Chambliss takes a leadership risk
By endorsing a $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction deal in Washington, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss has risked making himself a target of an angry Republican base here in Georgia, regardless of how the crisis is finally resolved.
The proposal embraced by Chambliss and other members of the bipartisan Gang of Six calls for major cuts in Social Security, Medicare and other programs,, which conservatives support. However, it also proposes collecting an additional $1 trillion in revenue over the next 10 years, and conservative orthodoxy insists that any plan that produces additional government revenue is betrayal.
Under the circumstances, the last thing Chambliss needs is some liberal columnist praising his willingness to lead on a tough issue of great national importance. And it would hurt the senator even more to contrast his leadership with the absence of leadership among his fellow Republicans in Georgia’s House delegation, most of whom have taken a deeply irresponsible approach to the nation’s fiscal crisis.
So I’ll make sure not to say those things.
Instead, maybe it would be better to condemn Chambliss for backing a plan that would cut future Social Security benefits by hundreds of billions of dollars. Yeah, that’s the ticket! Accuse him of being mean to old people!
Except that he’s not. The Gang of Six does propose to reduce future benefits by changing the way that Social Security benefits are adjusted for inflation. But that’s just common sense. Most experts agree that the current inflation-adjusting mechanism is set too high, and over time would boost benefits significantly higher than inflation would require. The new approach — borrowed from recommendations released late last year by a presidential commission — would be more accurate, and thus more fair.
And as Chambliss takes pains to point out, all savings generated by changes in Social Security would be used to make Social Security financially sound. It’s an important point: No revenue generated by the self-insurance program is being spent elsewhere.
In fact, any liberal groups or politicians who attack the Gang of Six proposals regarding Social Security are probably playing politics. The changes sought by Chambliss and his colleagues are reasonable and would be necessary regardless of the nation’s larger fiscal challenges.
Still, that doesn’t exactly improve Chambliss’ standing with his base.
How about ObamaCare? While the Gang of Six doesn’t propose to repeal the entire health-care reform package so hated by conservatives, it does call for abandoning one of its major new programs. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, also known as the CLASS Act, was created to be a voluntary self-insurance plan in which citizens paid monthly premiums in return for long-term nursing-home care should they need it.
The Gang of Six plan calls for outright repeal of CLASS, noting that recent analysis has cast doubt on the program’s ability to be self-sustaining, as required by law.
“Simply put, it could be difficult, if not impossible, to balance money coming into the program with the money that could ultimately flow out, and thus to create a program that would be solvent and sustainable,” as the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation reports.
So hey, killing part of ObamaCare ought to buy Chambliss at least some protection on his right flank, correct?
Still, there’s that little matter of $1 trillion in revenue increases. Poll after poll demonstrates that most Americans support attacking the debt problem through both spending cuts and tax increases. Politically, it’s the only way to cut a deal. And mathematically, it’s impossible to address the debt through spending cuts alone. The numbers just do not work.
As Chambliss noted in a discussion at the AJC back in April, non-defense, non-entitlement spending accounts for just 12 percent of the budget.
“Now you could cut out that whole 12 percent and you wouldn’t solve this problem of $14 trillion in debt,” he said. “You got to have enough money to run the government and you got to have excess money to start paying down on that debt.”
Yes, you do. Unfortunately, many of his fellow Republicans just can’t bring themselves to believe it.
– Jay Bookman
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484 comments Add your comment
Doggone/GA
July 22nd, 2011
2:02 pm
“Who was irresponsible for not passing a budget in 2010?”
Congress
“Who was in charge?:
Congress
Civics class – education is a good thing. Try it sometime.
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
July 22nd, 2011
2:03 pm
Old Guy,
You’re correct, The Gang of Six plan is still pretty much just a framework. All the details will need to be worked out.
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
2:03 pm
Uncle Jed thanks for the info. I will remember her.
Doggone/GA
July 22nd, 2011
2:03 pm
Rich? Wealthy? As far as I’m concerned, if you make 5x what I make, you are both.
But at the same time, neither riches nor wealth are EXCLUSIVELY monetary.
md
July 22nd, 2011
2:03 pm
“But, then, I’m rich. I wish everybody could have it this good. What’s wrong with that?”
Still want to know how much one needs to be comfortable?
If the ideology (not necessarily you Jo) is that other folks need to be cared for, why can’t those that believe that way just do it…………..
