Georgia’s Tom Price a central figure in D.C. drama
With the election finally behind us, President Obama and Congress will now try to set partisanship aside and cut a major deal on taxes, spending and entitlements.
Good luck on that, right?
The good news — which is also the bad news — is that they have enormous incentive to succeed. Without a new law, taxes are set to jump by $400 billion at the start of the year and federal spending will be slashed by $200 billion. If allowed to take full effect, those steps have the potential to set off another deep recession. So the future looks much like the past, with weeks of drama, confrontation, intrigue and brinksmanship looming between Democrats and Republicans, between the House and Senate and between Congress and the White House.
The same can be said of two Georgia Republicans, U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Marietta Roswell and U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Over the next three to six months, they’ll be watching each other very closely, and their interactions have the potential to directly affect the course of national politics.
Chambliss is a conservative Republican, but on fiscal issues he has been more willing than many of his GOP colleagues to consider compromise with Democrats. Much as he dislikes higher taxes, he seems to fear soaring debt even more. He has taken a leadership role in the Gang of Eight, a group of four Republican senators and four Democratic senators who have been talking and plotting for at least two years to try to reach agreement on how to slash the deficit.
The day after the election, for example, at a moment when the rest of the nation was still trying to digest what happened, Chambliss joined other gang members on a conference call to plot their course once Congress reconvenes on Tuesday. There’s a lot of skepticism about whether they can succeed, but they represent one of the few forums in which Republicans and Democrats are actually trying to reach consensus.
The broad outlines of a deal are no secret. As a matter of politics and simple math, the only way to significantly reduce the deficit is to increase tax revenues and decrease spending. You do both, or you do nothing. It’s as simple as that. Democrats who are protective of entitlement programs and the safety net have to be willing to make cuts in those programs in return for higher tax revenue, particularly from more affluent Americans. Republicans who have refused to consider higher taxes have to be willing to soften that stance in return for entitlement reform.
Which is where Price comes in.
The former physician from Marietta is one of the most conservative members of Congress and continues to reject the notion of compromise with Democrats. Last week, for example, House Speaker John Boehner made the logical point that with the president’s re-election, ObamaCare is now certain to survive. But in an interview on Fox News Sunday, Price refused to make that concession, insisting that Republicans will continue to fight it at every turn.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers addresses the 2012 Republican National Convention. (AP)
Price has also decided to seek the chairmanship of the House Republican Conference, the No. 4 position in the House hierarchy. There too, he is bumping heads with Boehner, who has thrown his support behind the conference vice chair, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington.
If elected conference chair, McMorris Rodgers would become the only woman in a major leadership role in the House GOP. (For example, none of the 21 House committees is chaired by a woman.) That’s a major image problem for a party having serious trouble attracting female voters. McMorris Rodgers is also more moderate than Price, who is trying to rally fellow House conservatives to his cause.
The race between Price and McMorris Rodgers — to be decided in a secret ballot among House Republicans — will be watched as a test of Boehner’s strength and influence within his caucus. Price is considered the underdog, but should he win, it would bode poorly for Boehner’s ability to deliver his caucus on important budget votes in the next few months.
However, if Price loses, that too could have a serious impact on the national debate over revenue and spending. If his ambitions are frustrated in the House, Price becomes much more likely to take on Chambliss in the 2014 Republican Senate primary. His strategy would be to hang the dreaded RINO nametag around the neck of Georgia’s senior senator, depicting Chambliss as a sellout to the GOP cause.
So every time Chambliss is quoted in the media over the next few months as seeking a “balanced” approach to our debt problem, Price will take note. Every time Chambliss appears in public alongside Senate Democrats preaching compromise, a potential campaign commercial will be born.
And both men, I suspect, will be keeping very close tabs on things here at home, through polling and phone calls, trying to determine just how much leeway Georgia Republicans are prepared to give Chambliss in the budget debate.
Should a backlash develop among the GOP base here at home, the senator may be forced to decide whether addressing a major national challenge is worth significant risk to his political future.
It is.
– Jay Bookman
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894 comments Add your comment
larry
November 12th, 2012
9:50 am
Of course, our hospitals won’t have to deal with the huge currently-uninsured population getting their health care via emergency rooms – won’t there be some off-setting savings there?
Yes, because emergency rooms cost a lot more than a visit to the doctor.
That is where a lot of the cost-savings come from.
BRW
November 12th, 2012
9:50 am
Adam, You must give credit to Carville if your going to quote him.
Brosephus™
November 12th, 2012
9:51 am
Jay
The GOP lost a few house races that they were supposed to win.
—————————
alex: the repubs have no hand to overplay really and both parties will have to worry about it……
That still won’t stop them from doing something stupid. You do realize that most, who ran for re-election, won their races, right? That means you have the very people with the mental midgetry to fall victim to the sequester still up there making decisions. I honestly expect both parties to royally screw up, and I will be completely suprised if they don’t.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
9:52 am
alex — “but your so much fun……”
I prefer that my post-opponents be more conversant with proper English usage, spelling and punctuation. I’m afraid you’ll have to sharpen up your game or else stay in the lower division.
