Going over the cliff will get more revenue to decrease the deficit? So now we go from being dead set against tax increases to being for them? That’s a 180 degree change. Are you agreeing with Obama now?
And then there are the deep cuts in the Pentagon budget that would put 180,000 people out of work. Or are you for that too?
The current deal sucks, but going over the cliff blows. When you are between a rock and a hard place, break the rock and kick the hard place in the soft place. The GOP did that and got some wiggle room. The tax cuts we got are permanent. That takes away no small amount of uncertainty for the household budget of millions of Americans.
Now we focus on spending and the public has already said that spending cuts are necessary too.
For my part Obama has got to explain the economic basis for his refusing to cut spending. Does he think cutting spending is good or bad for the economy? None of his populist, class warfare bull crap answers that question.
It can’t just be blather about, hurting the middle class. I want to know the economic principles that he holds that make him seem so comfortable with the massive national debt that is scaring the crap out of conservatives.
We’re going over the cliff no matter what, and it will be that much worse when it inevitably happens.
It’s like that old Fram Oil commercial, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.”
If Americans want the benefits of the welfare state, they must be willing to pay for them. Returning to the Clinton tax rates for everyone is far better fiscally for this country than the deal that was just struck yesterday. We will now add $330 billion more to the debt in FY 2013 and an additional $4 trillion over 10 years. We have just poured more gasoline on to the fire.
The Obama tax cuts for the 98% are part of his redistribution plan. At least for now, he is not for higher taxes on the 98% so I am not agreeing with Obama.
And then there are the deep cuts in the Pentagon budget that would put 180,000 people out of work. Or are you for that too?
We have sequestration coming up. Where will the paltry $110 billion a year be cut? I have no doubt that a deal will be struck to fund the military with $50 billion this year, but no doubt, it will be done with some fiscal gymnastics and raising some more taxes. Given the way Congress now works, there will be no real cuts for anyone. They will come up with some other scheme that has the "cuts" being made in 2015 and after, i.e., after the 2014 midterms.
We are running trillion dollar annual deficits. How long can this continue? If we reduce spending, federal jobs will be lost along with those feeding at the government teat, i.e., crony capitalists and Beltway bandits. Both parties don't want to cut spending nor does the public, which reelects them every time. The fact that you are concerned about the loss of 18,000 federal jobs shows how addicted even so-called conservatives are about keeping the gravy train going.
The current deal sucks, but going over the cliff blows. When you are between a rock and a hard place, break the rock and kick the hard place in the soft place. The GOP did that and got some wiggle room. The tax cuts we got are permanent. That takes away no small amount of uncertainty for the household budget of millions of Americans.
LOL. There are no such things as permanent tax cuts. The only thing that makes them permanent is that they will not sunset this time and require another vote to extend them. Future Congresses are not bound to keep them in place and not raise taxes, which will eventually come in order to raise the revenue to keep the welfare state treading water a little longer.
This is a bad deal and will divide and destroy the GOP, which was Obama's objective in the first place. The fallout will come especially since the GOP will not hold firm in the next looming battles over sequestration and the debt limit.
Now we focus on spending and the public has already said that spending cuts are necessary too.
In the abstract that might be the case, but the reality is far different. The public is not in favor of reducing benefits for SS or Medicare nor do they want to pay for them in the form of higher taxes. They prefer the current system where the average Medicare recipient receives three times more in benefits than they ever made in contributions.
Do the Reps have the stones to play hardball when it comes to the debt limit increase? Will they be willing to shut down the government and stop SS and Medicare payments? Or standfast while Obama claims that if the US doesn't honor its debt obligations, its credit rating will decline further and this will affect the global economy? Obama has already laid down the marker that he will not negotiate this time around on raising the debt ceiling.
For my part Obama has got to explain the economic basis for his refusing to cut spending. Does he think cutting spending is good or bad for the economy? None of his populist, class warfare bull crap answers that question.
Obama does not have to explain anything. He won. He also will say that he will not cut spending for the poor, women and children, the disabled, the old, etc. He will say that we have certain values in this society and our spending should support them. He will then say that the wealthy can pay even a bit more and that many of these programs can be means tested.
Obama is a Marxist. He doesn't believe in the trickle down concept. He is interested in social justice and fairness. The plan just passed by Congress including the Rep-controlled House increases spending and the debt and deficit. The Reps supported increased taxes on the rich, continued subsidies for Hollywood, etc. in what was packed into that 100 page monstrosity that McConnell worked out with Biden. More will emerge as people start seeing what is in the bill they just passed.
It can’t just be blather about, hurting the middle class. I want to know the economic principles that he holds that make him seem so comfortable with the massive national debt that is scaring the crap out of conservatives.
You must live in an alternate universe. Obama will continue blathering and the Reps will continue caving. Why should Obama explain anything after receiving $1 in cuts for $41 dollars in tax increases? And that doesn't include the increased tax burden of Obamacare, which will be fully implemented over the next two years.
The Reps should have chosen this opportunity to fight. They will lose the debt limit battle because Obama has more leverage there than during the tax fight. With almost one in every two Americans receiving a government check of some sort, any shutdown of the government and its ability to cut those checks will be met with huge public disapproval.