That isn’t what I hear…….I hear…..”I think it needs to be done, but by golly I’m not doing it unless Joe Blow down the street has to do it too”………….
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:04 pm
Looks like the “religion of Peace” has struck another blow for “Reason” and “Tolerance” in Norway!!
Paul
July 22nd, 2011
2:05 pm
oldguy
I didn’t rewatch it but I do remember the charts (hey everyone the link has charts!!!) and they did give specific areas with ranges of dollars or percent change.
Sen Crapo said that was intentional – that those numbers would go to the Congressional committees responsible for those areas and THEY would be responsible for determining the numbers and programs.
That’s when proposals become ripe for CBO scoring.
Doggone/GA
July 22nd, 2011
2:06 pm
“Looks like the “religion of Peace” has struck another blow for “Reason” and “Tolerance” in Norway!!”
Nope. But some stupid people have
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:06 pm
TahDaaah
++++++++++++++
josef
July 22nd, 2011
1:58 pm
I finally got and answer to the question I’ve been asking. Rich is anybody who makes more than I do and the way to “move up” is to make sure I can keep as many below me as possible by whatever means possible.
++++++++++++++
@ josef and only because my wife never wastes time blogging, at least here….
That reminds me of this one:
A fox is any woman with a butt smaller than my wife’s
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:07 pm
Oh Md,
its “Each according to his needs” now ….. I’ve heard that before…
Now who was it that said that???
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
2:07 pm
It’s opportunity all over again. If the liberals allow the government to default we will get to see the real guts of America.
Doggone/GA
July 22nd, 2011
2:07 pm
“Cut, Cap and Balance” died in the Senate
Paul
July 22nd, 2011
2:08 pm
josef 1:58
Your first post of the day and the last made it a grand slam.
As usual, nicely done -
Soothsayer
July 22nd, 2011
2:09 pm
SunTrust announces cost cuts as second quarter profit jumps (AJC)
SunTrust President and CEO William Rogers said the bank plans to streamline back office departments such as technology, operations, marketing and human resources across its various business lines.
Translation: We’re going to ship as many jobs to India as possible.
[T]echnology, operations, marketing and human resources. Think your job is safe? Don’t count on it.
Jefferson
July 22nd, 2011
2:09 pm
That house bill was bad from day 1, good thing it died.
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:10 pm
Schrodinger’s cat
July 22nd, 2011
1:49 pm
Uncle Jed…That’s why I call him President “Odrama”
+++++++++++++++++++
He, more so than a whole cartload of predecessors.
TaxPayer
July 22nd, 2011
2:11 pm
Fletch,
What was that number you posted that is under scrutiny. Total fed income tax or what.
out of the blue
July 22nd, 2011
2:11 pm
Mighty Righty….Were you There? I didn’t think so!
Here in a nutshell is what happened on that day
On April 8, with a month left in his tour, Cleland was ordered to set up a radio relay station on a nearby hill. A helicopter flew him and two soldiers to the treeless top of Hill 471, east of Khe Sanh. Cleland knew some of the soldiers camped there from Operation Pegasus. He told the pilot he was going to stay a while with friends.
When the helicopter landed, Cleland jumped out, followed by the two soldiers. They ducked beneath the rotors and turned to watch the liftoff. Cleland reached down to pick up a grenade he believed had popped off his flak jacket. It exploded, and the blast slammed him backward, shredding both his legs and one arm.
On that day, he was in a mortar pit on a hill near Khe Sanh when he heard the explosion. Fragments bounced off his flak jacket. He ran to the injured Cleland, saying ‘Hold on there, captain, the chopper will be here in a minute.’
Lloyd took off his web belt and tied it around one of Cleland’s shredded legs. When the medics arrived, he left to help another injured soldier — one of the two who had gotten off the helicopter with Cleland.
That unnamed soldier was crying. ‘It was mine,’ he said, ‘it was my grenade.’
According to Lloyd, the private had failed to take the extra precaution that experienced soldiers did when they grabbed M-26 grenades from the ammo box: bend the pins, or tape them in place, so they couldn’t accidentally dislodge. This soldier had a flak jacket full of grenades with treacherously straight pins, Lloyd says. “He was a walking death trap.”
Or how about this? Max Cleland Democractic politician, who lost three limbs in the Vietnam War on 8 April 1968. It was widely believed that Cleland was injured by his own grenade, but in fact it was found in 1999 to have been another soldier’s grenade.
