GOP threatens to do real damage to country
“One day after being named to a presidential task force to negotiate deficit reduction, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor fired off a stark warning to Democrats that the GOP “will not grant their request for a debt limit increase” without major spending cuts or budget process reforms.
The Virginia Republican’s missive is a clear escalation in the long-running Washington spending war, with no less than the full faith and credit of the United States hanging in the balance….
People close to Cantor say that he hopes to make clear that small concessions from Democrats, including President Barack Obama, will not be enough to deliver the GOP on a debt increase.”
Great. Take the national economy hostage, stick a loaded pistol to its temple and threaten to pull the trigger unless you get your way. This is what we’ve come to. This is “leadership” and “statesmanship” in the modern American era. Cantor and his colleagues are trying to convince us that they really are childish, stupid and destructive enough to bring the country down to its knees if their demands aren’t fully satisfied.
I cannot imagine leaders of any other era, of any party or ideology, threatening to do severe long-term damage to the country as a means of winning a political argument, at least not since the years leading up to the Civil War. It would have been inconceivable to previous generations, and I can think of no historical parallel to it. Ronald Reagan, for example, would be appalled by the extremist tactics of those who claim to honor him.
Oh, and as to compromise? As Cantor said last week, “We can’t raise taxes. That was settled last November during the elections.”
– Jay Bookman
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662 comments Add your comment
mystified
April 21st, 2011
8:53 am
I love this part….”I cannot imagine leaders of any other era, of any party or ideology, threatening to do severe long-term damage to the country as a means of winning a political argument, at least not since the years leading up to the Civil War.”
He’s right of course… Which is exactly why we have a debt of $14 trillion.
When the adolescents get out of hand, eventually the adults have to take over. Let’s call this an “intervention”. Gov’t has to learn live within it’s means. I hope we can resolve this without a showdown but libs have to face reality. So do the conservatives. My guess is the republicans may bend some if taxes are raised across the board instead of on the backs of the hard workers.
Bosch
April 21st, 2011
8:53 am
md,
“the problem is here…..now…..and needs to be fixed…….and it will take ALL the misfits to get it done.”
While I agree with that, it does irritate here on the blog for them to be so freaking hypocritical and history challenged. And apparently all a-faint this a.m.
USMC dawg
April 21st, 2011
8:53 am
The Obama Stimulus: Predictions vs. Reality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJu0DgpiK8c
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
8:53 am
anybody else tried it?
She runs, how you say, like the top.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 21st, 2011
8:54 am
dB: If the fainting couch crew are truly disturbed by the “violent” rhetoric in your post, could I please provide some of my own to make it seem tame by comparison? Because I’d be happy to help.
Be careful, I stepped down that rabbit hole yesterday. I’m more than happy to let Jay handle that.
Jay
Link worked ok for me.
bucket
April 21st, 2011
8:55 am
Take out Cantor and insert President Obama and you may have a great article Jay.
Bosch
April 21st, 2011
8:55 am
SoCo,
You shouldn’t feel bad for yesterday. You are still….as we say, “the man.”
larry
April 21st, 2011
8:55 am
I guess Mr. Cantor did not hear all the booing Mr. Ryan recieved in his town hall meetings the last few nights.
dw
April 21st, 2011
8:55 am
Solution is let the libs pay more in taxes to show if their ideology works. If it does, then the rest of us can join in.
JKL2
April 21st, 2011
8:56 am
ty webb- America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better
I have to give obama some credit. He was right with that one (of course he didn’t realize he was talking about himself, but it’s hard to tell with all his third person references to himself.)
TAXGUY
April 21st, 2011
8:56 am
Jay the Liberal, tax and spend guy! WE DO NOT HAVE AN INCOME PROBLEM IN THE FED. GOVT., WE HAVE A SPENDING PROBLEM! When will you guys understand this!!!! Hello!
Bosch
April 21st, 2011
8:56 am
“Solution is let the libs pay more in taxes to show if their ideology works”
Saxby Chambliss is a lib? Who knew?
md
April 21st, 2011
8:57 am
“and found that they cut their workforces by 2.9 million people over the last decade while hiring 2.4 million people overseas.”
And what does one expect in a global marketplace where our labor costs are much higher than many other areas?
Time to wake up to the reality that the world has changed………get on board or be left standing at the station.
An economist said it best recently when he said…….”when Americans are ready to pay higher prices for goods, an industry will be born………..if they keep going to Wal-mart demanding the lowest prices, the goods will continue to come from areas that can produce those cheap goods”
Our labor costs are part of the “cost of goods sold”……….and is hurting us on the global market.
