House GOP blows smoke to cover hasty retreat
As face-saving efforts go, this one’s pretty meager.
Breaking from a three-day private conference, House Republicans today acknowledged that they are retreating from their demands for major entitlement cuts in return for raising the debt ceiling. But they do have conditions.
First, they will agree to extend the debt-ceiling limit only for three months, meaning that they intend to put us through this vapid exercise time and again, a process that should do wonders for confidence in the financial markets. It’s petty gamesmanship, particularly from a party that has done so much whining about government-caused “uncertainty.”
Second, they will extend the debt ceiling further if and only if the Senate passes a budget resolution by April 15.
And if the Senate doesn’t do as the House demands by passing a legally meaningless budget resolution? Will the House retaliate by forcing a default on our national debt, pushing the economy into a likely recession?
No. It will not. And people who push such nonsense are difficult to take seriously.
Oh, and one more thing. House Republicans also propose to stop paychecks for members of Congress until such a resolution passes. It’s a nice little effort at grandstanding, except for the obnoxious fact that it is unconstitutional: “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.”
Let’s also be clear about what “passing a budget” really means. Under the process, the House passes a resolution expressing its spending priorities; the Senate does likewise. Then the two resolutions are reconciled into what is known as a concurrent budget resolution and passed by both chambers.
However, a budget resolution does not actually appropriate or spend a dime of taxpayers’ money. It does not levy a penny’s worth of taxes. The document does not go to the president for his signature, and it is legally binding on neither chamber. It is worth the paper it is printed on and not much more.
Recent budget resolutions passed in the House have been exercises in fantasy, including demands for converting Medicare into a voucher program and slashing taxes for wealthier Americans. Senate leadership has concluded that it isn’t worth the time and floor debate needed to create a Senate budget when it clearly has no chance of being reconciled with the House resolution for adoption.
It’s also important to note that this is not a new situation. According to the Congressional Research Service, Congress also did not pass a concurrent budget resolution in 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006, all years in which the GOP controlled both houses of Congress. Somehow, the Union managed to survive.
– Jay Bookman
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245 comments Add your comment
Looney Bin
January 18th, 2013
2:38 pm
First?
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
2:41 pm
Looney — you’re supposed to READ the article, then post. It helps……
My imaginary boyfriend said “hi”
TBS
January 18th, 2013
2:45 pm
Let’s hope that all sides come together with a deal that does bring cuts to some degree across the board………
-Republicans caved on the tax increases.
-Enough votes in the House for the Sandy bill, despite the rhetoric, that gave the red state Senators the pork they wanted and knew they would be getting.
-Speaker barely hung on to his job…………
yeah the House has Obama right were they want him……..
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
2:45 pm
Jay (who is my imaginary boyfriend) says: First, they will agree to extend the debt-ceiling limit only for three months, meaning that they intend to put us through this vapid exercise time and again, a process that should do wonders for confidence in the financial markets. It’s petty gamesmanship, particularly from a party that has done so much whining about government-caused “uncertainty.”
Well Jay, (IBF for short), it at first you don’t succeed, yada, yada, yada……..
IBF: Second, they will extend the debt ceiling further if and only if the Senate passes a budget resolution by April 15.
The Senate can pass all the budgets it wants — the House handles the purse strings. Basically what the house is saying is, “I know you are, but what am I?” a la PeeWee Herman..
Logical Dude
January 18th, 2013
2:45 pm
“House Republicans also propose to stop paychecks for members of Congress until such a resolution passes. It’s a nice little effort at grandstanding, except for the obnoxious fact that it is unconstitutional: ”
Ain’t nuttin stoppin’ ‘em from just donatin’ the dough back to the deficit.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
2:46 pm
House Republicans also propose to stop paychecks for members of Congress until such a resolution passes.
oy…you GOTTA be f-ckin’ kidding me…
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
2:46 pm
…slashing taxes for wealthier Americans.
You mean the evil rich?
And penalizing the producers?
And trickle up poverty?
The counterfeit conservatives are thankfully in full blown meltdown mode.
To which I say, lets throw another log on the fire!
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
2:47 pm
IF at first you don’t succeed! Jeesh — I guess it was just my imagination that I didn’t screw up that sentence!
Granny Godzilla
January 18th, 2013
2:49 pm
I was actualy hoping they’d hold their collective breath for thirty minutes or so….
It would be equally amusing!
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
2:50 pm
Jeesh — I guess it was just my imagination that I didn’t screw up that sentence!
Guess you picked the wrong week to stop sniffin’ glue.
Who is John Galt?
January 18th, 2013
2:50 pm
“I swear by my Life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.”
Georgia, The " New Mississippi "
January 18th, 2013
2:51 pm
Will this satisfy their Johhny Reb voter base and the Fox News talking heads ?
clem
January 18th, 2013
2:51 pm
while i think repubs are a joke; the dems in senate need to present a budget. getting it passed may be another deal as repubs will use filibuster at drop of a hat.
barking frog
January 18th, 2013
2:52 pm
You would think the ‘markets’ would understand this BS by now, or
maybe they do.
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
2:53 pm
IBF: Oh, and one more thing. House Republicans also propose to stop paychecks for members of Congress until such a resolution passes.
Ha! I’d like to see that! Imagine that azz whupping they’ll take from those Senators from New York. Nu Yowk don’t play that man.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
2:53 pm
Loony meth-head alert @ 2.50.
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
2:53 pm
Thanks for the explanation of the budget process Jay. I’ve heard the cons use that as an excuse so many times – I figured it was just talking points nonsense from the right wing noise machine, but hadn’t had the time to do the research.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
2:54 pm
John Galt, I hear that Ayn was like a doorknob–everyone got a turn!
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
2:55 pm
Guess you picked the wrong week to stop sniffin’ glue.
Hiya stands!! I’m amazed. They finally turned your sister in to glue? I figured that old nag was long gone by now…..
Jay
January 18th, 2013
2:55 pm
So in the mind of John Galt and his latest admirer to post here, American heros from Nathan Hale to those who died at Normandy to Martin Luther King Jr. are merely weak, foolish individuals because they gave their lives for others.
The fact that people claim to feel proud of such selfishness is amazing to me.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
2:58 pm
CAVED.
C
A
V
E
D.
You take it, arch-conservatives! You take it and you LIKE it!
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:00 pm
I figured that old nag was long gone by now…
reminds me, was it you who with whom I’d discussed Animal Farm a coupla months back?
(ignore if this is prompting a “WTF is he talking about?” reaction…)
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:00 pm
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
2:53 pm
Are you saying that having an amphetamine prescription back in the day is equivalent to being a meth amphetamine addict now? How carefully have you checked this?
Or did you just decide you had a chance to perpetrate some cheap “humor”?
Mr. Snarky
January 18th, 2013
3:01 pm
House Repubs are pathetic chumps. 3 months reprieve? Please.
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
3:01 pm
stands for decibels–stay classy!
jm
January 18th, 2013
3:01 pm
sfd 2:33 (downstairs) fully agreed
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:02 pm
Crap IBF’s here. I want to formally apologize to stands for anything I may or may not have inferred about his character or the characters of any of his imaginary friends and/or acquaintances. I’m sincerely chastised and contrite and I feel awful for even suggesting that stands is a small minded, small d###, evil megalomaniac. It was just my insane hyper-competitive nature that makes me do these things. I’m a very bad girl. I am trying however to redeem my ways. Please accept my apologies.
M.C.
January 18th, 2013
3:02 pm
And PrezBO wants the debt ceiling raised without conditions. He specifically mentioned cuts to federal spending.
“The president says he will not negotiate on cutting spending as part of raising the debt ceiling, but he voted against raising the debt ceiling as a United States senator, saying that to increase the debt ceiling constituted ‘a sign of leadership failure,’ ” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/01/14/2607597/obama-to-congress-raise-debt-ceiling.html#storylink=cpy
to increase the debt ceiling constituted ‘a sign of leadership failure
I’m taking PrezBo’s word for it.
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:02 pm
Kyle must be on a bender and andy, tibby and lil bb damn near despondent by now.
The perverted Randians were merely the foundation for the Reagan Doctrine, “Screw everybody else, I got mine.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GLpO-OvJU74
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:02 pm
I think the liberals have been hitting the hot sauce in here again.
I just don't get...
January 18th, 2013
3:03 pm
…why someone as smart as you, Jay, has not commented on the Dems failure to broach any sort of commentary on reducing spending – I fully understand that raising the debt ceiling needs ot be done, and that the raising of some tax rates MAY provide minimal money to give to the moochers, yet I cannot, for the life of me, understand by you and those who support your views continue to stonewall some sort of reduction in the out of control spending by BOTH parties…
Everything written in this paper and on these sites points to this as the major problem with the US’ economy, yet you and most of your readers offer no solutions other than to call the Repubs name and place blame with them, though they do share a significant blame for contributing to this mess in which we find our economy…
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:04 pm
and JamVet has been handling guns.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:04 pm
M.C.: And PrezBO wants the debt ceiling raised without conditions
Which is exactly what he is getting.