In fact Mighty Righty as a Vietnam vet I can attest that anybody in their right mind would not be “playing with grenades.
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:11 pm
“Cut, Cap and Balance” died in the Senate
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OMG, are you serious?
Paul
July 22nd, 2011
2:12 pm
Doggone/GA
The House needs to watch “Charge of the Light Brigade” before voting on any more bright ideas -
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
2:12 pm
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:07 pm
I know I know Jay Marx
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:13 pm
True Paul…
But I seem to remember a “Deal” being sold to us just a few months ago they was going to save many billions on the rest of this year’s budget that ended up saving pennies!! i.s. less that a Billion (1/4 of one days new debt!!).
so Pardon if I don’t trust the details until the CBO (and others) can rate the plan.
Fred
July 22nd, 2011
2:13 pm
Uncle Jed:
Serious as a heart attack:
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/senate-rejects-house-gop-1034422.html
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
2:14 pm
Paul
July 22nd, 2011
2:12 pm
Yeah I wish they would do it in smoke filled backrooms!
josef
July 22nd, 2011
2:14 pm
PAUL
Don’t go butterin’ me up…we know what you’re up to this weekend!
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:15 pm
RASMUSSEN SHOCK POLL: Barack Obama 41% Ron Paul 37%… developing…
http://drudgereport.com/
Schrodinger's cat
July 22nd, 2011
2:15 pm
If we are going to up taxes on the “rich” and corporations…what about taxing endowments at universities. Harvard’s endowments are down 30% to $25 Billion…with a “B”?
Paul
July 22nd, 2011
2:20 pm
oldguy
Fair enough. I hope they learned from past mistakes -
josef
I haven’t a clue what I’m up to this weekend, besides the usual no good.
Unless you mean Jay’s gone and I’ll be debating whether or not to shut down the blog?
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:20 pm
Fred
July 22nd, 2011
2:13 pm
Uncle Jed:
Serious as a heart attack:
+++++++++++++++++++++
Are you positive? Failed in the Senate? OMG
Fletch
July 22nd, 2011
2:24 pm
Taxpayer – “Fletch,
What was that number you posted that is under scrutiny. Total fed income tax or what.”
It was the combined payout from earned income reported in each state that we do business in (Georgia, California, Nevada and Montana) along with property taxes on my primary home in Atlanta and the second home in Round Up, Montana.
josef
July 22nd, 2011
2:25 pm
PAUL
So, you plan to leave it open for debate this year rather than unilaterally making that decision?
out of the blue
Thank you for the details there. It sounds like Cleland to pooh-pooh it with “playing with grenades.” I’ve always kind of liked his drole sense of humor…
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:26 pm
Paul,
You MUST be an Optimist!!
p.s. I was, in my younger days, President of one of our local Optimist Clubs!!
Experience has cured that!! I trust politicians about as far as I can throw the national mall!!
Josef,
Stay in!!! and out of the heat!! US “older” guys have no business out in this heat!
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
July 22nd, 2011
2:28 pm
Lets see, cut spending, initiate spending caps and balancing the budget is a bad thing. Continuing down a certain path to bankruptcy is a good thing. Reforming entitlements is a bad thing. Continuing along pretending that we do not need to reform entitlements until such time as we no longer have the money for them and can’t borrow any more money is a good thing. No wonder Democrats can’t come up with a plan.
RB from Gwinnett
July 22nd, 2011
2:30 pm
Not only did the senate kill Cut/Cap/Balance, Reid doesn’t think it’s important enough for them to work this weekend.
That’s nice Harry. If it’s not that important, why all the scare tactics?
Swede Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
2:32 pm
RB…..The House is the chamber taking the weekend off. They see no sense of urgency. They must need to get to their NASCAR race.
stands for decibels
July 22nd, 2011
2:33 pm
Hey, thanks for the link, Jed. I had no idea where to go to find a SHOCK POLL. Really.
stands for decibels
July 22nd, 2011
2:34 pm
“Cut, Cap and Balance” died in the Senate
where’s it buried? I need to take a leak.