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
9:52 am
larry, “Funny, i saw on 60 minutes last night where employers were having trouble finding employees , over 3 million jobs are going unfulfilled because of the skills gap. ”
The “skills gap” part of that comment is the key. People with job skills are staying put, so companies with skilled jobs open are bringing people in from other countries to fill them or moving the jobs there. It’s the “unskilled” who are getting screwed (or screwing themselves). If ya’ll don’t think McDonald’s is going to raise their prices to cover the increased healtcare costs/fines, you aren’t paying attention. And so will Kohl’s, Target, and every other place you go to buy ANYTHING.
Joe, go waste somebody else’s time with your trivial garbage posts. You’re schtick has grown stale.
DebbieDoRight - I am Woman...........FEAR ME!!!!
November 12th, 2012
9:52 am
Indigo: If Price is that conservative, Republicans may see the light and not replace Boehner with him since that kind of mentality is what lost the Presidential election.
Republicans? Seeing the light? HA!
Bro: Dude, all they need to do is sit back. The GOP will screw themselves. They’ve been doing it for years now to the point where they’re almost on autopilot.
Amen. Sorta like “Bama” huh?
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
9:52 am
BRO
They are supposed to compromise but the incentives, in terms of big money and big voting blocks are stacked against it..that’s my point…
I hope that changes..i vote for Simpson Bowles..
He knows all
November 12th, 2012
9:53 am
Tom Price is not the answer. More conservative, more anti-immigrant, more anti-compormise is not the answer. Price has not shown he knows anything about anything, let alone how to run healthcare. He is a knee-jerk uberconservative nut job. Chambliss has never impressed me, but he looks like Reagan compared to the small-minded Price.
It is time to look out for the good of all of the country and all of its citizens. The me-first, only if we like it, only if it benefits us atmosphere has to dissipate. Let’s make things better. Our reps, TP included, need to do better. Fighting Obamacare at every turn is already proven a failed strategy. If that’s the best he’s got, time to come back to GA. We deserve better than that.
Georgia
November 12th, 2012
9:53 am
Why is this topic about Chambliss and Price being discussed? They’re both GOP. Boehner is merely posturing for posterity. There will be no compromise. To assume otherwise, and give these gerrymandered, entrenched leeches the benefit of even a shadow of doubt is Charlie Browning worse than even Lucy can believe. Lucy doesn’t even hold the football anymore, she merely pretends to kneel and take the hike, and Bookman kicks at it.
And Cathy Rodgers wants the Chairmanship of the HRC? Isn’t that special. She hasn’t a chinaman’s chance. Why bring her up? Is Cathy Rodgers indicated in the Patraeus scandal? Is she the one who sent threatening tweets that leaked classified secrets to the terrorists? Where does logic come into all of this, or is this Bookman piece just a “gee, I thought I’d cleanse the palette after the Falcon Fiasco in New Orleans”?
Give me a break. Compromise this, America. (insert emoticon of a guy grabbing his crotch).
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
9:53 am
… getting beyond race and gender…
Nope, not for you.
Maybe your grandchildren.
What’s most amazing from the election is how many stupid voters we have.
My unsolicited advice?
Take a good long look in the mirror and your vast overestimation of your intelligence and character.
(I tried to warn you cons that it was going to be a beatdown…)
willydoit?
November 12th, 2012
9:54 am
“taxes are set to jump by $400 billion at the start of the year”
As long as these taxes are paid by the folks that make over $250K per, “who cares, right?”
Brosephus™
November 12th, 2012
9:55 am
Amen. Sorta like “Bama” huh?
Hey, what can we say? I’m glad they didn’t lose 2 of their past 3 games.
DebbieDoRight - Math has a very strong anti-conservative bias
November 12th, 2012
9:56 am
RB: If ya’ll don’t think McDonald’s is going to raise their prices to cover the increased healtcare costs/fines, you aren’t paying attention. And so will Kohl’s, Target, and every other place you go to buy ANYTHING.
They raise their rates regardless. Gas went up – they raised their rates. Gas went back down — theirs DIDN’T. That’s just how it goes.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
9:58 am
To assume otherwise, and give these gerrymandered, entrenched leeches the benefit of even a shadow of doubt is Charlie Browning worse than even Lucy can believe.
I think that has to be the first time I’ve heard “Charlie Browning” used as an action.
BRW
November 12th, 2012
10:00 am
RB, You truely know stale when you see it. You invented stale.
If you think for one silly moment that “competent” small business owners are spending their time thinking of ways to circumvent the ACA instead of making another buck, you are a sad little man.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:00 am
Oooops…………. And in a state that went 73% for Romney too.
Throw in Missouri and Indiana and you’ll start getting a picture of the widespread defeats for the right wing extremists/Tea Partiers.
It ain’t just us Hebes and other minorities that are sick and tired of America’s quasi-fascists!
Just Say No…. to pro-war, pro-”corporations are people, my friend”, anti-working class politics and the anti-environmental extremists.
DebbieDoRight - Math has a very strong anti-conservative bias
November 12th, 2012
10:00 am
Hey, what can we say? I’m glad they didn’t lose 2 of their past 3 games
Whatevah……
Bama’s loss has made those delusional dawgs fans think they have a shot at a National Title. SEE what you’re loosing team has done? They’ve crated a (frightening unrealistic, lacking in common sense), monster!
