The GOP has staked its future on political quicksand
Why are congressional Republicans at such a disadvantage in negotiations about the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling? Is it just a failure of messaging? Is it a simple lack of backbone, as Rush Limbaugh, Jim DeMint and others argue?
Well, it doesn’t help the GOP cause that President Obama’s job-approval rating has jumped to 57 percent in the latest AP poll, the highest since the death of Osama bin Laden. (And isn’t it refreshing that the entire “Obama ain’t a real American/president” meme has simply evaporated since the election?) In that same poll, just 32 percent of Americans say they support extending the Bush tax cuts for all Americans, a policy that represents one of the cornerstones of current Republican policy.
I realize that poll interpretation has been a bit of a problem for Republicans recently, but even they must know that a policy backed by just 32 percent of the country is a poor piece of ground on which to stake your party’s future.
However, things get really dicey when you realize that preserving tax cuts for the rich is actually the more popular part of the GOP’s current political platform. The other part of their crusade — cutting spending in entitlements, most notably Medicare and Social Security — draws even less support from the American people, as a National Journal poll released this week demonstrates:
Just 22 percent of Americans say they support cutting Social Security. Only 3 percent say they support cutting it by a lot. Just 20 percent support cutting Medicare either some or a lot. And defense spending? While Republicans insist that we devote even more of our resources to the Pentagon, 64 percent of the American people say it should be reduced by some or by a lot.
Now, I’m just an interested observer, not a political professional. But to meeeeeee, it seems risky for a party to push the nation over the fiscal cliff, or in the case of the debt ceiling to push the nation into default, in an effort to force adoption of policies that are opposed by four out of five Americans. That just doesn’t seem like a formula for long-term success.
Ken Baer and Jeff Liebman, writing in a New York Times op-ed today, make an interesting and related point regarding Medicare and Social Security. They note that over the past 40 years, federal spending has averaged about 21 percent of GDP. They also note CBO projections that “if current policies continue, total federal spending will rise to 24 percent of gross domestic product in 2022.”
Why that projected growth in spending?
While “Republicans and Washington deficit hawks argue that this means spending is out of control,” Baer and Liebman write, in reality “the main reason expenditures are rising this decade is that spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is increasing by a whopping 3.7 percent of G.D.P. as the baby boomers age and retire.”
Every month, they point out, more than 200,000 baby boomers will be leaving the work force due to retirement (that’s also one reason the population-to-workforce ratio continues to drop). In the face of that very predictable retirement boom, insisting on dramatic cuts in Medicare and other programs simply is not realistic. Yes, we absolutely ought to seek every efficiency possible in those and other programs. But if slashing those programs just when they are most needed is your party’s main answer to our fiscal challenges, then you really have no answer at all.
Which is what the American people have been trying to tell the Republicans all along.
– Jay Bookman
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427 comments Add your comment
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
2:37 pm
You’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I think part of the Libertarians problem was their choice of names. I really do think some people confused “Libertarian” with “Libertine”.
mm
December 7th, 2012
2:37 pm
Bottom line: The cons can’t or won’t come to terms with the fact America voted against the GOP policies of yesteryear.
Erwin's cat
December 7th, 2012
2:37 pm
If you could just convince HALF of the idiots who say, “I’d vote for a third party but it’s throwing my vote away” to VOTE FOR that third party, your dream would be a reality.
especially in states like GA where 51% is needed to win w/o a run off..a vote for a third party would never be wasted
Oops
December 7th, 2012
2:37 pm
Obama is an extremist
DebbieDoRight -- The Only Thing Wrong With Capitalism Is Capitalists...
December 7th, 2012
2:38 pm
RB from G : I fully expect we’ll see producers outnumbered by consumers in the years to come
exactly WHO do you consider as the “producers?”
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 7th, 2012
2:38 pm
fred, yep but RB assured me that they were going to ber $25 (along with $9 hamburgers) and that every restaurant chain was going to cut everyone to part thime hours only or pay fines. When I posted that good old Papa Johns said it would be $.10/pizza, he challenged me.
Twice…and ran away each time. http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/12/05/the-republicans-worst-mistake-was-holding-the-house/?cp=6#comment-1168253
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
2:39 pm
I just KNOW that as soon as I fire up COD Black Ops II my installer will call wanting me to meet him at the job site. I mean my obamafone will chirp with my RB autographed free stuff (if JHM talked him into autographed the stuff we are leveraging from him) and I’ll have to quit losing all the points I gained.
