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
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
10:53 am
Digby wrote this back in August. The nice GOP noises were being snorted by Lindsay Graham at the time, now we’re hearing them from Speaker John, no real change otherwise.
[S]ince the Democrats have made it clear that the only hill they will die on is the “revenue” hill, the Republicans can probably get away with offering up [...] fake “sacrifice” and the Dems will sell it as a win. If the lame duck goes the way it has in the past, we’ll probably see some unemployment insurance and maybe a payroll tax cut thrown in to trap the liberals. (Who knows? Maybe they’ll throw in some promise to repeal DOMA?) Just keep in mind that the price for those things is likely to be further degradation of the safety net and an immediate contraction of federal dollars at the worst possible time.
So, I don’t care about this chump change he’s talking about and neither should the Democrats. Raising some tip money and promising to close a loophole that will open up the next day somewhere else is not a win. If they do this thing I surely hope they don’t insult us and ask us to clap louder this time. I might have to hurt somebody.
And SR @ 9.06, since you mentioned it, yes. I *am* angry this morning.
I am quite peeved any time I am reminded that I have fight with a Democratic President (to say nothing of an ostensibly liberal columnist) to save Social Security and Medicare.
Sorry if that offends your David Broderian sensibilities. Maybe you can calm your nerves pheasant over quail at Karl’s place. He’s probably lookin’ for some love of late.
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
10:53 am
Brosephus: “As I recall, Obama wanted the tax cut to end on the top income. The GOP wanted them to continue for everyone. ”
The GOP wants, and will fight almost to the death for them to continue on the top brackets, the wealthy. They don’t give a good god-damn about the middle and lower incomes. In fact, they would be happy for them to increase while rates for the wealthy to fall further.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
10:54 am
Oscar, my son went to school there. I like them and will be pulling for them to beat the Puppy Dawgs.
But realistically? And though the line has not been posted yet, I’m pretty sure it will be sizable.
RB, give up the argument about the individual mandate stuff. It was one of the very cornerstones of Flip-flopping Mitt’s demise.
Personally, I’d love help get rid of Obamacare.
But the biggest problem is that you fake conservatives do not want to replace it with the very best option available.
SINGLE PAYER NOW. EVERYBODY IN. NOBODY OUT.
flagboy?
November 12th, 2012
10:54 am
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.
_________________
foie gras
Oscar
November 12th, 2012
10:55 am
Remember, don’t do and Cristmas shopping before Ded 21. If the Mayan’s are right, would have been a waste of time.
Good day to everyone.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
10:55 am
(”I have TO fight with a Democratic Preznit…” I meant, of course.)
and the link… well, y’all get it, even though I can’t edit my own stuff for s— today.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
10:55 am
dB @ 10:52
I didn’t really want that mouthful of water that I was about to swallow…
I think we could definitely call it that.
Jefferson
November 12th, 2012
10:56 am
Reasonable people can come to reasonable conclusions under reasonable conditions unless you are a republican. They will never learn.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 12th, 2012
10:56 am
““Having come through a depression and WWII the survivors had good coservative values and work ethic.””
oh, FFS … and the US was the only industrial country NOT rebuilding after the war.
fercryingoutloud
yuzeyurbrane
November 12th, 2012
10:56 am
A Chambliss v. Price race! And Chambliss is labeled the liberal. I never thought I would see the day. Having followed the careers of both men, there is hardly a dimes worth of difference between the two. Chambliss’s willingness to compromise on a budget deal that largely carries out conservative objectives is hardly radical. But that is what passes for moderation in the Republican Party these days. Price is a piece of work. An MD who practices politics rather than medicine and who’s idea of healthcare reform is to protect the pocketbooks of doctors. Before he starts pontificating about his proposed alternative to Obamacare, just know that it is lacking in many details, is only a few pages long, and would, at best, insure only about an additional 3 million patients while protecting the incomes of his fellow doctors, drug and insurance companies. He took the “hypocritical” oath rather than the Hippocratic Oath. I am picking on Price only because Chambliss is normally so lazy that he can’t do as much harm. My prediction, however, is that if a budget compromise is reached that Chambliss will be able to benefit greatly by characterizing himself as a great statesman who reaches across the aisle for the good of country. Georgians are just as tired of partisan bickering and gridlock in Congress as the rest of the country, and this would normally leave Chambliss in a pretty strong position against a partisan Price. However, we are talking about a Republican Primary and the question is will enough mainstream Republicans turn out to reclaim their Party from the TeaParty extremists who have taken it over?