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:04 pm
stands – yes, it was me. One of the best, and most prophetic books, (besides 1984), written by Orwell. IMO.
Who is John Galt?
January 18th, 2013
3:04 pm
Thanks for jumping on that Jay I just wanted the uninformed cons and on this blog to know what the Republican party really stands for.
jm
January 18th, 2013
3:04 pm
war’s not over
if Obama doesn’t agree to cut spending, he’ll do nothing other than deal with debt ceilings and budgets for the next two years
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:05 pm
Jay
January 18th, 2013
2:55 pm
You are grossly oversimplifying. For one thing, it is in a person’s self-interest to resist authoritarianism.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:05 pm
stands for decibels–stay classy!
I hear Ayn was like a protractor; she was good at any angle.
Brosephus™
January 18th, 2013
3:05 pm
Dead threaded, but I’ll post up here too because I think the words are well needed here.
They think they are being cute and funny. But they are only exposing themselves for as the ignorant fu*ks they are. Now, I call them ignorant fu*ks and not products of their environment because there comes a time in everyone’s life when we get to choose how to travel down life’s path. We can choose to travel with an open mind to nurture a life of change and growth though new information, or we can choose to travel with our heads up our ass in fear. Sometimes, an enlightened path is chosen after people spend years inside their own anuses. Something happens, they emerge, and they choose to be decent human beings. And some learn nothing from life experience and maintain an existence of ignorant fu*kery that would insult a caveman.
Sometimes it takes a woman to call things as the truth they are. Those words could be used to accurately describe a few posters here. We all know who the caveman insulters are too. Hat tip to the Rude Pundit for allowing a guest poster who spoke the truth.
Gale
January 18th, 2013
3:05 pm
If the budget is such a joke, why is there so much noise about it? It is all just to distract the populace and try to make the other side look bad? What a bunch of do nothings.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:06 pm
jm: [Obama will] do nothing other than deal with debt ceilings and budgets for the next two years
$100 bet?
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:06 pm
DDR, Ok, then.
I guess I had a point about Boxer getting sent to the glue factory, but now I forgot what it was. Too busy coming up with farm-fresh Ayn Rand jokes.
jm
January 18th, 2013
3:06 pm
Ray Nagin indicted
about time
In the middle
January 18th, 2013
3:07 pm
You are just exhausting. Let me compose every article and opinion piece you will need for the rest of your life..Republican bad, Democrat good. Everything republican fault. It is good to hate republican Me no like republican Me like democrat.
Any chance you can completely break away from ideology to, offer a solution other than to hate people that aren’t carbon copies of you…
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:07 pm
dbm: You are grossly oversimplifying. For one thing, it is in a person’s self-interest to resist authoritarianism.
Anyone else see the irony in this?
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:08 pm
Actually, no, I just. Stock market at record highs, T bills yielding less than the rate of inflation because people all over the world know that the US is a safe place.
Slashing spending is NOT the answer – growing the economy is.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:08 pm
If the budget is such a joke, why is there so much noise about it?
Same reason there’s so much noise about the “debt crisis.” People aren’t smart enough to understand they’re getting played by corporate media.
Sorry if that sounds a bit tinfoil-hatty, but it’s the truth. Combination of laziness from the Press Corpse, and mendacity from their overlords.
East Lake Ira
January 18th, 2013
3:08 pm
Sweet.
The GOP will play hostage taking terrorist every three months till the mid-terms and it’ll be great.
Thanks for the House!
Idiots.
Nduka
January 18th, 2013
3:09 pm
The House R’s are on the ropes, which is too bad because the free-spending D’s really do need a counterbalance. History teaches that it’s never good when either party has too much power.
DwayneL
January 18th, 2013
3:09 pm
So you’re ok with this congress not passing a budget since this clown was elected president?
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:10 pm
jm@3:06p, agreed
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:10 pm
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:02 pm
“Screw everybody else” is very different from rational self-interest.
The rationally self-interested approach to dealings with others is that of the trader. A trader seeks to exchange value for value. A trader neither makes nor seeks sacrifices. (By “sacrifice”, I mean giving up a greater value for a lesser value, or a value for a non-value.)
Doggone/GA
January 18th, 2013
3:10 pm
“Second, they will extend the debt ceiling further if and only if the Senate passes a budget resolution by April 15.”
Personally, I think the Senate should take this opportunity to pass as obnoxious a budget as they can come up with. What’s it gonna hurt, since it isn’t binding anyway? But it SURE will annoy the hell out of the House R’s
SoGAVet
January 18th, 2013
3:10 pm
What?!? Republicans would advocate violating the Constitution? The next thing you know, they’ll be claiming the 2d Amendment is inviolable!!
Granny Godzilla
January 18th, 2013
3:10 pm
I just don’t get…
January 18th, 2013
3:03 pm
.
.
.
.
Obviously.
barking frog
January 18th, 2013
3:10 pm
Debbie Do
I’m a very bad girl
……………………………………………
do you need a spanking ?
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:11 pm
Making fun of the clown show that is the House Republican party is ‘hate’?
Wow….
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:11 pm
Bros, you forgot to include the link:
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2013/01/guest-post-health-care-female-veterans.html
jm
January 18th, 2013
3:11 pm
Adam:
I’ll bet you unless he passes spending cuts, then neither of the following will happen:
1. Immigration reform, unless its the Republican / Rubio plan
2. Climate change legislation
In the next two years.
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:11 pm
We don’t need to go by a stupid budget.
Budgets are for losers and wimps.
We be big pimpin!
Just keep raising the debt ceiling and we’ll always have money.
Money for everyone!
Gobama!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4VPRYuPNE4
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:11 pm
FALCONS RISE UP
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:13 pm
Doggone: I think they should pass what they want to have happen with the budget. It’s not a negotiation, and it meets the requirements, and it’s obnoxious enough that they won’t turn Medicare and SS into private programs apparently so they might as well give out the reasonable good budget and show everyone that the House Elected Republicans (hi Fred!) really are WHACKO.
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:13 pm
stands: Too busy coming up with farm-fresh Ayn Rand jokes.
Ha! Funny!
But, in retrospect, Ayn played the biggest “PUNKED” game there was. She wrote a bunch of rambling bullcrap, mostly when she was high, about not taking from the government, etc.; yet she ended her life as a government baby on the teat!
And how was the Punked Prank Played? She got a whole bunch of idiots following her every words! I bet she’s rolling around in hell right now getting a good laugh outta that one.
East Lake Ira
January 18th, 2013
3:13 pm
Jay – according to Iglesias (sp?) borrowing costs for the feds are negative, meaning there is no real cost/interest on new loans/bonds.
Shouldn’t we then borrow as much as we can and invest in the US via new infrastructure etc?
I know the cons will blow a gasket but…
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:13 pm
betty,
This is my rifle, this is my gun
One is for killing, the other’s for fun
Brosephus™
January 18th, 2013
3:14 pm
dB
Thanks
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:14 pm
FALCONS RISE UP
GO 49ERS!
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:14 pm
“FALCONS RISE UP”
Yeah.
It’s Fal-cons – Superbowl champions.
Not Fal-libs.
So pbbbbb.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:15 pm
jm: I’ll bet you neither of those things happen regardless
Boris Badnoff
January 18th, 2013
3:15 pm
Alas there is a problem for liberals, progressives, generic do-gooders, and other deep thinkers. If the debt ceiling is raised to google to the google there will be limit to spending. Money will have to be printed as fast as ink goes on paper. That means trees will have to be cut down. The home provided by Mother Gaia for birds, squirrels, insects, and moss will destroyed. Global warming will be exacerbated by the loss of cooling shade. There’s always something.
Just Saying..
January 18th, 2013
3:15 pm
Jay, can we get an over/under for House-set debt ceiling deadlines? Maybe use 33 Obamacare votes as a goal?
I just don't get...
January 18th, 2013
3:16 pm
…so Granny, please explain – it appears that you cannot do that…at least I admitted that I don’t get it and all you can say is “obviously” – seems like you don’t get it either…
jm
January 18th, 2013
3:16 pm
Adam
” I’ll bet you neither of those things happen regardless”
that doesn’t leave much to wager on. oh well
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:17 pm
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:07 pm
If you are accusing Ayn Rand and/or me of oversimplifying and/or authoritarianism, how about an example?
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:17 pm
“This is my rifle, this is my gun”
Did you give it a name?
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:17 pm
so they might as well give out the reasonable good budget
There’s a perfectly good one right ’round here:
http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/CPC%20Budget%20One-Pager%20FINAL.pdf
(one page summary)
jm
January 18th, 2013
3:18 pm
your excessive military spending. solving problems.
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/has-darpa-created-a-magic-gluten-free-pill
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:18 pm
49ers GO BUST
Jay
January 18th, 2013
3:19 pm
Nduka, I agree about the need for an effective counter-balance. I also agree with “I just don’t get…” a bit earlier about the need to control spending, although his/her use of the word “moochers” suggests that we see things a little differently.
I think what we’re seeing is an effort to drag the GOP into an understanding of what a realistic deal might look like before that deal is cut. Entitlements will be adjusted, but we’re not going to turn Medicare into a private voucher program, and we’re not going to cut Medicare by 40 percent, as some in the GOP would like to fantasize.
