House GOP has manuevered itself into a dead end
“You’ve always been crazy, this is just the first chance you’ve had to express yourself.”
– Louise to Thelma
——————————-
Even the folks on the Wall Street Journal editorial board understand that the House GOP is acting suicidal, noting that the squabble with Senate Republicans has turned into a “circular firing squad” and that “the political rout will only get worse” unless they concede the standoff with President Obama.
“At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation. Wisconsin freshman Senator Ron Johnson has been floating a useful agenda for such a strategy. The alternative is more chaotic retreat and the return of all-Democratic rule.”
But Thelma and Louise, also known as John Boehner and Eric Cantor, show no signs of altering course, as the New York Times reports:
“Mr. Boehner of Ohio, the first-year speaker who has struggled throughout 2011 to corral his members, said House Republicans would not relent and accept a two-month extension of the tax cut that was approved by the Senate on Saturday as a way to buy time for a more permanent solution. He instead named members to a committee to negotiate a new agreement with the Senate, which adjourned Saturday….
Mr. Boehner called Mr. Obama to summon the Senate back to Washington to bargain with House Republicans despite the approach of the holidays. “I just think the American people expect us to do our work,” Mr. Boehner said.
But he was rebuffed by Mr. Obama, and by House and Senate Democrats, who said they would appoint no counterparts to Mr. Boehner’s newly named negotiators. And more Republican senators who voted for the Senate bill urged Mr. Boehner to get his lawmakers to do the same, saying the ugly fight was damaging both Republicans and the already badly battered Congress.
“It is harming the Republican Party,” Senator John McCain of Arizona said in an interview on CNN. “It is harming the view, if it’s possible anymore, of the American people about Congress. And we’ve got to get this thing resolved and with the realization that the payroll tax cut must remain in effect.”
Obama and the Democrats must think it’s Christmas or something.
– Jay Bookman
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1,134 comments Add your comment
Bruno
December 21st, 2011
10:35 pm
Some of you guys need to check your blood pressure…especially you old-timers. Don’t get so worked up
Obviously you’re not sitting next to PlatinumBlack…..
Bruno
December 21st, 2011
10:39 pm
Back at ya, Am:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwxzMPnT5qY
Bruno
December 21st, 2011
10:45 pm
For PB: Merry Christmas, Baby!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xxi6mq9S2U
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
10:46 pm
“I’ve got news for you, friends, this is nirvana for capitalism. They’re exactly the circumstances on which capitalism thrives. Corporations could not be happier.”
Sooth,
Come on now. If capitalism thrived on everyone being broke and destitute then who would they sell their products to? A broke and destitute populace hurts capitalists. A thriving populace with money to spend means the capitalists can sell more products to them. You’re letting your hate cloud your thinking.
Henry Ford said it best when he was paying his employees a decent wage. He wanted them to be able to afford the very car he was building and they couldn’t do so unless he paid them a decent wage.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 21st, 2011
10:47 pm
Ok I’m with you josef.
Bring Back Cynthia
December 21st, 2011
10:47 pm
The AJC needs to bring back Cynthia – At least her blogs had some original, rational reasoning. “Dork/;-man is just a political hack being fed tidbits from the White House every morning.
Bruno
December 21st, 2011
10:49 pm
Come on now. If capitalism thrived on everyone being broke and destitute then who would they sell their products to?
Doom, sometimes you can only shake your head
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 21st, 2011
10:50 pm
Well this is one change that we can thank Obama for finally making, even if it did not seem fast enough, it had a lot of political foolishness surrounding it.
Marissa Gaeta And Citlalic Snell, U.S. Naval Petty Officers, Share First Same-Sex Kiss At Ship’s Return
To bad there is not a Life magazine to publsh this for its cover.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 21st, 2011
10:51 pm
Thulsa: “Come on now. If capitalism thrived on everyone being broke and destitute then who would they sell their products to? A broke and destitute populace hurts capitalists”
Of course, But you realize that war was declared on the Fordist model of capitalism some 3 decades ago. What we see now — virtually untrammeled rein of the rentier, the absolute opposite of a free market — would have baffled and horrified Henry Ford and Adam Smith alike.
PlatinumBlack
December 21st, 2011
10:55 pm
For B.
http://youtu.be/I9zpnLBtwwg
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
10:55 pm
Thulsa: that’s good and reasoned argument (Refreshing on this blog). Unfortunately, the paradigm to which you refer no longer exists. Global capital is no longer restrained to one market. They market their products all over the World. While what Ford espoused was noble, it is long-gone.
What I described in my earlier post is evident in all “developed” countries in the World. Most especially in Europe. Their problems are the same as ours.
Your business, one of the FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate) group of businesses, is largely immune from these problems. Real Estate is not so lucky.
The inescapable fact remains, though, that in a World with 3 billion workers, all of whom are competing for a limited number of jobs, workers in the developed World are going to lose out. Which is exactly what we are witnessing
The thought that global capital has some sort of altruistic bent or that they care about the plight of workers is nonsense..
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
10:56 pm
Sooth:
“Nirvana for capitalism”.