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
10:56 am
Bro- All Obama had to do was nothing and let them expire. The Reps couldn’t pass anything over his veto. But he caved like a wet paper bag so he could buy votes handing out another 2% in SS cuts. It worked too but the Millenial generation will have to pay the price. They already are. Sixteen years of school and all they can get is one of Obana’s 5 Million new jobs. You know the ones at Walmart and McDonalds.
Doggone/GA
November 12th, 2012
10:56 am
“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.””
What!? He wants them to go against God’s will?
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
10:57 am
Brosephus — “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.”
I’m fine with trying to work out a compromise with the GOP, but if they start getting nasty and recalcitrant, I think the President should just call their bluff, e.g. This is what we were working toward and what you said you wanted. Now you’re balking and demanding a lot of concessions and strings attached, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to offer you the best deal I can from what we had on the table, and if you don’t accept it, I’m just going to let sequestration do the job. And I’m going to go to the American people — and the world financial markets — on TV next week and tell them what I just told you.
If we can close the deal before then, great. If not, I hope you have a Merry Christmas back home in your districts, explaining to your constitutents why their interest rates are about to go up on everything from mortgages to credit cards. Peace out.
Fly-On-The-Wall
November 12th, 2012
10:57 am
DDR,
Unfortunately in today’s world these uber-wealthy can ignore those of us in the U.S. because this is a global economy. The will make their money somewhere else regardless and I think they’ve already started to move to that model. They just don’t give a darn about this nation – they’re in it only for the money and they don’t really care how well this country does because they can make their money elsewhere.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
11:00 am
foie gras
Although I consider JT a wanker, I hope he gets good news about his knee today.
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
11:00 am
Joe, you want to post some BS about a CNG/LP fuled truck being evidence we shouldn’t be looking at diesel prices and their effect on the movement of goods, and then expect me to go look up the real impact????? You posted the garbage, Joe, YOU go look it up.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
11:01 am
A Chambliss v. Price race! And Chambliss is labeled the liberal. I never thought I would see the day.
Yep, insane times in the GOP’s Bizzaroland…
Speaking of which
Obana’s 5 Million new jobs.
Only out there on the fringe, is the POTUS an employer who is responsible for the real employers’ not hiring Americans. Though the real employers are sitting on RECORD PROFITS. (And committing a record number of crimes.)
LONG LIVE THE PLUTOCRACY!
Dirty Dawg
November 12th, 2012
11:01 am
Price, Gingrey, Broun…what is it with all these ‘Doctors’ deciding to get into Washington politics? Seems to me that if they were any good at their profession they’d still be practicing. Or is it that they realized that that thing hanging on their wall was a passport into the more, yes even more than doctoring, lucrative position as a congressman who’s able to legally take bribes – aka, campaign contributions – and get richer, quicker in Washington. Whatayabet every one of them is worth far more now than when they actually had a practice?
But more importantly Jay, when are you gonna start hammering Georgia’s ‘Democratic Party’ (I set it off because its a party in name only). We hear about the fact the Republican Party in California is virtually non-existent, but what about here? It’s absolutely insane that a viable candidate(s) weren’t up against Broun, or the others either for all I know. I mean if Charles Darwin could garner thousands of votes as a write-in against the idiot Broun, surly an articulate, bright fire-eating Democrat, could have taken him down altogether. Get on em Jay…make em get off the pot…2014’s not that far out.
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
11:02 am
JHM – That’s what I said. He should show some leadership and submit a budget in line with the bi-partisan committee recommendations: reduce discretionary and military spending, flatten the tax rates while eliminating most of the deductions. We’ll get back to a progressive federal income tax with rates that won’t cripple the fragile recovery.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:03 am
Welcome @ 10:53
I would not argue against that at all. It’s probably a good thing that I’m not in Obama’s shoes as I wouldn’t sign anything to stop everything from taking effect as already planned. If our economy is going to collapse over a 3% increase in taxes, then our economy is already FUBAR. As to the sequestration, they should not have agreed to it if they didn’t want it to happen. Maybe not doing anything will be the catalyst to get rid of this sorry assed excuse for a Congress.