Paul
April 21st, 2011
8:57 am
This issue isn’t just the impact of a failure to increase the debt ceiling. It’s the new Republican Party’s idea of negotiating.
This new party reminds me of the United Auto Workers of the last century. “Listen GM, we want this and this and this and if we don’t get what we want, we shut the factories down.”
This is how to foster an atmosphere of cooperation and compromise? I’d sure hate to see their idea of an ultimatum.
buck@gon
April 21st, 2011
8:57 am
“Ronald Reagan, for example, would be appalled by the extremist tactics of those who claim to honor him.”
Jay,
I can’t think of a bigger whopper without going to Burger King. You see no forest for the trees, do you?
If Ronald Reagan were dropped now into our time, he wouldn’t be such a shallow chattering gossip as you are concerned about “working together” and “bipartisanship”, two criterion that seem to become relevant ONLY when Democrats don’t get the run of Washington. If he would be appalled by anything first, it would be the unabated liberal push for bigger government and the lack of leadership of Republicans to fight it sufficiently.
His disgust with any vote to raise the “debt ceiling” would be eclipsed an order of magnitude by the fact that Democrats COULDN’T PASS THEIR OWN BUDGET when they ran Congress, and Reagan would clearly drive that glaring failure into the heart of any news stories (like yours) that showed him as incompetent, miserly or uncaring about ________ whomever is your liberal prop today.
The tea party recognized early in Obama’s presidency the damage that Democrats and Obamacare was doing to the deficit, despite the lies Obama purveyed to Americans–especially about it being “deficit neutral”. It’s not, even if you consider ten years of revenue for 6 years of “benefits” and for the priviledge of having the government tell you to go take a pill rather than seek treatment to help yourself.
Thank God the tea party got it right, and thank God they’re making a difference.
It’s the Democrats who caused the damage already, who fired the gun into the head of the economy with radical spending, before with outrageous rules for mortgage lending that facilitated a housing bubble on the low-income side.
The gun analogy might be a bit “extreme” I admit. The truth is more like a Democrat slaying of the economy and the country (hope and change you can believe in) by a thousand cuts and incessant spending.
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
8:57 am
Note to the fainting couch crew:
You are welcome to contribute over at conservative AJC columnist Kyle Wingfield’s joint, whose latest post has been up for 14 hours and has drawn a total of 31 comments… 2 of them mine.
JohnnyReb
April 21st, 2011
8:58 am
Obviously, the Left has gone off the deep end on this one. I’m surprised Jay does not have a paragraph on Repub’s wanting to kill Granny. All this talk of the country defaulting on debt if the limit is not raised is nothing but political hpyerbole. The Feds can do like you would – cut back on spending so you have enough to pay your bills. It’s really that simple. You guys have a good day.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 21st, 2011
8:58 am
Bosch
I should have known better than to even get involved in that. Somebody has to be the grown-up.
jm
April 21st, 2011
8:58 am
As Simpson said, pray for the Gang of 6
ty webb
April 21st, 2011
9:00 am
and I could also get behind this:
“It is ironic that Republicans’ first major action after an election in which they touted their strong sense of morality will be one of immense immorality.
“Republicans’ irresponsible policies have left them no choice but to raise the limit on the amount of debt America can incur. But there is a choice in how it is raised.
“Congress must tie raising the debt limit to a realistic, workable plan to put America back on a path to fiscal security. A first step would be to implement the tried and true ‘pay-as-you-go’ policies, which reined in debt in the 1990s and produced the record budget surpluses President Bush inherited from his Democratic predecessor.
“If Republicans do not put in place these responsible policies, they will immorally saddle our children with trillions of dollars of debt that will hinder their ability to invest in their own security and success.”
Steny Hoyer(libs can google him to find out who he is)-2004
Jay,
Is it your contention that by voting against this “immorality”, the republicans will do “damage” to the country. Classic “catch 22″, huh? Oh, and no “racial resentment” was involved in the typing of this comment.
buck@gon
April 21st, 2011
9:00 am
mystified @ 8:53
“When the adolescents get out of hand, eventually the adults have to take over. Let’s call this an “intervention”. ”
Nice. That’s a keeper!
The adults at the ajc aren’t on the liberal side of the ed board, that’s for sure.
mystified
April 21st, 2011
9:00 am
Buck@gon….AMEN….
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:00 am
BTW, I don’t like Zuckerburg on principles. But he did stick it to Obama on the Budget.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
April 21st, 2011
9:00 am
SoCo, adults also have to stand up and say this is wrong.
Jackie
April 21st, 2011
9:00 am
Without the ability to pay contractual obligations, who will loan the USA money?