Obama plays a long game.
Erwin's cat
January 18th, 2013
3:20 pm
Adam – M.C.: And PrezBO wants the debt ceiling raised without conditions
Which is exactly what he is getting.
as it should be!…i’m not even sure why there is such a thing as a debt ceiling..
Erwin's cat
January 18th, 2013
3:22 pm
GO 49ERS
Band-wagoners!
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:22 pm
2.6% of all murders are committed using any type of rifle
yet liberals are obsessed with assault rifles
displaced RAGE
misplaced LOGIC
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:22 pm
dbm, ethical egoism, the basis of that woman’s philosophy, is one that I find a multitude of significant problems with.
It also can lead to very unpleasant conclusions, such as choosing not to intervene in a crime against another. Egoists have difficulty judging anything that does not deal with themselves, which is one reason why ethical egoism is so impractical for people who are very aware of the world. The very legitimacy of the theory is often called into question because it prevents its own adherents from taking reasonable stances on major political and social issues and cannot in itself solve these issues.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ethical_egoism
Rand goes as far as to cast selfishness as a virtue and altruism as the height of foolishness. In a way, it could be seen that Rand is advocating that people act like psychopaths.
http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=2856
M.C.
January 18th, 2013
3:23 pm
Shared thoughts from the comment section @ news observer.com
I will asked a simple question. Is this the same president that said that he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than 250K a year? Have those of you that work for a living checked your paycheck out yet this year? You will find it 2% short because the Senate brokered deal with Obama’s approval did not continue the SS payroll employee tax reduction. Could a liberal out there explain how it was the Republican Congress that was going to raise taxes on everyone to protect the rich and now Obama should not be held accountable for not protecting the poor working man when he signed a law that did not include a continuation of the SS tax reduction? When the Republicans wanted everyone to keep the Bush tax cuts, Obama said that they will tax the middle class and poor to protect the rich —- well Obama DID allow the working man’s taxes to increase by 2% and everyone who gets a pay check should hold him accountable. When will the media tell the full story?
This is also the same president who said the Bush tax cuts are what put our budget deficit in the ditch, yet he just signed a bill making them permanent for 99% of Americans. So he signed what was effectively a short-term tax increase which hurt people in a recession, while making permanent long-term tax cuts which by his own admission will make it difficult to balance he budget.
Some leftists get it, some don’t.
Gale
January 18th, 2013
3:24 pm
Stands, thanks for posting the link.
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:25 pm
East Lake IRA
“Shouldn’t we then borrow as much as we can and invest in the US via new infrastructure etc?”
Any smart businessman would do that.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:25 pm
DebbieDoRight – The FB Player’s Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:13 pm
I’m sorry you’re unable to properly appreciate Ayn Rand.
You are misrepresenting her position. She said that we should not use government to redistribute wealth or to otherwise aggress. She also said that if a person leading a basically productive life is offered something by the government, they should take it. One reason for this is that government takes a lot more away from productive people than it ever gives back to them.
The one thing a person who understands these issues must not do is sell their soul by voting or advocating for wrongful government programs or policies.
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:26 pm
betty, without giving away too many details, my nickname in high school was tripod. (LOL at me and my juvenile sense of humor!)
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:26 pm
Republican bad, Democrat good…………Me no like republican Me like democrat.
Bizarro say: Me no like repugcan either. Me like Dem too.
=================
SoCoBro — Hey Bro – was thinking about your family the other day. How are they doing? Are they getting over the flu? Oh and how are you too?
=============
moonbat: We don’t need to go by a stupid budget. Budgets are for losers and wimps.
We be big pimpin!
Moonbat, are you chanelling your imaginary rapper boyfriend again? Big ups Moonie!
===========
jm: In the next two years.
So, the answer to that problem is just to wait the do-nothing-repugs out; and in 2 years we can get rid of them, (unfortunately the ones from the South will be around forever).
Living With Open Eyes
January 18th, 2013
3:26 pm
I’m a liberal and I don’t believe that it is unreasonable for the Senate to have a tentative budget by April 15. 50 Senators, each with staffs of at least 10 aides and interns, should be able to come up with a budget in the same time I’m required to prepare my 1040 and pay my taxes AND work a job.
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:27 pm
too funny dbm
so it’s okay to take money from the government, as long as you don’t vote for the politician who offers it to you?
you;’re kidding, right???
Mad Max
January 18th, 2013
3:28 pm
The Senate has not passed a budget in 4 years because Harry Reid does not want to expose the divisions within the Democratic party regarding Obama’s programs. A Senate budget would expose to the nation how the Obama/Reid/Pelosi team would spend money. They will avoid this exposure at all cost because they don’t want the American public to realize how irresponsible they been with spending. Thus, the Reid Senate does NOTHING. This forces the attention on Congress and parlays quite nicely into the Obama strategy of embarrassing the GOP rather than actually accomplishing anything. On Monday, Obama claimed tha thte GOP wanted to take the food out of children’s mouths. Nice way to start a second term. All of this is on display in a compliant media including this blog on a daily basis. It is time for Obama to start accepting responsibility for his own actions because after all, he got re-elected. He owns Obamacare (Ga. health care premiums going up 100%), Dodd-Frank (40% of all mortgages originated by Wells Fargo and insolvent Fed. housing agencies), and the bills are going to be passed on to me and you. The Obama administration is all about self-perpetuation and control. They don’t care if they ever get anything accomplished as long as they can stay on the payroll.
Redcoat
January 18th, 2013
3:30 pm
Meanwhile the taxpayers will be taking a 12 billion dollar hit from GM share sales……..it’s only somebody’s else money, that hasn’t even been born yet……no problem!
Gale
January 18th, 2013
3:31 pm
What we need more of in America is enlightened self interest, aka compassion. You want to complain that your SS tax went back up 2% ? It never should have been reduced. We hear complaints that SS is short on money because people live longer. When then did we ever think it was a good idea to reduce the funds going into SS? Personally, I want to see everyone’s grandparents and great-grandparents living in security and comfort. I never really expected SS to be around when I retire, I am surprised that it may be. But because I didn’t expect it, I have been planning retirement for many years. Even so, many people have savings blown away by financial disasters out of their control. SS should be there to help. 2% is a pittance.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:31 pm
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:25 pm
DebbieDoRight – The FB Player’s Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:13 pm
I’m sorry you’re unable to properly appreciate Ayn Rand.
++++++++++++++++++++
What is to appreciate about a loser drug addict meth ho who lived off the donations of others? She screwed anyone she could talk into it and would give her money. You’re damn right I don’t “appreciate” her. She was complete gutter scum
Why do you looney tunes love drug addicts who screw everything in sight so much? Ayn Rand the meth ho and Rush Limbaugh the oxy freak are your two biggest gods. Neither one has the intellect of a field mouse.
Appreciate THAT.
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:32 pm
Who would Obama root for – the Falcons or the Gold Diggers?
$100 says the Gold Diggers.
josef
January 18th, 2013
3:32 pm
Not even to the end of the first page and already veered way off topic, not that that’s such a bad thing. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s bored to tears by the same old same old day in and day out Guns, GOP and budget…there’s gotta be more to life…
Redcoat
January 18th, 2013
3:32 pm
*have not
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:32 pm
dbm: If you are accusing Ayn Rand and/or me of oversimplifying and/or authoritarianism, how about an example?
By comparing the current U.S. government to authoritarianism, you have, at best, engaged in oversimplification. You also happen to be wrong, but that’s besides the irony point.
DownInAlbany
January 18th, 2013
3:32 pm
I don’t give a rats behind who “caved” or who “retreats.” Obama got the increased taxes that he wanted. When in the heck are we going to see the “balanced” approach that gets thrown around? Both parties grandstand, that’s not news. WE, as a nation are over $16 TRILLION in debt with no plan to even slow the borrowing down. When we will see real leadership? IMO, neither side has at this point. I don’t care if the dems or pugs “win.” That’s not what it should be about. I just want some common sense returned (if there ever was any) to our federal government. To hell with the process of who does what. Quit towing the respective party line and do what’s best for us now and in the future. As far as I’m concerned they both suck!
Do I have the answers? Do you? Don’t be ridiculous…neither of us does. All this partisan bullspit is just that. Bullspit is bullspit, regardless of which bull it come out of.
fedup
January 18th, 2013
3:33 pm
I long for cons of yester years. Compared to these dumb arses they were smart.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:33 pm
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:22 pm
Whoever you are quoting seems to be using a weird definition of “egoism”.
Our political problems have been building for a long time and will probably take a long time to solve. The primary cause is that people try to do too much through government. The basic solution is to cut government back to its proper functions.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:34 pm
UNCLE SAMANTHA: 2.6% of all murders are committed using any type of rifle
yet liberals are obsessed with assault rifles
displaced RAGE
misplaced LOGIC
You’re right. We should target handguns instead, which account for almost half of ALL murders.
I mean, surely that’s what you meant, right?
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:35 pm
Fred,
You’re just upset the Boortz show is over.