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
11:03 am
Fly: “Unfortunately in today’s world these uber-wealthy can ignore those of us in the U.S. because this is a global economy. The will make their money somewhere else regardless and I think they’ve already started to move to that model. They just don’t give a darn about this nation”
Absolutely, but don’t forget that it is the framework of treaties and trade agreements that have been pushed through by our leaders in the past 10-15 yrs which locks this reality into place and makes it all but unchangeable. Recall that NAFTA — which did more to consolidate this new reality than any other act of government — was passed under a DEMOCRATIC president and with very little real public debate considering its enormous implications for the well being of the majority of the population.
The attack on the people is thoroughly bi-partisan in nature and is almost impossible to imagine ever reversing without massive mobilization of the people.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
11:05 am
RB — “Joe, you want to post some BS about a CNG/LP fuled truck being evidence we shouldn’t be looking at diesel prices and their effect on the movement of goods, and then expect me to go look up the real impact?????”
I said no such thing, RB.
“You posted the garbage, Joe”
That rant above? That all came from YOU, RB. You completely mistook my meaning and you’re too much of an arrogant Richard to *ask* me what I meant politely. It’s pretty clear that you prefer to just make things up, attribute them to others and then demand that they answer for your imaginary bulldada.
“YOU go look it up.”
I’m not looking up support for something I neither said, thought nor intended, RB. If you want evidentiary support for what the voices in your head tell you, then I suggest you contact those vvoices directly.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:06 am
when are you gonna start hammering Georgia’s ‘Democratic Party’
I’ve helped out a bit with some of these canon-fodder guys who decide to run against impossible odds in red GA districts. You get no help whatsoever from the national committee (and frankly why should you? it’d be throwing good money after bad) so tilting at windmills is on your own dime–and whatever you might manage to scratch up from local dirty effing hippies.
You have to want to be able to say you did it, to do it–and perhaps cling to the hope that your Republican opponent might get caught in bed with a dead gay farm animal, or whatever it takes these days to dislodge GA voters.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:07 am
All Obama had to do was nothing and let them expire. The Reps couldn’t pass anything over his veto. But he caved like a wet paper bag so he could buy votes handing out another 2% in SS cuts.
Go back and recheck your work. The GOP got their tax increase for their high-end clients stopped. In return, Obama got the cuts held for everyone else that he wanted, and he also got unemployment coverage for 99 weeks continued. I think you’re looking at the wrong deal.
Had it been me, I would have let the Bush cuts expire. That would have left the GOP with no platform for bargaining on the debt limit. We wouldn’t even be discussing the sequestration as a result.
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
11:07 am
Jam – Then the President should get some legislation introduced with tax credits for job creation, real job creation. Four years of O and the rich got richer, a lot richer, and the average working wage went down and despite your fantasies that’s not all the fault of GM and the Republican House.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
11:07 am
A. Shrugged — “flatten the tax rates”
Rejected.
I’m completely opposed to that until wages for the lower three wage quintiles show some significant growth. At least half the percentage growth that the *top* quintile has shown over the last 30 years should be sufficient.
Lynnie Gal
November 12th, 2012
11:09 am
Price must lose this battle with moderation if the GOP is to survive. It’s creepy guys like him–a “physician” who doesn’t give a crap if poor or middle class people have access to healthcare–that the GOP needs to rein in. We’re sick of these people. Now, let’s go over the cliff, let the Bush tax cuts expire and go back to the drawing board immediately on middle class tax relief on January 2. Republicans will be eager to negotiate at that point because it will be obvious to everyone except the most lame-brained among us that the GOP cares only about preserving tax cuts for the very rich. If they hold the middle class tax cuts hostage at that point, they’re finished.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:09 am
perhaps cling to the hope that your Republican opponent might get caught in bed with a dead gay farm animal, or whatever it takes these days to dislodge GA voters.
I hate to inform you, but even in that instance, the Republican wins the election in Georgia.