One question many should ask, where and when did two $1 Trillion dollar wars get funded and paid for?
USMC dawg
April 21st, 2011
9:01 am
Where did Obama’s Stimulus money go?
787 BILLION…Poof!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MjQ17kDng
Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:02 am
bucket
“Take out Cantor and insert President Obama and you may have a great article Jay.”
You mean the President Obama who the other day said, “anybody here married? When was the last time you got everything you wanted and your spouse got nothing?” (paraphrased)
Tundra Dude
April 21st, 2011
9:03 am
One day after being named to a presidential task force to negotiate deficit reduction, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor fired off a stark warning to Democrats
It’s obvious he wasn’t chosen for his negotiating skills.
I think he should do the honorable thing….threaten to blow himself up.
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:04 am
I’m ready to see Trump’s financial statements….
Could be a $0, or a lot, who knows….
Keep Up the Good Fight!
April 21st, 2011
9:04 am
dawg…recovery.gov. You can get your answers. Next.
The Truth
April 21st, 2011
9:04 am
I don’t understand Democrats, there is no rationale to their thinking, if Obama farts they are there sniffing and engulfing all that spews out, good or bad. Now if a Republican makes a statement or proposes an action they automatically begin there scare tactics. Jay accuses the GOP of poor statesmanship, when just a mere few weeks ago Jay and his cronies were praising and standing up for the Democrats against democracy in Wisconsin, saying all is fair in legislating laws. During the Obama Health Care debates, Jay and his cronies were calling death panels nothing but GOP scare tactics that there would not be any death panels, now just yesterday, Jay and his cronies were telling us how death panels were a necessity and trying to distort the truth.
I don’t claim to be the smartest cookie in the jar, but even I can see thru their rhetoric, on one hand they say we need to give the poor ( both unfortunate and the lazy ) entitlements, that they have rights, and then they tell mom and pop sorry about your luck you are a drain on our economy.
Will someone rationalize that?
Jay writes the Jay Bookman GOP threatens to do real damage to country
What the GOP is doing is holding Obama accountable.
PJ
April 21st, 2011
9:05 am
It’s funny how as soon as taxes come up we hear from the “poor people don’t pay no taxes” choir. Don’t you know the rich love the poor and care nothing for the middle classes. They love the poor because they take the heat off of them. They love gov’t programs that support the poor (i.e…food stamps, medical vouchers, housing vouchers) why; because every tax dollar spent on them is a dollar in the pocket of the rich farmers, the doctors and the pharmaceuticals, and landlords and land owners. They love the way the people in the middle blame them for all the ills in society while they rob pension funds with fraudulent deals and lobby and lawyer their way to tax free lifestyles then take jobs overseas. A poor man can snatch a pocket book with $20.00 in it and the middle class screams off with his head but a rich man can own a bank too big to fail or and sell homes to people they know can’t afford it and he’s given practically a free pass. You never hear rich people dogging the poor (unless they are a politician), the rich know where their bread and butter come from. Go on hating the poor, they’re an easy target and it doesn’t take much thought to be mad at them. Being mad at the rich is a lot of hard work and too much thinking is involved and most of you don’t appear to have the time. “The rich get rich and the poor (and middle) get poorer, in the mean time, in between time, let’s just have fun.”
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:05 am
Paul 9:02 – exactly. Republicans don’t want to raise the debt limit, Dems do. So in return for the Dems getting what they want (higher ceiling), they have to agree to some budget trigger measures for the R’s. Simple enough….
@@
April 21st, 2011
9:06 am
Solution is let the libs pay more in taxes to show if their ideology works. If it does, then the rest of us can join in.
Before that happened, liberals would quickly become conservatives.
Obama keeps talking about “threading the needle of a crisis”. HECK! Just close the freakin’ eye (loopholes, tax credits, some subsidies). Everybody makes it on their own for awhile.
It’ll be good for what ails us.
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:06 am
Be careful, I stepped down that rabbit hole yesterday.
Oh, don’t worry, SoCo. I only posted that to bring a smile to Jay’s face. He knows better than to ask me to go all Rude Pundit on their
pussifiedless-than-courageouslyingless-than-entirely-honestassessweet selves.Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:06 am
buck@gon
“. If he would be appalled by anything first, it would be the unabated liberal push for bigger government and the lack of leadership of Republicans to fight it sufficiently”
If history were to repeat itself, Pres Reagan would give fine speeches stating exactly that, then in two term he’d take our $14 trillion accumulated debt and run it up to $42 trillion.
And his followers would smile fondly at the tv and say “ain’t he the greatest?”
Good little liberal
April 21st, 2011
9:07 am
JAy
“Great. Take the national economy hostage, stick a loaded pistol to its temple and threaten to pull the trigger unless you get your way.”