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
10:01 am
LARRY et al
The cost savings will NEVER materialize…we shouldn’t be so naive to expect that..the incentives are stacked against that as the hospitals and insurers will continue to win..especially the Kaisers of the world..
The savings we may see in reduced ER visits may materialize to an extent, but the influx of high demand and anomalous new users with offset that in a major way due to the cost of pre-existing conditions coverage…I’m not suggesting pre-existing cover is bad, just that we (actuaries like me) see a massive understatement of the accounting of the number of new insureds that have pre-exising conditions that will cost geometrically more than the premium the system can obtain..
REGNAD
Great point but it may prove to be the lesser of two evils….I don’t think the government does anything particularly well except write checks….at least the cost in terms of tax increases to pay for single payer will be transparent….at least moreso than the current BS bedfellows..
barking frog
November 12th, 2012
10:02 am
Not a lot of time and effort has been applied to the jobs problem in
the US. It has mostly been bickering like this choice between the lesser
of two stupids over taxes. Without jobs the argument over cutting taxes
and entitlements or increasing taxes and entitlements is meaningless.
Citizen of the World
November 12th, 2012
10:03 am
Thanks to GOP behavior over the past four years, more Americans than ever before now know the meaning of the word “intransigence.” The right’s stubborn refusal to cooperate cost the party big time in the last election — and may have cost it further, but for gerrymandering and the fact that only about 1/3 of senators were up for reelection. Those left standing may want to give a little ground and show a willingness to compromise going forward.
larry
November 12th, 2012
10:03 am
People with job skills are staying put, so companies with skilled jobs open are bringing people in from other countries to fill them or moving the jobs there
Actually , they aren’t . The states did set up a program where unemployed people train for jobs , mostly in the manufacturing industry. The people from the program fill the jobs that the companies have and these companies are expanding. If you would have watched 60 minutes , you would have seen the report.
Actually, i’ll do you the favor. Here’s the report………
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50134943n&tag=pop;videos
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
10:03 am
Debbie, “They raise their rates regardless. Gas went up – they raised their rates. Gas went back down — theirs DIDN’T. That’s just how it goes.”
Part of the reason, Debbie, is diesel fuel has not gone back down. It’s still over $4/gal in most places. If you’re looking at gasoline prices and making comments like the one you made above, YOU AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION. Trucks that move goods don’t run on gasoline.
Pay attention, Debbie.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
10:04 am
Throw in Missouri and Indiana and you’ll start getting a picture of the widespread defeats for the right wing extremists/Tea Partiers.
Psst. Jammie. Did you see the chart Nate assembled, listing states by gap in the presidential votes cast?
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/as-nation-and-parties-change-republicans-are-at-an-electoral-college-disadvantage/
Frankly, I was shocked to see who came in at Red #2. Wasn’t Indiana. Wasn’t Missouri.
and I know there are a bunch of factors that could toss these rankings ’round next time, but still…
/drive-by
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
10:05 am
BRO/DDR
I’m a UGA alum…we will by no means play for a title..my biggest hope is that we get a date to play an undefeated, amazingly over-rated, Notre Dame team….us, BAMA, SC, Florida, LSU…would all likely embarass the NBC homers…
Gotta admit….that Johnny Football dude is one of the biggest impact players in the history of freshman impact players…since he likely is not pro quarterback material, A&M should enjoy much success for the next 4 years…
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:05 am
RB — “If ya’ll don’t think McDonald’s is going to raise their prices to cover the increased healtcare costs/fines, you aren’t paying attention. And so will Kohl’s, Target, and every other place you go to buy ANYTHING.”
Should have gotten behind Single Payer, RB. That was the Democratic idea from the get-go. It’s the REPUBLICAN Individual Mandate that’s screwing everyone, but you can’t find a single con who will admit it.
“Joe, go waste somebody else’s time with your trivial garbage posts. You’re schtick has grown stale.”
If you ever smarten up enough to listen, RB, you’ll learn something. I don’t hold out much hope of that happening for you, though.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
10:07 am
BRO/DDR
Actually, I’d like to see ND play A&M in addition to aforementioned….
DebbieDoRight - Math has a very strong anti-conservative bias
November 12th, 2012
10:07 am
Jam: Just Say No…. to pro-war, pro-”corporations are people, my friend”, anti-working class politics and the anti-environmental extremists.
Was watching “The Men Who Built America” on the tube last night, (History Channel) and they were doing a spotlight on Carnegie, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt, and Rockefeller and it was amazing how the poor worker conditions and the vast discrepancy between the rich and poor in turn of the century America (before Roosevelt and Anti-Trust Laws); have now resurrected its ugly head.
Its like the more things change the more they stay the same:
Anti-Union sentiments (pushed by the owners)
Working employees like mules (long hours, less pay, NO benefits)
No regulation
Money rules all
the ones on the top don’t care about hte ones on the bottom
What’s so scary about this scenario is that we were a mere 3m votes away from returning to this state all in the name of taking our country “Back”.
Thank you EVERYONE who voted to NOT return to the 19th Century!!