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
11:09 am
Brosephus: “Had it been me, I would have let the Bush cuts expire. That would have left the GOP with no platform for bargaining on the debt limit”
Absolutely, you’re right there. As I said at the time, the correct answer to the GOP’s attempted blackmail and coercion was the Michael Corleone approach: You ask what my offer is, well I’ll tell you what it is. NOTHING. I offer you NOTHING.
But to do that, one has to have real ideological radicalism, which is entirely foreign to this president and his party.
Jefferson
November 12th, 2012
11:09 am
Flatten the income rates…
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
11:12 am
Jefferson: “Flatten the income rates…”
What good is that when the incomes of the majority are declining all the time while incomes of the super wealthy upper brackets soar.
You’re grasping at straws.
Peadawg
November 12th, 2012
11:13 am
JOBS JOBS JOBS
Obama focused on health care his 1st term…let’s FINALLY see that laser-like focus on jobs in his 2nd.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
11:13 am
As I said at the time, the correct answer to the GOP’s attempted blackmail and coercion was the Michael Corleone approach: You ask what my offer is, well I’ll tell you what it is. NOTHING. I offer you NOTHING.
Our elected officials were sent to Washington to govern, not play chicken.
Jefferson
November 12th, 2012
11:13 am
I ain’t grasping at chit.
AmericaShrugged
November 12th, 2012
11:13 am
JHM – If Jay’s ultimate boss pay’s millions more in taxes undeer the bi-partisan committee plan, who cares what the rate is? It’s effective tax rate that matters. The max rate goes down but capital gains and dividends, the source of most of Ann Cox Chamber’s income, will be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. What’s criminal now is the regressive rate for passive income of the real rich like her and Romney.
Pete
November 12th, 2012
11:14 am
Tom Price and his ilk are what’s wrong with this country. The only way forward is to compromise. Didn’t these peop[le learn anything from the election?
getalife
November 12th, 2012
11:15 am
pea,
He is ready to sign his jobs bill.
Ask the gop why they will not pass it.
Regnad Kcin
November 12th, 2012
11:15 am
“A. Shrugged — “flatten the tax rates”
And consider all income as income – capital gains, trust funds, all of it. THAT should help the deficit!
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:15 am
the Republican wins the election in Georgia.
Neal Horsley is holding for you on line One.
(you knew that was coming, yes?)
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
11:17 am
Jam – Then the President should get some legislation introduced with tax credits for job creation, real job creation.
Yep, like rescinding the mind bogglingly corrupt tax advantages that American corporations got for outsourcing millions of jobs to Communist China, India, Singapore, etc…
(But shhhh, those fave GOP policies must not be discussed!)
Four years of O and the rich got richer, a lot richer, and the average working wage went down and despite your fantasies that’s not all the fault of GM and the Republican House.
You obviously have MAJOR reading comprehension/memory issues.
Who here – by name – has repeatedly excoriated the past seven administrations for overseeing the loss or shipping overseas of 40,000,000 American jobs.
Who here – by name – has repeatedly decried the flat-lining of American middle class wages over the past four decades?
Who here – by name – has repeatedly shown revulsion at the super concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands, beginning in earnest with the Regan administration?
Was it
AtlasAmericaShrugged?No, I do not think so.
Maybe you can recall the name…
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:17 am
And consider all income as income – capital gains, trust funds, all of it. THAT should help the deficit!
And fund all of SS and Medicare out of the general revenue, rather than taxing it separately? And starting the first level of taxable income at, say, 40-50K? you might be on to something.
(fantasy land, of course.)
Regnad Kcin
November 12th, 2012
11:19 am
Yeah, but what a great fantasy! It can’t be until somebody dreams it…
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:19 am
dB
There is the exception to the rule…
flagboy?
November 12th, 2012
11:19 am
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
11:03 am
The attack on the people is thoroughly bi-partisan in nature and is almost impossible to imagine ever reversing without massive mobilization of the people.
______________________________
. . . there was something on PBS recently. It was an interview with 2 guys who had written a book about how the super-wealthy in the country had consolidated power through policy decisions over the past 30 years. They went through Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, Obama and dicussed how decisions during each administration continually helped the .01 percent or something like that.
I can’t recall the title of the book. .
Matti
November 12th, 2012
11:20 am
Tom Price (R – DRAMA QUEEN)
Get that man a pair of Jimmy Choos.