You’re a little late. Obamacare was passed.
md
April 21st, 2011
9:07 am
“Solution is let the libs pay more in taxes to show if their ideology works. If it does, then the rest of us can join in.”
My guess…one would see a sharp increase in the number of independents……………
extremerightwing
April 21st, 2011
9:07 am
Jay writes:
45 percent don’t pay income taxes, which is only one particular form of tax. They do many several other types of federal taxes, all of which go into the same pot.
It doesn’t matter….they still are not cutting a check to the IRS in April…therefore, they are not paying federal income taxes.
And even the 45 percent figure is artificially and we hope temporarily high, a product of high unemployment with depressed incomes for millions of Americans. If you want to squeeze some more tax money out of a family household trying to raise kids on an income of $25 or $30k, or a senior citizen living on Social Security, which maxes out at around $28K, you go right ahead
Jay…you assert this 45% figure is artificially high….where do you get your evidence to support this. We have been seeing the distribution of who pays income taxes in this country for years now and this figure is only growing.
Obama talks about “shared sacrifice” is needed. My question is who is sacrificing here? We have 45-48% of the country not cutting a check to the IRS in April. If we want this so called “shared sacrifice”, which is really Obama code for tax the tar out of the wealthy, then EVERYBODY in this country needs to pay income tax. A minimum tax of 5% is doable.
Also, an estimated 59% of the 308.7 million Americans in this country get at least one federal benefit, according to the Census Bureau, based on 2009 data. An estimated 46.5 million get Social Security; 42.6 million get Medicare; 42.4 million get Medicaid; 36.1 million get food stamps; 12.4 million get housing subsidies; and 3.2 million get Veterans’ benefits.
This is not sustainable.
josh
April 21st, 2011
9:08 am
unreal. some people on here are actually wanting to pay more in taxes? looks like the government already has you right where they want you people. “yes, my congressman. please, take even more of my money…” to be simply wasted away on some pork pet project. here’s a solution…stop the wasteful spending and my taxes won’t have to go up. why do i have to suffer for the poor decisions of others? i don’t spend more than i make…it’s a pretty simple concept, but b/c politicians can’t grasp that basic rule of economics, my standard of living goes down? wtf????
kayaker 71
April 21st, 2011
9:08 am
Off to Appalachicola to kayak Dog Island and St. George and hopefully catch a few early season reds and maybe a cobia or two. Forecast is for 80 degrees and clear skys until Sunday. The sunsets there are amazing and a cold one or two at the end of the day makes it all right. Save the TaTas…. truly one of Gods great creations.
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 21st, 2011
9:08 am
Jay, you’ve gone totally in the tank for your Idiot Messiah. I guess the closer we get to election time, the more Obozo-cheerleading we can expect.
Shall we just keep on with business as usual? That’s what Obozo proposed in his 2012 budget.
Show us the spending cuts, Obozo. Show us what the government is going to “sacrifice”. Then we can talk about what Americans who work for a living are going to sacrifice.
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:08 am
Republicans are floating a wide range of major structural reforms that could be attached to the debt limit vote, including statutory spending caps, a balanced budget amendment and a two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases and debt limit increases. Liberals want a “clean” vote to raise the $14.3 trillion borrowing limit.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53501.html#ixzz1KA9PKE3b
RGB
April 21st, 2011
9:09 am
“I cannot imagine leaders of any other era, of any party or ideology, threatening to do severe long-term damage to the country….”
At first I thought you were talking about the national debt (while under Democrat Congressional control) rising from $8 trillion when Pelosi took the Speaker’s office to more than $14 trillion when she left.
It’s akin to a patient with gangrene. Do you amputate part of his foot to save his life or do you castigate the doctors wanting to do so because “how cruel you must be to cut off a man’s foot–why, he needs that foot to get around and to be able to perform his job responsibilities.”
Democrats want to let the patient die.
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:09 am
pj @ 9.05, it’s actually “ain’t we got fun.”
Otherwise, like you say.
Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:10 am
USMC Dawg
“Where did Obama’s Stimulus money go?
787 BILLION…Poof!”
You mean the $275 billion of that in tax cuts he gave to middle class families were rescinded?!!?
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:10 am
cross currents abound. choppy waters ahead
The Chamber of Commerce, which typically aligns with Republicans, has been working hard to ensure that the debt limit is increased, and the Washington Post’s editorial page, a traditional voice for liberals, argued on Wednesday morning that deficit-reduction measures must be attached to any debt-limit increase.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53501_Page2.html#ixzz1KA9mcaKU
TaxPayer
April 21st, 2011
9:10 am
The GOP needs to bring back Cantor when he’s old enough to shave.
