Oh, that dreaded, awful sequester
With the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester set to kick in Friday (March 1) unless an alternative deal is reached, be ready to hear about all the terrible, horrible, unfathomable effects of cutting … less than 3 percent of all federal spending.
To put things in perspective, economist Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute (and a double Dawg) prepared this graph from Congressional Budget Office data:
Note that, even after the sequester, spending continues to rise every year — in large part because the sequester doesn’t touch entitlements, which are the fastest-growing part of the budget.
Will there be an effect on some people? Of course: The only way there wouldn’t be is if the feds were simply taking tens of billion dollars a year and lighting them on fire. But as far as a modest measures for beginning to curb runaway spending go — and not even this White House is denying any longer that this country has a spending problem — we will hardly see anything more modest than the sequester. Anyone who says we can’t live with the sequester would probably say the same thing about any spending cuts whatsoever.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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276 comments Add your comment
md
February 25th, 2013
1:25 pm
That 6 trillion number should be the one folks are concerned with…….along with everything in between.
BW
February 25th, 2013
1:26 pm
Kyle
The only thing being arguing is that the cuts due for this fiscal year will cause real harm because the fiscal year is almost halfway over. Now no one, not Republicans or Democrats, have really proposed taking that spending graph and making the slope of that graph tilt downward in the out years.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
1:30 pm
So if the cuts will inspire nothing more than a collective yawn, why is the GOP so desperately trying to pin the blame for these cuts on Obama? Given the whole “government is not the solution to our problems, government IS the problem” mentality, shouldn’t the Grand Old Party be stepping up to the plate & owning these cuts, rather than pointing their fingers like a bunch of tattling 10-year-olds?
I mean, c’mon Kyle. We’re a center-right country, right? Silent majority & all that? I’ve been so many times that conservative ideas, presented clearly, will win every time. Doesn’t get more clear than a 9% across the board cut. Therefore I expect the Republicans to issue a press release any day now proudly heralding the sequester and promising more of the same, once they’re returned to power.
On second thought … maybe I won’t hold my breath for that release…
Henne
February 25th, 2013
1:31 pm
Amend the law to allow the departments to pick their cuts this year, but make them they must.
indigo
February 25th, 2013
1:35 pm
If you are the one losing a job, in this economy, it may certainly be “terrible”.
Unfortunately, most of the unaffected, comfortable cons will take the “let them eat cake” attitude.
How does that old song go? “It’s a hard rain thats gona fall”.
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
1:35 pm
Not anymore, Holmes. Them days done gone.
cj
February 25th, 2013
1:40 pm
The GOP dug their own grave…
Lynnie Gal
February 25th, 2013
1:43 pm
When your the one waiting in line at Airport Security to catch a plane and have to wait an additional few hours, you might see some of your “comfortable” colleagues whistling another tune. You cons figure as long as it’s just the poor going without food or commoner’s children who are herded into crowded classrooms, it doesn’t affect you. But, when it’s your plane going down in flames because of a slowdown by air traffic controllers who can’t do an adequate job anymore because of cuts, it might change your minds.
MarkV
February 25th, 2013
1:51 pm
The fallacy of Kyle’s (and others’) sequester cuts vs. future spending argument is that those two are not related the way Kyle (and Mitchell) are presenting them. The purpose of the sequester cuts was NOT to affect directly the federal spending in the future. It was to force the “super committee” to agree on a plan that would do that, using a threat of painful cuts now. For that reason the sequester cuts were not made in a way that would address either the appropriateness of the cuts in specific programs or the future budgets in general.
If Kyle believes that the sequester cuts are so innocuous, the best thing we can do is to wait for the judgment of the people if they are allowed to happen.
Scooter
February 25th, 2013
1:51 pm
When have Democrats ever wanted to seriously talk about spending cuts? The projected balanced budget under Clinton, which they all like to brag about, only came about because republicrats in congress forced the discussion. Democrats take it in from the minority and spread it around to the majority… reductions are only good politics among financially responsible people and that’s not the democrat base.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
1:53 pm
I think a look at the facts are in order.
1. This idea orginiated in the White House.
2. Both houses of Congress passed it.
3. The President signed it.
4. The Republican House passed to measures to stop sequester from happening, the Senate ignored them.
5. Either house could propose a bill to allow targeting the cuts and they should, the President vowed to veto the measure.
6. All 85 billion will not be cut this year, only the pro-rata share since the start of the fiscal year last Oct.
7. These “cuts” or only a cut in the increases only, the federal budget will continue to grow. We continue on a path to add over one trillion to the national debt.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:01 pm
Lynnie Gal-
Your comment reminds me of my childhood, what was the name of that story that went “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”.