Pizza
November 12th, 2012
11:23 am
GA Dawg 8:45 – The “doctor” has shown little regard for troop exposure to depleted uranium, why would he care about health care for poor U.S. citizens ? ( I use quotes because he reportedly gave up practice with the understanding he could make more money as a congressman. He seems to be doing very well there. )
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
11:25 am
I get it Joe. You can’t back up your post so you’ve entered “divert and dodge”. Same as always….
flagboy?
November 12th, 2012
11:29 am
he gets misunderstood a lot apparently.
RB from Gwinnett
November 12th, 2012
11:31 am
JamVet, “Yep, like rescinding the mind bogglingly corrupt tax advantages that American corporations got for outsourcing millions of jobs to Communist China, India, Singapore, etc…”
What tax advantages are those, Jammie? Be specific with actual tax legislation, please.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:33 am
By the way, Alan Colmes doesn’t get much love, but that question he posed, on the spot:
“Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?”
I think that was the single greatest question any journalist ever asked an actual politician, ever.
Thomas
November 12th, 2012
11:34 am
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/11/12/the-gorgeous-joy-of-tax-dodging-by-starbucks-google-and-amazon/?partner=yahootix
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
11:37 am
A. Shrugged — “JHM – If Jay’s ultimate boss pay’s millions more in taxes undeer the bi-partisan committee plan, who cares what the rate is? It’s effective tax rate that matters. The max rate goes down but capital gains and dividends, the source of most of Ann Cox Chamber’s income, will be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. What’s criminal now is the regressive rate for passive income of the real rich like her and Romney.”
That’s nice, but that’s not what you said. You said “flatten the tax rates.” That causes more taxation to be borne by the lower and middle class, and I’m not one bit interested in that.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
11:37 am
STARBUCKS, AMAZON and GOOGLE to Face UK Lawmakers Over ‘Tax Dodging’…
drudgey
jose
November 12th, 2012
11:38 am
Jay: If millionaires (and those non millionaires making $250,000) need to pay more taxes, shouldn’t we also ask why they need social security and medicare? President Obama’s strong opposition to means testing these entitlements speaks volumes. Does Warren Buffet really need a Social Security check in retirement?
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:38 am
I think that was the single greatest question any journalist ever asked an actual politician, ever.
I can’t find anything to dispute that one.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 12th, 2012
11:39 am
dB – 11:33 –
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:40 am
Does Warren Buffet really need a Social Security check in retirement?
Is it a matter of who really needs it. If Warren Buffet paid social security, why would he not get back, at a minimum, the money he paid into it? That’s what social security is for. It’s not pay into the system and get money back only if you NEED it. I don’t know if people, who earn their income through interest and dividends, actually pay into SS or if they even collect it though.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:43 am
decisions during each administration continually helped the .01 percent or something like that.
I can’t recall the title of the book. .
Was it this one?
Regnad Kcin
November 12th, 2012
11:44 am
Who would have a real problem with some type of means-testing for SS? Say, for as long as you’rincome remained above $1M, you wouldn’t get a check?
Joe Hussein Mama
November 12th, 2012
11:44 am
RB — “I get it Joe.”
Of course you don’t.
“You can’t back up your post”
Stop lying, RB. I did not say, think or mean anything of the sort. You quite clearly made up a position and attributed it to me. So no, *I* can’t and WON’T back up *your* post. Nor will I. I’m not under any obligation to support a position you made up for me.
“so you’ve entered “divert and dodge”.”
I don’t need to divert or dodge something I neither said, thought or meant. I don’t need to divert or dodge from your dishonest fabrications.
“Same as always….”
Yes. Yes, it is. You dishonestly make crap up and say ZOMG THIS IS WHAT YOU SAID even though I said nothing of the sort. That’s pretty much the ’same as always.’
If you were honest, you’d recognize that. But clearly, honesty is too much to hope for from someone like you.
Dave
November 12th, 2012
11:45 am
Lord, I never thought I’d be rooting for Saxby.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
11:46 am
BRO/DDR
Lot’s of if’s…if UGA miraculously beats Bama…we get BSC bowl but likely not playing an undefeated…if we lose to BAMA and end up 11-2, probably early New Years day game in FLORIDA..of course, if we lose to GT, we will be playing in the Blue Turf bowl…
DDR
Don’t feel sorry for me…excepting my age…I was in Herschel’s class at UGA and got pulled of goalpost by big easy cops after sugar bowl win….they weren’t gentle…
Aquagirl
November 12th, 2012
11:49 am
You quite clearly made up a position and attributed it to me. So no, *I* can’t and WON’T back up *your* post.