Bosch
April 21st, 2011
9:11 am
SoCo,
I have learned with that particular poster (and a couple more) to recognize that our time here on Earth is limited and shouldn’t be wasted on such. You will never get that time back.
Gotta go do some stuff….keep being “the Man” !!
Good little liberal
April 21st, 2011
9:11 am
josh
“unreal. some people on here are actually wanting to pay more in taxes? ”
Chances are, the people whining about paying more taxes aren’t paying any taxes. They want everybody else to pay taxes, People who get to blog all day, every day are setting at home, collecting some sort of checks.
WestSiderATL
April 21st, 2011
9:12 am
“Take the national economy hostage, stick a loaded pistol to its temple and threaten to pull the trigger unless you get your way.”
–Kind of like the Democrats did with Obamacare?
ty webb
April 21st, 2011
9:12 am
Kayaker71,
be sure to eat some Appalachicola oysters for me while you’re down there…mmmmmmmm, nectar of the gods.
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:13 am
(while under Democrat Congressional control) rising from $8 trillion when Pelosi took the Speaker’s office to more than $14 trillion when she left.
oh noes.
@@
April 21st, 2011
9:14 am
Ann Coulter with a keen observation.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin perfectly illustrates the mentality of the average liberal. Discussing a proposal to raise the retirement age of Social Security before there’s no money left, Durbin said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that for people like him, who work at a desk, it’s no big deal. But for “folks involved in physical and manual labor, another year or two becomes problematic.”
Just to be clear, I’m all for raising the retirement age of Social Security.
And what profession did Sen. Durbin choose to illustrate the idea of backbreaking work? A construction worker? A woman working in a chicken processing plant? A commercial fisherman?
No. He cited postal employees. “It’s tough,” he said, “to say, just stick around and deliver mail for another couple years.”
Backbreaking work? Postal workers? Mine can’t even find it within him/herself to close the mailbox. Must be a strain on their back.
md
April 21st, 2011
9:14 am
Paul,
I see no new tactics………business as usual…….each party doing what they always do……the only change is how they do it and when (majority/minority).
The recent “compromise”…..a whopping one week’s worth of cuts …….was certainly no indication that the guys in the majority are serious either……..starting from “0″ is not a serious discussion…..
Rightwing Troll
April 21st, 2011
9:15 am
As always the duplicitous fail to acknolwedge their complicity in the current situation… Ya’ll had as much to do with what’s broken as anything, but all you do is whine about bein “taxed to death” (when rates and tax loads are as light as they’ve ever been in modern times) and scream about social policies (like abstinence only? or just policies that the “other” guys champion)… For 8 years you gave an empty headed, AWOL, draft dodger a blank check and open permission to conduct war and out CIA operatives, now all of our problems are the fault of “one of those people”…
There’s plenty of “conservatives” on welfare, unemployment, and workman’s comp, what say ye about those parasites, not just the parasites with darker skin?
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 21st, 2011
9:15 am
When the Democrat party says they want a “clean” vote, what they mean is they want a “business as usual” vote.
Ain’t gonna happen, Dems. The adults have arrived to help you clean up your Idiot Messiah’s $1.5 trillion annual mess.
Jackie
April 21st, 2011
9:15 am
When and how do we pay for Afghanistan, Iraq, Medicare Part D and Bush era cuts?
When that question is answered, then we have an opportunity to lower the debt limit and bring some fiscal sanity to the world economy.
Peter
April 21st, 2011
9:15 am
WE need to start a 4th WAR…..that will make Republican’s think we are on the right path.
josh
April 21st, 2011
9:15 am
if you want to pay more in taxes then go right ahead. cut the government a check for twice what you owe. it’s patriotic!
i don’t have a problem with paying my taxes. i do have a problem with years and years of wasteful spending of my tax dollars and then having the government come into my pocket for even more.
take their credit card away!
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 21st, 2011
9:16 am
Keep
You do that by standing up, not by stepping down on that level.
dB
Thanks to you, I have RP saved as a fav on my home pc and read it quite often as well as some of the other links. I try not to pull it up at work due to the language issues.
retired early
April 21st, 2011
9:16 am
You GOP supporters need to know this….you are following the lead of a few misguided, radical leaders who are turning your party into a bunch of anti science, anti environment, anti government and self righteous puritans.
Anyone who hopes the GOP will not raise the debt ceiling is exposing themselves as the fools they most certainly are. No further test are needed.