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:08 am
Over the last few years there has been much GOP-foisted malarkey about the extreme left wing elements taking over the Democratic Party.
Nonsense.(BTW, I’ve read several articles about how Fox News and hate radio has worked very much against GOP interests.)
Republicans simply underestimated liberals, moderates, greens and independents. Not to mention women and all of America’s minorities.
Together we are a formidable counterweight to right wing extremism.
Get with the program and move back toward the reasoned and reasonable center.
Or suffer more of the same consequences…
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
November 12th, 2012
10:09 am
Well, the ACA is bound to get Thelma Doom a new Speedo, since he’ll be selling all these new policies. Just thought I’d throw that one out there in case there’s anybody here that needs to upchuck a breakfast.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:09 am
RB — “Trucks that move goods don’t run on gasoline.”
That’s right. (snicker)
http://pressroom.ups.com/Image/UPS+LNG+Tractor+being+refueled?srch_pos=3&srch_phr=LNG
“Pay attention, Debbie.”
Catch up to the rest of the class, RB.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:09 am
DDR
Sanity and reality will return at the SEC Championship game. Kinda effed up to know that Lane Kifflin is the key to the SEC getting back into the BCS Title Game though.
Dunwoody Granny
November 12th, 2012
10:10 am
Price is an incredible jackass and I wish to God he wasn’t my representative.
Unfortunately, I’m not one of his voters and I’m sure he knows it, so I can’t very well threaten to take my vote away if he doesn’t behave himself.
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
10:11 am
BRW, “If you think for one silly moment that “competent” small business owners are spending their time thinking of ways to circumvent the ACA instead of making another buck, you are a sad little man.”
And if you haven’t figured out yet the “fines” these businesses are required to pay will affect their ability to make another buck, you aren’t paying attention. Seriously, BRW, that is one of the dumbest posts we’ll see all day. If you can’t figure out the basic math a business owner is facing, do everybody a favor and stay out of the debate.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 12th, 2012
10:11 am
“More conservative, more anti-immigrant, more anti-compormise is not the answer”
seriously. the people have spoken pretty decisively about that.
alex
November 12th, 2012
10:12 am
@jamvet, why can’t we get beyond race and gender issues ? Me. I’m beyond them, what about you?..”hebes”-ugly, ugly shame, shame, Quasi-fascists……Too much
@ joe, you prefer confirmation of your bias, you are not able to converse, you try to tell and overide opposition wiht anger and obstruction…hmmm but FUN..
@citizen: agree , looks like the left is coopting this lavk of cooperation, I surely hope both sides think country first, like the VETS did..
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:12 am
As far as those greedy minimum wage McDonald’s workers?
They make less money now – in adjusted inflation dollars – then they did in 1968!!!
Republicans, wake up!!!
Your entire fiscal model is dead wrong!!
Quit advocating for the super-wealthy and their imaginary trickle down. Quit advocating for more and more and more power and wealth being concentrated into fewer and fewer and fewer American hands.
Start advocating for working class Americans. Like yourselves and your children!
There used to be two strong voices that did this and they have both been emasculated by the GOP (primarily)-friendly “monied interests”.
Can you Republicans name them?
Regnad Kcin
November 12th, 2012
10:14 am
“The problem with this thinking is that while revenues may be steady as a % of GDP, they’re being paid by an ever shrinking portion of Americans”
Do you have a link to this, RB? Is this fact?
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
10:15 am
Joe, “It’s the REPUBLICAN Individual Mandate that’s screwing everyone, but you can’t find a single con who will admit it.”
Seriously Joe???? You’re blaming the healthcare plan not a single republican voted for and was shoved through congress using “special” rules on Republicans??? Oh my God!!! How big an idiot do you have to be to even make that comment, Joe?!! Wow!! Talk about somebody not paying attention…. Geez…
barking frog
November 12th, 2012
10:16 am
The picture of Price could easily be the face of Georgia. Wimpy, scared
little men with their hands on the reins of power and unwilling to
concede anything to the opposition to move the country forward. Nothing
has changed except the names.
DebbieDoRight - Math has a very strong anti-conservative bias
November 12th, 2012
10:16 am
Not a lot of time and effort has been applied to the jobs problem in
the US. It has mostly been bickering like this choice between the lesser
of two stupids over taxes. Without jobs the argument over cutting taxes
and entitlements or increasing taxes and entitlements is meaningless.
Good anaysis Frog
=====================
RB — Didn’t you vote for Romney? Then, seriously RB, what the heck do YOU know? Duh! (just kidding
)
=========================
Stevie — You’re right, ND is WAY over rated! They really didn’t beat anyone, (besides Nebraska – on a bad day; cause the majority of their team is hurt).
Also, my condolences on your being a Dawgs fan. I’ll light a candle for you tonight. (kidding, kidding!!!!!
)
BRW
November 12th, 2012
10:17 am
RB, No debate son when you constantly spout the same incorrect crap.
Costs to do business goes up. Smart business owners double their efforts to bridge that gap. One way is to increase the work force.
By the way, having you call my post dumb is quite a badge of honor for me. Keep it up. I know I’m striking a nerve buddy.
