Posted on 12/17/2012 2:11:44 PM PST by SkyPilot
Edited on 12/17/2012 2:34:13 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
All at once, a “fiscal cliff” deal seems to be coming together. Speaker John Boehner’s latest offer doesn’t go quite far enough for the White House to agree, but it goes far enough that many think they can see the agreement taking shape.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Looks like:
- Raise the debt ceiling for a year
- Hints at lowering COLA for SS and pensions
- Vague entitlement "reform" - Payroll tax stays
- Tax raise rise for folks somewhere between $250 and $1 million a year; I would guess in between there
Also, our perpetual madness to pay people not to work (the Endless Unemployment Check) will continue.
Looks like raising the age for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security is out (it will be "discussed" in the future.....yeah right)
lets say all of this goes thru - what does it actually accomplish? NOTHING BUT CASH CONFISCATION
Looks like a deal will be stuck very soon.
As is always the case, the negotiations could fall apart, or the deal could change. But right now, the participants sound upbeat, surprised at how quickly the process has moved from evident disaster to near-agreement, and fairly comfortable with where they think they’ll end up.
I don’t like the body language in that picture. The Won is looking too smug, and Boner is looking beat.
It’s pretty much everything Obama wanted.
That Boehner! What a negotiator!! I’m not sure we got a darn thing out of this little deal.
I’m missing the spending cuts part...or is the concept of lowering COLA’s on SS recipients it?
The important thing is that Boner gets to play golf with the pResident so they can have some “alone time” behind the bushes on the back nine.
You cannot have freedom without economic freedom.
Today, the US Govt is a big ATM machine. Over 70% of all expenditures are on Entitlements.
People want "their check." That goes for many Republicans as well.
Don't believe me? Try debating entitlements here for a few hours and watch the glass fly.
Boehner looks distant and detached. He looks almost drunk, but he does not appear happy. He looks like someone who’s just made a deal with the devil. His conscience will never be clear, but for his mortal life, the Won will make sure he’s taken care of.
This makes me sick.
Let’s also remember that it’s only a matter of time before our debt rating is reassessed. Moodys and others will likely dump us from AA to A or lower if these shenanigans continue.
Word is that this is leaked from the White House, but that the left wing has not signed off yet. Still have to get Nancy pelosi on board
No, he wanted the payroll tax extended.
And I doubt he wanted SS or pension reform.
Well, if the article is to be believed that's just about right.
Boner always look either beat or about to break out in tears. There has to be something wrong with his emotional state. I don’t think I have ever seen a man look so weak so much of the time.
No! We understand that Bush isn't available so we hold you to blame!
(I'm resigned to the fact that there ain't gonna be anything but bad news on the "fiscal cliff")
His closet must be chock full of skeletons. That's all I can figure.
That looks like part of it. Also, some pensions (Federal and Military I believe) are tied to the SS COLA, so they will "project" savings there.
There may be more there.....but the devil is in the details.
I have read that in the last few days, Bath House Barry has become concerned that the recession that would break in January would be too great a risk to him. It was said he was "enjoying" watching the Republicans squirm, but I guess he has had his fun.
LOL! And yes, I am pessimistic with you.
This one is a snapshot in time. They just wanted to get the millisecond in the meeting which portrayed Obama as in command.
This is because this is the only kind of photo the MSM will ever publish of him.
He looks beat because he was up all night consulting with his longtime adviser, Jack Daniels.
Buffet wants the abolisment of the inheritance tax exemption. Why? buffet sells death tax insurance.
There are no photographs of the two sides released to the press from today. That is another reason why I believe the deal is basically done. When things get quiet, and the leaks stop, then you know people are under orders to wait and not leak. Why?
Because you will (as a lower level aid) get your A$$ handed to you if you leak too much when a deal is almost done. The Big Boys want the credit. The two sides will NEVER hold a joint press conference on something like this. That is reserved for war time or when Washington wants to present a "united front" to the world. No, in this case there will be two press conferences.
One by the Republicans (claiming victory) and one by the Democrats (claiming victory).
HOWEVER - because this deal has things in it both sides hate, expect muted enthusiasm.
It also has to be voted on. But, once the public buys off on it, they votes will be there.
“The Won is looking too smug, and Boner is looking beat”
or
Won beat Boner
sorry
I’ve always said when/if SS had to be trimmed (or cut, or reduced, or COLA reduced - pick your term), it should be when a Dem is president so they should have to take the heat. Back when Bush tried any SS reform back in 05, he had his head handed to him.
When something bad has to be done, make the other side take the heat for it.
So Obama gets what he wants (taxing the rich more and keeping tax cuts for the middle class) and the Reps take the blame for reducing benefits to old people and future retirees. Such a deal. The Dems will use this in 2014 to get back control of the House. Such a deal.
The words of Charlton Heston in TPOTA after regaining his voice come to mind....
Have we built the border fence yet that the Democrats promised Reagan in exchange for his amnesty for illegals?