Fortunately, the Independent voters are seeing your extreme political views. The GOP had 6 years under Bush and…blew it. A new GOP majority in Wi and….blew it. Michigan, New Jersey and now you have a “Tea Party” majority in the House and what are they planning…to bankrupt America.
Now that takes ALOT of stupidity. The GOP will not get another chance to lead again for decades.
As Forest Gump would say “stupid is as stupid does”.
Logic 05
April 21st, 2011
9:16 am
Jay is right. We should not cut spending … let’s just keep borrowing. The Democrats are wonderful and all Republicans are evil.
Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:17 am
jm
“Republicans don’t want to raise the debt limit, Dems do. So in return for the Dems getting what they want (higher ceiling), they have to agree to some budget trigger measures for the R’s. Simple enough….”
Doesn’t this read “Democrats want a higher debt limit, so have to give up on spending. Republicans want lower spending, so have to raise debt limit?”
Shouldn’t it be “Democrats want spending, have to give up up on tax increases. Republicans want to cut spending, have to give up on no tax increases.”
Taxes and spending is what they’re arguing over. Republicans introduced a hostage (debt ceiling) into the mix.
TaxPayer
April 21st, 2011
9:17 am
be sure to eat some Appalachicola oysters for me while you’re down there…
Get the pre-oiled ones. They go down so much easier.
lynnie gal
April 21st, 2011
9:17 am
Democrats have already compromised and cut funds for schools, the environment, heating assistance for the poor and community health centers. Enough already! The middle class and poor are on their knees now. Republicans–you’ve whipped them enough! You are officially abusers of children, the poor, the elderly, and working people. Now, you’ll finish the job by not raising the debt ceiling? That’ll hurt your only remaining supporters–mainly, the rich–so it’ll never happen. Even republicans aren’t that stupid. Their Masters–Wall Street and Corporations and the Rich–will reign in this idiocy before they push the button. So Democrats–stand up for your values and beliefs! Defend the underdogs, those with no voice in Washington, the poor, the children, the elderly–and don’t compromise with these horrific abusers of human kind.
Mary Elizabeth
April 21st, 2011
9:17 am
“That said I find it interesting that Boehner, Cantor, and Ryan were in office during 2000-2006 and were entirely complicit in driving up the debt. Yet you never here them say “yeah we were to blame too.” So you hear them NOW as if they have always been the party of fiscal sanity. They haven’t.”
“Where were you(r) deficit hawks the past decade?”
——————————————————————-
From Paul Krugman’s column 2/22/10:
“Rather than proposing unpopular spending cuts, Republicans would push through popular tax cuts, with the deliberate intention of worsening the government’s fiscal position. Spending cuts could then be sold as a necessity rather than a choice, the only way to eliminate an unsustainable budget deficit.”
—————————————————————————————–
From President Obama’s Facebook Townhall Meeting yesterday: (I parapharase) “The Ryan Plan is a radical plan because it fundamentally changes the social compact that the American people have had with their government for decades, but it is not a courageous plan because nothing is easier than finding the money to function off of the backs of the poor, the old, the vulnerable, those who have no power, or no clout in Washington.”
——————————————————
To hearing the President’s balanced approach to insuring the cutting of expenses and raising income to bring down the deficit/debt, while keeping America’s social compact with the American people, it is worth taking the time to listen to the President’s entire talk at the Facebook Townhall meeting yesterday. The president addresses Medicare and Healthcare costs, also.
“I don’t want to shift the cost of healthcare to the American people; I want to reduce healthcare costs.” statement from President Obama yesterday at the Townhall Meeting.
Check out his balanced and substantive thoughts (with details) on improving our economy while keeping a humane America:
http://www.distressedvolatility.com/2011/04/facebook-townhall-with-president-obama.html
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:19 am
innerestin
Insiders’ pick for DOD: Leon Panetta
politico.com
Normal
April 21st, 2011
9:19 am
Jackie
April 21st, 2011
9:15 am
Jackie,
I’d say: Get out, get out, raise taxes for funding, and no extension.
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:20 am
Uh, Jay. Are you and Tucker switch hitting?
Yes, we need “death panels”
http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2011/04/20/yes-we-need-death-panels/?cxntfid=blogs_cynthia_tucker
joe
April 21st, 2011
9:20 am
TOO LATE…Obama has already done more to damage our country, our capitalist system, our freedom, our worldly substance, our currency and our way of life. It will take dozens of years to correct the wrongs he’s done. He’s the worst US president ever, 100 times more horrible than Jimmy Carter. People need to wake up as our country will perish (which is what Obozo wants) with four more years of him. ABO–Anyone but obama in 2012.
PJ
April 21st, 2011
9:21 am
Paul @9:06 am – You are so right but remember those were the days when Republicans said deficts did’t matter.
stands for decibels @9:09 am – Thanks for the correction.