What are you going to do in the morning now?
j/k
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:35 pm
FEDERAL GOVT needs no budget
architects need no designs when they build buildings
planes need no navigation systemts when they fly
surgeons need no ideas on why they are operating
who in their right mind thinks anyone or any organization should have any sort of plan
most success is built by winging it
nothing is more successfull than $16 trillion in debt
WHAT PLAN COULD HAVE ACHIEVED THAT
Redcoat
January 18th, 2013
3:36 pm
Something fishy going on in DC…….where is all the money?
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:36 pm
DownInAlbany: When in the heck are we going to see the “balanced” approach that gets thrown around?
When the House GOP lets the sequester happen and stops bellyaching over how “damaging” it would be to defense.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:37 pm
I see we’re back to the “If you have a plan on a piece of paper that’s all you need” mentality…..
Gale
January 18th, 2013
3:37 pm
Both party knows the cuts we really need will be unpopular. Neither wants to be the one to propose them. They are hoping to pin them on the President who does not have to face reelection.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:37 pm
Redcoat: where is all the money?
Money is an illusion.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:38 pm
Adam
YES!!!!
……………… that is exactly what i mean!!!!!!!!!
you focus on the real problems not the sensationalized story
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:38 pm
2.6% of all murders are committed using any type of rifle
OMG Uncle Sam! Are you still stroking that damn subject AGAIN? Dang go get a room! We’ve MOVED ON. Jeesh.
============
dbm: I’m sorry you’re unable to properly appreciate Ayn Rand.
I thought I parcelled up her position relatively succinctly: AynRand – “Government is bad for you. However, I am so high, that if I had the chance, I’d smoke government too.”
dmb: You are misrepresenting her position. She said that …………..She also said that ……………
Yes, Ayn said a lot of things when she was high. I’m just amazed that so many people actually believed in any of it though.
Look at California....
January 18th, 2013
3:38 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU27XO5vB2k
The “Great State” with the sunshine!!
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:38 pm
What is the point of having a ceiling if you are just going to keep raising it every time you hit it?
What we have is a rag top, not a ceiling.
Redcoat
January 18th, 2013
3:39 pm
Adam……I agree ,so why does DC want so much of it?
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:39 pm
Jeez, the ZOMG 16 Trillion card’s being played now.
Is there a new code in the DSM for this kind of number-phobia?
Brosephus™
January 18th, 2013
3:39 pm
as it should be!…i’m not even sure why there is such a thing as a debt ceiling..
AMEN!!!! We should do away with it completely.
——————-
DDR
We’re much better now. Thanks for asking. Mommy has a check in with the doc yesterday, and they are both ok. I dropped 15lbs in four days, and now my appetite is returning. That crap was no joke though, and I don’t wanna do that again.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:39 pm
Yeah betty, I’m gonna miss me some Neal. At least HIM I could occasionally listen too. now there is no reaso for me to tune int to WSB. No Neal, No Clark, just three of the biggest ass clowns on the face of the earth back to back to back.
NY Strips and Salmon on the grill:
I’m thinking do the salmon first at about 350 and then open up the vents and get it up to about 500 for the steaks. Does that sound about right?
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:40 pm
Whoever you are quoting seems to be using a weird definition of “egoism”.
Yet you offer nothing to countermand it, dbm.
I am certainly wide open to what specifically you find at fault with that information and what you have that demonstrates otherwise.
josef
January 18th, 2013
3:41 pm
NATHAN”S
“bunch of grandstanding racist, bigoted, hate mongering, sociopathic, narcissistic old white dudes whose days of leading a more diversified and educated citizenry are numbered”
Ah, I see the new memo has come out! But tell me, what is a “diversified” citizenry?
weetamoe
January 18th, 2013
3:41 pm
Bookman beats a hasty retreat from his testosterone masculine insecurity psychobabble in light of exposure of the dishonest anti-gun smears against Democrat John Barrow. Jim Galloway is an honest man. Can’t say the same for the ajc employee at this site.
Jefferson
January 18th, 2013
3:41 pm
The house has no credibiliy.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:41 pm
We’re much better now. Thanks for asking. Mommy has a check in with the doc yesterday, and they are both ok. I dropped 15lbs in four days, and now my appetite is returning. That crap was no joke though, and I don’t wanna do that again.
Try a flu shot next year. $25 at Kroger Pharmacy, should be covered by your insurance………
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
3:43 pm
Sounds good Fred.
If you can get some cedar planks, put the Salmon on those. Dang, that sounds good!
td
January 18th, 2013
3:43 pm
Jay,
Since you have quoted and placed Nate Silvers work during the election cycle so much then why have you not blogged about any of his recent work on the budget and on the chances of Dems taking back the HOR’s?
I guess it is because it does not fit the common core narrative that Republicans are bad and Democrats are good.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:43 pm
weetamoe
January 18th, 2013
3:41 pm
Bookman beats a hasty retreat from his testosterone masculine insecurity psychobabble in light of exposure of the dishonest anti-gun smears against Democrat John Barrow. Jim Galloway is an honest man. Can’t say the same for the ajc employee at this site.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Out down the crack pipe and back slowly away…………..
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:43 pm
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:27 pm
Maybe you should read my post more carefully.
Or maybe you should read Ayn Rand for a more thorough explanation.
guy
January 18th, 2013
3:43 pm
cons and crats.all are fools who think this mountain of mounting debt is not that serious. HELTER SKELTER IS COMING DOWN! THEN FOLKS WILL GET SERIOUS ABOUT THE BUSINESS THAT MUST BE TAKEN CARE OF. AIN’T NOTHING FREE FOREVER! THAT IS STUPIDITY AT IT’S BEST.
Redcoat
January 18th, 2013
3:43 pm
moonbat betty……they want your money with no restrictions……easier that way
Erwin's cat
January 18th, 2013
3:44 pm
Bro – I dropped 15lbs in four days, and now my appetite is returning. That crap was no joke though, and I don’t wanna do that again.
Glad you’re feeling better…I never used to get a flu shot until I got the flu like you did…all the other times I thought I had the flu it was easy compared to that one time where I had to get better to die. I haven’t missed a shot since and haven’t had the “flu” that bad since either
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:44 pm
Mad Max, I own a small – VERY small – business. I provide health insurance for my one employee. The cost went down this year for the same coverage.
I won’t be presumptuous enough to say that it;s entirely because of Obamacare, but that probably helped convince the big insurance company that they needed to try to be a little more competitive.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:45 pm
Or maybe you should read Ayn Rand for a more thorough explanation.
I hear her legs were like room-temperature butter; real easy to spread.
josef
January 18th, 2013
3:45 pm
DOGGONE
Let me know when you check in…got a quote for you with your love of wordsmithery…
East Lake Ira
January 18th, 2013
3:45 pm
DownInAlbany – We’ve already enacted $1.8 Trillion in cuts and only raised taxes by $600 Billion. We need to raise taxes a good bit more before we get a balanced approach.
Deal with it.
And, gimme your guns too.
DownInAlbany
January 18th, 2013
3:46 pm
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:36 pm
DownInAlbany: When in the heck are we going to see the “balanced” approach that gets thrown around?
When the House GOP lets the sequester happen and stops bellyaching over how “damaging” it would be to defense.
Adam, that certainly will not hurt, but, it’s not a cure-all. When do we stop pointing the finger at the other side? There’s plenty of blame to go around.
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:46 pm
“Or maybe you should read Ayn Rand for a more thorough explanation”
I will freely admit that I haven’t – and don’t intend to – read her materials. I see the results of her ‘thought’ every day from her true believers.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:46 pm
moonbat: Sometime (when I remember) I’ll write down the recipe for ginger lime salmon on a cedar plank. I forget what all goes into it, obviously (fresh diced) ginger and (zest of) lime rubbed into the salmon and then scraped off once it’s cooked, but it is AWESOME. I haven’t done it in years though so I’ll have to see where I wrote it down.
If I can get the wife to go to the store maybe I’ll grill some veggies too. I gotta check and see where we are relative to OUR debt ceiling………. might be frozen veggies until the end of the month lol.
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:47 pm
frog: do you need a spanking?
Twice a day and once on Sundays
=============
stands: Combination of laziness from the Press Corpse, and mendacity from their overlords.
Word. Did you see where the new “chief” of CNN did away with “investigative reporting?” It seems “investigative reporting” is too expensive when they can just piggyback off of another news media reports and run with that.
How damn IGNORANT is that? So, basically what they’re saying is, “We’re not interested in the truth, just ratings.” I know they have to make money, but there’s GOT TO BE A BALANCE somewhere.
Instead of looking for that balance, the lazy SOBs have just decided to bury their heads, sit on their hands, and pretend they don’t see that big azz cyclone coming right at them.
Peadawg
January 18th, 2013
3:48 pm
Congress not getting paid? AMEN!
I don’t do my job. I don’t get paid.
What makes these a**holes any different?
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:48 pm
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:31 pm
I’ve never paid much attention to Rush Limbaugh, partly because I get the impression he isn’t worth paying much attantion to.
