Boehner To Rewrite Debt Limit Proposal

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will not see his two-fold plan taken up by the House after the Congressional Budget Office suggested it falls short of its promised $1 trillion in spending cuts.

The CBO’s analysis indicates that Boehner’s proposal was based on January’s baseline budget and did not take into effect the budget cuts that were implemented early this Spring. After implementing the March 2011 baseline, the CBO found that Boehner’s plan would only cut the budget deficit by $850 billion.

After House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced the House would vote on the Boehner plan Thursday, Republican aides are strapped for time and may end up lowering the amount by which Boehner’s proposal cuts spending to $850 billion.

The hiccup exacerbates the already difficult task of swaying rank-and-file Republicans to jump on board. In Boehner’s defense, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jacob Lew said in a blog that it wasn’t fair to judge the plan on the adjusted March baseline because for the past several weeks, every proposal and discussion on raising the debt limit were based of the January baseline.

“Don’t get me wrong: there is a lot in Speaker Boehner’s plan that we do not like and actively oppose,” Lew said. “But, as this debate continues and intensifies in the coming days, it’s important that we compare apples to apples, and make sure that we are all understanding the facts.”

Lew added that the CBO “conveniently” includes data that takes the January 2011 baseline into consideration. By this standard, the CBO suggests the Boehner plan would effectively cut $1.2 trillion in spending.