, July 11, 2012.

212
Boehner arranged an afternoon conference call:
Author review of an internal readout of the conference call.

213
At 5:21 p.m., Michael Steel, Boehner’s press secretary:
Author review of email.

214
“I will not support any short-term agreement”:
Press release, “Reid Statement Reaffirming Opposition to Short-Term Debt Ceiling Increase,” Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, July 23, 2011,
http://www.reid.senate.gov
.

215
“Listen,” Boehner recalled telling the president:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

216
Boehner recalled, “He was moaning and groaning”:
Ibid.

217
In a statement to the press, Boehner’s spokesman:
Jamie Klatell, “Reid: I Hope GOP Leaders Will Reconsider Their Intransigence in Negotiations,”
The Hill
, July 24, 2011,
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/173135-reid-hopes-gop-leaders-will-reconsider-their-intransigence
.

218
Asked about Boehner’s description:
On the record author interview with President Barack Obama, July 11, 2012.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with six firsthand sources.

219
On Sunday morning, July 24
,
Boehner appeared:
Chris Wallace, “Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Speaker of the House Boehner Talk Debt Ceiling Deadline,”
Fox News Sunday
, Fox, July 24, 2011,
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/2011/07/24/treasury-secretary-tim-geithner-speaker-house-john-boehner-talk-debt-ceiling-deadline
.

220
In an interview nearly a year later:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

221
Did someone hang up on the other?:
Ibid.

222
Reid and Pelosi left the White House:
Jennifer Steinhauer and Helene Cooper, “Rival Debt Plans Being Assembled by Party Leaders,”
The New York Times
, July 25, 2011, p. A1.

223
Asked about the meeting with Reid and Krone:
On the record author interview with President Barack Obama, July 11, 2012.

224
Late that night, the majority leader released a $2.7 trillion deficit reduction plan:
Jake Sherman, Manu Raju and John Bresnahan, “Stalemated, Parties Go Separate Ways,”
Politico
, July 24, 2011,
http://www.politico.com
.

225
“It will include enough spending cuts”:
Press release, Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, July 23, 2011,
http://www.reid.senate.gov/newsroom/pr_072411_ceiling.cfm
.

226
Using OCO, Boehner later told me:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with six firsthand sources and contemporaneous notes by a participant.

227
The White House publicly endorsed Reid’s plan:
White House press release, “Statement by the Press Secretary,” July 25, 2011,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/25/statement-press-secretary
.

228
In an interview later, McConnell said:
On the record author interview with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, July 12, 2011.

229
“Interest rates would skyrocket”:
Compilation of Presidential Documents, “Address to the Nation on the Federal Budget,” July 25, 2011,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CPD
.

230
“This isn’t a game of chicken”:
Scott Wong and Manu Raju, “Harry Reid’s Debt Ceiling Plan Faces Tough Odds,”
Politico
, July 25, 2011,
http://www.politico.com
.

231
“The debt limit vote sucks”:
Robert Draper,
Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives
(New York: Free Press, 2012), pp. 246–247.

232
Later that day, the White House issued a warning:
Statement of Administration Policy on S.627—Budget Control Act of 2011, Office of Management and Budget, July 26, 2011,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/112/saps627r_20110726.pdf
.

233
His job became more difficult that afternoon:
Letter to Speaker John Boehner, Analysis of the Impact on the Deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011 as Proposed in the House, Congressional Budget Office, July 26, 2011,
http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/123xx/doc12336/housebudgetcontrolact.pdf
.

234
In an interview, Obama later said he had recognized:
On the record author interview with President Barack Obama, July 11, 2012.

235
We’re going to the chapel to pray:
Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey, “Boehner, Hitting Another Wall on Debt Limit Plan, Calls Off Vote,”
Los Angeles Times,
July 28, 2011.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with seven firsthand sources.

236
It finally passed 218–210:
Carl Hulse and Robert Pear, “Senate Quickly Kills Boehner Deal,”
The New York Times
, July 30, 2011, p. A1.