You make about as much sense as someone calling Mother Theresa, Michelle Obama, Princess Di, or Jay’s mother a “ho”.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:49 pm
Sorry for the typo in the second occurrence of “attention” in my last post.
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:50 pm
Did you see where the new “chief” of CNN did away with “investigative reporting?”
oy. T!ts on a bull, balls on a pope, CNN on my Teevee, like the old joke says…
DownInAlbany
January 18th, 2013
3:50 pm
East Lake Ira
January 18th, 2013
3:45 pm
DownInAlbany – We’ve already enacted $1.8 Trillion in cuts and only raised taxes by $600 Billion. We need to raise taxes a good bit more before we get a balanced approach.
Cut spending!
Deal with it.
NO
And, gimme your guns too.
Come on DownInAlbany and get ‘em!
Doggone/GA
January 18th, 2013
3:50 pm
“Let me know when you check in…got a quote for you with your love of wordsmithery”
Be here for about the next 10 mins
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:51 pm
gotta leave the time-suck for a bit… don’t make any filthy jokes about Ayn Rand while I’m away.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
3:52 pm
Cherokee
January 18th, 2013
3:46 pm
“Or maybe you should read Ayn Rand for a more thorough explanation”
I will freely admit that I haven’t – and don’t intend to – read her materials. I see the results of her ‘thought’ every day from her true believers.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No really, you have to read a whole book to get the total depth of the stupidity of her mythical philosophy and see totaly mind numbingly repetitive her writing is. She repeats everything in Altas Shrugged at least 100 times because her sycophants are too stupid to get it the first time. It makes you sad to see how utterly clueless and insipd the main character, Dagny is. By the end of the book she is reduced to a level where she could hide her own Easter eggs………. you will see why it’s a perfect book for Republicans and Tea partiers. It’s total devoid of reality and thought.
skipper
January 18th, 2013
3:53 pm
@Erwins Cat;
I was at UGA when that Spanish flu (years ago) went around…..I got it. I was like you; afraid I was going to die, and the second day afraid I wasn’t! The flu does NOT discriminate nor does it give a rat’s a$$ about your political opinions. All of you out there-libs/conservatives/independents……..get your flu shot! I may not agree worth a d*mn with some of you all the time, but that does not mean I want you to get the flu!!!!!
stands for decibels
January 18th, 2013
3:54 pm
What is the point of having a ceiling
there’s GOTTA be an Ayn-Rand-such-a-slut joke in there somewheres…
/drive-by
Brosephus™
January 18th, 2013
3:55 pm
Fred
I never did those, but you’d better believe I’ll be the first one in line from now on.
—————
EC
I knew I was bad off when the virus came to me in a dream and told me how bad it was gonna f**k me up and there was nothing I could do about it.
Erwin's cat
January 18th, 2013
3:55 pm
oy. T!ts on a bull, balls on a pope, CNN on my Teevee, like the old joke says…
and Te’o stole my girlfriend!
dbm
January 18th, 2013
3:55 pm
Adam
January 18th, 2013
3:32 pm
I did not compare the U.S. government to authoritarianism. I implied that George III, Adolph Hitler, and Jim Crow were examples of authoritarianism. Maybe you should reread Jay’s 2:55 post that I was responding to.
josef
January 18th, 2013
3:57 pm
DOGGONE
Not a fan of the guy’s books, but have had to admit he’s not a half bad writer. Unmentionable, a fan, says this one is for certain posters hereabouts…I concur. I was waiting for a chance to use it, but since I couldn’t direct it to anyone personally given my New Year’s resolution, I thought I’d just share it with you for the turn of phrase value instead..
“…stir up endless, hideous possibilities in the pot of paranoia that is boiling on his mental stove.”
—One Door Away from Heaven, Dean Koontz
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:57 pm
AYN RAND – great author- horrible political thinker
HOLLYWOOD LIBERALS – great actors – horrible political thinkers
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
3:58 pm
Cherokee: “I will freely admit that I haven’t – and don’t intend to – read her materials. I see the results of her ‘thought’ every day from her true believers.”
How can you have an informed opinion if you do not investigate for yourself? Afraid of what you might think?
TBS
January 18th, 2013
3:58 pm
josef
You like Koontz?
I used to read his books on a regular basis. Haven’t read one in a year or so.
Doggone/GA
January 18th, 2013
3:59 pm
josef – yeah, that’s using words alright! I’ve never read his stuff either. I’m not even sure I know who he is. My taste in books tends to British writers anyway. And I’ve got to run. Be back later.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
3:59 pm
Jay, this entry only needs the first three words of your headline. Please edit.
OHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASE
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:00 pm
DebbieDoRight – The FB Player’s Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
3:38 pm
Very convenient for you to label Ayn Rand as “high” so you don’t have to understand or properly respond to what she said.
Kind of like someone labeling you as “Communist” for similar reasons.
TBS
January 18th, 2013
4:00 pm
josef
My bad. I saw the ending of your post. Should have done my homework and read the entire post.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:00 pm
R. Goulet — “How can you have an informed opinion if you do not investigate for yourself? Afraid of what you might think?”
I don’t need to drink poison to know that it tastes bad and isn’t good for me.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:00 pm
You make about as much sense as someone calling Mother Theresa, Michelle Obama, Princess Di, or Jay’s mother a “ho”.
Just because in your blind worship of the drug addicted ho and her incoherent ramblings you refuse to acknowledge the truth of who she was and what she did doesn’t alter the truth.
She was a user, a ho, a drug addict, and a manipulator of the weak minded. She dorked her so called “best friends husband among others. Like dB pointed out, she should have been named warm butter.
Your ignorant crap about ‘not understanding” is completely insane. I first read that useless book Atlas Shrugged back in 1977 when I was in the 8th grade. because I was stupid and naive I thought it was “great.” I thought Heinleins Time Enough for Love was a road map for life as well lol. As I grew older and wiser I saw her trash for the clap trap nonsensical drug induced raving that it was. I’ve probably only read that stupid book about 5 times over the years……….. it never got any better or any less bloviated.
One day when YOU grow up intellectually and mortally you will understand. Until then, I expect you to worship the drug addicted ho and compared to decent people.
Just damn, Ayn Rand is now Mother Theresa………… too sad.
moonbat betty
January 18th, 2013
4:02 pm
“What is the point of having a ceiling
there’s GOTTA be an Ayn-Rand-such-a-slut joke in there somewheres…”
Did they put mirrors on their ceilings back then???
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:02 pm
Redcoat: DC is the hub of the currency-backing machine and the entire world agrees to the U.S. currency being the global reserve currency, so they have quite a vested interest in keeping the illusion up. It’s about power.
but because we actually live in a COLLECTIVE rather than purely individual society, it would take a lot of people recognizing this for it to stop.
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
4:02 pm
Like Uncle Sammie read her books. That’s a good one…
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:03 pm
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
3:57 pm
AYN RAND – great author- horrible political thinker
HOLLYWOOD LIBERALS – great actors – horrible political thinkers
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
And Ayn Rand was a failed actress and screen writer………
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:04 pm
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
3:40 pm
Egoism is concern with one’s own interests. A lot of people are very confused by this because they’ve been brainwashed by the altruist morality.
All of Ayn Rand’s writings are evidence that you have misrepresented her.
TM
January 18th, 2013
4:04 pm
Great- now when this issues comes up again in 3 months everyone (okay maybe only some) will be paying their taxes, I don;t think Obama will want to have this debate at that time so he will once again tell them no and blame them for the problem
josef
January 18th, 2013
4:04 pm
TBS
“Should have done my homework and read the entire post.”
But if you did, you couldn’t play here. Ya know the rules!
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:04 pm
Ayn Rand wrote fiction. Pure fiction.
John Galt and several wealthy people left society to build their own (hardly individualist). The problem? Who built the homes? Who built and maintains the plumbing and electricity? Who makes sure the water is safe to drink and who harvests the food? You think Galt and his billionaire buddies did all that?
Simple Truths
January 18th, 2013
4:04 pm
Jay fires one more volley of hate before signing off for the weekend.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:06 pm
Simple Truths: Please quote Jay’s “hate.” Thanks in advance.
Simple Truths
January 18th, 2013
4:08 pm
Adam, read Jay’s post. Like most of Jay’s posts, this one drips with contempt and hate for the GOP.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:10 pm
Adam — “John Galt and several wealthy people left society to build their own (hardly individualist). The problem? Who built the homes? Who built and maintains the plumbing and electricity? Who makes sure the water is safe to drink and who harvests the food? You think Galt and his billionaire buddies did all that?”
This is *precisely* the error Rand makes in her fanciful fiction. Amazingly, for someone whose family fled the Soviet Union, Rand seems to have no problem banishing the notion of the bourgeousie from her mind, but only because she apparently doesn’t want her wealthy Galtian characters to have to actually *see* dirty, smelly manual laborers. Clearly, someone *else* handles talking to them, giving them orders and grudgingly handing out their pay envelopes on Fridays.
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
4:10 pm
JHM: “R. Goulet — “How can you have an informed opinion if you do not investigate for yourself? Afraid of what you might think?”