Steve
December 7th, 2012
2:40 pm
Please tell me why I never once heard anything about the deficit or debt under George Bush when Republicans forced through two expensive wars and more tax cuts (see->starving government)?
Now, all you hear about is deficits! Yet…nobody wants to touch the military. We have a ridiculously huge military and it’s wasteful. It’s BIG GOVERNMENT! It has SOCIALIZED MEDICINE! Where is the GOP/conservative outrage?
Yet, we want to cut the safety net programs that 75% of the polled public wants left alone.
Yet, we spend how many BILLIONS on corporate welfare each year? Subsidies to the hugely profitable oil companies? Really?
Stop the insanity and stop buying into the propoganda from the uber wealthy!
Oops
December 7th, 2012
2:40 pm
Obama’s borrowing is going to screw the middle class
Welcome to the Occupation
December 7th, 2012
2:41 pm
” They only care about keeping the free stuff train rollin’ and screwing the rich man to pay for it all. ”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Did you hear that one? Screwing the rich man? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH That one was pretty good. HAHAHAH
stands for decibels
December 7th, 2012
2:41 pm
Lets see you live off welfare and food stamps.
Speaking of the latter–anyone else notice that Cory Booker decided to try living on the food stamp allotment this week? (A whopping 30 bucks’ worth.)
it’s… not going very well, he’s finding.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/cory-booker-food-stamp-challenge_n_2250692.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
2:42 pm
Nunna: The other part that dooms the Libertarians is the potheads. Most folks associate them with nothing but the potheads and the media as well as both major parties, exploits that.
ECat is right about disrupting some State elections. I had actually hoped that the Barnes/Deal race would smell as badly to many as it did to me and we would have a bigger vote for Monds. Unfortunately without Boortz drawing attention to the libertarians like he did in the 2000 election no one knew he was running.
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
2:44 pm
That old “wasted vote” mantra is hard to overcome.
youcantseetheforestforthetrees
December 7th, 2012
2:44 pm
Folks–we CAN’T pay for it! We don’t have the money. I’m all for raising the taxes on the 2%, but that’s not going to solve the debt crisis by itself. The debt is the problem, and entitlements, (along with government inefficiency/ bureaucracy) are the main causes of that problem. We cannot continue to rob Peter to pay Paul.
getalife
December 7th, 2012
2:45 pm
The Libertarians are right about weed.
It is a freedom issue and the majority agrees.
mm
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
“Obama’s borrowing is going to screw the middle class”
Sorry, but Obama is only abiding by the budget passed by congress. You know, the underfunded budget for the bloated military, corporate welfare for tax dodging millionaires, and greedy doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies that are killing Medicare and Medicaid.
deegee
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
Sargent Shriver, I suppose you weren’t watching Fox News on election night. GOP supporters might have been hopeful but GOP managers were absolutely convinced. Keep telling yourself that the 47% stole the election from Romney. It makes the medicine go down a little easier.
RB, Neal Boortz, the self-described BS artist has been spinning that tale about plundering the treasury for 30 years. Greece and Europe are not the US. We are still a good financial bet. Federal debt goes up and down. Historically, it goes up during wartime and it goes down during peacetime. The lesson we should learn from the Bush debacle is to save money when the economy is hot and spend money when it’s not. Don’t blow all your savings on a vendetta to get the guy that dissed your dad.
Steve
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
ahm, what about the MILITARY???
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
Stands, I saw that. He is not the only one recently. Wasn’t there a chef that tried to do it too?
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
dB: While I applaud his effort (Cory Booker), dude needs to learn how to shop. Either that or he was born with a silver spoon up his nose and never had to figure out how to eat. I can live on 30 bucks of food. It wouldn’tbe my PREFERENCE nor would itbe the best stuff for me, but it wouldn’t be all that pre packaged stuff (like his lettuce) or canned goods (think dried beans over canned beans).
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
Are the legal pot states going to be the regulators/providers, or will the people still have to deal with the drug cartels/pushers?
RB from Gwinnett
December 7th, 2012
2:49 pm
“RB, “broke” is not having any income. The US still has income.”
