The Dems play chess while the Repubs play checkers
Thats what is going on here. Boehner gets crafty and tries to corner the kenyan as a proven liar by passing the Pelosi Plan but conservatives decide in the middle to keep on playing checkers.
The GOP has a terrible brand problem. The dims have successfully labeled the GOP as the party of the rich. Now the kenyan will use that to get everything he wants.
Permanent defense cuts, increased spending, massive tax increases and an “Obama tax cut”. The dims will run out the clock to 2014 and regain the House if this is their opposition. Then comes a VAT, EU style open borders, etc.
But at least we will still have our principles!
Exactly how will Obama keep this nation going if all that you mention materializes? Even socialists and communists are not immune to economic conditions that will take down the country. If you think that we can tax and spend our way out of this mess, then you are sadly mistaken.
With $60 trillion in unfunded entitlement liabilities, a growing debt driving up annual debt servicing costs, continuing to run trillion dollar annual deficits, a huge new entitlement program (Obamacare), an aging population that will double in the next 20 years, and just two workers for every retiree by 2030, you can't tax your way out of the problem. It will kill the private sector, which generates the money to fund the welfare state.
In many ways, we are worse off than Greece. Why should we act as enablers for Obamanomics? It is time the public realizes that there is pain associated with dealing with our fiscal reality. 80% of the population pays only 3% of the taxes.
Thank you for being rational.
I am a conservative and my conservative principles say that we raise taxes on no one. But that argument was lost when Obama was re-elected and the Demoncrats kept the Senate. We now have a choice between raising taxes on everyone by doing nothing (which would be horrible) or raising tax rates on some (which would be bad).
If Boehner were smart (I know) and had the nerve (I said, I know) he should get the House to pass two bills to send to the Senate. One would contain the Republican plan of no changes to tax rates, limit deductions on some upper-earners and cut some spending (including entitlement reform) (and I mean CUT, not reduce the rate of growth). The second bill would be much of what the President says he wants - raise tax rates on those making more than $400K or $500K, some phoney spending cuts. Pass the second bill by having most (or all) of the House Republicans vote “present” and let the Dems pass the bill.
After passing those bills, adjourn for the year. Go on every talk show, news show, radio show, etc. (including sending some female Republican to The View and some very articulate people to Jon Stewart’s show, David Letterman’s show, Tavis Smiley’s show, Univision talk shows and Jay Leno’s show). When on those shows say “The President and the Democrats in the Senate have three options - they can do nothing, shove us over the fiscal cliff and raise taxes on everybody, which they have said would lead to another recession. They can pass what the President said he wanted, but that we think will hurt the economy. In either of those cases, they own the economy and whatever happens. The third option is to pass our balanced approach, which avoids tax increases on everyone and devastating cuts to our Defense budget. In that case, we all will enjoy a better economy, with credit going to everyone.”
My guess is that Obama and Reid will blink. If they don’t, we are no worse off than we are now. We will have another rescession and can argue about whose fault it is until the next election.