I don’t need to drink poison to know that it tastes bad and isn’t good for me.”
I read this crap everyday. It is always good to know the counterpoint if you are going to make a good argument no matter how silly the counterpoint may be.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:10 pm
All of Ayn Rand’s writings are evidence that you have misrepresented her.
No. Actually all of your misrepresentations of her writings are evidence that you don’t understand them. One day you will grok in fullness. Until that day you are merely an egg. You really should wait until fullness IS complete.
josef
January 18th, 2013
4:10 pm
SIMPLE
Nyanh…doesn’t drip with hate. Contempt, maybe.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:11 pm
Simple Truths: Adam, read Jay’s post.
……that’s what I thought. You got nothin.
indigo
January 18th, 2013
4:12 pm
Republicans are desperate for the 2014 mid-terms to get here. They’ve convinced themselves that Romney’s losing was just an aberation and that the next elections will return them to “normal”.
Because of this, they’ll do just enough to keep the ship of state sputtering along till their hopes of a generous comeback are fullfilled.
I would look for an all out barrage of brainwashing and propaganda messages from now until the elections in hopes of fooling enough of the mindless to restore them to their “rightful” place.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:12 pm
R. Goulet — “I read this crap everyday.”
A physician and a good emetic would do you a world of good, then.
“It is always good to know the counterpoint if you are going to make a good argument no matter how silly the counterpoint may be.”
I already *know* the counterpoint, having read Rand’s books many years ago as a teenager. I have no need to read them again, just as I have no need to be bitten by a poisonous snake more than once in my life.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:12 pm
Fred: One day you will grok in fullness.
Nominated for best sentence uttered today.
indigo
January 18th, 2013
4:13 pm
Brosephus
Did you get a flu shot?
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
4:14 pm
Adam:
“John Galt and several wealthy people left society to build their own (hardly individualist). The problem? Who built the homes? Who built and maintains the plumbing and electricity? Who makes sure the water is safe to drink and who harvests the food? You think Galt and his billionaire buddies did all that?”
Ummm… clearly you have not read the book.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:14 pm
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
4:10 pm
JHM: “R. Goulet — “How can you have an informed opinion if you do not investigate for yourself? Afraid of what you might think?”
I don’t need to drink poison to know that it tastes bad and isn’t good for me.”
I read this crap everyday. It is always good to know the counterpoint if you are going to make a good argument no matter how silly the counterpoint may be.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The counterpoint isn’t silly, the premesis is. The counterpoint is a logical extension of your “point.”
If I see hydrochloric acid eat through metal, not only do I not need to drink it to find out if it’s harmful, I would be foolish to do so.
You should brush up on your logic, if you actually even know any logic……. here let me help on your journey to enlightenment.
https://www.coursera.org/course/intrologic
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
4:15 pm
LIBERALS ARE HYPOCRITS
matt damon movies
matt damon makes $15,000,000
grip / set design / etc make $40,000
TALK ABOUT INCOME INEQUALITY
those GREEDY LIBERALS should spread the wealth to all those who helped make that movie instead of PREACHING against CEO’s who make more than the workers
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:15 pm
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:00 pm
Very convenient for you to use ad hominem and invective so you don’t have to address Ayn Rand’s ideas. Too bad you never progressed beyond an 8th grade understanding of her.
The main thing Ayn Rand and Mother Theresa have in common is that neither one is a “ho”.
indigo
January 18th, 2013
4:15 pm
Simple Truths
Well, at least half of your name is correct.
(hint – the correct half is NOT truths)
Just Saying..
January 18th, 2013
4:16 pm
“The fact that people claim to feel proud of such selfishness is amazing to me.”
The incomprehensible is when they do so during the organ prelude at church…
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
4:17 pm
Egoism is concern with one’s own interests.
True. And water is wet. Which is to say that you have said nothing of intellectual value.
A lot of people are very confused by this because they’ve been brainwashed by the altruist morality.
Please expound.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:17 pm
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:04 pm
Yes, they did. Maybe you should read more carefully.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:19 pm
robert goulet: Ummm… clearly you have not read the book.
HAHAHAHAHA! Wow. It’s pretty funny when I HAVE read a book and people make statements like this. It seems to me to be one of those bluffs meant to smoke out people they merely THINK didn’t read the book.
I definitely read it. I wanted to see what caused such a cult following. Not seeing it.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:22 pm
dbm and robert goulet: Suffice it to say I don’t buy the explanation of how Galt and his buddies did manual labor, considering the rest of the content and the short mention.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:22 pm
dbm — “Yes, they did. Maybe you should read more carefully.”
You make our point for us, and thank you for doing so.
Can you imagine Donald Trump digging a drainage ditch for his home? Digging potatoes for his supper? Hanging drywall in one of his residences?
If you can’t, then perhaps you can see why we point and laugh at Rand’s work.
If you can’t, then perhaps you’re being laughed at, too.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:23 pm
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:10 pm
Galtian characters have no problem getting dirty and smelly with “lousy” work where appropriate. As one of Ayn Rand’s characters says, they’re all aristocrats “because they know there’s no such thing as a lousy job, only lousy men that don’t care to do it.” If you don’t believe me, you didn’t read Atlas Shrugged carefully enough.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
January 18th, 2013
4:25 pm
how to decrease MURDER in this county
have Congress TAX ABORTIONS $3,000 each one
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:26 pm
“because they know there’s no such thing as a lousy job, only lousy men that don’t care to do it.”
That would be one of the short mentions I don’t buy.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:26 pm
You Robert Goulet? Stick to something you are good at and trying to sell the meth ho Ayn Rands fantasy land ain’t it.
Have you ever thought of acting or singing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGHLb6loHA
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
4:27 pm
Fred: Are you saying that all you know about the Republican agenda is what you read on this blog and in the comments? If so, you might want to broaden your horizon.
I come back to this blog to “take my poison” to get the counterpoint to my own feelings, things I read, and observations. I can sit on a Republican blog all day and claim that I don’t need to know what the Democrats are thinking because it is “poison,” but what does that do to help me be a more informed voter?
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
4:28 pm
Dhm: The rationally self-interested approach to dealings with others is that of the trader. A trader seeks to exchange value for value. A trader neither makes nor seeks sacrifice
The problem with that synopsis is that We, The People, are NOT traders; per se. What we are a nation with shared interests and goals. Would a trader, who sees a man’s house burn down, offer to give that man food and clothing until he gets on his feet? Or would a trader SELL the man the items that he needs? Millions of people volunteered, sent money, and sent goods, in order to help their fellow man when a disaster hit; (see HurricaneAndrew et al.). We also have surrendered our young, our friends and ourselves when we felt America threatened by outside entities, (see Greatest Generation, Pat Tillman), a “trader” would not do these sorts of things because a trader is only interested in profit or gain.
We, The People, are contrary, argumentative, manipulative and mean; but we also share the same common good and thoughts of protecting and preserving our “perfect union”.
===========
DogGone: Personally, I think the Senate should take this opportunity to pass as obnoxious a budget as they can come up with.
HeHe.
===========
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
4:28 pm
Forget those insufferable books by Rand, I’m not convinced Uncle Sammie has read any books!
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:28 pm
You asked for a definition of egoism and I gave you one. Sorry you didn’t like it.
I’m running out of time, so I’ll have to refer you to Ayn Rand’s writings on your other question.
harvey
January 18th, 2013
4:29 pm
You are just like the rest of the liberals. You want to keep spending other people’s money, but the sad fact is that Romney was right, the takers are outnumbering the makers. People I know who have located here from Bosnia tell me that they see the handwriting on the wall and we are becoming a socialist state from which they will immigrate back to their home country. When Bosnia seems better to live in than America, we really are in trouble. We need to get real about government spending. it is amost too late actually.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 18th, 2013
4:29 pm
Well, it don’t take a Norman Einsteen to see how all this is going to end. By May they’ll agree that Democrats will vote against cuts to the military if Republicans will vote against cuts in social spending. We’ll be right back where we are but we’ll feel a whole lot better about it.
Erwin's cat
January 18th, 2013
4:29 pm
Forget those insufferable books by Rand, I’m not convinced Uncle Sammie has read any books!
It hurts her lips after a while
Simple Truths
January 18th, 2013
4:31 pm
Adam,
Each day, Jay writes articles dripping with contempt, pointing out all the flaws of the GOP. This is the type of talk that makes it hard to have an honest debate in this country: one side demonizing another.
If you can’t see that, well…
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:31 pm
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:15 pm
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:00 pm
Very convenient for you to use ad hominem and invective so you don’t have to address Ayn Rand’s ideas. Too bad you never progressed beyond an 8th grade understanding of her.
The main thing Ayn Rand and Mother Theresa have in common is that neither one is a “ho”.
++++++++++++++++++
nice load of nothing. Your blind loyalty is what Ayn Rand required o the dummies around her she duped. She flaunted her many john’s in front of her husband who obviously was as weak as you appear to be.