One of the purely nuttiest things I’ve seen all year. That’s like saying a heavy object is nirvana for gravity, a loud kerplunk in water is nirvana for wave motion, or the OWS protesters are nirvana for indecision and fumbling over words.
I’m constantly amazed at the witless rhetoric of the left, but this is a new fumbling low, Sooth. You win.
If “global capital” wins, then, rama lama ding dong capitalism must beat “workers”, right? What is this, a cartoonish two-dimensional view of history–one Marx himself repudiated?
Trouble is, workers aspire to have money, and in this country, they very often find it. Poor get rich quite easily here, that is, unless a guy like Obama (and OK, Bush too) is around to protect the rich and bail them out.
So, let us know witless one. If capital is so bad, why is government controlling it and managing all of it for us, and running our lives (as you might imply corporations are doing) a good thing?
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
10:57 pm
“Of course, But you realize that war was declared on the Fordist model of capitalism some 3 decades ago. What we see now — virtually untrammeled rein of the rentier, the absolute opposite of a free market — would have baffled and horrified Henry Ford and Adam Smith alike.”
Excellent, lucid post! There is intelligent life on this blog after all!
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
10:58 pm
Fast & furious: go mix yourself another drink, OK?
Welcome to the Occupation
December 21st, 2011
10:59 pm
Newt Gingrich as the first proper casualty of the age of Citizens United?
I think these guys hire consultants who get drunk, sit around and write stupid ads
bman
December 21st, 2011
11:00 pm
Virginia: Romney vs. Obama
Quinnipiac Romney 44, Obama 42
Romney +2
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:00 pm
“Of these 3,000,000,000 worldwide workers, more than half are unemployed. Unions, contracts, collective bargaining, etc. — gone with the wind.”-sooth
Sooth, if there is a lot of unemployment it is because real capitalism isn’t flourishing in most places. Take a look at socialist states like france where unemployment is near 20% for people in their 20s. Then take a look at the prosperity and lower unemployment numbers of the nations closest to true capitalism like Hong Kong and the other Asian tiger economies. Old style Western European socialist states are mired in decline. The more laissez faire western pacific rim economies of Asia with the exception of Japan are on the rise and have been. Its no coincidence sooth.
0311/1811
December 21st, 2011
11:01 pm
How can Obama approve the slaughter of animals like this ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GAbc5uQXJo
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:03 pm
bman,
Once they start the actual head to head debates between romney and Obama Romney will blow right past him. It will be easy because Obama actually has a record this time. And it aint good.
0311/1811
December 21st, 2011
11:03 pm
Headline: “Drunken Santas Terrorized Lower Manhattan During SantaCon, Locals Say”
……….. and where was Mrs. Clause ?
Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20111220/downtown/drunken-santas-terrorized-lower-manhattan-during-santacon-locals-say#ixzz1hEV0HGDZ
Welcome to the Occupation
December 21st, 2011
11:04 pm
Thanks Sooth. Btw, meant to write “untrammeled reign of the rentier” and not “rein” (these pesky English homophones!)
Read more here: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/06/debtors-prison-bob-kuttner-on-the-costs-of-rentier-rule.html
Doggone/GA
December 21st, 2011
11:06 pm
“How can Obama approve the slaughter of animals like this ?”
Why not? We slaughter wonderful animals all the time. And the slaughter industry has actually been good for the quality of horse in the US. When I was “in” horses it was common to drive around and see poor quality “nags” and “jugheads”. Now? I can’t even remember the last time I saw a poor quality horse in a pasture.
What’s the difference between slaughtering them humanely and wild horses being killed by packs of wolves? They all die in the end. And there are some outstanding wild horses out there, but they die all the same.
bman
December 21st, 2011
11:06 pm
Doom .. .. If the economy is about the same or worse … I agree. And my guess is next summer the economic numbers will not be so good. But, I’m just guessing.
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:07 pm
Fast and furious,
The world of the liberal left is simple really
1- Big government good
2- Capitalism and freedom bad
0311/1811
December 21st, 2011
11:08 pm
Doggone:
But Mr. Ed talked !
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:08 pm
“If capital is so bad, why is government controlling it[?]“
Fast and Furious you have unwittingly made an interesting (although incorrect) observation.
In fact, government does not control capitalism, rather capitalism controls government. At least in the this country and most of the free World.
Make no mistake, I do not espouse another form of commerce than capitalism. However, it is important to realize the cruelty and heartlessness inherent in capitalism.
While it’s easy to condemn unemployed workers as “lazy,” or “parasites,” their plight is not really their fault. And that’s the important thing.
What we have to decide, as a country, is are we going to “throw these people to the wolves” and risk revolution. Or, will we have to create a permanent “dole” system like they have in Britain?
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
11:10 pm
The thought that global capital has some sort of altruistic bent or that they care about the plight of workers is nonsense.
Come on Sooth! You’re the one personifying capitalism, not us.
What have we gotten from “altruistic” Obama? The threat that, were it not for him, things would be far worse?
Truth is, Sooth, that “capital” doesn’t make food or send energy. People do. If people can get paid enough to provide these things, whether it’s by “global capital” or not, they will gladly do them. What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing.
