The President tried to outsmart them by getting a longterm extension conceding the least cuts in spending, which he got, except it didn't include promises to let the Bush tax cuts expire, or better repeal them now, add new tax revenues, reform the tax code or even get some tax loopholes closed. Nothing in taxes for $1.2 Trillion in spending cuts to programs which help working families, the elderly, the poor, children, and so on down the line.
Nothing. They got something and we got nothing, except we'll be paying more and getting less while they'll be paying less and getting more. What a deal. The wealthy Americans and corporations got freedom and we got the bill. Is that what the President and the Democrats call fair? If it is, then I'd hate to see what they will give away again when the 2012 appropriations bills go through Congress. Wait, they've already did it with amendments to other bills, screw our government and the American people.
So where are the President and the Democrats for the people? Or have they simply sold us, our country, our nation, our economy and our government to the Republicans for what in return? I don't see anything for us and see everything for them. Gee, that's going to make voters feel warm and fuzzy to Democrats next year.
But more importantly to everyone in Washington D.C., both parties and the President, a question.
It was the Republican campaign agenda in the 2010 election. They promised the Bush tax cuts create jobs, like we already knew it didn't since the tax cuts were enacted hasn't created any new jobs - and in fact we lost jobs under Bush. They promised to make jobs a priority, so where is any legislation to create jobs? Huh? Really, just one bill would help.
And did all this wrangling over the debt ceiling create jobs? Or was it just another step in the Republican's plan to trash Americans, trash our country and trash our economy to make President Obama a "one term president." (Senate Republican leader McConnell words)? Flush everything down the toliet for the White House?
That's the truth here. We see it, but apparently the President and the Democrats don't appear to see it let alone do anything to help. And now you've wasted weeks of stupid, idiotic political wrangling for nothing. And still no new jobs bills. Maybe we need the elderly woman who asked about the beef in the hamburger about jobs? At least she'd have a job for awhile.
Nothing Congress or the President has done created anything of significance to lower the unemployment rate and help the unemployed, the families in debt, home buyers facing foreclosure, and families who can't afford healthcare or even the basics of life. But then all of you still got paid, got affordable health insurance, and lived well while the rest of us got the check.
So, what's next Republicans? What's the next pissing and pouting match you're going to pick we have to suffer?
Not to play Devil's Advocate but to try to summarize the Randi Rhodes pro-administration argument:
ReplyDeleteIt has kind of a poison pill in it for the Republicans:
1) No immediate cuts to social services, no beneficiary-side cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or food stamps. All potential cuts are put off for over a year for a bipartisan commission report on deficit reduction. For a Republican congress, this must be equivalent to being forced to swallow a giant african american penis.
2) The commission report that comes out in a year has to be accepted in its entirety or there are automatic across the board cuts in programs, 50 percent from defense, 50 percent from domestic spending.
3) The commission report WILL in fact recommend tax increases and/or letting the Bush tax cuts expire, because there isn't another way to achieve their mandated goals. For instance, you couldn't hit the target for deficit reduction even by eliminated all discretionary spending, so there will be tax increases/loophole closures in there.
4) Republicans will never accept cuts in defense because wars and military is pretty much all they care about so they will be forced to accept the commission report. Now they're taking it in the butt, too.
Just saying, there's another way to look at it.
You should watch Lawrence O'Donnell tonight. The report is due out this year, and if they can't agree, which is likely since it's a 6-6 membership each side refusing to agree to the other side's proposals, then drastic cuts, with no tax or revenue increases, automatically kick in which are greater and across the board unless Congress repeals the whole deal before January 2013, which isn't likely.
ReplyDeleteBoehner has said the republicans on the commission won't agree to revenue increases and and the democrats won't agree to cuts in entitlements. The commission will deadlock and fail and the triggers in the bill activate in January 2013. The experts are saying the Republicans win because they know this and will fight to extend the Bush tax cuts in the lame duck session in December 2012.
Let's not forget the Republicans' goal, to trash the economy and blame Obama. They'll do anything to do that and the only way is to keep anything from happening without a fight they can blame Obama for creating and continuing. And the President and Democrats keep falling into their trap and letting the economy fail.
Remember all the republicans want to do is keep the conversation away from their promises to create jobs. They know anything to help jobs and the economy will help Obama and they know a high unemployment rate is the key to preventing any improvement in jobs and the economy to re-elect Obama. And all the talk about the debt ceiling kept the conversation and the Democrats attention from jobs and the economy.
The Republicans won, again, and they have two more chances, the 2012 budget this October and the commission this November. They're just getting started.
Well I don't really think that will happen because Republicans DO agree to tax increases when they have cover and they do NOT agree with defense cuts ever. But I'm okay with the commission deadlocking if it means big cuts in military spending. Much as I hate the social cuts, military spending is totally out of control and this is about the only way it's going to get cut.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response. I can only go by what I read and heard and the mainstream political analysists are saying the commission will deadlock because Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell have said he won't appoint any Republican to it who will vote to raise revenue or taxes. And Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader Pelosi have said as much about members voting for cuts in entitlements.
ReplyDeleteAs for the 2013 cuts, while I agree I'd love to see the DOD budget go down by 10-15% for starters and more down the road, the across the board cuts to domestic spending and entitlement will do far more harm to people. In the end, even conserative Republican Tom Coburn called it a bad deal for the American people.
But that said, what cover will the Republicans have in the 2012 election with their base? Who'd among them would vote to raise taxes or revenue? Many signed the Grover Norquist pledge, and if they want the campaign money, they have to drink the Kool-Aid.
It will all come down to which party wins the House in the 2012 election, everything else, like my opinion, are just words gone in the wind once written or spoken.