RB’s doing some of that Republican Maths to make himself feel better. Leave the poor man alone.
Fly-On-The-Wall
November 12th, 2012
11:49 am
Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and a Democratic candidate will be an alternative to either of these two good ol’boy candidates.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
11:50 am
I have waited for a long time for this one, RB.
I am not your Google, look it up yourself!!
And had you ever had the stones to do what you just asked of me, my response would have been different.
But here is a little hint for you to begin educating yourself on this widely known matter – bone up on the perverse incentives/features of our tax system known as “deferral” and “repatriation”…
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
11:51 am
BRO@11:07
The expiration of Bush tax cuts previously is thought provoking…the downside to all taxpayers would have creamed both parties..
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:53 am
President Obama’s strong opposition to means testing these entitlements speaks volumes. Does Warren Buffet really need a Social Security check in retirement?
Means testing is a rabbit hole. It doesn’t yield diddly squat in actual savings (how many guys like Warren Freaking Buffed ARE there to pay SS bennies, anyway?); what it would do is completely disengage upper incomers from their already paltry buy-in, and make this group of influential people even more inclined to
send us to the knackerer’s like the pigs did to Boxerfcrew us on Social Security.Terrible, terrible idea. Double-plus terrible.
Krystal'sBalls
November 12th, 2012
11:56 am
Found this quote earlier:
“Price is doctor, he knows how healthcare should be run.”
Yeah… LOL… just like a FOOTBALL PLAYER knows how an NFL FRANCHISE is supposed to be “run”…or an assembly line worker knows how an automobile manufacturing operation is supposed to be run…OR..OR….a SPORTSCASTER…or “WEATHERGIRL” knowing how a TV STATION is supposed to be run!
Boy the world is chock full of sharpies out there now isn’t it? *rolls eyes*
You might want to know, my doctor couldn’t even tell me the specifics about whether or not a particular treatment would be more cost effective in taking a single injection as oppossed to daily pill form. Said that the “people up front would have to hash that out with the insurance company”. My guess is most serious physicians concern themselves more with treating/curing ailments and research than getting too caught up in ADMINISTRATION.
alex
November 12th, 2012
11:57 am
“more rope? Bropheus, jamvet, stands for decibels, joe…….?
“Sure and boy that is a high platform over there , looks like a great place to jump from, let us just tie the knot around our necks just so…. should be fun for a split second “………..snap!
Hmmmm, next!
getalife
November 12th, 2012
11:57 am
“RB’s doing some of that Republican Maths to make himself feel better.”
Debbie calls that matherbation.
I stole it from her so when they deflect blame to the other side to make themselves feel better, it is called deflecterbation.
Just giving credit where credit is due.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
11:59 am
And keep in mind, you bi-curious means-tester librulz–
they way that the Goopers would do this, I guaran-damn-tee you, would be to make sure that as many upper-middle-income Democratic-leaning voters would feel some pain in some noticeable way in order to spark some kind of revolt.
It’s a trojan horse. Send an expeditionary force outside the walls to dowse it with gasoline and burn it.
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
11:59 am
jose: “President Obama’s strong opposition to means testing these entitlements speaks volumes. Does Warren Buffet really need a Social Security check in retirement?”
As stands correctly said, the whole “means testing” thing is a Trojan horse, a farce that is meant to drive a wedge into the sense of social solidarity that is necessary if these programs are to remain legitimate over time in any form at all. The right wing understands that perfectly well, since as always they are perfect ideological radicals who NEVER underestimate the crucial political significance of framing. They know that if you start making ‘exceptions’ for the well off, then the remaining program is pigeonholed in a ghetto as an “entitlement” for the lazy takers and it is then a short step to dismantling the program altogether.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
11:59 am
the downside to all taxpayers would have creamed both parties..