Oh, but I’m sure you’ll show us the spectre of SPECTRE, KAOS or global capital or whatever caricatures of capital cronies that are right now visiting Barack Obama (for his one meeting of the day). Aren’t you?
Go ahead. Tell us how the rich are the problem, how their having of money makes it so bad for everyone, and how if they only cut their fortunes up, then everyone would be in DNC bliss.
–and Sooth, you’re quite right about one singular thing tonight. It was Keep up who posted about petards. Sorry for implicating you. My browser crashed and I got the guilty party wrong on the rewrite.
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:13 pm
bman,
From what I’ve read the unemployment numbers will rise again early next year and for the 1st and 2nd qtr in general as layoffs hit again after the Christmas season. But by mid year I think we start to grow again though the forecasts I’ve seen for 2012 generally range to an expected GDP growth rate of 3% which is just moderate growth. Not terrible but certainly nothing to get excited about. The thing is though that since things have been so bad under this pres people may get all excited and vote him back in again over a paltry 3% economic growth rate. Lotta stupid people out there. Hell he did get elected one time after all. And we’re talking about a guy who had absolutely zero executive experience and was running for potus 6 months into his first and only term as senator. Its mind boggling that a man so completely lacking in competence for the job actually got the job. The economic results of his ensuing presidency are anything but mind boggling.
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
11:15 pm
Sooth @ 1108,
OK, well you’ve blunted my attack at 1110.
The “poor” don’t carry out revolutions for stuff, Sooth. What they do is keep the government in hoc for financing their lifestyle, lives, healthcare, whatever.
We’re not going to have a French-type revolution here, period. Not going to happen. The OWS protesters have no courage, no goals and no mind. There isn’t enough hatred nor grinding poverty in this country, nor enough resentment against people like Barry O, to foment a sit-in at the social security office, much less a government overthrow.
What is growing is the Tea Party to put the concept of responsibility and stewardship back in government.
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:16 pm
“Sooth, if there is a lot of unemployment it is because real capitalism isn’t flourishing in most places. Take a look at socialist states like france where unemployment is near 20% for people in their 20s. Then take a look at the prosperity and lower unemployment numbers of the nations closest to true capitalism like Hong Kong and the other Asian tiger economies. Old style Western European socialist states are mired in decline. The more laissez faire western pacific rim economies of Asia with the exception of Japan are on the rise and have been. Its no coincidence sooth.”
Thulsa: on the contrary — global capitalism is flourishing. Being a developed country, workers in “socialist” France and Japan can’t compete with workers in China and elsewhere who are willing to work for less than $2.00 an hour.
So, you see, French workers — socialist or not — are never going to be able to compete with Chinese workers who will work for less than $2.00 and hour.
By the way, I don’t think big government is good or capitalism is bad. However, in this new global era, workers in the U.S. and the rest of the developed World are in for a lot of difficulty.
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:19 pm
“However, it is important to realize the cruelty and heartlessness inherent in capitalism.”- sooth
Sooth,
You need to read the census report on the poor in this country. While there is great disparity between the Bill Gates of the world and the poor the measurable reality is that people classified as poor in this country have more material wealth and more square feet of living space than the average German or Frenchman.
bman
December 21st, 2011
11:20 pm
Doom .. .. I agree. I “think” there will be a slip in job numbers early in the year, then a bump up in spring. Spring is always good for businesses and consumers. I just think by mid-summer it will all go bad again.
Obama’s campaign is going to be nothing but … .. “things could’ve been worse. We saved America from going into a depression”
I don’t think people will be buying what he’s selling this time around.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 21st, 2011
11:22 pm
What is growing is the Tea Party to put the concept of responsibility and stewardship back in government.
Now that is funny! The group Beck says is evidently racist for backing Newt. Concept of responsibility by backing the guy with the multiple ethics violations. Of course, part of the Tea Party is backing the cowboy gov from TX.
I guess when someone got to select their wit, they chose dim……
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
11:25 pm
“Of course, But you realize that war was declared on the Fordist model of capitalism some 3 decades ago. What we see now — virtually untrammeled rein of the rentier, the absolute opposite of a free market — would have baffled and horrified Henry Ford and Adam Smith alike.”
Excellent, lucid post! There is intelligent life on this blog after all!
The logical conclusion then is the model our founders realized with constitutional principles: a limited federal government, states with plenary powers that can experiment on the varying degrees of theories about corporations, fiscal policy and commerce. You can have the fed watching over the states to make sure things are fair.
Why is it that the mere suggestion of the above problem begets only the very worst answer in liberal circles?
Get the fed out of the business of regulating so much business, and you won’t have the issues with wealth begetting power and power begetting wealth that we have?
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:26 pm
“If people can get paid enough to provide these things, whether it’s by “global capital” or not, they will gladly do them.”
Once again, Fast and Furious, you have unwittingly hit upon something. Who in this country would be willing to work for $2,00 and hour? If you are the CEO of a corporation, wouldn’t you move your operations to China or Malaysia to take advantage of this labor?