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:17 am
If I can still read right, Alabama is still number one in the BCS poll. Where they should be. Computers are never wrong. But it will force me to pull for them to beat Georgia. Cognitive dissonance.
Aquagirl
November 12th, 2012
10:17 am
Should have gotten behind Single Payer, RB. That was the Democratic idea from the get-go.
RB likes his cheap hamburgers. McDonald’s depends on government healthcare for its workers—you think the woman who hands you that burger has McDonald’s insurance for her kids? So Mickey D’s gets cheap labor, courtesy of the taxpayers. RB gets his cheap hamburger.
The RB’s of the world are the ones who never question who builds their McMansions, makes their McBurgers, or picks their McLettuce. They just want the cheapest product available and if employers cut corners or use government programs to enhance their bottom line they’ll still line up for the cheapest crap they can find. And they’ll complain while standing in line about the parasites taking money from their precious wallet.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:18 am
Me. I’m beyond them…
Of course you are.
And yet given a chance to bash blacks as lazy, “on the Democratic plantation” and in the gimme/handout/47% crowd you will do what?
I was actually a bit surprised that Mitt earned 6% of the African-American vote in this country last Tuesday.
A nod to him as severely non-conservative candidate!
A dysfunctional GOP is NOT good for this nation.
The Dems stink on ice.
Their only saving grace is that the GOP is degrees of magnitude worse.
A vital, empowered, informed and engaged citizenry is the “answer”.
Time to…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ehc6GJ3R7M
GT
November 12th, 2012
10:19 am
The Georgia numbers in the election were very surprisingly balanced. We are the second least red state behind North Carolina. There is a political reality that may play out here not seen in previous discussion. I see a slip up here leaving the door open for a Democratic senator like Roy Barnes or Reed to slip in. This state is not air tight right anymore and the adults are winning.
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:20 am
Back to politics. The race goes on. Guess it won’t ever end.
Fastest way to recover is to go over the fiscal cliff. Does not mean it is the best way. It would cause a lot more pain to a lot of peoople. Suicide rate would go up for a while as would the homeless rate and unemployment. But it’s quicker.
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
10:21 am
With the election finally behind us, President Obama and Congress will now try to set partisanship aside and cut a major deal on taxes, spending and entitlements.
Why would we want to do that when ‘partisanship’ is the very reason there is still an impasse on taxes and spending? (Hint: the Republicans will not ever, ever allow the tax RATE, as opposed to ‘revenues’, go up without a bloodying fight to the death. EVERYTHING hinges on that for them.)
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:22 am
alex — “@ joe, you prefer confirmation of your bias”
No, I prefer informed and articulate opposition, not automatic gainsaying and denial. You offer nothing better,
“you are not able to converse”
I’m quite able to converse, but again, it takes someone articulate and informed (even if they disagree with me). to accomplish that.
“you try to tell and overide opposition wiht anger and obstruction…”
(laughing, pointing)
I laugh and point at other posters more than anyone else on here, and you’re going to tell me I’m *angry?*
Feh! It is to laugh! (giggling)
“hmmm but FUN..”
If you have a pertinent point to make, then make it like an adult. If, OTOH, you’re going to rudely demand that others “move on,” then kindly take a hike yourself.
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:23 am
GT
November 12th, 2012
10:19 am
_______
As Georgia becomes more urban and less rural, we will move toward the center and out of the right wing wilderness. Will take a few more years. Still too many folks that believe all government programs enacted since 1932 should be dismantled – plus the right of women to vote and child labor laws.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:24 am
RB — “Seriously Joe???? You’re blaming the healthcare plan not a single republican voted for and was shoved through congress using “special” rules on Republicans???”
Yes. The Republican Individual Mandate. It was y’all’s idea, believe it or not.
“Oh my God!!! How big an idiot do you have to be to even make that comment, Joe?!!”
No idiot at all, RB. Just better informed than you.
“Wow!! Talk about somebody not paying attention…. Geez…”
I know! I’m absolutely AMAZED that you didn’t already know it!
So when will YOU start paying attention, RB? Every day we discover more and more facts that you seem to be totally ignorant of.
Citizen of the World
November 12th, 2012
10:25 am
Yes, JamVet, I think the right was starting to suspect that they’d created a monster with the views cultivated by Fox News and talk radio back when McCain lost and then the Tea Party won. But it was their monster, so they had to feed it during the primaries as the more moderate looked on. I for one will never vote for a politician who talks fiscal conservancy if he or she at the same time exhibits willful ignorance and intolerance to feed the monster (and court the votes) of anti-intellectualism, bigotry and fear.
DebbieDoRight - Math has a very strong anti-conservative bias
November 12th, 2012
10:25 am
Kinda effed up to know that Lane Kifflin is the key to the SEC getting back into the BCS Title Game though.
Bro — you’d better not say the “L K” name anywhere NEAR a Tennessee fan. Everytime THAT name is spoken in public, they curse, spit, and punch the person who said it. And not necessarily in that order either.
=========================
Jam: Start advocating for working class Americans. Like yourselves and your children!
that’s whats so crazy about their whole “trickle down” argument!! Trickle down has been more or less the defacto standard of government everytime a conned is in office — so far NOTHING has “trickled down” except more taxes from the wealth TO the middle class.