237
A clearly frustrated Boehner said after the vote:
Press release, “Congressman Boehner Remarks on the House Floor re: the GOP Budget,” Office of Speaker John Boehner,
http://boehner.house.gov/news/documentprint.aspx?DocumentID=254536
.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with eight firsthand sources and contemporaneous notes by a participant.

238
The House defeated the Reid bill at about 3:15 p.m.:
Carl Hulse, “House Rejects Reid Debt Ceiling Proposal,” Caucus blog,
The New York Times
, July 30, 2011,
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/30/house-rejects-reid-debt-ceiling-proposal
/.

239
McConnell went to the Senate floor:
Congressional Record—Senate, July 30, 2011, p. S5090,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2011-07-30/pdf/CREC-2011-07-30-pt1-PgS5090-2.pdf
.

240
“We are now fully engaged, the speaker and I”:
“Rep. John A. Boehner, R-OHIO, Speaker of the House, Holds a News Conference,” CQ Transcriptions, July 30, 2011.

241
“Members of the Senate, that’s not true”:
Congressional Record—Senate, July 30, 2011, p. S5120,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2011-07-30/pdf/CREC-2011-07-30-senate.pdf
.

242
“The fact is that the only way”:
Ibid.

243
“While the Republican leader is holding”:
Ibid.

244
“We are here today,” Reid said:
Ibid.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with eight firsthand sources and contemporaneous notes by a participant.

245
When Asia didn’t tank:
See historical prices, Nikkei 225, July 25, 2011,
http://finance.yahoo.com
.

246
Monday on the House floor:
Press release, “Pelosi Floor Speech on Budget Control Act of 2011,” Office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, August 1, 2001,
http://pelosi.house.gov
/.

247
The House passed the Rubik’s cube:
Carl Hulse, “Long Battle on Debt Ending as Senate Set for Final Vote,”
The New York Times
, August 1, 2011, p. A1.

248
The Senate followed the next day with a vote:
Jennifer Steinhauer, “Debt Bill Is Signed, Ending a Fractious Battle,”
The New York Times
, August 2, 2011, p. A1.

249
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan blasted:
Paul Ryan, “Where’s Your Budget, Mr. President?”
The Wall Street Journal
, August 3, 2011.

250
Less expected was former Obama economics czar:
Lawrence Summers, “Moving Forward After the Debt Deal,”
The Washington Post
, August 2, 2011.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with 12 firsthand sources and contemporaneous notes by two participants.

251
The monthly jobs report came out:
Employment Situation News Release, “The Employment Situation—August 2011,” U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, September 2, 2011,
http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/empsit_nr.htm
.

252
On September 8, Obama appeared:
Compilation of Presidential Documents, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on Job Growth,” September 8, 2011,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CPD
.

253
On September 12 in the White House Rose Garden:
Compilation of Presidential Documents, “Remarks on Job Growth Legislation,” September 12, 2011,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CPD
.

254
In an interview, Boehner said:
On the record author interview with Speaker John Boehner, June 7, 2012.

255
“I have gone way out on a limb”:
Author obtained memo, dated October 26, 2011.

256
At 4:45, she put out a press release:
Press release, “Statement from Co-Chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,” Office of Senator Patty Murray, November 21, 2011,
http://www.murray.senate.gov
.

257
“Washington’s Super Failure,” read a
Washington Post
editorial:
Editorial, “Washington’s Super Failure,”
The Washington Post
, November 22, 2011, p. A18.

258
A
New York Times
headline said:
Michael Cooper, “A Failure Is Absorbed with Disgust and Fear, but Little Surprise,”
The New York Times
, November 22, 2011, p. A19.

259
During a one-hour visit to his second-floor office:
On the record author interview with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, July 12, 2011.

260
“I know many Republicans have sworn”:
Compilation of Presidential Documents, “Remarks on Payroll Tax Cuts and Unemployment Insurance,” December 5, 2011,
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=CPD
.