facts is facts
July 22nd, 2011
2:34 pm
Dave R., I could not disagree more. IF a business employs lobbysits to secure tax breaks, government subsidies; etc. from the Federal Government, it most certainly is MY business (as a taxpayer). The very fact that U.S. policy (invade/don’t invade Iraq) directly effects the cost of a barrel of oil on the open market; or Haliburton’s balance sheet makes these choices MY business. so, when John Q. Public says; “I don’t think we should invade Iraq because Iraq was not linked to 9/11, they’ve never attacked us, and the best estimate place the cost of the war at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion” and Dick Q. Cheney and the Board of Directors at Blackwater say; “… pay no attention to that taxpayer; we need to wage this war to protect our interests in the region” (growing the business as it were), how is it not my/your business? When tax revenue (from taxpayers) is transferred to the coffers of private sector businesses (military industrial complex), it most certainly IS our business. And just to show you I am not some socialist stooge; when medicaid, food stamps, Department of Education funds, etc. are transferred to Kaiser Permanente, Merck, Pfizer, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart and Emory University, etc.; how is it NOT our business. I understand the backlash against the backlash, and I find nothing wrong with the anti-wealth envy crowd” but be honest, there is not “wealth envy” or “class warfare” going on; it’s the WEALTHY acquiring wealth from taxpayers. And for the record, when G.I. Joe gets paid his income is taxed; then when he uses it to buy a car, Coke, or flat screen TV; his “income” is taxed again when he pays sales tax. This idea that capital gains are sacrosanct is exactly what the plutocrats want you to believe (as if the hedge fund that owns Under Armour, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola actually cares about “growing a business” beyond how they can “game” the the stock price via a long or short position?
josef
July 22nd, 2011
2:36 pm
old guy
Had some running around to do earlier. Unmentionable called me a “mad dog going out with the Englishmen…” Yow! It was hot and muggy! Of course he’s out there under the shade tree tinkering with his fishing car…he’s finally getting into the retirement mode…
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:36 pm
Out and Mighty,
What bothers me is the Bronze and Silver Stars…. for what? he was injured in a stupid accident, not a firefight with the enemy.
Now, it seems, all injuries are “Heroic”.
My father-in-law, who was an exec with an insurance agency, told me that the first military life insurance policy his company paid out was for a troop who fell off a barstool drunk in a Siagon bar and broke his neck !! I am surprised he didn’t get a metal!!
josef
July 22nd, 2011
2:39 pm
facts is facts…
Pretty much sums up the position…
Message from Matti
July 22nd, 2011
2:42 pm
oldguy,
What’s it to YOU, anyway? Is your own life so sad that you have to criticize the medals on someone else’s chest to feel better about yourself? Bless your heart.
Disgusted
July 22nd, 2011
2:44 pm
Who was irresponsible for not passing a budget in 2010? Who was in charge? Oh I remember, you could not pass a budget until you rammed ObamaCare down the American peoples’ throat. Liberals sure have a peculiar way with facts and history.
You know and I know, willie, that the reason no budget proposal was advanced was strictly polical in nature: the Republicans were just waiting for the basis for talking points for the next election. Even you felt free to whale away at Obamacare. It’s no longer a matter of two parties working together to produce a budget; rather, it’s all about influencing the results of the next election, country be damned! And if you’re honest, you’ll acknowledge that the Republicans are as focused as the Democrats on getting majorities and the presidency. Neither party gives a damn about what happens to the country otherwise.
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:45 pm
Hey, thanks for the link, Jed.
It was my pleasure as I always like to be helpful.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Did you somehow think I tried to conceal that it was a Shock Poll. We all know their limited value; and we all know it is way early; and we all know Ron Paul has little chance; and we all know that it wouldn’t take more than a few seconds for the reaction from an Obamaite. But here you go anyway:
Obama 41%, Ron Paul 37%
…But the real story in the numbers is that the president continues to earn between 41% and 49% of the vote no matter which Republican is mentioned as a potential opponent. This suggests that the race remains a referendum on the incumbent more than anything else.
…Polls conducted a year-and-a-half before an election provide a snapshot of where things are today but give little indication of what the mood might be on Election Day. If the economy substantially improves before November 2012, the president will be heavily favored to win reelection. If the opposite happens and the country endures a double-dip recession, just about any Republican challenger would be favored. If the economy stays as it is today, the race could be very competitive.
A good measure of the president’s reelection prospects is his Job Approval rating among likely voters. His final vote total is likely to be very close to his final Job Approval figures.…
REALLY
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/obama_41_ron_paul_37
James S.
July 22nd, 2011
2:45 pm
Senate killed the bill backed by the house. And they have put forward what????