History has shown us that when America had a strong, vibrant, EMPLOYED middle class THAT’s when they prospered. NOT when they had the vast majority of wealth in a few hands.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:26 am
Aquagirl — “The RB’s of the world are the ones who never question who builds their McMansions, makes their McBurgers, or picks their McLettuce. They just want the cheapest product available and if employers cut corners or use government programs to enhance their bottom line they’ll still line up for the cheapest crap they can find. And they’ll complain while standing in line about the parasites taking money from their precious wallet.”
I bet RB shops at Wal-Mart and gripes because the service is so spitty there.
2% in dekalbcountyga
November 12th, 2012
10:27 am
Obama is talking about the top 2%, not just the top 1%. Count me in.
Anyways, let’s go off the cliff. Obama has issued a standing invitation for a bill to keep the tax cuts for the 98%.
They can send it to him whenever they get around to it.
jj
November 12th, 2012
10:28 am
Interesting that so many people think just Washington is disfunctional. Yes the D’s won fair and square, but the popular vote was only about 1% different. This country is deeply divided well outside the beltway.
Is it time to bring up term limits again……..throw them all out and start over.
Tundra Dude
November 12th, 2012
10:29 am
while I appreciate the time Jay spent to write the synopsis to this particular soap opera,
I will admit to having a very difficult time caring about the characters.
You don’t understand, these are VIP’s (very important politicians) without their highly specialized skills, this country might fall off the cliff…….
alex
November 12th, 2012
10:29 am
@ debbie, no show on TV can do justice to the “gilded age”, Plenty of books on the subject, be careful with bias. The Chernow tome about Rockerfeller (sp?) is great reading. Then again read the “jungle” for a heart rendering view of Chicago meat packing industry. Clearly when this country has such a economic distinction between the very rich and the very poor there is too great a chance of a “rush to the barricade”. Clearly there is danger of over -demonization of wealth and removing the enteprenurial spirit from capatalism. That said when is too much actually too much….
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
10:29 am
By the way, on Chambliss:
“Chambliss is a conservative Republican, but on fiscal issues he has been more willing than many of his GOP colleagues to consider compromise with Democrats. Much as he dislikes higher taxes, he seems to fear soaring debt even more”
It’s perhaps about the fact that Chambliss recognizes a near perfect deal when he sees one; that is, he realizes the Democrats do not disagree with the GOP one iota on this stuff in principle, but over minor questions of implementation emphasis, tactics, and degree. He knows the Dems are on-board with the GOP austerity agenda but are simply not ‘wedded’ (to use Obama’s word) to the absolutism of the Norquist-dominated GOP over marginal RATES per se the way the GOP is, and that’s why they look at the numbers pragmatically and realize that the rates HAVE to go up to avoid blowing up the deficit. The GOP, being the more political beings they are, understand that there is prime ideological significance to the question of allowing the RATES to go up. They are committed to shrinking the government, not reducing the deficit per se the way the Democrats are. Everything turns on this seemingly piffling detail.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:30 am
And today’s dose of Herp de Derp:
With the election over, supporters of Mitt Romney have to pack up their campaign signs and paraphernalia and get on with their lives.
But what if you can’t get rid of that stuff? Literally.
Eric Hartsburg caught some attention in the weeks leading up to the election for having the Romney campaign’s logo tattooed on his face.
Suffice to say, he’s not happy with Tuesday’s results.
No kidding!
Read the whole thing (and see a photo of Dude’s face tat): http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83689.html#ixzz2C1SxypG6
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:30 am
Checked the polls. It’s been corrected. Bama is not number one. Go Texas, USC, Stanford and Oregon State.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 12th, 2012
10:31 am
“Should have gotten behind Single Payer, RB. That was the Democratic idea from the get-go.”
word.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:32 am
IF both teams run their remaining tables, there is some talk that ND and NU will meet in the Rose Bowl.
Nebraska leads the all time series 8–7–1. (Including beating the legendary Four Horsemen twice! Their only two losses during their “reign”!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_%28American_football%29
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
10:32 am
Remember when the Bush tax cuts were passed with a built in expiration date of 2010? Obama’s lack of leadership on this issue, and his willingness to lower taxes even more, has gotten us into this $1B+ a year deficit mess. He needs to grow a pair and submit a budget in line with his own bi-partisan committee recommendations.
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
10:33 am
Joe, That’s right. (snicker)
http://pressroom.ups.com/Image/UPS+LNG+Tractor+being+refueled?srch_pos=3&srch_phr=LNG
“Pay attention, Debbie.”
Catch up to the rest of the class, RB. ”
Seriously, Joe?? What percent of the US truck fleet moving goods runs on LP/CNG? Go pass your BS garbage off on somebody else, Joe. The rest of us are working on the realities of today and not some fantasy world you live in.
flagboy?
November 12th, 2012
10:33 am
As masochistic as it might seem, a small part of me hopes the tax cuts disappear and the government spending gets cut. . . reminds me of people, in an argument, are more concerned with being right rather than being happy.
It will be interesting in the next few weeks to see what both sides are willing to do to get this thing done.