Gee, with that kind of thinking, what could possibly go wrong with the budget?……
STUPID LIBERAL
December 7th, 2012
2:49 pm
$30 bucks will buy 90 packs of ramen noodles.
Granny Godzilla
December 7th, 2012
2:50 pm
The GOP was afraid of us becoming Greece, when they were actually hoping to
go in the direction of Chile.
getalife
December 7th, 2012
2:51 pm
stands,
Yes, the cons should do like Booker and see how it feels before running their mouths.
Booker is not living off welfare so he has the money to buy more food.
Mick
December 7th, 2012
2:51 pm
rb
Just remember, if you are in fact correct, the road to ruin started under the previous president with two unfunded wars (first time in US history) medicare part d and those fabulous tax cuts that got us here today. Please feel free to spread the hypocrisy…
Erwin's cat
December 7th, 2012
2:53 pm
Fred –
I vote 3rd party every time they are on the ballot…whomever. I figure that if a D or an R gets 51% it’s over anyway. If enough people did the same and a third party gets 20-30% it will start to take off and be taken seriously…
USA Patriot
December 7th, 2012
2:54 pm
Steve 2:40
“Yet, we spend how many BILLIONS on corporate welfare each year?
Subsidies to the hugely profitable oil companies? Really?”
Go ahead w/ getting rid of the “subsidies” (tax deductions) for oil companies – where do you think the monies come from for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance comes from? D’oh, “they won’t have heat in the winter any more?”
Steve
December 7th, 2012
2:54 pm
It’s so charming of the GOP to blame our problems on entitlements only. That is semi-retarded, or just plain evil in my opinion. Or both.
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
2:54 pm
“two unfunded wars (first time in US history) ” Nah, not the first time. We had Vietnam and Cuba in the 60s.
deegee
December 7th, 2012
2:55 pm
Cory Booker needs to learn how to cook rice and dried beans. He could have gotten 3 heads of Romaine for what he paid for that package of fluff. What’s with the EVOO? That’s about 1/3 of his budget.
RB from Gwinnett
December 7th, 2012
2:55 pm
deegee, “RB, Neal Boortz, the self-described BS artist has been spinning that tale about plundering the treasury for 30 years. Greece and Europe are not the US. ”
What do you think is different about the US from Greece and Europe that will lead us to a different outcome? I contend they didn’t intend for the outcome to be what it is either, but that’s where they are and now they can’t get out of it. Why do you think things will be differnt here?
stands for decibels
December 7th, 2012
2:55 pm
dude needs to learn how to shop.
I was thinking along the same lines; for 30 bucks, I could probably manage to feed myself if I had access to the nicely stocked grocery stores near where I live. Nothing fancy, but I’d have a lot of rice & beans and maybe stretch a whole chicken to be my protein source for several of those days, plus some fresh green veggies.
It’s a bit more complicated though if you don’t have such well-stocked grocery stores within reach, which is a decided possibility in some urban areas.
In any case, for most folks, $4.62 per day for three squares is going to be a challenge.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 7th, 2012
2:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/mario-batali-hungry-chef-food-stamp-challenge-203745639.html
ugafan13
December 7th, 2012
2:56 pm
I don’t mind paying my share of taxes to live in this great country. What I do object to is the bloated waste in spending from our government. By the time we are through with all the well intentioned government programs/ideas we will be punch drunk from all the fees/taxes we are paying. Just take the news yesterday that the NHTSA wants to add black boxes to automobiles. Good intentions but who ends up with the bill? Look at the coming increase in your electric bill as more and more coal powered electrical generation plants shut down. We are headed the way of Detroit if we don’t wake up and figure out a solution. Taxes are part of the mix but spending has got to be addressed or we will crash.
Erwin's cat
December 7th, 2012
2:56 pm
I can live on 30 bucks of food. It wouldn’tbe my PREFERENCE nor would itbe the best stuff for me, but it wouldn’t be all that pre packaged stuff (like his lettuce) or canned goods (think dried beans over canned beans).
dang Fred…twice in one day we agree
Joe Hussein Mama
December 7th, 2012
2:56 pm
N. Yobinnes — “Cuba in the 60s”
War how, exactly?