O yeah…Absolutely nothing.
What is Obama’s plan?
Same thing.
No democrat has any plan to deal with our debt on the table.Talk about a failure to lead!
The media? The media is bought and paid for, in the pocket of the democrats. They would never point out the absolute failure of Obama and the democrats. Bookman is just another liberal zombie.
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:47 pm
where’s it buried? I need to take a leak.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In your back pocket, so you’ll need to remove your pants, Shorty.
TaxPayer
July 22nd, 2011
2:48 pm
Fletch,
Thanks for the clarification.
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
2:51 pm
Swede Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
2:32 pm
RB…..The House is the chamber taking the weekend off
++++++++++++++++++
Senator Reid thinks otherwise:
The 51-46 party-line Senate vote, and a decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to cancel weekend Senate sessions,
But then who cares about details, much less facts?
josef
July 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
I am always amused whenever somebody goes claiming the media are in the pocket of this, that or the other political persuasion, interest group or what have you. The media are in the pockets of the advertizers. Got a problem? Go talk to them. And you know what, it really does work!
Swede Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
James S
I see you don’t venture far from Faux News.
The Administration has been intensely involved in working on a solution to the debt and debt limit issue. The Vice President has been having meetings with Democratic and Republic leaders for the past several months to establish a framework for an agreement.
The Democratic leaders in those discussions have presented ideas and proposals on moving this forward. The difference with the Republics is the Democrats recognize that it does no good for the Republics to craft a bill in the House and the Democrats to craft a bill in the Senate only to know that neither will pass the other house.
It is far better to agree on a framework first, then solidify the details. It is kind of like it is good to plan first then act.
TaxPayer
July 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
So, I take it Ron Paul will run yet again for president. If he could just drum up enough votes to make it almost half way through the first wave of the primaries just once…
williebkind
July 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
I often wonder someone who votes for a progressive liberal and calls themselves INDEPENDENT! I definitely need to take a political science class just to see how firm is the liberal control of education.
Swede Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
2:56 pm
Uncle Jed,
The House had already announced yesterday they were heading home to their NASCAR races, gun shows and snake dancing. So I completely agree with Reid it makes no sense for the Senate to be in session either.
Facts are facts.
stands for decibels
July 22nd, 2011
2:56 pm
No democrat has any plan to deal with our debt on the table.
None? I guess 80 is the new “none.”
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
2:57 pm
Josef,
About everyone’s a hero philosophy…
I don’t know if you have read much WW1 history but, to me, one of the best is Col(Gen) Max Hoffmann, a German General staff officer who was an excellent observer and writer. His comment early in the August 1914 German drive into France was classic, Apparently the German Crown prince was visiting hospitals with a bucket of Iron Crosses passing them out to all there…..His comment ” Apparently the only way to avoid one whuld be to shoot yourself!”
One wonders now when any wound is “Heroic”.
I twisted a Knee when on MP duty in Siagon in 1968 (stepped off a curb wrong)….should I get a metal??
josef
July 22nd, 2011
2:57 pm
PAUL
Say, you’re in Texas. How firm IS “the liberal control of education?”
TaxPayer
July 22nd, 2011
2:57 pm
Or, as an independent might actually say:
I often wonder someone who votes for a progressive liberal or extreme right wing conservativeand calls themselves INDEPENDENT! I definitely need to take a political science class just to see how firm is the liberal / conservative control of education.
Jack
July 22nd, 2011
2:58 pm
If Chambliss is on the GOP ballot at his re-election bid, I’ll vote for him. There’s no Democrat on any ballot that I’d vote for.
stands for decibels
July 22nd, 2011
2:58 pm
also, this.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/shared-sacrifice-village-style.html
I’d laugh if it wasn’t so tragic. Raising the eligibility age or changing the COLA are humongous changes that shouldn’t even be contemplated in this context since Social Security’s shortfall isn’t even projected to happen for another 35 years and it contributes nothing to the deficit. And the idea that this would be “balanced” by ending some perks for corporate jets is so bizarre that I’d think it was part of a Stephen Colbert satire if I didn’t know better.
But this is where the Village stands today: the “reasonable” position is to accept huge cuts in discretionary spending and Social Security in exchange for some symbolic nothingness on the part of the wealthy and call it “shared sacrifice.” And needless to say, we should be prepared for many more cuts to the “entitlements’ down the road since this was the “easy” stuff. We are all the way down the rabbit hole now and somebody’s throwing dirt on top of us.