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:33 am
History has shown us that when America had a strong, vibrant, EMPLOYED middle class THAT’s when they prospered. NOT when they had the vast majority of wealth in a few hands.
_____
You get an A for today. That’s not just in the US, it’s everywhere. What we need is income redistribution. With all the wealth in the top one per cent all we will be is a second or third class country.
Top tax rate should go back to 91 per cent where it was in the fifties. Those were Happy Days and the economy was growing.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
10:34 am
Eric Hartsburg caught some attention in the weeks leading up to the election for having the Romney campaign’s logo tattooed on his face.
Maybe he can get a job at Reebok or Russel Athletics.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:35 am
Hartsburg, 30, lives in Indiana and says he’s gotten plenty of flak from neighbors (about the tattoo) since Romney went down in defeat.
What do you expect? The rube is a professional wrassler! (grin)
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:35 am
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
10:32 am
____
Ehy waste time and effort submitting a budget that wil be dead on arrival. Pointless thing to do.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:36 am
Stevie Ray
Georgia may get denied a BCS game, but they’ll have a good shot at playing on New Year’s Day. The SEC has 6 of the top 10 spots in the BCS poll, and I don’t think there are too many more games where those teams have to play each other.
Tundra Dude
November 12th, 2012
10:36 am
Let’s talk about a more interesting scenario ……Jessie Jr’s re-election in Chicago
Just Hush…..this is still a taboo topic….
(never mind his re-election, he’ll be allowed to resign for “health” reasons, b4 going to the Big House)
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:37 am
As masochistic as it might seem, a small part of me hopes the tax cuts disappear and the government spending gets cut. .
_____
Does a small part of you also want to jump off a cliff of off a building. That part of you should be ignored, which is what I hope you do.
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
10:38 am
Joe, “I bet RB shops at Wal-Mart and gripes because the service is so spitty there.”
Yea, Joe, cause everybody knows only wealthy republicans are shopping at WalMart and all those low income democrats are spending their limited incomes at places who certify their goods were produced by American workers who were paid a “fair wage” for doing it.
Idiot.
Joe, you’re really shoveling the BS this morning, dude. Geez.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:38 am
If I can still read right, Alabama is still number one in the BCS poll.
#4
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:39 am
Georgia may get denied a BCS game, but they’ll have a good shot at playing on New Year’s Day. ____________
Could be. But what happens to Bama if they should lose to Georgia.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:39 am
RB — “Seriously, Joe?? What percent of the US truck fleet moving goods runs on LP/CNG?”
Why don’t *you* tell us, RB? (giggling)
After all, you’re claiming to be the resident expert on everything and lecturing everyone else about it. Then again, when it’s that easy to find things that disagree with you, perhaps you’re just not as well-informed as you think you are.
“Go pass your BS garbage off on somebody else, Joe.”
No. Not going to happen. (laughing)
“The rest of us are working on the realities of today and not some fantasy world you live in.”
Said the guy who didn’t know that the Individual Mandate was a Republican proposal. (snickering)
flagboy?
November 12th, 2012
10:39 am
Brosephus™ – “Don’t get Charlie Browned”
November 12th, 2012
10:36 am
Stevie Ray
Georgia may get denied a BCS game, but they’ll have a good shot at playing on New Year’s Day. The SEC has 6 of the top 10 spots in the BCS poll, and I don’t think there are too many more games where those teams have to play each other.
________________________________
Ugh. .I have to think we’re going to get beat by Bama in the SECCG, then LSU and either Florida or South Carolina jump us. . . .
eternal optimist.
alex
November 12th, 2012
10:40 am
“stink on ice”, Gotta love it
Anyway, compromise is the order of the days, anger on both sides is obvious, most rational people believe that the cliff would be unpleasant for all. There will always be the irrational far right and lefters who think their side should not back down;unfortunately they are the loudest and have held sway recently… Hopefully the “noise ” will die down and cooler and thoughtful heads (talking) will prevail…
I still cannot wait until gender and race is not brought into the conversation…….ADVANCEMENT ON MERIT….might be scary for some, but it’s gonna happen and the sooner the better….
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:40 am
Jessie Jr’s re-election in Chicago
_______
Jessis Jr. for President in 2016.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:41 am
And with the SEC matched up against the powerhouse opponents of Wofford, Georgia Southern. Western Carolina, UTEP, Samford, Sam Houston State, Alabama A&M and Jacksonville State this weekend, all one can say is…………….. wow.
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
10:42 am
Oscar – Please… No one paid 91% and that had nothing to do with the boom. Having come through a depression and WWII the survivors had good coservative values and work ethic. Now we have 47% on the dole trying to vote themselves a bigger free lunch and you suggest some outrageous tax rate on the productive is the solution? Go to the back of the class, put on the pointy cap and shut up. BTW, if you taxed all the rich at 100% with no deductions we’d still have a deficit.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:42 am
RB — “Yea, Joe, cause everybody knows only wealthy republicans are shopping at WalMart and all those low income democrats are spending their limited incomes at places who certify their goods were produced by American workers who were paid a “fair wage” for doing it.”
Didn’t say or think any of that. (laughing, pointing)
“Idiot.”