Dave R.
April 21st, 2011
9:21 am
“Great. Take the national economy hostage, stick a loaded pistol to its temple and threaten to pull the trigger unless you get your way. This is what we’ve come to. This is “leadership” and “statesmanship” in the modern American era.”
Yes, Jay, you’re finally correct. This is the new leadership. But you’re once again wrong in your target.
50 years of failed liberal policies have brought us to this. The ONLY adults in the room are the Republicans trying to hold the line on spending. Moody’s puts a warning on our future bond rating, and the most we get out of liberals is a big yawn (and apparently an attempt by Hope and Punt ™ to strongarm Moody’s into not announcing their warning).
The chickens have finally come home to roost on this policy failure of spending without revenue, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. And after the farce of spending cuts in finalizing the 2011 budget (initially another Democrat failure but a great job of pulling the wool over GOP eyes), it shows that liberals are not even in the same room as conservatives, let alone in the same discussion level of seriousness regarding real, honest budget cuts.
So let them “pull the trigger” as it were. If that’s what it takes to bring the children of the Democrat party to the negotiating table with the grown ups, then so be it. There is nothing more useless than an unloaded gun, so they might as well take advantage of it while it is loaded.
Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
md
This seems a pretty serious escalation. It’d be like during the Cuban Missile Crisis if Khruschev said “we want your missiles out of Turkey” and Kennedy said “we want your missiles out of Cuba” and then Khruschev said “take your missiles out or we roll over Berlin.”
Threats to do something that cause harm are not negotiations.
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
take their credit card away!
It’s not a credit card, this isn’t a family budget; it’s the most powerful, richest nation ever on this planet, and if you can’t grasp that, go ride the flippin’ Tilt-a-Whirl or something else less intimidating.
…
I have RP saved as a fav on my home pc and read it quite often
ah. I see my work is done here.
Good little liberal
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
Read what you said the other day about Black men dating white women.
I know that you will never believe this, but are you aware that a very popular trend among attractive married black women is to have a white guy for a booty call?
They like our sense of humor, they like the fact that we don’t take ourselves so seriously, they like the fact that we don’t run our mouths to our friends, and the really like the things we do. But the thing they like the most is that most black men would never suspect it.
Just thought you should know.
Normal
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
@@
April 21st, 2011
9:14 am
Ann Coulter with a keen observation.
I apologize @@, but that made me laugh out loud. Not at you, but at the keen observation part.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
If history were to repeat itself, Pres Reagan would give fine speeches stating exactly that, then in two term he’d take our $14 trillion accumulated debt and run it up to $42 trillion.
If there’s any unexplained booms around the metro Atlanta area today, I’m holding you personally responsible, Paul. I think heads exploded with that one.
md
A tax increase on me would achieve what both parties want to do. Dems would get their tax increase, and Reps would get a pay cut. It wouldn’t keep me from maintaining my independent streak either way. I know we’re in for some tough decisions, and I have no problem paying more now so that my daughter doesn’t have to shoulder the burden.
Bosch
Jackie
April 21st, 2011
9:22 am
@Normal
SALUTE!
I agree with your agreement.
Julia
April 21st, 2011
9:23 am
I’m constantly amazed at how the small government worshiping GOP conveniently blocks out 2 wars and the unfunded prescription drug card give away to big Pharma under the leadership of Dubya. yes, let’s cut school lunch programs, meals on wheels for seniors, turn over SS to those bastions of ethics on Wall Street, gut the pesky EPA, FDA, etc, fooey on them all. Survival of the fittest baby, and screw everyone else.
snark snark
ty webb
April 21st, 2011
9:23 am
Lynnie gal,
you left out that republicans also beat puppies and kittens, and they also return rented movies without rewinding them.
Seth
April 21st, 2011
9:24 am
GE PROFITS JUMP 77%
TAX FREE?
Fletch
April 21st, 2011
9:24 am
What’s the big deal here? Why don’t we just take the cost of the wars off the books like before and everyone can go back to their shopping.
jm
April 21st, 2011
9:25 am
Look, I agree that spending is most of the problem in the Federal Budget. And Dems are full of playing games, not behaving honestly, and are trying to hang Republicans on their own proposals.
That said, I won’t take the Republicans 100% seriously until they admit that there have to be some form of revenue increases. Not tax rate increases (rather the opposite one would hope), but with the elimination of deductions instead.