1961_Xer
February 25th, 2013
2:01 pm
Let the cuts happen. The DOD budget NEEDS to be trimmed, as well as every other part of government. If a department can’t find 2% of fat to cut, they aren’t trying very hard.
That said, this is ALL on the President. He/his administration put the sequester on the table, the Democrat controlled-senate passed it, and he signed it into law. Republicans are willing to deal, but Obama is going to have to make the first move with his recommendations of where HE would cut the $85 billion. Since all we have out of the president is a talking populist monologue, it is clear that he is not going to lead on this issue, and the cuts as exist are almost exclusively Obama’s doing/fault.
There is no reason for Republicans to do anything. They gave in to the sequester/debt ceiling deal. They gave into tax rate increases. They are done getting rolled. This is a Democrat created problem and it will require Democrat solutions.
md
February 25th, 2013
2:07 pm
“When your the one waiting in line at Airport Security to catch a plane and have to wait an additional few hours, you might see some of your “comfortable” colleagues whistling another tune.”
That number gets to 6 trillion as projected, airport lines will be the last of our worries……..big picture folks, big picture.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 25th, 2013
2:07 pm
The reason the Republicans aren’t embracing it with open arms is because they know it will hurt the recovery. They have to weigh these small cuts with what damage is done to the economy and jobs and how that will affect their runs in 2014.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 25th, 2013
2:10 pm
That said, this is ALL on the President.
Can’t even take a small percentage of responsibility in this matter? That figures.
The party of responsibility? Hehehe
td
February 25th, 2013
2:14 pm
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
1:53 pm
Well said.
One additional point: The overall budget still goes up by $15 billion this year after the sequestration.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:15 pm
Finn-
And what responsibility has the President taken? Let me give you an easier one, what responsibility has Reid taken for not passing a budget for 4 years?
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:16 pm
td-
exactly
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
2:19 pm
We didn’t have a spending problem until we started cutting revenue (1982-2008)…
td
February 25th, 2013
2:21 pm
Finn McCool (The System isn’t Broken; It’s Fixed)
February 25th, 2013
2:07 pm
The reason the Republicans aren’t embracing it with open arms is because they know it will hurt the recovery. They have to weigh these small cuts with what damage is done to the economy and jobs and how that will affect their runs in 2014.
We can not continue to prop up and economy on the backs of our children and grandchildren. We can either suffer a little now or our children and grandchildren will not be able to survive in the future.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
2:23 pm
Here is what the Party of Responsibility actually wants:
1. Sequester takes effect (making the cuts Republicans have been saying they wanted but are too cowardly to actually & specifically propose)
2. Economy begins to sag (as every economist in the world says it will following immediate & drastic cut in government spending)
3. Fear & continued Washington dysfunction rattle markets, economy sinks lower (Republicans continue saying the sequester was Obama’s idea & resume their “failed president” rhetoric)
4. Public now doesn’t care about sequester; they just know the economy is in recession (just as the Republicans hoped it would be)
5. 2014 (or ‘16) rolls around, and Republicans campaign against Democrats for tanking the economy through the very cuts Republicans have wanted all along.
Will it happen? Who knows. But make no mistake, that is precisely the scenario Mitch McConnell is hoping for.
bluecoat
February 25th, 2013
2:25 pm
Lynnie when the plane is falling.The whitey prayers will be God don’t let me die,but if I do please ST.Peter don’t house me with no black.The Teaquester will hurt,regardless who’s to blame. It all boils down to the refusal to raise the debt limit.#1 priority make him a one termer.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
2:25 pm
If that’s really the case, Kyle, why are so many Republicans giving the credit/blame to the President?
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:26 pm
Jefferson-
You are partially correct. With exception of the Gingrich House, Congress has been on a spend now pay later binge. Only Clinton for three years held the line and that resulted in a Clinton/Gingrich balanced budget.
Reagan, Bush-1, Clinton(first term), Bush-2 nor Obama have tried to balance the budget and caused an explosion in our debt.
jconservative
February 25th, 2013
2:26 pm
The day the bill passed Speaker Boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted. I figured then it was a done deal.
td
February 25th, 2013
2:27 pm
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
2:19 pm
We didn’t have a spending problem until we started cutting revenue (1982-2008)
You can take 100% of the income of the top 5% and still not balance the budget. We do not have a revenue problem but a spending problem. Our nation CAN NOT continue to support 20 to 25% of this nation for their day to day subsistence.