What exactly do YOU call a woman who trades sexual favors for money? I and society from the beginning of time label that as a ho. (the full spelling gets auto snagged). You can obfuscate all you wish, write out little ditties that sound intelligent to you, use big words and phrases like “Ad hominem,” but that doesn’t change the fact of who Ayn Rand was and how insipid her drug induced ramblings were.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:31 pm
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:22 pm
I can imagine Trump doing all of those things if he decided to drop out of society like the Galtian characters did, or if he were marooned on a desert island.
On the other hand, what makes you so sure he is like a Galtian character?
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
dbm — “Galtian characters have no problem getting dirty and smelly with “lousy” work where appropriate.”
I disagree. The concept is glossed over in the book, and Rand *uniformly* writes her characters as mysteriously *more* capable than their workers, as if being a member of the producer class somehow grants you strength, endurance and speed beyond normal human capacity. Only Francisco, in my estimation, is written as a flawed member of the producer class.
“As one of Ayn Rand’s characters says, they’re all aristocrats “because they know there’s no such thing as a lousy job, only lousy men that don’t care to do it.”
And this is precisely my point. Laborers are less than producers, and complaining laborers even less so. It’s this horrifying acceptance of egregious classism that’s all the more amazing to see in someone who’s fled the Soviet state.
“If you don’t believe me, you didn’t read Atlas Shrugged carefully enough.”
I think *you* didn’t read it carefully enough. Rand *idolizes* the exploitation of workers and dismisses their concerns while granting ‘producers’ near-rock star status.
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:34 pm
I have to leave now, so I won’t be able to answer any more smears.
DownInAlbany
January 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
Now that we’ve solved the country’s problems, how about a little Tommy Emmanuel for the ride home?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S33tWZqXhnk
JamVet
January 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
egoism
noun
1. the habit of valuing everything only in reference to one’s personal interest; selfishness ( opposed to altruism ).
2. egotism or conceit.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
Adam
January 18th, 2013
4:19 pm
robert goulet: Ummm… clearly you have not read the book.
HAHAHAHAHA! Wow. It’s pretty funny when I HAVE read a book and people make statements like this. It seems to me to be one of those bluffs meant to smoke out people they merely THINK didn’t read the book.
I definitely read it. I wanted to see what caused such a cult following. Not seeing it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You aren’t seeing it Adam because you aren’t stupid enough. There IS nothing to see. You saw through the fantasy land while folks like RG and dbm have not. In a typical Republican way that makes YOU stupid. Just like they need a “demon” 47% to blame their failing on.
They can’t stand tall on their own merit so they have to diminish ohters. It’s always “those people” who are too stupid to see or “those people” who are moochers, or “those people’ who are to blame for the lack of success of their failed ideas.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
R. Goulet — “I can sit on a Republican blog all day and claim that I don’t need to know what the Democrats are thinking because it is “poison,” but what does that do to help me be a more informed voter?”
Logic FAIL.
I read Rand years and years ago.
When were you ever a liberal or a Democrat?
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:38 pm
dbm
January 18th, 2013
4:34 pm
I have to leave now, so I won’t be able to answer any more smears.
+++++++++++++++++++
Translation: He had his ass so readily handed to him that he has to run away while he still has the ability to fool himself.
DannyX
January 18th, 2013
4:39 pm
“People I know who have located here from Bosnia tell me that they see the handwriting on the wall and we are becoming a socialist state from which they will immigrate back to their home country.”
I know some people from Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan who say the same thing. Luckily Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan Air-air-lines is ready when I am.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:39 pm
dbm — “I can imagine Trump doing all of those things if he decided to drop out of society like the Galtian characters did, or if he were marooned on a desert island.”
I can’t. I can, however, imagine him *looking* for someone to do it *for* him.
“On the other hand, what makes you so sure he is like a Galtian character?”
He’s a ‘producer.’ How many members of Rand’s ‘producer’ class were not Galtian figures? How many lived among the workers on a routine basis?
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
4:39 pm
Fred: Thank you for reminding me of what a wonderful talent I am.
I am not trying to change anyone’s mind about Atlas Shrugged. All I am saying is that you (not necessarily you specifically) should probably read the book before you try to tell me what it is about.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:40 pm
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:36 pm
R. Goulet — “I can sit on a Republican blog all day and claim that I don’t need to know what the Democrats are thinking because it is “poison,” but what does that do to help me be a more informed voter?”
Logic FAIL.
I read Rand years and years ago.
When were you ever a liberal or a Democrat?
+++++++++++++++++++++++
You also failed to note JHM that you (and I) were Republicans, when were they ever (in my case) an Independent, or liberal, or a democrat in your case.
Abrazos
January 18th, 2013
4:41 pm
As a twenty-year-old, I read Ayn Rand voraciously. First “The Fountainhead” then “Anthem”, “We the Living” and finally “Atlas Shrugged”. It made ideological sense to a kid who had never worked, didn’t have a family to be responsible for, and hadn’t interacted with a world outside my own narrow one. I called myself an “Objectivist” without understanding what “Objectivvism” meant.
I went back and read “Atlas Shrugged” when I was forty and had been out in the world a while. I had to laugh at my twenty-year old self who was so enraptured by Ayn Rand purism. At about the same time, I was decidedly not amused that Alan Greenspan, head of the Fed, was a Rand devotee and said, “I still found the broader philosophy of unfettered market competition compelling, as I do to this day.” As one who lost 40% of my investments in early 2009 due to “unfettered market competition”, I concluded that the Ayn Rand philosophy was not only a youthful fantasy, it was mighty costly when applied. It was to me, anyway.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:41 pm
Harvey — “People I know who have located here from Bosnia tell me that they see the handwriting on the wall and we are becoming a socialist state from which they will immigrate back to their home country.”
I hear that Clognia-Hertztagetintoya is beautiful this time of year.
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
4:41 pm
dmb: Very convenient for you to label Ayn Rand as “high” so you don’t have to understand or properly respond to what she said.
Very convenient of YOU to label her as a God and every word that falls from her mouth as Gospel so you wont’ have to see the truth.
AynRand was what we’d call today a sociopath.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 18th, 2013
4:42 pm
Fred — “You also failed to note JHM that you (and I) were Republicans, when were they ever (in my case) an Independent, or liberal, or a democrat in your case.”
I was leading him there, as the horse must first be led to water before it will drink.
Fred ™
January 18th, 2013
4:43 pm
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
4:39 pm
Fred: Thank you for reminding me of what a wonderful talent I am.
I am not trying to change anyone’s mind about Atlas Shrugged. All I am saying is that you (not necessarily you specifically) should probably read the book before you try to tell me what it is about.
+++++++++++++++++++
That song was always a favorite of mine and I got to see you (Goulet lol) do the play in later years as Arthur.
As to Ayn Rand? Like I said, I’ve read that book at least 5 times over the last 30+ years………. and I would suggest that maybe it’s you who fails to understand.
M.C.
January 18th, 2013
4:45 pm
True altruism is self sacrifice. You give all that you have for others. You then become an egoist taking all that others have to give.
It’s suicide.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 18th, 2013
4:46 pm
AynRand was what we’d call today a sociopath.
Well, what do you expect from a woman that can’t even spell “Ann” right?
Welcome to the Occupation
January 18th, 2013
4:48 pm
Just back from a meeting with comrades. How are you sh$tkickers and rubers doing?
DebbieDoRight - The FB Player's Imaginary Girlfriend From Canada
January 18th, 2013
5:08 pm
Ayn Rand is one of America’s great mysteries. She was an amphetamine-addicted author of sub-Dan Brown potboilers, who in her spare time wrote lavish torrents of praise for serial killers and the Bernie Madoff-style embezzlers of her day.
She opposed democracy on the grounds that “the masses”—her readers—were “lice” and “parasites” who scarcely deserved to live. Yet she remains one of the most popular writers in the United States, still selling 800,000 books a year from beyond the grave.
She regularly tops any list of books that Americans say have most influenced them. Since the great crash of 2008, her writing has had another Benzedrine rush, as Rush Limbaugh hails her as a prophetess. With her assertions that government is “evil” and selfishness is “the only virtue,” she is the patron saint of the tea-partiers and the death panel doomsters.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2009/11/how_ayn_rand_became_an_american_icon.html
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 18th, 2013
5:17 pm
So far the House GOP has publicly read the US Constitution twice. Did they overlook the 27th Amendment each time?
barking frog
January 18th, 2013
5:21 pm
Ayn Rand was a scam artist that wrote butter for rich butts so
they could attempt to justify their wealth without guilt or obligation
to help the less fortunate and it worked for a while then she became
a meth head and had to go to the government for assistance in
her last years while the wealthy applied her philosophy to her.
robert goulet
January 18th, 2013
5:29 pm
JHM: “Logic FAIL. I read Rand years and years ago. When were you ever a liberal or a Democrat?”
So let me get this straight… I have a habit of reading Jay’s blog (among others) so that I can be a more informed voter. Someone said that they did not need to read Ayn Rand because it is all “poison.” I asked how someone could make an informed opinion if they had not actually read the subject of the opinion. I make a point that I could sit in my own little bubble claiming that everything on the outside is “poison.” Then you question if I have ever been a Democrat? Talk about Logic FAIL…
I generally disagree with Jay on everything he writes, but I like to read it because he generally backs his arguments up with facts. The facts may be skewed in his favor at times, but I do not expect any more or less. I don’t understand why you, as you state, a former Republican, would argue against this?