Mighty Righty
July 22nd, 2011
2:59 pm
Swede Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
2:52 pm
So after months of discussions including Biden and Obama you can’t point to a single idea they have suggested except to raise taxes. Right?
josef
July 22nd, 2011
3:02 pm
old guy
My brother would probably get pissed if he knew I was doing this, he’s the modest sort. He got two purple hearts…one, which did come with some other medals, too, he could be testosterone hero proud of if he so chose…the other, though, is the one he might, just might, tell you how he got it…’course he would have to be drinking a few and among trusted peers…
Uncle Jed
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
Uncle Jed,
The House had already announced yesterday they were heading home to their NASCAR races, gun shows and snake dancing. So I completely agree with Reid it makes no sense for the Senate to be in session either.
Facts are facts.
+++++++++++++++++
Fair enough. Let’s agree that both houses are taking off in the interest of full disclosure. We are all probably in better hands when they leave town and only the security guard and janitor stay behind.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Return of Mass Layoffs a Grim Sign for U.S. Workers
…Putting pressure on an already lousy job market, the mass layoff is making a comeback. In the past week, Cisco, Lockheed Martin and Borders announced a combined 23,000 in job cuts. (See: Another Retailer Bites the Dust: Borders Doomed by Amazon Deal, Davidowitz Says)
Those announcements follow 41,432 in planned cuts in June, up 11.6% from May and 5.3% vs. a year earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Meanwhile, state and local governments have cut 142,000 jobs this year, The WSJ reports, and Wall Street is braced for another round of cutbacks. This week, Goldman Sachs announced plans to let go 1000 fixed-income traders.
If these trends continue, we may soon be talking about losses in the monthly employment data — not just disappointing growth, says Howard Davidowitz, CEO of Davidowitz & Associates
“Everything in business is confidence,” Davidowitz says. “You lose confidence and businesses can’t deal with that [and] who could have confidence with what’s going on in Washington?”
Davidowitz is bipartisan in his criticism, calling the U.S. political system “dysfunctional and deranged.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/return-mass-layoffs-grim-sign-u-workers-190228219.html
josef
July 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
JACK
Yeah. I understand that. I wouldn’t vote for a GOP for anything, myself. It’d bring the gray ghost of Granny from the grave howling about her progeny voting for the Party of Diocletian of the Potomac…
Jefferson
July 22nd, 2011
3:06 pm
Without SS the county’s retired would be in a world of hurt. Does the GOP like a world of hurt?
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:10 pm
“Without SS the county’s retired would be in a world of hurt. Does the GOP like a world of hurt?”
Does the GOP want to eliminate SS? Uhhhhhh, NO. However, anyone with a clue can recognize that SS is on an unsustainable path. So, what’s your suggestion, just keep on digging the hole deeper and deeper and deeper??
Swede Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
3:10 pm
Mighty Righty
I have not been in those meetings. Have you ever been involved in delicate negotiations before? Probably not. You do not publicize the contents of your discussions until there is something to disclose.
What is the basis for your statement that the only suggestion is to raise taxes? The President, as far back as the State of the Union, has acknowledged that cuts were needed. No Democrat to my knowledge has refused to acknowledge the need to cut spending. There may be questions about whether right now is a good time to do that or not but not that they aren’t needed.
But the protectors of the rich have only one mantra, cut, cut, cut. They don’t care who they harm or the long-term consequences. But they refuse categorically to ask the wealthy to share in the sacrifice.
So it is the Republics who know only one tune.
oldguy
July 22nd, 2011
3:14 pm
Josef,
No problem with Purple hearts, there is a reason for them. Its just the Gallantry metals that bother me.
p.s. Tell Jay (and others) Fish are smart! They go to the deepest part of the lake in weather like now and they don’t eat any more than they have to to live. Wait for the fall and cooler weather to fish!!
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:15 pm
“But the protectors of the rich have only one mantra, cut, cut, cut. They don’t care who they harm or the long-term consequences. But they refuse categorically to ask the wealthy to share in the sacrifice.”
The top 10 percent: Americans who earned at least $113,018 paid 71.2 percent of the nation’s income taxes, up from 70.8 percent a year earlier.