Union
December 7th, 2012
2:56 pm
mm
December 7th, 2012
2:47 pm
Sorry, but Obama is only abiding by the budget passed by congress. You know, the underfunded budget for the bloated military, corporate welfare for tax dodging millionaires, and greedy doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies that are killing Medicare and Medicaid.
fraud is killing medicare and medicaid.. so much so the govt doesnt know if its 60 billion or 100 billion a year..
getalife
December 7th, 2012
2:57 pm
The gop decided the cons are the problem and booted them off the committees and told them to get in line.
The gop are moving left so you cons should start your own party.
Go for it.
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
2:57 pm
Bay of Pigs
getalife
December 7th, 2012
2:59 pm
“fraud is killing medicare and medicaid.. so much so the govt doesnt know if its 60 billion or 100 billion a year..”
They are cracking down on fraud.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 7th, 2012
2:59 pm
Harry Brown. Wasn’t he the Atlanta Dr. that advertized everyplace and started a colledge and done just about everything else to make money? I was sick enough of his TV ads. It was Dr. Harry Brown This and Dr. Harry Brown That. He was going to take your tonsils out and turn you into the world’s finest opera singer. He was going to straighten out your spine. He was going to make dog-ugly people look like models.
I sort of hoped he’d died. It’s for sure I don’t need to hear from him as a politican.
DebbieDoRight -- The Only Thing Wrong With Capitalism Is Capitalists...
December 7th, 2012
3:00 pm
Speaking of Stupid Folks………..
Did you guys read where over 50% of the conned believe that the 2012 election was stolen by Acorn?
In the PPP poll, 49 percent of Republicans polled believed that ACORN stole the election from Mitt Romney. ACORN is an abbreviation for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN was defunded by Congress in 2009 and disbanded in 2010.
The Dog Ate My Vote!!
Steve
December 7th, 2012
3:00 pm
Sorry Patriot, that’s quite a stretch: In terms of providing energy, the evidence is all too clear – it has failed. Study after study (including one by the World Bank which itself provides many of these grants and hand-outs) shows that less than 4% of subsidies were used to directly provide energy access for the poor. I have seen evidence of this for myself, having lived for many years in various parts of Africa. Instead, there is considerable “leakage” to higher-income groups.
The World Bank also provides funds for infrastructure for fossil fuel extraction and use in the developing world. I don’t believe we should be funding development which relies on fossil fuels. To me, it seems churlish to offer an outmoded, unhealthy and polluting system to people trying to break free from poverty.
http://www.ecofriendlylink.com/blog/fossilfuelsubsidiesshiftblame/#.UMJKqoPAdEI
DebbieDoRight -- The Only Thing Wrong With Capitalism Is Capitalists...
December 7th, 2012
3:00 pm
oops 49% Sorry.
Mick
December 7th, 2012
3:00 pm
We are not greece!
1. we print our own money
2. our citizens actually pay taxes
3. our population is not declining as rapidly
4. we are not solely a tourist based economy
Is that enough???
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
3:01 pm
Redneck – he was a chiropractor. I hope he wasn’t taking people’s tonsils out.
RB from Gwinnett
December 7th, 2012
3:01 pm
Mick, “Just remember, if you are in fact correct, the road to ruin started under the previous president with two unfunded wars (first time in US history) medicare part d and those fabulous tax cuts that got us here today. Please feel free to spread the hypocrisy…”
It started long before that and Bush’s spending habits sure didn’t help.
Who exactly is it you guys see defending Bush’s spending habits that you feel the need to keep bringing them up as if we thought it was a good idea? Bush’s spending is what spawned the Tea Party when the conservative wing of the R party got fed up with the fiscal irresponsibility of the party.
Doubling down on it ain’t helping.
Steve
December 7th, 2012
3:02 pm
I’ll pay $2 a month more for electric power plants that aren’t spewing crap into the atmosphere that aggravates my chronic lung issues.
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:03 pm
Go ahead w/ getting rid of the “subsidies” (tax deductions) for oil companies – where do you think the monies come from for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance comes from? D’oh, “they won’t have heat in the winter any more?”
We can take the money and pay the bills our damn selves for the low income and STILL come out billions ahead. USA Patriot my ass, more like a 1%’er water toter and corporate goon to me.