“What they do is keep the government in hoc for financing their lifestyle, lives, healthcare, whatever.
See, I just don’t believe this. I think the vast majority of people living in this country would much rather be able to earn an honest living. Your statement is the typical cop-out of the Right.
“[T]he measurable reality is that people classified as poor in this country have more material wealth and more square feet of living space than the average German or Frenchman.”
Again a meaningless cop-out. Tell that to someone living out of their car.
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
11:27 pm
I say “responsibility and stewardship”.
You say “racism”.
…and I’m the one with no wit?
You need a CAT scan, boy.
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:29 pm
“Get the fed out of the business of regulating so much business, and you won’t have the issues with wealth begetting power and power begetting wealth that we have?”
If you seriously believe that our Federal government controls business and not the other way around, you are sorely mistaken.
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
11:29 pm
That previous post from me, suggesting he get a CAT scan was directed at Keep Up.
Merry Christmas,
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 21st, 2011
11:29 pm
Nope, Beck said racism….. but I understand that you have issues with accuracy. Did I say you had no wit….not at all. I said your wit was dim.
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:31 pm
For once, an intelligent discussion on this blog! Even Fast and Furious came through! Unfortunately, I must leave now. I actually have to work for a living tomorrow. Good night and good job.
The Thin Guy
December 21st, 2011
11:37 pm
What is the most thriving, prosperous economy on the planet? China, of course. They are a Marxist nation. How did they pull off being Marxists and being the number one manufacturer of goods? Simple. They don’t have the three blights on the economy of any nation: labor unions, lawyers, and liberals. In China no one goes on strike, no one is on tv in the middle of the night posing the question Have you Been Injured in an Accident, and no one is concerning about retribution the wealth because it all goes to the government. So instead of Occupying Wall Street go Occupy China. Their Red Guards need the target practice.
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:47 pm
The Thin Guy: if you think China is a Marxist nation, you are deceiving yourself. If you think there are no labor unions in China, you are deceiving yourself. If you think Chinese workers don’t go on strike, you are deceiving yourself. If you think there are no lawyers in China you are deceiving yourself.
In fact, your entire statement is designed to support a perverted view that you have and has nothing whatsoever to do with reality.
Billybob
December 21st, 2011
11:48 pm
keep playing politics jay………2 month tax policy by a senate that can’t even pass a budget for 950 days and who will not bring up any of the 20+ bills passed by house republicans just so reid and obama can claim do nothing congress is a loser for your radical leftist hussein ilk………poeple see through the lies of you and your liberal media ilk…..that’s two ilks libs………playing politics on the left is lying and manipulating instead of doing the right things and accomplishing what these fools are elected to do………dems get away with it through a media that looks the other way and an increasing population of people who don’t have a clue but expect free stuff from the politicians on the left that promise them anything and everything for their votes……..the radical dem party is hanging on by a thin thread and you and your ideas are down to 12 minutes of fame left on the clock jay………it’s sad to see so many manipulated by the dem party media templates instead of keeping their eye on the ball and focusing on the things that will actually help this country get out of the funk……….hussein and the libs are running a campaign like every third world banana republic dictator which involves vilifying the rich and using a populist message to promise everything to the poor………i will continue to expose this radical in the white house and his parrots like jay bookman and this will ensure a definitive defeat of the dems in nov 2012, from the white house on down………enjoy reaping what you have sowed radical leftist libs, you deserve it
Fast and Furious Spending
December 21st, 2011
11:50 pm
Sooth @ 1129,
I don’t see how you can suggest such things. Right now, we have a very cronyistic model, true. Business clearly has a great interest in policies that benefit business, but to say that for example, Barack Obama isn’t above manipulating employment numbers to manipulate the stock market is completely naive on your part.
I agree that business has its hooks in government, but seemingly not to the extent you do.
The reverse is also true. For example, Barry O, gets far more good PR from guys like Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs (RIP) and Jeff Immelt than they get from him, yet Jobs himself, though he was liberal, was reported to have said some pretty harsh criticism of Obama and his policies for hurting employment and business. Ditto Buffet.
The issue that I have with cronies in government-business is this example: if Bill Gates were so handicapped trying to start Microsoft with all the federal government regs we have now, including difficulties with his IPO, it is much more likely that he never would have gotten off the ground and become rich himself, and much more probable that IBM, his main client at the time, would have figured out they should buy him out. A guy like Buffet might have too.
Buffet has benefited greatly from cronyistic relationships and the way government handicaps private citizens because many of the firms he bought, he did so because of the inheritance tax: old man dies with a $100 million company and his heirs have to sell it at pennies on the dollar just to pay the 55% they owe the fed. Voila, in swoops Buffet to save the day and get all his money back through cash-flow alone in ten years. No small amount of Berkshire Hathaway was built this way.
http://fskrealityguide.blogspot.com/2011/08/warrent-buffett-tax-my-competitors-more.html
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/274778/take-buffett-s-money-jim-lacey
So my problem is not earning money but on rigging the game so that those, like Buffet, or like Enron, can benefit from legalisms, favorable tax policies that harm job-producing businesses and consumers, government and voters.
