But I also don’t like the saying because it describes what Obama and other advocates of big government must be thinking now that Republicans apparently are about to do the opposite and “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.” Posted on 12/07/2013 2:15:27 PM PST by SeekAndFind
There’s a saying in the sports world about how last-minute comebacks are examples of “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
I don’t like that phrase because it reminds me of the painful way my beloved Georgia Bulldogs were defeated a couple of weeks ago by Auburn.
But I also don’t like the saying because it describes what Obama and other advocates of big government must be thinking now that Republicans apparently are about to do the opposite and “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
More specifically, the GOP appears willing to give away the sequester’s real and meaningful spending restraint and replace that fiscal discipline with a package of gimmicks and new revenues.
I warned last month that something bad might happen to the sequester, but even a pessimist like me didn’t envision such a big defeat for fiscal responsibility.
You may be thinking to yourself that even the “stupid party” couldn’t be foolish enough to save Obama from his biggest defeat, but check out these excerpts from a Wall Street Journal report.
Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), chief negotiators for their parties, are closing in on a deal… At issue are efforts to craft a compromise that would ease across-the-board spending cuts due to take effect in January, known as the sequester, and replace them with a mix of increased fees and cuts in mandatory spending programs.
But the supposed cuts wouldn’t include any genuine entitlement reform. And there would be back-door tax hikes.
Officials familiar with the talks say negotiators are stitching together a package of offsets to the planned sequester cuts that would include none of the major cuts in Medicare or other entitlement programs that Mr. Ryan has wanted… Instead, it would include more targeted and arcane measures, such as increased fees for airport-security and federal guarantees of private pensions.
But the package may get even worse before the ink is dry.
Democrats on Thursday stepped up their demands in advance of the closing days of negotiations between Ms. Murray and Mr. Ryan. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) brought a fresh demand to the table by saying she wouldn’t support any budget deal unless in included or was accompanied by an agreement to renew expanded unemployment benefits that expire before the end of the year—which would be a major threat to any deal.
Gee, wouldn’t that be wonderful. Not only may GOPers surrender the sequester and acquiesce to some tax hikes, but they might also condemn unemployed people to further joblessness and despair.
That’s even worse than the part of the plan that would increase taxes on airline travel to further subsidize the Keystone Cops of the TSA.
But look at the bright side…at least for DC insiders. If the sequester is gutted, that will be a big victory for lobbyists. That means they’ll get larger bonuses, which means their kids will have even more presents under the Christmas tree.
As for the rest of the nation? Well, you can’t make an omelet without scrambling a few eggs.
P.S. I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that this looming agreement isn’t as bad as some past budget deals, such as the read-my-lips fiasco of 1990.
In other news.... water is wet.
The GOP is led by corrupt fools and I think they are in on it to benefit themselves. They could care less about you, me, or our children and grandchildren.
If they made a movie about the GOP it should be called the “Corrupt Bastards Club.”
What sort of Blackmail material do they have on those “Squishy RINOs”...
But but ,, California is running a surplus says Moonbeam.
We’re leading the nation.. Straight over a cliff many pretend doesn’t exist.
Led by the Pied-eye Piper of Lemmings
Umm...that would be taxpayer bailout of private pensions. Ryan, like Paul, Rubio and Flake have turned out to be huge disappointments.
If that's the case, then I don't like: A penny saved is a penny earned.
I'd prefer the saving: A penny spent now means I can ask for more pennies later!
What a happier world that would be.
The GOP is as spendaholic as the ‘Rats.
What sort of Blackmail material do they have on those “Squishy RINOs”...
They don’t have anything on them. They are CORRUPT. They act like they got fooled to satisfy their supporters and keep the donations rolling in, but they are in on it.
I am continually surprised that more FReepers don’t seem to see this. There may be a few true conservatives who put us before themselves, but they are few and far between. The vast majority of the GOP on the hill are frauds.
Assuming the GOPe is stupid is a tired warn out asuumption. They are not stupid, they simply have the same goals as the democrats, and are playing us for idiots. WE are the stupid ones.
Paul Ryan, as he proved in the Presidential Campaign as well as over the Obamacare issue, is far from a rocket-scientist. He’s a horse’s ass. Not surprising. The GOP RINOs probably figure they can take advantage of this situation when then get in power.
But this issue, especially with Judicial appointments, may very insure that a future GOP victory in Congress and the Presidency will be meaningless because this racist Marxist bastard will have packed the Federal Courts with judges who block them every step of the way.
WHAT A BUNCH OF JACKWAGONS!
Unemployment bennies are on the table. Republicans should go with a great recovery and lower unemployment so bennies should be cut.
Rats cannot run from that. Either unemployment went down or the numbers by the administration are lies.
Those in Washington - all of them - use us as slave labor. They no longer see us as humans.
The GOP leaders are going to do everything they can to lose in 2014
we could see big Dem majorities in both houses.
These rat bastards are stealing our liberty and our treasure. Every one of them. Wake me when it’s time to storm DC.
I totally agree. According to the administration, all is well in the world. So, accept it and end the prolonged unemployment bennies. No reason to be throwing the tax payers money away, right?
I believe that we will see a Democrat majority in both Houses of Congress. Because in 2012 the Democrats perfected the art of stealing elections. From that point on, they know that they can win any election they wish.
They do it every time. How could they not be doing it on purpose?
And they still expect us to vote for them and send them money anyway!!
This and Amnesty....the GOPe is betting that the voters will be so POed over Obamacare that we’ll overlook this.
If they back amnesty and stuff like that, they could easily vanish in the 2014 election. Then we would become a one-party state officially
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