Regnad Kcin
December 7th, 2012
3:03 pm
I could eat for $4.62/day, but it would sure cut into my beer budget!
getalife
December 7th, 2012
3:04 pm
rb,
Yes, we needed a tea party under w but now the tea party is history.
Bad timing.
DebbieDoRight -- The Only Thing Wrong With Capitalism Is Capitalists...
December 7th, 2012
3:04 pm
ugafan: Look at the coming increase in your electric bill as more and more coal powered electrical generation plants shut down.
Fan, if I were you, I’d look no further than the PSC who AUTHORIZED another “increase” to Georgia Power again this year.
That new plant in Savannah that the governmet is giving georgia BILLIONS to build, do you think the state of georgia will benefit from it, or that Southern Power Company will?
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
3:04 pm
Regnad – As Kobe Bryant would say, “You have to adjust.”
JamVet
December 7th, 2012
3:05 pm
42 percent of Georgia Republicans said they would be willing to secede from the United States because of President Barack Obama’s re-election.
Fine by me. I say march them all off to Oklahoma and if a significant portion of them don’t survive the trip, too bad…
Joe Hussein Mama
December 7th, 2012
3:06 pm
RB — “Who exactly is it you guys see defending Bush’s spending habits that you feel the need to keep bringing them up as if we thought it was a good idea?”
People like you, who rage about Democratic spending but who never bring up *Republican* spending as an issue. Oh, sure, you’ll jump on the bandwagon when someone criticizes Bush’s spending, but not a man-jack among you has the stones to bring his spending up before a liberal does it.
“Bush’s spending is what spawned the Tea Party when the conservative wing of the R party got fed up with the fiscal irresponsibility of the party.”
So you say. How come we never see or hear about Tea Partiers specifically objecting to Republican spending plans?
“Doubling down on it ain’t helping.”
We might not do that if y’all could bring yourselves to admit that Obama’s stimulus plan is no different in conception or operation than Reagan’s Prime The Pump initiative.
In short, it seems like y’all still have some partisan blinders on that steer your criticism *towards* liberals and *away* from conservatives, even when they’re doing the same things. Show us some even-handedness in your criticism, and you might actually find some support from us.
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
3:06 pm
I’m still trying to figure out who actually thought deregulation of natural gas was a good idea. Just added more layers of middlemen and raised the prices.
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:06 pm
What do you think is different about the US from Greece and Europe that will lead us to a different outcome?
AMERICANS that’s what is different you
fearmongering, talk radio koolaid drinking, not thinking for yourself, FOXBOT lemming!!!!!!!!!!!fine feller you.Mick
December 7th, 2012
3:07 pm
rb
A little bit of revisionist history? The tea party started after obama was elected. You can only tag him with the stimulus and split tarp with bush for the first half of it.
If you can recall, we were in good shape and trending in the right direction about 12 years ago, when an incompetent president took over with an even more incompetent vice president “deficits don’t matter” that’s why repubs have zero credibility lecturing about deficits…
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:07 pm
LOL Nunna. Funny you would ask that. I just paid my gas bill (late, I forgot about it) and locked in my rate at .0515 per therm.
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
3:08 pm
Yeah, but it’s all those “pass through” fees that get you.
Nunna Yobinnes
December 7th, 2012
3:10 pm
In the summer my AGL bill used to be around $18 – $20 per month. After deregulation it was about $40. I did change providers eventually, but it’s still $30+.
DannyX
December 7th, 2012
3:10 pm
“Bush’s spending is what spawned the Tea Party when the conservative wing of the R party got fed up with the fiscal irresponsibility of the party. ”
LOL! Paul Ryan for voted for all of Bush’s spending and tax breaks, then suddenly when Obama was inaugurated he turns into a budget guru.
Ryan went along with everything, the unfunded wars, Med D, and the huge tax cuts, Republicans like RB wanted to give the guy a promotion!
USA Patriot
December 7th, 2012
3:10 pm
“Study after study (including one by the World Bank which itself provides many of these grants and hand-outs) shows that less than 4% of subsidies were used to directly provide energy access for the poor.” – Oil companies provide the monies, not distribute it That’s a whole other issue. But you make it clear you just don’t like oil companies – fair enough.
Regnad Kcin
December 7th, 2012
3:11 pm
The move away from coal-fired plants will help slow the rate of increase for health-care costs.
