Free Republic

The liberal Democrat political machine has been in high gear seeking restrictions on gun ownership ever since the December 11, 2012 massacre of twenty young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. According to the left, that hideous event constitutes inarguable proof that America needs to rescind the Second Amendment. For the good of everyone, and particularly “the children,” the guns must go. It might seem difficult to surpass such phony liberal sanctimony. Yet during the last days of 2012, as the contrived “fiscal cliff crisis” reached its do or die moment, the same old class envy...

<p>Having completed yet another deficit-reduction agreement that somehow managed to increase the deficit, Congress and the Obama administration are now laying the groundwork for upcoming fights over the debt ceiling, the sequester, and the continuing resolution that will fund the government given continued refusal by Senate Democrats to pass a budget.</p>

Quantifying the "fair share"?

Dow up more than 300 points yesterday. Why? Because the ‘fiscal cliff’ has been averted. That’s what the papers say. But it just goes to show why it’s a mistake to read the news, except for a cynical guffaw. The real reason markets went up was because investors were reassured: Washington works in the same corrupt, self-serving and zombie-coddling way it always has. The politicians raised taxes, and put off worrying about spending cuts until sometime in the future. In other words, investors realised that they could trust the empty suits not to do anything different! How much of the...

Eileen Norcross of Mercatus wrote an excellent article for American Spectator where she says: “On his blog, Confounded Interest, GMU finance professor Anthony Sanders dryly notes that the American Taxpayer Relief Act does nothing of the sort. As he puts it, “How is adding $4 trilion to the federal deficit in 10 years called, ‘relief’?”” I winced at “dryly” but her “Notes on the Cliff” is a must read. Calling the bill “The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” is laughable. Not just the $4 trillion in Federal deficits to be added (which future taxpayers have to pay), but the...

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What happens to the legislation set up last year to impose the fiscal cliff impact?

I'm getting tired of the "See, and you guys didn't like Romney, so this is what you get" garbage floating around lately. Assume a Romney Administration with the so-called 'fiscal cliff' debate extended into his watch, and this is what you've got: WH: Republican. Congress: Republican. Senate: Democrat or barely Republican and not able to sustain a filibuster. Here is President Romney at his press conference announcing a deal on the 'fiscal cliff', "As you know, Senate Democrat leaders have been intransigent on a budget deal that would avoid the fiscal cliff. In order to protect as many people as...

Last night, the Republican-held House of Representatives voted for the dreadful Senate bill laughingly called “The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.” How is adding $4 trillion in Federal budget deficits over 10 years called “relief?” SOMEONE has to pay for the out-of-control spending. And that someone is taxpayers. american.taxpayer.relief.act Here is CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s take. The reaction? Fiscally-blighted European countries Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIGs) all saw sharp reductions in their sovereign bond yields. The US 10 year sovereign yield rose 7.1 basis points as of 12:35p EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 224.60 points (or 1.71%)...

After spending months telling Americans that the fiscal cliff deal was the most important thing facing their nation, Barack Obama has gone back to his vacation. Within a few hours of the bill's passage last night, he was enjoying the comforts of Air Force One, en route to Hawaii. Heaven forbid he’s forced to sacrifice any more of his multi-million dollar getaway.

Bachmann, West, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott,even Eric Cantor stand their ground while  Paul Ryan deeply disappoints conservatives Surely I'm not the only one who will be quitting the Republican Party -and I mean next week- if they keep spineless RINO nothing John Boehner (and even worse traitor Mitch McConnell) in a position of power, not now that they've kowtowed to the vile Obammunist regime yet again and ditched whatever speck of principle they ever had with an utterly appalling 41-1 tax increase/spending cuts ratio that can't spun any other way than complete and utter capitulation. What's the point of sticking with a party where even Paul Ryan...

Pete Sessions makes me sick - he's voted RINO every single time. I'll be supporting his opponent next time or not voting for him.

Are there any elected Democrats who will put the survival of their country ahead of their Party? Are there any elected Democrats who care about the excessive spending their Party demands? Are there any elected Democrats who will defy their 'leaders' and put future generations ahead of the immature Socialists who have control of this country? $41 dollars of tax hikes for each $1 in spending cuts??? And they aren't spending cuts anyway??? This will put the final nail in the coffin of the once revered American Dream.

DON'T DO IT. To Boehner, McConnell, Cantor, and all other Republicans in the House, under NO circumstances shall you betray your country, party and our Constitution by feeding into the Socialists' (masquerading as Democrats) continued assault on the American economy. You MUST realize by now that the mission of the Obama regime is to force the United States into a debt we will NEVER recover from.. His 'Cloward & Piven' strategy of dispensing entitlements like candy and spending relentlessly without any regard to cutting spending for the purpose of CRASHING OUR REPUBLIC FOR REPLACEMENT WITH HIS NATIONAL SOCIALIST UTOPIA is...

Not an Awful Deal By QUIN HILLYER on 1.1.13 @ 10:16AM After about an hour of studying last night’s budget deal, I find it right on the borderline between (A) awful-tasting medicine we still need to take for our health and (B) a cure that is worse than the disease. But careful, careful attention pushes the calculation every-so-slightly toward the former. This isn’t even a 51-49 proposition, but only a 50.1-49.9 proposition. Still, here’s why the option of a “yes” vote for House Republicans — notwithstanding my warnings yesterday that “no deal” is better than a bad deal — is...

**SNIP** “Under current law, on January 2, 2013, there’s going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases,” said Bernanke, in testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on February 29, 2012. **SNIP** What’s likely, is that as members on the Hill grew concerned with the stalemate over the automatic spending cuts and tax increases, the communications apparatus went to work and settled on “fiscal cliff,” members started using, Bernanke used it, and suddenly it explodes in the media and becomes codified as short hand for a complex issue. There you go. From early films...

Say Yes to the Mess 12:15 PM, JAN 1, 2013 • BY WILLIAM KRISTOL The fiscal cliff deal that the Senate passed early this morning is ridiculous in too many ways to count. There seem to be no figures from the Congressional Budget Office and only "very preliminary" figures from the Joint Tax Committee about the real spending and revenue implications. The two month delay of the sequester will make actual governance even more difficult (how is the Pentagon supposed to plan for the rest of the year?). The sequester delay is funded by a gimmick with retirement savings tax...

(Reuters) - The White House and congressional lawmakers have reached a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" that would delay harsh spending cuts by two months, Obama administration officials said on Monday. President Barack Obama called Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who both signed off on the deal, one source said. The agreement includes a balance of spending cuts and revenue increases to pay for the delay in the automatic spending cuts that would go into effect without a deal by lawmakers.

This afternoon, in one of the more bizarre appearances of his presidency, Barack Obama gave a televised address to a room full of supporters on the "fiscal cliff." He broke no news, but mocked Congress, and hinted at future tax hikes. Observers worried that he may have deliberately scuttled a potential agreement. Even though he has come off his last campaign for political office, President Obama acted like a candidate on the campaign trail--one prepared to use whatever political capital he had accumulated to take shots at the opposition in Congress at the very moment leaders from both sides are...

Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) –The White House and congressional negotiators have agreed to contours of a deal to avert the fiscal cliff including tax cut extensions, with the remaining sticking point being how to handle automatic military and domestic cuts, according to an official familiar with the talks. Income tax cuts would be extended on families earning up to $450,000, the official said, with rates rising to 39.6 percent on incomes above that. Rates on estate taxes would rise to 40 percent, on amounts above $5 million. Extensions of business tax breaks would continue through the end of 2013. There would...