Yes, Buffet and Gates have long been known for being the two richest people in the world. One actually built a company and earned it. The other is a leach looking for the government to devalue assets so he can come in and claim them for his own.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 21st, 2011
11:51 pm
Thin Guy: “What is the most thriving, prosperous economy on the planet? China, of course. ”
Sure about that?
“They are a Marxist nation. How did they pull off being Marxists and being the number one manufacturer of goods? Simple. They don’t have the three blights on the economy of any nation: labor unions”
Wrong again.
They’ve got unions alright. And strikes too!
Here, friend, read up:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/dec2011/pers-d10.shtml
The massive expansion of Chinese capitalism over the past two decades has only heightened social tensions. As China has become the sweatshop of world capitalism, the working class has vastly expanded to an estimated 400 million. The peasantry, which was not involved in the 1989 protests, is now intimately connected to the cities via millions of rural migrant workers.
The Stalinist regime cannot rely on the state-run unions to contain a restive working class. The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) functions directly on behalf of the government and companies in policing employees. No worker looks to this organisation for support when taking strike action.
During the recent PepsiCo strikes, for instance, workers elected their own representatives and held their own general meetings to guide the struggle. After a November 30 deal failed to satisfy them, the Lanzhou bottling plant workers decided to continue their protest.
Many workers, however, harbour illusions that independent unions, as advocated by Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin director Han Dongfang, offer a means of fighting for their interests. The aim of Han, a workers’ leader during the 1989 protests, is explicitly to “depoliticise” any strike movement—in other words, to prevent any political challenge to the Stalinist regime and to confine workers to demands for limited, piecemeal reforms.
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:52 pm
“Again a meaningless cop-out. Tell that to someone living out of their car’- sooth.
Sheesh. Talk about a cop out. Why of course sooth. We all see millions of people just living out of their cars. No doubt there are some that are. But that is an extreme exception. There aren’t many and the few that are living out of the car are often in that predicament because of alcohol, drugs, or just very poor choices in life. They would have been even worse off in a socialist nation.
Soothsayer
December 21st, 2011
11:52 pm
F & F: not cronyistic. Owned lock, stock and barrel. Goodnight.
Thulsa Doom
December 21st, 2011
11:59 pm
yet Jobs himself, though he was liberal, was reported to have said some pretty harsh criticism of Obama and his policies for hurting employment and business. Ditto Buffet.
Better add Trump, Steve Wynn, and Bernie Marcus to that list of billionaire businessman who’ve created hundreds of thousands of jobs who are highly critical of Obama’s handling of the economy. They have all said regulation is strangling business and Bernie Marcus flat out stated that in today’s regulatory climate that he and Arthur Blank would never have been able to get Home Depot off the ground.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 22nd, 2011
12:00 am
But more to the point, Thin Guy, you sound like you’re a little hurt and aggrieved at the prospect of people occupying cities in your country. Does that offend your sense of decency?
Tommy Maddox
December 22nd, 2011
12:26 am
Tell ya what Welcome: tell your folks to go occupy a job. If ya can’t find one, then go complain to the man in charge of the government.
Tommy Maddox
December 22nd, 2011
12:27 am
And China is not Marxist? Oh my . . .
Welcome to the Occupation
December 22nd, 2011
12:50 am
Tommy: “Tell ya what Welcome: tell your folks to go occupy a job. If ya can’t find one, then go complain to the man in charge of the government.”
Who wants a job when there’s a whole system to take over?
House Republicans getting creamed in the payroll tax cut PR war | FavStocks
December 22nd, 2011
3:18 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution: House GOP has manuevered itself into a dead-end [...]
Jamal Jenkums
December 22nd, 2011
5:13 am
What rout? Perhaps the a**whooping of November 2010 has faded from your pea sized brain, but we remember. The democRATS can’t cut a 1 year deal so they kick the can down the road 2 months and slink home! What’s next 2 week resolutions? Why doesn’t your Dear Leader order the Senate back to work out a compromise? Political Points? Anyone who understands KNOW this is mostly the democRATS fault. Oblunder the 1 term wonder!
independent thinker
December 22nd, 2011
5:38 am
That petard is making Boehner and crowd ot tea baggers look like a bunch of fools
Bud Wiser
December 22nd, 2011
6:07 am
The media stooges are now lifting their legs and spraying in all directions at once, aren’t they?
Watching this maniacal scatter-shot, looking now just for hope (change is forgotten) that their messiah is in fact not as stupid as he makes himself to be, and still losing in polls to generic opponents, i is kind of like looking at a fire hose with 1000 leaks – the spray goes everywhere.
Take a shower, dry yourselves off, and accept the fact that the Kenyan will be voted out by this time next year.
President Gingrich.
2012.
Bill Orvis White
December 22nd, 2011
6:43 am
@Keep Up The Fight!