BTW – what ever happened to “clean coal”? Did they discover there’s no such thing?
flagboy?
December 7th, 2012
3:12 pm
$16,000,000,000,000 in debt.
RB from Gwinnett
December 7th, 2012
3:14 pm
“We are not greece! ”
And Greece wasn’t always what it is today either. What happened to take it from where it once was to where it is today?
You mean their manufacturing jobs have vanished??? I’m sooooo glad that’s not happening here, right?!!
Class of '98
December 7th, 2012
3:14 pm
Jay, I am 37 years old have have little hope that I will ever see one dime in Social Security. There is going to be entitlement reform one way or the other, which is what liberals seem to be completely missing. It doesn’t matter how many polls you find that say X% of Americans are against entitlement reform, we simply can’t afford it.
If polls and elections are all that matters, why don’t liberals simply convince the populace to vote for hundred dollar bills to fall out f the sky? That would solve all our problems, right?
The little matter of actually paying for these entitlements seems to be unimportant to the left. While polls may show that a majority (or at least a plurality) of Americans are for maintaining the status quo on entitlements, the laws of economics are unconcerned about their opinions.
bucket
December 7th, 2012
3:15 pm
Your headline is odd considering voters did the same thing with the future of America in November.
Class of '98
December 7th, 2012
3:18 pm
“Fine by me. I say march them all off to Oklahoma and if a significant portion of them don’t survive the trip, too bad…”
JamVet, you may want to look up the difference between “secession” and “emigration”.
Regnad Kcin
December 7th, 2012
3:18 pm
“If polls and elections are all that matters, why don’t liberals simply convince the populace to vote for hundred dollar bills to fall out f the sky? That would solve all our problems, right? ”
Don’t you think that would be inflationary? I would, however, hold my umbrella upside down in THAT storm!
Mick
December 7th, 2012
3:18 pm
rb
Forget it man, good luck in your world, I prefer mine thank you…
USA Patriot
December 7th, 2012
3:20 pm
Fred 3:03 – Thanks for the compliment!
RB from Gwinnett
December 7th, 2012
3:20 pm
“A little bit of revisionist history? The tea party started after obama was elected. ”
No argument on the timing, but on causation. The Tea Party crowd was/is fed up with the spending and then being fed a RINO in John McCain for a candidate. I firmly believe if most of us didn’t know we’d just split the vote and lose, we’d be happy getting away from the current R party.
I wonder when the Christians in the D party are going to figure out the other half the party is working against them?
Alligator loafers
December 7th, 2012
3:20 pm
Jay,
Long time independent, but always wanted fiscal conservatism and social
liberalism. Neither party gets it right.
Lets go over the cliff “hand in hand’. Budget gets fixed, programs are cut. Stiff medicine, but we all asked for it. 30 million new tax payers on the rolls. That is what I call fair share.
Two years from now, all will be right with the world? Right.
Congressional term limits, which I never thought I would like, may be an even better response, two years down the road. Tired of the refrain “your congressman is bad, but I will re-elect mine all day long”.
Personal responsibility in this world is almost non-exsistant.
Sure you always liked the phrase “I’m with the government, and I’m here to help”. FEMA and the residents of NJ and NY are really buying into that right now. Reminds me allot of Katrina, with a different media response.
No new political party is needed, but maybe a revolt by the populace is the next guarranteed stance by the Constitution. Government is not absolute. Not a crazy, but neither party can address spending and taxation.
Who serves at who’s will? Passing the buck days are over with as well.
Our senators and congressman from both parties put the “finger in wind” to see how the polls go, and never take a firm stance on any issue.
stands for decibels
December 7th, 2012
3:21 pm
Jay, I am 37 years old have have little hope that I will ever see one dime in Social Security.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what most everyone says at some point–like, say, when they’re 37 years old. Most everyone has been fed this crap by the plutocrats ever since SS came into existence, an upper class that hates the government managing this safety net, rather than turning people loose to blow their entire retirement nest egg on Wall Street.
There’s no reason for you to believe that the program won’t be functional when you’re of retirement age. When you hear about it “going broke” a set number of years down the road, that’s a lie–it doesn’t literally run out of money, but, rather, starts becoming less than fully funded. Even if nothing is done to fix the revenue side, it’s still going to be paying out benefits.