TaxPayer
April 21st, 2011
9:26 am
Republicans introduced the debt ceiling as a hostage! It is sort of funny when you think through the scenarios. If the GOP does not get its way, which will not eliminate the need to raise the debt ceiling because they are not proposing cutting enough to eliminate the deficit plus interest due on the debt, they are not going to agree to raise the debt ceiling and then the US goes into default and takes its place right along side one of those GOP utopian countries like Ireland and we end up still borrowing more money but at a higher rate which requires raising the debt ceiling even more which ultimately requires raising taxes even more to cover the added cost. Sounds like a plan, just not one that leads to prosperity. Then again, the GOP could go with plan b and agree to raise the debt ceiling and they will even though they will not get what they want in return.
Normal
April 21st, 2011
9:26 am
Fletch
April 21st, 2011
9:24 am
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:27 am
but that made me laugh out loud. Not at you, but at the keen observation part.
for me it was the juxtaposition of the words “Ann Coulter with a” and “Dick” just underneath. But I’m shallow that way.
md
April 21st, 2011
9:27 am
“Taxes and spending is what they’re arguing over. Republicans introduced a hostage (debt ceiling) into the mix.”
Actually, the debt ceiling has been there all along……………….
And there in lies the problem……….instead of planning for it, the misfits find ways to ignore it……..and that is why we have 14 trillion in debt……..
All you folks that hate personal analogies can skip this, but how many of you get to call your credit card companies and demand they raise your limits??
The limits are there for a reason…………………
Seth
April 21st, 2011
9:27 am
Obama dismisses terror concerns, gives rebels $25 million…
Federal Borrowing on Pace to Hit Debt Limit in Less Than Week?
yep it’s that gop that’s the problem.
JKL2
April 21st, 2011
9:27 am
buck@gon- The gun analogy might be a bit “extreme” I admit
I’m sure it’s Palin’s fault.
The big difference is leadership. Reagan had it by the bucket load and obama couldn’t recognize it unless the teleprompter gave him a clue.
Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:28 am
PJ
I’ve been struck by the similarities between Pres Reagan and Pres Obama.
Both came from humble roots, had little government experience (’little’ used by the detractors of each, so I’ll include it here).
Both were elected by riding a wave of ‘hope’ and getting rid of the malaise brought about by their predecessor.
Both massively increased spending.
Both massively increased the debt.
Both lived their adult lives professing the Christian faith, yet once in office, didn’t attend church.
Both faced charges from their political opponents that their deeds did not match their words.
And in spite of all the ways in which they are alike, the supporters of one despise the other.
Just strikes me as interesting.
josh
April 21st, 2011
9:29 am
stands for decibels…
will you be cutting the government a check for more than you owe to compensate for their wreckless spending?
Dave R.
April 21st, 2011
9:29 am
” it’s the most powerful, richest nation ever on this planet”
And you could tax the producers at 100% of their income and still not reduce our annual deficits within 5 years and our debt in less than 20 years.
It is NOT a long-term revenue problem we have. It is a spending problem. Always has been.
another prescription drug plan might help
April 21st, 2011
9:30 am
since it was so well-funded. Same goes for two wars that were “off the books”. And the Iraq wars were the only time in HISTORY that the US took tax rates down during wartime.
If this is how the GOP will solve the issues, we are screwed with either party
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:30 am
Reagan had it by the bucket load and obama couldn’t recognize it unless the teleprompter gave him a clue.
ahem.
http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m335/dmhlt48/Teleprompter%20-%20Reagan/?action=view¤t=2102fb6a.pbw
TaxPayer
April 21st, 2011
9:32 am
All you folks that hate personal analogies can skip this, but how many of you get to call your credit card companies and demand they raise your limits??
Not me. They just do it automatically. It must be my AAA credit rating.
md
April 21st, 2011
9:32 am
“Threats to do something that cause harm are not negotiations.”
You mean like doing nothing??
Paul
April 21st, 2011
9:32 am
SoCom
sorry…..
unintended consequences?
Back on topic, there is the question whether Republican House leaders understand what not raising the debt ceiling will do. If they don’t understand, they face unintended consequences. If they do understand, then it is as Jay said, they are willing to do grave harm to our country in pursuit of an ideology.
Can anyone guess what word is used to describe a person who does not care what damage he does in the pursuit of ideology?
stands for decibels
April 21st, 2011
9:33 am
will you be cutting the government a check for more than you owe to compensate for their wreckless spending?
soon as you have to as well. no problemo with me.
Tundra Dude
April 21st, 2011
9:33 am
lynnie gal@9:17
Even republicans aren’t that stupid. Their Masters–Wall Street and Corporations and the Rich–will reign in this idiocy before they push the button.
Bingo!!
They’re not afraid of Obama, but their Masters ($$$) can easily bring them to heel.