I guess you don’t consider this sharing…
Jefferson
July 22nd, 2011
3:15 pm
SS – raise the rates (Pres Reagan did, it was the right thing) on both side. Eliminate the cap. If the money is loaned to the general fund, interest should be paid just like on bonds the Chinamen hold. Cut some of the fraud.
Jefferson
July 22nd, 2011
3:20 pm
WM they had plenty left to live on; they could afford the taxes. They are optional, don’t make so much income and you don’t have to pay so much federal income tax.
josef
July 22nd, 2011
3:21 pm
IT”S FRIDAY….gone upstairs…
Thulsa Doom
July 22nd, 2011
3:22 pm
Swede Atlanta thinks that the rich don’t pay their fair share. The top 1% pay something like 38% of all taxes and the top 5% pay something like 50% of the total tax burden and as Woodstock Mike points out the top 10% pay 71% of all the taxes. Where do people like this come from?- Mars?
TaxPayer
July 22nd, 2011
3:30 pm
The Social Security Trust Fund holds 2.67 trillion of that 14 trillion of US debt.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:32 pm
“don’t make so much income and you don’t have to pay so much federal income tax.”
I pray that this kind of attitude doesn’t spread throughout the United States of America, if it does we are in for some rough decades ahead…
Thulsa Doom
July 22nd, 2011
3:35 pm
Woodstock Mike,
That is indeed a sad, pathetic statement. I feel sorry for a person that thinks that way. Its pathetic and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such a loser statement. Only a liberal or a Dem could make a statement like that.
Libertarian
July 22nd, 2011
3:36 pm
“Where do people like this come from?- Mars?”
Sweden, maybe?
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:36 pm
“they had plenty left to live on; they could afford the taxes”
Now this truly is the Democrat mantra, telling people what’s enough for them to live on, don’t let them decide for themselves…
All the while these politicians are flying private jets, eating $1000 dinners, traveling the world, enjoying the finest things in life…
Yeah, I don’t think I want them telling me what’s good enough for me, thanks anyway…
WOODSTOCK MIKE
July 22nd, 2011
3:37 pm
Thulsa we are on the same page indeed…
Libertarian
July 22nd, 2011
3:37 pm
Woodstock and Thulsa
I can’t wrap my head around how someone could think that way. (As Jefferson @ 3:20)
Thulsa Doom
July 22nd, 2011
3:39 pm
“they had plenty to live on so they could afford the taxes”
Always interesting to see the justification for using the coercive power of govt to forcibly take from one group and give to another. Nothing more than theft via the vote.
Thulsa Doom
July 22nd, 2011
3:40 pm
Libertarian, Scary aint it.
Jefferson
July 22nd, 2011
4:21 pm
Nobody said any of that crap you boys are spewing. I don’t care how much you make, you live on what is left. People who make 50k can afford their taxes, that is how the system works. What a bunch of insecure people. Nobody is telling anybody anything, this is reality. Hope you find what you are looking for.
Mary Elizabeth
July 22nd, 2011
8:15 pm
Headline on MSNBC at 7:30 with David Gregory, moderator of “Meet the Press”: “Debt Talks Break Down After Boehner Withdraws”
About 6:30 p.m. President Obama said in his news conference that the middle and working class know that they have not been treated fairly over the last years and that they need to know that someone is looking after their interests instead of political interests (paraphrased). Speaker Boehner said in his news conference about 7:15 p.m. that an additional 400 billion in revenue was asked over the next 10 years, and he said he was not willing to take that money from the “job creators” in greater taxes.
Eventually, the American people are going to have to see that this battle is an ideological battle over the direction that our nation will move in the next decades relative to the role of government. One can understand why Republicans are holding so firm at this time, when one recognizes that this present debt ceiling crisis, for them, is the culmination of a 30 year ideological impetus for smaller government.
Middle and working class people are going to have to look boldly at who is truly looking after their interests and who is looking after the interests of the powerful and extremely wealthy. They are also going to have to decide if they want safety nets through our government or not.
I support those safety nets not only for pragmatic reasons for the majority of Americans, but also because the presence of those safety nets give testimony to the fact that American values continue to lean toward the humane.
Z
July 23rd, 2011
11:42 pm
At least Chambliss was smart enough to not be in Michelle Bachmanns Tea Party Terrorist Caucus. You can’t say the same for these 4 fools..Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, Tom Price and last but not least Lynn Westmorland. Why don’t we all give these 4 a call, e-mail, snail mail and thank them for helping to ruin the worlds economy!