I disagree with that. For most people, the increase is a 3% increase in the marginal rates. Depending on deductions available, one might see an effective rate increase of probably half that amount. I personally think some of the panic is overblown as Americans tend to adapt and overcome adversity with regular fashion.
We would probably experience a slowdown, but our economy is already progressing better than most of the rest of the world. If our business leaders were not such scared b*tches, we would probably be much farther along in recovery.
Georgia
November 12th, 2012
12:00 pm
I hate life after the falcon failure. Now what are we gonna do They had it won. Oh, I managed to get access to some of the threatening emails that prompted Jill Kelley to rat out Broadwell to the FBI. Some women don’t grow past their sororiety years. Get a load of this one: “…and don’t expect me to ever say, “Snaps for Jill” ever again, you lipo-challenged…….
and this one! “……..I can’t believe you still wear shoulder pads under your tshirts. Don’t you think you have enough lumps on your body………
This is the story of the year. It’s not just a scandal. It’s a FrankenScandal!!!
appleseed
November 12th, 2012
12:02 pm
Seems all was well until we were Bush-Whacked.Let those Bush cuts expire along with anything having to do with Bush.
Mary Elizabeth
November 12th, 2012
12:05 pm
Words from the ever courageous pen of Paul Krugman:
—————————————————————————
“So President Obama has to make a decision, almost immediately, about how to deal with continuing Republican obstruction. How far should he go in accommodating the G.O.P.’s demands?
My answer is, not far at all. Mr. Obama should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage on a still-shaky economy. . . .
Mr. Obama essentially surrendered in the face of similar tactics at the end of 2010, extending low taxes on the rich for two more years. He made significant concessions again in 2011, when Republicans threatened to create financial chaos by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. And the current potential crisis is the legacy of those past concessions.
Well, this has to stop — unless we want hostage-taking, the threat of making the nation ungovernable, to become a standard part of our political process.
So what should he do? Just say no, and go over the cliff if necessary. . . .
Most of all, standing up to hostage-taking is the right thing to do for the health of America’s political system.
So stand your ground, Mr. President, and don’t give in to threats. No deal is better than a bad deal.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/opinion/krugman-lets-not-make-a-deal.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0
bookman parrot
November 12th, 2012
12:05 pm
alls these libs stating the repubs are not adults and the dems are adults. well a definition of adult is one who is responsible; and i would state that fiscal responsibility would be high on that list of responsibilities. well we know dems have not been fiscally responsible over the last 4 years and before; dems are spenders. so i don’t see how they could think they are the “adults” , unless adulthood means bankruptcy.
jays Brain
November 12th, 2012
12:06 pm
All of you clowns are so funny talking about compromise. Tell me where to demorats compromised the last four years?
I remember barry telling Kyle, McCain, Cantor to shove it because he won they lost.
alex
November 12th, 2012
12:07 pm
Krystal, you are most assuredly correct……..
Aquagirl
November 12th, 2012
12:08 pm
when they deflect blame to the other side to make themselves feel better, it is called deflecterbation
If only they’d get a room with themselves…..
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
12:09 pm
I searched in vain for the news headline that should’ve read:
Utah Voters Say: “Mia, NO Love You Long Time”
…just to spare everyone else the trouble and bother. (You’re welcome.)
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
12:10 pm
BRO
All the panic is always overblown…look at election and “you didn’t build that…” and taking medicare away from grandma exaggerations…bad political move for DEMS particulary based on all the BS about making the middle class king..
BTW, did you see this this morning? Interesting, albeit not politically correct (someone’s gotta say it)..short read…check it out..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-samuelson-its-the-welfare-state-stupid/2012/11/11/e392868a-2ab0-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html
getalife
November 12th, 2012
12:11 pm
Same ole con bs.
Two thumpins equals a mandate for our President cons.
You are irrelevant so zip it.
alex
November 12th, 2012
12:12 pm
@Mary E. Krugman puts the “dismal” in the dismal science (economics),glad to see that Krugman is not in any responsible position ( he’s an academic)
Regnad Kcin
November 12th, 2012
12:12 pm
“I remember barry telling Kyle, McCain, Cantor to shove it because he won they lost.’