There is good versus evil and right versus wrong – there is no argument here. With those FACTS clearly laid out here on this lefty blog, IT IS A FACT THAT CORPORATIONS GET THE SHAFT. Why are so many corporations getting out of this once-free nation? ANSWER: Hussein Obama’s heavy-handed taxation and regulation! IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT DOCTORS ARE GETTING OUT OF THE BUSINESS because of 1)the fear of ObamaCare 2)the implementation of ObamaCare 3)simply ObamaCare! WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE LEAVING HIGH-TAXED AREAS LIKE NEW YORK? Yes, even Trump’s getting out! DO YOU KNOW WHY, MCFLY? Because of high, high taxe$ imposed by King Bloomberg and his liberal, pro-abortion friend over there in Albany, Cuomo. FACT, FACT, FACT: High taxe$ inhibit growth, investment, opportunity and promote debauchery, laziness and a parasitic attitude!
GOOD NIGHT!
MERRY CHRISTMAS,
Amen,
Bill
Normal
December 22nd, 2011
6:45 am
Bill Orvis White…The poster child for Pro Choice…
AmVet - A Happy KwanzChristmakkuh to al!
December 22nd, 2011
6:46 am
…November 2010 has faded from…
What an unstoppable juggernaut you neo-cons are on huh, meat?
Oh that ’s right!
You have exactly one consecutive win!
(Shhhhh! Pay no attention to those back to back humiliations and annihilations of 2006 and 2008!)
You just need to be a better job of getting your message out there.
LOL.
Off to the salt mines…
MiltonMan
December 22nd, 2011
7:00 am
Libs seem to forget the reps wins in 2002 & 2004 – only wanting to focus on the 2006 & 2008 results. Granted not hugh vistories but gains at the federal level for the reps during ‘02 & ‘04.
We will see it again here in GA in 2012 & 2014. 1 new US House seat firmly in reps hands & I can hardly wait to see who the clowns nominate for gov. Will it be Roy Barnes, Vernon Jones, Jim Martin?
TaxPayer
December 22nd, 2011
7:02 am
I can hardly wait to see who the clowns nominate for gov. Will it be Roy Barnes, Vernon Jones, Jim Martin?
Actually it was Nathan Deal.
MiltonMan
December 22nd, 2011
7:12 am
Good to see Obama’s dancing skills (self-given F) is slightly better than the grade for him “leading” this country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1nSzE6-ptM
MiltonMan
December 22nd, 2011
7:13 am
“Actually it was Nathan Deal.”
So I guess you libs also claim Reagan & Zell Miller?
TaxPayer
December 22nd, 2011
7:23 am
So I guess you libs also claim Reagan & Zell Miller?
No. You clowns claim them too.
ken
December 22nd, 2011
7:40 am
Obama is just like the Chevy Volt :No track record and in the end will be dropped.
Mr. Dithers
December 22nd, 2011
7:46 am
Actually, Zell Miller was a Democrat and a relatively sane individual when he was governor. He was appointed to the Senate by a Democratic governor, whereupon he lost his mind. We don’t claim him after he went to Washington.
snoqualmiefalls
December 22nd, 2011
7:46 am
anyone actually read the House Bill?
Did anyone know it provides for drug testing for all folks getting Unemployment Insurance?
Follow the money people… who’s making money off this charade… Rick Scott or his wife and thier drug testing centers?
stands for decibels
December 22nd, 2011
7:51 am
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/22/us-iran-nuclear-israel-usa-idUSTRE7BL0LI20111222
Israel’s defense minister extolled what he called Barack Obama’s resolve and risk-taking on Thursday, remarks likely to help the president’s re-election bid after the Pentagon beefed up warnings to Iran over its nuclear program.
The comments by Ehud Barak, lone centrist in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition, also appeared to dampen speculation the Israelis could defy U.S. remonstrations by attacking their arch-foe’s nuclear facilities unilaterally.
In back-to-back interviews this week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his top military officer, General Martin Dempsey, made unusually strong statements about U.S. willingness to use force to deny Iran the means of developing an atom bomb.
“The change of emphasis … is a very important development, because it makes clear a fact that was already known to us from closed-door (discussions),” Barak told Israel Radio. “It makes clear to Iran that it faces a real dilemma.”
so much for about 85% of Mitt Romney’s foreign policy stand-up routine.
Granny Godzilla
December 22nd, 2011
7:53 am
Good Morning Campers…
Is everybody sick of cookie dough yet?
Seen the cute pix of President Obama shopping?
stands for decibels
December 22nd, 2011
8:01 am
Why yes, GG, I have, now that you tipped me off.
here ’tis…
http://www.freep.com/article/20111222/NEWS07/112220540/Obama-Bo-sneak-out-of-White-House-for-shopping
stands for decibels
December 22nd, 2011
8:05 am
in the end will be dropped.
http://intrade.com/v4/markets/contract/?contractId=743474
So why is it that people with skin in the game continue to give obama a bit better than even money chances to win in 2012?
Jack
December 22nd, 2011
8:17 am
I haven’t seen pictures of Obama doing anything. When his visage appears during a news broadcast, I immediatly shut down the program; he reminds me of the terrible mistake voters made in 2008.