Adam
January 18th, 2013
5:33 pm
Simple Truths: This is the type of talk that makes it hard to have an honest debate in this country: one side demonizing another.
Right because it’s not like it’s a two way street or anything….
Your initial post was that there was hate. There was not. After consideration of what I assume was another posters comment, you changed it to contempt.
The bottom line is Jay hasn’t filled his posts with vitriol. Instead he brings up some points about the GOP. Further, it is worth noting that one need not measure up to some ideal of fairness in order to express an opinion, even if one does not do as Jay has done and do so by citing historical fact.
If you want to see both sides get along, you can start by trying to encourage people on the conservative side to follow Christie’s path. Surely that will b more comfortable because they get to keep their name calling but have to drop several agenda items that they have been told to support as governance.
Cosby
January 18th, 2013
5:41 pm
Why bmae the republicans or the wimps as they should be called…lets just give Barry Soetoro a blank check, tell hinm to write ad much as he wants and then watch the cliff come. Budget, debt ceiling – if any household or business was run like these weesels – both parties – they would not be around. how about, Jay, an honest blog on waht the DC elite is not doing…being responsible and then a blog on holding them accountable…but wit it must be Republicans only taht are screwing the USA…Obama aka Barry, Harry and nancy would nev er do that…what a bundh of BS..justlike this biased paper and the rest of the news media….all full of Sh..!!!!!
Adam
January 18th, 2013
5:53 pm
robert goulet: As I mentioned, I read it and honestly it was a waste of time. The only benefit I got out of reading it was being able to rebuff the logical fallacy the cultish use to dismiss any argument against the Sacred Writings of “Well OBVIOUSLY you didn’t READ it.”
The bottom line is it is all based on a lie. The government and the people do not suddenly have a societal collapse if a segment of society that identifies as “thinking people” leaves it. People certainly don’t need a sage to come off the mountaintop and ramble on about how bad collectivism is.
We are a collective society that also recognizes individual rights. But we balance the two. Instead of insisting on one or the other, we find a middle ground. What the Objectivism mindset does is focus only on the individual, and that society as a whole is merely a bunch of people who cooperate because all of them get something out of it. This is contrary to human nature, which is to care for the elderly and sick and children all at great expense to one’s own well being at times, and this type of human tribal mentality has been shown through archaeological evidence.
It is human nature to build a collective society. We can’t help it. It’s what we want to do. And we don’t necessarily get some logical benefit from doing so.
Objectivism ignores all of civilization as a proper influence, and yet the sum of human knowledge, which Ayn Rand herself says is somehow up to the individual to obtain, cannot be gathered into one human being’s mind. It is distributed. I know things you don’t know and vice versa. This is not an accident. Ayn Rand treats things as though a human can just learn whatever they want and retain it if they just decide to. That doesn’t work either. It is especially in conflict with her ideas about capitalism and the supposed virtues of following her capitalist views.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
5:59 pm
The real underlying problem is that Ayn Rand and her fictional characters are treated as deities and the behavior of Ayn Rand aficionados is cult like. It would be fine if we were just talking about someone being fans of books but objectivist people seek to change a society based on nothing but works of fiction and weak logic.
RF
January 18th, 2013
6:16 pm
“As one who lost 40% of my investments in early 2009 due to “unfettered market competition”, I concluded that the Ayn Rand philosophy was not only a youthful fantasy, it was mighty costly when applied.”
Yeah, tell me about it. And the fact that we lost so much when it was preventable had the government been doing something besides rampant deregulation is what really gets me steamed. That and the fact that I have taken repeated pay cuts every year while being told “you should be glad you have a job” has me really tired of the conservative rhetoric about “competition” and “job creators” when those folks have, by all accounts, fared this mess rather well. It’s like saying “thank you” to the rapist.
Adam
January 18th, 2013
6:24 pm
RF: hear hear
Adam
January 18th, 2013
6:33 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/john-galt-is-a-crybaby-an_b_1263671.html
RF
January 18th, 2013
6:41 pm
“but objectivist people seek to change a society based on nothing but works of fiction and weak logic”
To me, it’s like a last-ditch effort to find something, anything, to justify what is clearly a crumbling system of cultural belief and governing. The ideology of thewhite guy as the only real, capable leadership is changing, and those devotees of whom you speak are only grasping with the tenacity of the dying at an almost laughable view of life and the world. Instead of embracing the unchangable diversity of our country, instead of coming to terms with the fact that they have to embrace and appeal to a broader audience, they resort to quoting Rand as some sort of authority. It saddens me because we need conservative balance and our government works because of the push and pull of opposing ideas. That opposition works because in the end they know that the real business of maintaining this nation takes place in between two opposed ends. They’ve let the extreme of their party take over, and despite the repeated proof that the extreme end isn’t capable of governing in a diverse society, they jump desperately at anything that will justify that extremism.
Dharma Bum
January 18th, 2013
6:43 pm
America is exhausted. The same tired, worn-out, and empty rhetoric litters the media and comparatively little gets done. At this point, we Americans deserve this… people continue to keep the Democrats and Republicans in power when the evidence has overwhelmingly shown year after year that NEITHER party is willing to take responsibility for anything and NEITHER party has the best interests of America as their foremost priority. Demonization and defamation of the opposition has replaced legislation in Washington D.C..
Elections Have Consequences
January 18th, 2013
8:14 pm
Incredible, isn’t it? This abject failure of a President has refused to address spending by walking away from Simpson-Bowles, failing to make any substantive cuts-except for Medicare-and has raised taxes across the board-and it’s it the fault of the House.
The latest GAO report details the trouble this country is in-and no amount of deflection is going to mute that.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-271R
Simple Truths
January 18th, 2013
9:32 pm
Adam: “The bottom line is Jay hasn’t filled his posts with vitriol.”
I disagree Adam. Jay’s posts are filled with vitriol. Read some of his posts and sample his word choices. Jay is part of the problem.
While it is a two way street, I’m not going to overlook what Jay is doing because someone else is also a part of the problem. If you want to call out what conservatives are saying as preventing healthy discourse, you are free to do so.
Mr Right
January 18th, 2013
11:42 pm
Simple Truths
January 18th, 2013
9:32 pm
Adam: “The bottom line is Jay hasn’t filled his posts with vitriol.”
I disagree Adam. Jay’s posts are filled with vitriol. Read some of his posts and sample his word choices. Jay is part of the problem.
While it is a two way street, I’m not going to overlook what Jay is doing because someone else is also a part of the problem. If you want to call out what conservatives are saying as preventing healthy discourse, you are free to do so.
We all know what Jays agenda is –Smear the GOP, pretty much never give them credit for anything while doing the opposite for the Dems! If Jay didn’t do that he wouldn’t be Jay!
JKL2
January 19th, 2013
1:45 am
Demwits: Why don’t you just say you want to send everyone a check $1mil and call it a day?
Spend baby spend!!!
Raising taxes on the evil rich solved 6% of our financial problem. Pay increases for everyone!
Donovan
January 19th, 2013
10:39 am
What a cocky little liberal punk you have turned out to be with the re-election of that radical Marxist.
Talking about the antics of the GOP members of the House? Have you conveniently forgotten the antics of your Democrat rabble when the GOP dominated both houses during the early days of the Bush administration? Back then you people thought you were in the minority.
No big deal about not passing a senate budget for the last 4years? I guess when you Democrats want to keep spending and keep ringing up the national debt, there can’t be a budget. You lousy little hypocrites!
Go take your dumb progressive rear end into the weekend with another one of your very progressive and hip songs, you idiot.
Adam
January 19th, 2013
12:05 pm
Simple Truths: I disagree Adam. Jay’s posts are filled with vitriol.
Then your definition of vitriol and mine differ, I wonder how your own definition would change if I presented exactly the same tone and word usage from this post leveled against the left?
Adam
January 19th, 2013
12:11 pm
Donovan: LOL. Your post exemplifies what I mean by vitriol. Simple Truths, take note.
You equating a GOP majority with antics to a Democrat minority with antics is false analogy. Secondly, we haven’t had a real budget since 1997, and yet in 1998 and 1999 we did fine on making sure revenue outpaced spending. The real problem is the tax cuts, another Bush led initiative that left us with no good options. Combine that with the rapid increase in spending (I forget the calculus term but it saw a dramatic upswing throughout the Bush years) and you have the exact recipe for why were are in this mess.
Behold: A graph of revenue and spending via the Heritage Foundation!
http://www.heritage.org/federalbudget/charts/2012/growth-federal-spending-revenue-680.jpg
Spending took an upswing, revenue became a wavy line, and it wasn’t until Obama got in office that the spending leveled out.
The facts are the facts: Republicans in Presidential office do not control spending, they control revenue. Democrats in Presidential office control spending and sometimes increase revenue. And the chart shows which of these works better for getting a handle on the year by year deficit.