So, you know, this “one dime” business of yours is a bit silly and self indulgent. But understandable.
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:22 pm
RB from Gwinnett
December 7th, 2012
3:14 pm
“We are not greece! ”
And Greece wasn’t always what it is today either. What happened to take it from where it once was to where it is today?
+++++++++++++++++++++
Alexander the Great died. When he died his empire disintegrated. Unlike you, I’m not afraid of that happening in the US as he has been dead for 2035 years.
You look even more silly than usual when you try to take a “historical perspective.” There is no comparison whatsoever between MODERN DAY Greece and the UNITED States. Onlty talk radio?FOXBOT idiots buy that “we’re gonna be like Greece” fear mongering that the druggie, his sycophants and FOX keep spouting. Just stop it already, I’m beginning to be embarrassed for you. It’s like watching a senile Ronald Reagan ate up with dementia wet his pants…….
Mick
December 7th, 2012
3:22 pm
class of 98
Don’t be a fool, social security can and will be there for you with some minor tweaks, and you should make damn sure it is! Mainly cause all us boomers should be dead and gone by the time you get there…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 7th, 2012
3:22 pm
Doubling down….
Oy vey, Obama has not doubled down. Most of the deficit added during Obama’s term is the result of wars started by Bush and the Bush tax cuts (forced to be extended for the 2% by the GOP). But what do you expect from a clownish poster who claims Obamacare will raise Papa John’s pizza to $25.
JamVet
December 7th, 2012
3:23 pm
And 98, you may want to look up the definition of the word sarcasm…
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:24 pm
USA Patriot
December 7th, 2012
3:20 pm
Fred 3:03 – Thanks for the compliment!
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No problem. I really meant it. Shame you ignored the lesson of truth that went along with it.
stands for decibels
December 7th, 2012
3:24 pm
Alexander the Great died. When he died his empire disintegrated.
Good point. I do really wonder if our conservative friends realize that Greece hasn’t been an empire for a very long time.
The country whose formerly nearly-worthless currency got absorbed into the Eurozone is 1/30th the population, and 1/48th the GDP, of the US.
Put another way–You would be hard pressed to find a nation LESS like ours.
FinanceBuzz
December 7th, 2012
3:24 pm
Amazing how some of these people are saying that the 30% on the GOP side are wrong. They obviously do not understand basic economics and finance. 1. The rich don’t make enough to fully address our debt problems. If this were about fiscal sanity, Obama would be pushing for across-the-board tax increases. He’s not. Why? (Hint: Class warfare. The rich already pay more than their fair share.) 2. Our debt is going to reach a tipping point where the whole capital structure of this country will implode. Social Security, Medicare and entitlements comprise the vast majority of the spending driving this. There is no way to fix this issue without address entitlements. Sorry, folks, that is math and economics and finance…not politics.
You cannot keep taking and taking and expects a small sliver of the population to support all the stuff you want to be given. Our politicians will never fix that, but I can most assuredly the free market surely will. And when that happens, the fiscal cliff will look like the fiscal curb.
So, no it is not that the 30% are wrong. The 30% or less are the ones that see fiscal reality. Unless you simply do not want to live in an economically free country anymore – any many of you on the left simply do not – it is the dumb masses that have no clue of the underlying economic reality of what they are demanding.
I don’t want to go over the cliff, but I have to think that perhaps that is the quickest way to fix this country. Let the entitlement society that has developed in America implode. Perhaps, only then can this country rise from the ashes and pursue economic liberty like it once did. What I fear the reality is that we are so far past our past greatness and that it will never be recovered. But keep demanding that others pay for more and more.
jewcowboy
December 7th, 2012
3:24 pm
“(A whopping 30 bucks’ worth.)”
Hey…that’s like 10+ bottles of wine at Trader Joe’s. I might be able to get by if I cut back a little.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 7th, 2012
3:25 pm
And yet with a simple change to SS (eliminating the salary cap) will make SS fully self-suficient for 75 years.
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:25 pm
Dang, typo: Alexander the great has been dead for 2335 years, not 2035………..