Granny Godzilla
December 22nd, 2011
8:19 am
Jack
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Observer
December 22nd, 2011
8:22 am
I don’t usually get involved in politics but after 4 years of hoping that Obama and the Democrats could fix the economic problems that the last Republican President ( Bush) and the Democratic Senate and Democratic House created (The Great Recession 2007-2011), I have totally changed my mind. I don’t think 4 more years of the same will do any more than provide time for the current Administration to “try this” and “try that? ENOUGH of the American people being experimental mice.
This new payroll tax-FICA Fiasco-Warren Buffet Rule-whatever you want to call it is VERY dangerous and needs to be thought through very thoroughly.
I don’t have a problem with creating a new tax to pass on to the 500 CEOs in the Fortune 500 that currently earn 3 to 5 million dollars a year. However, what I see the Republican House struggling with is just how this will ALSO affect the “entrepreneurial class” (20 million small businesses in America that employ 60 million-600 million workers nationwide. To me, this is the class that made America the most prosperous county in the history of mankind. I shudder to think what the payroll tax will tell them. worked 70-80 hour weeks to get ahead and provide a better life for their families. Work 80 hours a week for five-ten years for your family so you can give your profits to strangers who don’t?
What happens if this new payroll tax goes through and the Federal Government takes another 20% from this class? More if you factor in Health Care and a few other reforms they have already been forced to pay for?
It appears to me that the Democrats in Washington are scrambling to save their jobs while the Republicans are scrambling to save America.
In 2008 this southern Democrat voted to give Obama a chance. In 2012 I’m voting for Newt Gingrich (Republican). I only wish Zell Miller (Democrat) would be his running mate.
carlosgvv
December 22nd, 2011
8:23 am
The TV weather person reported this morning that this is the first day of Winter. She also said the high today will be 70. I just will never get used to how far these Socialist liberal lying people will go to convince us that global warming is real. 70 indeed!!! Have they no shame?
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
8:26 am
MPercy: So going back to the Keynesian and supply side arguments of yesterday, from what little was posted after I left, I have gathered the following:
Keynesian economics is being attacked as not working in the UK, and another poster posts how they aren’t actually doing Keynesian economics. The article indicating that they are has very little information except to assert that it’s bad from the start, and assert the UK government is doing some very high level things understood to be part of Keynesian economics, and then name checks Karl Marx. This is the first article I have seen indicating UK’s involvement in certain aspects of Keynesian economics, as I thought they were doing something quite different. As such, I am now a little confused. The article itself is NOT partisan from a US standpoint, but does seem to draw a conclusion from an initial conjecture without being too terribly convincing.
Also, it seems a lot of “Keynesian economics doesn’t work” is being posted, but I don’t see a lot of defense for supply side working. That WAS one of the original arguments made.
And to be fair, I conceded that not ALL economists agree that Keynesian economics works.
Granny Godzilla
December 22nd, 2011
8:33 am
A Newt Voter!
Your the first person I’ve seen admit it.
real john
December 22nd, 2011
8:33 am
Stay the course, Boehner and Cantor. Leading is about making tough choices, not appeasing the masses (i.e. Obama and pretty much the entire Democratic party). Its easy to promise money, but eventually the U.S. won’t be able to any more.
The Repubs will probabaly lose this battle, but they will not lose the war l. I applaud their strengh. If we had more politicans (both on a Federal and State and local level), our government would not be in such a sorry state. The Democratic party is going to take this country to financial ruin. We cannot continue on this path. Even the Dems solution to pay for this is to tack on more fees to mortgages. So great, we get a tax cut, but then pay more for our mortgages. Great strategy. Have the Dems ever offered ANYTHING of signifance to actually cut spending??
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
8:38 am
MPercy: Btw, that article may not be out of date, but the dire predictions never came true. The economy in the UK has not gotten worse or slipped into another recession despite a couple of years of predictions that would be the case. So, even if Keynesian economics doesn’t “work” per se, the dire predictions that it is making everything worse and this will be the death of Keynesian economics everywhere didn’t come true either. Seems the plan only stems the tide. To my knowledge, supply side would make things worse almost immediately, so we have two solutions: one that keeps things in a perpetual state of “maybe we will have another recession” fears, and one that makes things worse for sure. Is there a solution that makes things better?
Donovan
December 22nd, 2011
8:39 am
I don’t know what is more repulsive. The slanderous illustrations of Luckovich or the tripe I read in this left wing blog.
Just because your lunatic Democrat senators fled for the holidays (typical Wisconsin playbook) without getting their ridiculous 2 month extension, the class warfare card is thrown again. Pathetic and disgusting. This 2 month idea is a ploy and nothing more. You know it and I know it. It takes longer than 2 months to set such extensions into implementation. But, typical to the Democrat low-life playbook, it can be twisted to your twisted advantage. Shame on you.
The GOP realizes that a full year extension is doable, but a 2 month extension is a ridiculous example of liberal trickery. Shame on you.
Until Congress and the White House is rid of Democrat chicanery, there will be no compromise or what you people call, “bi-partisanship”.
You made your bed…sleep in it.
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
8:39 am
real john: Have the Dems ever offered ANYTHING of signifance to actually cut spending??
DoD cuts. Taking place as part of the debt ceiling deal.
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
8:39 am
Donovan: The slanderous illustrations of Luckovich or the tripe I read in this left wing blog.