Linkee to the “shove it’ quote, please? Because I think you are lying or misinformed…
Jefferson
November 12th, 2012
12:13 pm
The truth is the GOP don’t want to stop spending and they blame the opposition, as always. Let all the tax cuts expire, the revenue is needed.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 12th, 2012
12:13 pm
I remember barry telling Kyle, McCain, Cantor to shove it because he won they lost.
I remember Mitch McConnell saying the most important goal was to make Obama a one term president.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
12:14 pm
Tell me where to [sic] demorats [sic] compromised [sic] the last four years?
lessee–800b instead of 1.2t for the Recovery Act; the PPACA’s individual mandate rather than a public option; 99 weeks unemployment for the Bush tax cuts extention; any of those ring a bell?
I remember barry telling Kyle, McCain, Cantor to shove it
O lord, how I wish he had. How I wish he had.
getalife
November 12th, 2012
12:14 pm
“If only they’d get a room with themselves…..”
They should not do this in public.
Brosephus™ - "Don't get Charlie Browned"
November 12th, 2012
12:15 pm
i would state that fiscal responsibility would be high on that list of responsibilities. well we know dems have not been fiscally responsible over the last 4 years and before; dems are spenders.
Ummmm, GOP House for 2 years under Obama. Spending bills originate in the House. Neither party can claim to be adults, but continue to live in that fantasy world of yours. Where are the jobs that both parties campaigned on over the past 4 years? Fiscal responsibility begins by getting people back to work.
—————————
Stevie Ray
I haven’t read that one yet. Been reading the local paper from home this am. I’ll check it out.
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
12:15 pm
…dems have not been fiscally responsible over the last 4 years…
No doubt.
But their Republican counterparts have been???
Forget four, how about the past 40 years???
Let me answer that one…. NO.
With precious few exceptions they have all been spendaholic, pork-addicted self-serving pigs at the American trough.
Trickle-down/voodoo economics has been a DISASTER for most Americans and yet you dead red faithful want more and more and more of it!!
Insane.
Speaking of which…
Price, Westmoreland, Gingrey, Broun and Saxby.
Man, do we suck or what?
LOL!
getalife
November 12th, 2012
12:15 pm
“I remember barry telling Kyle, McCain, Cantor to shove it”
No, that was me not the President.
stands for decibels
November 12th, 2012
12:18 pm
No, that was me
no, it was me. I AM SPARTACUS!
JamVet
November 12th, 2012
12:19 pm
Because I think you are lying or misinformed…
Meat just has a fertile imagination matched only by his ungodly bad research skills!
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
12:20 pm
flagboy, are you thinking by chance of “Winner Take All Politics”?
getalife
November 12th, 2012
12:21 pm
“no, it was me. I AM SPARTACUS!”
We told them to shove it on election day.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 12th, 2012
12:21 pm
STANDS
Barry did in fact tell Cantor et al basically to shove it after 2008 election win and before inauguration…denial doesn’t make the truth…also, I do believe McConnells comment about 1-term president was nothing new in DC…wasn’t that the DEMS objective during Bush’s first term?
McConnells comment’s can be taken in context via below link..it was just prior to midterm elections…after PelosiCare if I recall..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/when-did-mcconnell-say-he-wanted-to-make-obama-a-one-term-president/2012/09/24/79fd5cd8-0696-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html
St Simons - he-ne-ha
November 12th, 2012
12:24 pm
Lynn Westmoreland, Tom Price, Jack Kingston, the pretend dentist,
and Paul Broun (squeeeeal), Suxby Chambliss, and Johnny Isakson.
If that don’t embarrass you, then you just can’t be embarrassed.
getalife
November 12th, 2012
12:24 pm
Actually, the gop cut and ran for taxes on the wealthy.
There are many alternatives for the “fiscal cliff” bs and just need to find one that will pass the gop house.
They can always move the deadline but the market won’t like it.
Welcome to the Occupation
November 12th, 2012
12:25 pm
Kamchak, to answer blackmail in the Michael Corleone “I offer you NOTHING” manner is not at all to play chicken. It’s recognizing that tactics of negotiation are eminently political, not simple tactical measures that are peripheral to the content of what’s being negotiated on. The radical GOP always seems to understand that better than the Dems.
And to Brosephus, on the bluffing on sequestration, the only real bluffing in my view that was done was on the part of the GOP on defense cuts, which they prob never really intended to follow through on.