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 7th, 2012
3:25 pm
Jay, I am 37 years old have have little hope that I will ever see one dime in Social Security
Well, Class of ‘98, Polkberry Elementary School Class of ‘54 here. By the time you get to be 67 all those old f_rts that are clogging up the Social Security lines will be dead. After the Baby Boomers are gone you’ll have about 5 workers supporting every 1 Social Security person. You’ll be fine. Stop letting your britches bunch up and pinch your Private Parts.
Class of '98
December 7th, 2012
3:25 pm
“Less than fully funded.”
I’m not a big believer in euphemisms. Changing the language doesn’t change the condition. (I hate it when someone says somebody is 90 years-young).
Anyway, I do not feel confident I will ever see a dime in Social Security payments. To be honest, I’m not convinced that when I’m 65 years old the United States government will exist in any manner similar to today. I’m not HOPING that to be true, but I fear it is.
I gave up on Social Security long ago.
Mick
December 7th, 2012
3:25 pm
**Obamacare will raise Papa John’s pizza to $25.**
If I need franchised crap, I’m going to little caesars…
joe
December 7th, 2012
3:26 pm
OBAMA HAS STAKED HIS FUTURE ON ECONOMIC QUICKSAND
Fixed your headline
DannyX
December 7th, 2012
3:26 pm
“I wonder when the Christians in the D party are going to figure out the other half the party is working against them?”
Really, RB? I wonder when the Christians in the Republican party are going to actually read a Bible so they can learn what Jesus had to say about rich people.
It may come as a surprise to a lot of Republicans when they find out Jesus didn’t say “The rich shall inherit the earth.”
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:28 pm
FinanceBuzz
December 7th, 2012
3:24 pm
Amazing how some of these people are saying that the 30% on the GOP side are wrong. They obviously do not understand basic economics and finance.
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And judging from the rest of that lying nonsensical crap that followed the part I quoted you are clueless as well about economics. You DO however seem to have a PhD in absorbing talk radio/FOXBOT lies and repeating them verbatim. Shame you never learned to think for yourself instead. Such a seemingly fine mind gone to waste……….
Class of '98
December 7th, 2012
3:28 pm
No, sarcasm is a sign of wit. Saying that seceding Georgians can go to Oklahoma doesn’t make sense because that’s not what the word “secede” means. Hey, you learned something new today.
getalife
December 7th, 2012
3:29 pm
SS is off the table.
Regnad Kcin
December 7th, 2012
3:29 pm
Seems like this election has killed the last shred of conservativism in the country. All that’s left is a collection of bots and special interests that wouldn’t understand a conservative principle even if expained in small words. Rush, Sean, & Co. are NOT conservatives – and neither are you parrots.
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:29 pm
joe
December 7th, 2012
3:26 pm
OBAMA HAS STAKED HIS FUTURE ON ECONOMIC QUICKSAND
Fixed your headline
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What’s the matter? You didn’t get any bites with your last alt saying the same stupid thing?
Steve
December 7th, 2012
3:30 pm
“The love of money is the root of all evil.” Hmmm…what would Jesus say about the wealthy not wanting small tax increases while we cut back on food and healthcare for poor children?
methinks Jesus would be pissed
Morality?
December 7th, 2012
3:30 pm
Jay – We know you are trying to turn the spot light off of Obama and his failure to curb the Fed debt by turning the spot light on the Repubs….. 2013 is looming and your bait and switch tactics will only hide Obama’s failure for so long.
Fred ™
December 7th, 2012
3:31 pm
Morality?
December 7th, 2012
3:30 pm
Jay – We know you are trying to turn the spot light off of Obama and his failure to curb the Fed debt by turning the spot light on the Repubs….. 2013 is looming and your bait and switch tactics will only hide Obama’s failure for so long.
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I laughed so hard at that one I think a little pee came out………
Oh wait, no I didn’t, just more FOXBOT delusional rantings……..
Tom Middleton
December 7th, 2012
3:31 pm
And let’s not forget who the baby boomers really are, Jay. We’re the “make love not war,” “give peace a chance,” “better to influence the world than try to control it” folks who used to know there’s a better way to fly and are now looking for something to do.
We can be the first generation to become younger again in our old age (with God) and change the whole dang world for the much better as we go. I mean, if we can’t do it, and I know we can, ain’t no generation ever will be able to do it either. Like, peace and love, man! “Time Has Come Today” TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED!!!!