” Hints at lowering COLA for SS and pensions”
***
Might as well not pay the cost of living at all. Just received a notice from SS that COLA will go up 1.7%. Big whup! Meanwhile, my Medicare supplement premium is going up 15%.
If the deal is as reported here, the Left is going to throw a major tantrum and will never accept.
- No increase in rates, only closing loopholes
- Eeeeevil Rich does not start at $250K
- Cuts in SS/Medicare are a non-starter
Unless he can head fake them all by cramming through some sort of gun control measure Barry’s got trouble to his left on this.
NONE!!
Boehner is just caving big time. Completely disgusting!!
Setting the stage for the next act, the end of the 2nd amendment.
In order to "give" away "FREE" health care for all of Obama's do-nothings, everyone's health care premiums are going up.
My sister-in-law is a big atheist liberal, who was shocked that her own health care coverage was skyrocketing. Amazing.
My TRICARE premiums are up more than 15%, and will probably quadruple in the next five years.
What tripe. Just go over the fiscal cliff and save several hundred thousand people in the middle East, and protect the People from an out of control government at home, that cannot hurt people if it hasn’t got the money to do so.
Unless he can head fake them all by cramming through some sort of gun control measure Barry’s got trouble to his left on this.
Amnesty is next. I expect a big roll out during the SOTU. The kenyan just leads Boehner from one crisis to the next.
There is a rate increase coming, according to the blog leak.
Boehner offered a rate increase at those households making over $1 Million a year. I bet the compromise will be $500K for households.
The Speaker knows this screws small businesses, but the GOP lost the fall elections. Right now, we have no momentum, no public mandate, we don't have the Senate, we don't have the White House, and we don't have the rest of the Executive branch agencies (FBI, DoD, Justice, Labor Dept, etc).
There won't be any "cuts" to SS/Medicare. They are proposing to slow COLAs by tying the pittance of COLA increases to another index. They play these games now anyway! There was a long time where SS recipients didn't get a COLA for 2 years. The Govt said it was "because there isn't any inflation." I am not joking.
You mean where he says, “It’s a mad house! A mad house!”
right? lol
But...isn't that always the way it is (except when Boehner is being wined, dined, and flattered).
Bribed or blackmailed?
Fire Boehner. It's hard to imagine any one worse for the job.
That exactly what it looks like to me too.
See post 33:
Might as well not pay the cost of living at all. Just received a notice from SS that COLA will go up 1.7%. Big whup! Meanwhile, my Medicare supplement premium is going up 15%.
Meanwhile, what is the REAL inflation in the cost of living?
No, COLA is a big deal and one that will cause lots of heartburn for the Reps. No doubt the COLA will be set at some graduated scale affecting those with higher pensions more. It will cause a compression of SS benefits over time.
As someone who has a high federal pension and a small SS penison and been retired for 14 years, this will have a major impact on me depending on what is decided. Over the past 14 years I have seen my federal pension go from 81K to 110K due to COLA increases. And the 1.7% increase that came into effect on Dec 1 and will be in my January payment will add $1,870 a year to my annual pension and $156 to my monthly payment. It will more than cover my increase costs for Medicare Part B.
The Reps are going to be blamed for this reduction in benefits and the Dems will vote against it in the House making the Reps own it. In the Senate, those Dems running for reelection in 2014 will vote against it.
If this is the deal, the Dems will regain the House in 2014. How dumb can the Reps be?
Pretty much.
You would think that if there was one group that deserved to not be screwed by the Federal Government, it would be war veterans.
Right?
Once protected, they are now targets. All the years of multiple deployments, danger, sacrifice, pain, and injury added up to almost zero political clout. Why?
Simple.
There are not that many veterans. There are A LOT more SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamp, and unemployment check receivers out there.
Politics is not justice. It is votes and corruption.
Veterans have been getting the shaft right and left from Obama and DC in recent years. Veterans were promised health care for life as recently as the mid-90s. After being forced into TRICARE (which gets worse by the week), Obama proposed something like a 80%-300% increase in TRICARE, depending on your retired rank.
Even Republicans acknowledged the goal of Obama was to force veterans into the ObamaCare "exchanges" first so as to entrench them.
***
Yup! My point though is that the SS COLA increase doesn't even begin to cover the Medicare increase. And the Medicare increase is just one cost going up next year. I have several increases,in other areas to deal with. And who knows what other increases are coming our way when the fiscal cliff “compromise” is reached. I'll bet there are going to be a ton of hidden costs we won't find out about till much later.
_____________
” My sister-in-law is a big atheist liberal, who was shocked that her own health care coverage was skyrocketing. Amazing.”
***
I can't wait for my friends and relatives, who are Obama true believers, find out how much that “free” health care will cost. If course, it won't he Obama’s fault. It will be those “greedy” insurance companies
“have to get Nancy pelosi on board”
Yeah, if the deal is like this it will have to be passed without many Republican votes.
Frankly though I don’t expect this is the deal.
We both know that.
Over the past 14 years I have seen my federal pension go from 81K to 110K due to COLA increases.
You must have qualified for the older system.
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