You just can’t quit us….
Grover Norquist was touched by Sandusky
December 22nd, 2011
8:41 am
One of my co-workers, that’s republican asked me this morning. Do I feel bad for voting for President Obama? I said no because he will get re-elected again and continue the work that he has started. I asked him if he felt bad for voting for President Bush twice. He said yes, because Bush destroyed their party and no candidate wants to be associated with President Bush. Enough Said!!!!!!!!!!
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
8:41 am
Donovan: The GOP realizes that a full year extension is doable, but a 2 month extension is a ridiculous example of liberal trickery
Better tell the GOP Senators that. I don’t think they agree. Ask McConnell, McCain or Scott Brown. They are behind the 2 month extension and PISSED it got derailed by the Tea Party caucus in the House.
Paul
December 22nd, 2011
8:42 am
Morning, all -
I see the Obama Administration’s still going crazy issuing new regulations designed to crush business, stifle job creators and diminish personal freedom. Three years ago a plane crashed outside Buffalo NY and 50 people died. Just 50 people. And the Obama Administration issues new regulations on how long pilots can fly, how much sleep they need, all kinds of “we know better than you do ” stuff. Look, companies are in business to make money. They know how to treat their workers so they’ll want to keep their jobs. And customers? They don’t like how a company runs, they think they might die before getting somewhere, they can fly someone else. Enough people die, that airline won’t be in business any more, will it? That’s how free markets work. Too bad The Socialists can’t figure this out with all their crazy regulations.
Paul
December 22nd, 2011
8:44 am
Donovan
“I don’t know what is more repulsive. The slanderous illustrations of Luckovich or the tripe I read in this left wing blog.”
But here you are. Again. And again. And again.
Would you like us to help you find a good 12-step program?
Granny Godzilla
December 22nd, 2011
8:44 am
Morning Paul
Seems like a lot of the GOP are getting coal in their stockings this year.
Paul
December 22nd, 2011
8:45 am
oh, Donovan
“Just because your lunatic Democrat senators fled for the holidays”
Mitch McConnell and his buddies are Democrats?
See, this is why I come here. I learn something new every day.
Paul
December 22nd, 2011
8:46 am
Granny
That’s only because Santa’s feeling reeeeeeel charitable.
Paul
December 22nd, 2011
8:46 am
Granny
There was an ‘a’ in there somewhere -
Jay
December 22nd, 2011
8:47 am
Well done on the airplane regulations, Paul. I think you’ve caught the argument well.
Also, sheets.
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
8:47 am
Paul: Love the satire
Granny Godzilla
December 22nd, 2011
8:48 am
Took a peek at the toon Mike did that appears to have wadded Donovans big boy pants.
Funny and true.
St Simons - we're on Island time
December 22nd, 2011
8:48 am
the bed the House tea potties made for themselves is in the back seat
of that car in the picture.
MiltonMan
December 22nd, 2011
8:52 am
carlos where were you last January with your juvenile global warming rhetoric???
Leave it up to a lib with their 2-second attention span to take a very insignificant snippet of time to claim as their reasoning.
Mark
December 22nd, 2011
8:59 am
The Republicans DO NOT CARE if the middle class gets a tax break ..If they did, they would extend this tax cut two months while they negotiated fairly on the one-year extension. They know the government needs revenue… they are just not going to ask their rich friends to fund it, so they will let this tax cut die in committee next year… just watch and see. less
DawgDad
December 22nd, 2011
9:00 am
As an IT professional with a Fortune 500 company I have a pretty good sense of the COSTS of implementing a two-month tax cut. Businesses cannot afford to “wait-and-see” what the politicians might concoct at the last minute, they must be prepared. This whole temporary payroll tax cut thing is nothing more than pure political grandstanding, just another example of disaffected politicians in Washington playing to the media and the segment of the poplulation standing in line for the next handout.
If you want to cut payroll taxes do it for a full year or not at all. But why cut PAYROLL taxes? Ah, class warfare is the only plausible explanation. Stand firm House GOP – shove this back in their face and stand firm.
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
9:02 am
MPercy: Case in point, “UK economic growth better than forecast – but recession ’still on way’” is a current headline. Such dual interpretation has been going on for the past 2 years.
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
9:04 am
DawgDad: But why cut PAYROLL taxes? Ah, class warfare is the only plausible explanation.
No it isn’t. What nonsense! First of all, class warfare is understood to be a term different than the way you’re trying to use it and everyone, even Paul Ryan, knows that. Second, the case has been made pretty clear for why a payroll tax cut helps the economy. If you still don’t get that, well you’re about as bad as someone who still has no idea what Occupy wants.
MiltonMan
December 22nd, 2011
9:06 am
To you libs who think that you are all knowing about airline safety, please explain to us “novices” why there has not been a fatal airline crash in the U.S since the Buffalo accident.
The pilot had an incorrect response to a stall warning that resulted in the plane falling out of the sky. There were ice on the wings and the crew had not received the proper training on this.
Do you actually think the new law – adding a total of 1 hour “rest” between flights would have prevented this?