RB, all that came out of *your* head, not mine., (snickering)
“Joe, you’re really shoveling the BS this morning, dude. Geez.”
I see. YOU make stuff up, but *I’m* shoveling BS. (giggling)
This is how those “Unskewed Polls” worked, right? Y’all made them up, but *we* were full of pewp? (laughing, pointing)
You need to get over yourself, RB. If you keep responding to me like that, you’re going to have a heart attack.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 12th, 2012
10:43 am
JHM – 10:30 – oh, man … that’s brilliant … just shared on FB
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
10:43 am
A Texas megachurch pastor recently claimed that President Barack Obama’s re-election victory would lead to the rise of the Antichrist.
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, made remarks on Sunday before the election that should Obama win, his victory would lead to the reign of the Antichrist.
[...]
Jeffress would go on to say that “it is time for Christians to stand up and to push back against this evil that is overtaking our nation” and to do so via “the ballot box.”
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:44 am
Obama’s lack of leadership on this issue, and his willingness to lower taxes even more, has gotten us into this $1B+ a year deficit mess.
As I recall, Obama wanted the tax cut to end on the top income. The GOP wanted them to continue for everyone. So, Obama has a lack of leadership because he gave the GOP what they wanted? I guess that goes to show that anything the GOP thinks is right is actually truly the effed up way to go in reality. Thanks for pointing that out for us.
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:44 am
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
10:42 am
______
Hoope the weather is nice for you on Pluto this morning.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:44 am
A. Shrugged — “Oscar – Please… No one paid 91% and that had nothing to do with the boom.”
Um, the top marginal rate was 91% until 1963 or ‘64, IIRC.
“Having come through a depression and WWII the survivors had good coservative values and work ethic.”
And unions. Lots and lots of unions.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:44 am
But what happens to Bama if they should lose to Georgia.
Dec 21, 2012….
Just sayin’
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:45 am
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:41 am
_______
Don’t knock those Golden Eagles. Look out. Georgia better be ready and not looking past them to that tough game with the Jackets.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:45 am
Brownsephus — “As I recall, Obama wanted the tax cut to end on the top income. The GOP wanted them to continue for everyone. So, Obama has a lack of leadership because he gave the GOP what they wanted? I guess that goes to show that anything the GOP thinks is right is actually truly the effed up way to go in reality. Thanks for pointing that out for us.”
I’m liking the sound of that. ^^^^^^^
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
10:47 am
This is funny!!! Joe and USinUK actually want to blame the ACA that no Republicans were allowed any role in writing, no Republicans voted for, had to be shoved through congress using special rules because the house and senate versions couldn’t be agreed to, on Republicans!!!
Hey clowns, if they wanted the single payer, they should have shoved it down everybodys throat instead of the plan they shoved. If you don’t like the plan, the only people you can blame are the people who wrote it and the people who voted for it and every last dam one of them has a D beside their name. All of them.
Aquagirl
November 12th, 2012
10:47 am
Idiot.
C’mon, if you’re gonna tippy-toe around the edge of banning-level insults at least be creative.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:48 am
And with the SEC matched up against the powerhouse opponents of Wofford, Georgia Southern. Western Carolina, UTEP, Samford, Sam Houston State, Alabama A&M and Jacksonville State this weekend, all one can say is…………….. wow.
Well, since Oct 20th, LSU, Mississippi St, Alabama, and Texas A&M have all had to face each other. Playing teams like that gives those smaller programs needed money while it gives the SEC a break from beating up on each other.
Mr Right
November 12th, 2012
10:49 am
http://theintelhub.com/2012/11/12/election-fraud-obama-won-more-than-99-percent-of-the-vote-in-more-than-100-ohio-precincts/
Really?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
10:49 am
I have found that those who complain the most about having something shoved down their throats are the same ones who will swallow anything.
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:50 am
Bro?
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg
(Big East vs. C-USA) – December 21, 2012
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:50 am
JHM
That’s kinda what I got from that statement. Obama basically compromised and gave the GOP the full extension that they wanted. If that’s what is wrong with our economy, then that’s all the more reason for Obama NOT to give the GOP what they want again. Seems like America feels that they’re bad at picking the correct path forward based on recent results.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:52 am
Oscar
Nah, if Georgia beats Bama on Dec 1st, then it’s only 20 more days until the end of the world. Mayan calendar style.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:52 am
RB — “This is funny!!! Joe and USinUK actually want to blame the ACA that no Republicans were allowed any role in writing, no Republicans voted for, had to be shoved through congress using special rules because the house and senate versions couldn’t be agreed to, on Republicans!!!”
Stop swallowing the FNC line and do your own research for a change, RB. You’ll find out that we’re telling you the truth.
“Hey clowns, if they wanted the single payer, they should have shoved it down everybodys throat instead of the plan they shoved. If you don’t like the plan, the only people you can blame are the people who wrote it and the people who voted for it and every last dam one of them has a D beside their name. All of them.”
Individual Mandate = Republican idea.
That’s a fact, whether you like it or not, RB.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
10:52 am
Bros, can we henceforth refer to any Grand Bargains as the “Charlie Browning of America”?