Georgia
February 25th, 2013
2:28 pm
Those three topless Italian magpies showed up in Washington today protesting the sequester. The Saudis have to be behind this. (no defense cuts).
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
2:28 pm
If the economy actually begins to sag due to a minor decrease in the rate of spending increases in government spending, as Mr. Holmes suggests it will, then our economy is in worse shape than even he might be able to figure out.
Any economy should never be so tied to government spending that it could go into the tank with such miniscule cuts to increases.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:29 pm
bluecoat-
Are you kidding me? Go back and crawl under the rock you have been hiding under.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:30 pm
Well said Tiberius.
Darwin
February 25th, 2013
2:32 pm
It’s just PR time right now for all sides. Just wait when long lines form at airports due to TSA layoffs. Then when someone gets inconvenienced (Tea Party types as well) – and the press starts covering it – we’ll see who comes out on top.
td
February 25th, 2013
2:32 pm
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
2:23 pm
We are already in a negative growth rate for last quarter without sequestration.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
2:34 pm
“Just wait when long lines form at airports due to TSA layoffs.”
Seriously? Again, if you target what is arguably a valid role of public safety (even as overblown and inefficient as TSA is), an 8% cut to INCREASED spending is going to cause long lines at airports?
Seriously?
Who believes this nonsense?
bluecoat
February 25th, 2013
2:35 pm
Retired the name is the Obama train “I think I can,I think I can”.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
2:36 pm
Tiberius: That is plain & utter nonsense. In ANY modern economy, government spending is going to be the single largest infusion of capital. Shocking that inflow is going to have an effect, I don’t care if you’re China, the U.S., Germany or the Cayman Islands.
sailfish
February 25th, 2013
2:37 pm
Tiberius
That certainly is the narrow view; any job lost due to the cuts will have a ripple effect throughout the economy, less goods are bought and less services demanded. That might be ok for you, but not so good if you are on the receiving end.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
2:37 pm
We are already in a negative growth rate for last quarter without sequestration.
Yes, we are. And do you happen to know what caused that? Go ahead & Google, I’ll wait.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:38 pm
bluecoat-
Nope, the name according to your 2:25 post is racist. John Lewis would be disgusted with you.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
2:46 pm
“Reagan, Bush-1, Clinton(first term), Bush-2 nor Obama have tried to balance the budget and caused an explosion in our debt.”
Retired Soldier speaks the truth.
As if there was actual listening to be found…
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:48 pm
Thanks Just Saying
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
2:48 pm
“Tiberius: That is plain & utter nonsense.”
You want nonsense, Mr. Holmes, re-read your next statement: ” In ANY modern economy, government spending is going to be the single largest infusion of capital.”
Says who? You? Where did you get your degree in economics; the University of Bejing?
“Shocking that inflow is going to have an effect, I don’t care if you’re China, the U.S., Germany or the Cayman Islands.”
Reducing the INCREASE in spending by single digits is now considered to be “shocking” the largest economy remaining in the entire world?
What hyperbolic planet do you and bluecoat live on?
getalife
February 25th, 2013
2:48 pm
The gop should surrender to President Obama, get out of the way of our recovery and fix their failed party.
Aynie Sue
February 25th, 2013
2:48 pm
1961-Xer … the Congress, not the President, is required by the Constitution to budget federal expenditures.
Revenue and spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives. For several years now, the House has not been able and willing to produce a federal budget acceptable to the Senate, the President, and the American people.
The “sequester ” is the fault of the House to carry out its Constitutional responsibility. The economic impact should, and will be, blamed on the Republican congressmen who resist sensible tax reform that would produce revenue offsets for sensible spending cuts.
The economic damage that will be wrought by the “sequester” spending cuts is predictable by economic theory and the examples of the European economies that have put spending cuts ahead of economic recovery. It is massive job loss, a return to economic recession, and lower private investment in job-creating enterprise.
Rush
February 25th, 2013
2:52 pm
Last comment went off into cyberspace…..not sure what was stated that was so bad.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
2:53 pm
The gop want to kill another 750,00 jobs because the gop are job killers.
The focus is on job growth for consumers but the gop shifted on cutting defense spending.
Keeping up with new gop positions is hard because they change positions daily.
This is called flailing in the wilderness without leadership.
When are you cons going to fix your party?
Hillbilly D
February 25th, 2013
2:54 pm
I’m not a betting man but if I was, I’d be this never happens. We’ll most like get an 11th hour “deal” that kicks the can another 3-6 months down the road. Personally, I’ve long since tired of this game.
Matt321
February 25th, 2013
2:55 pm
I am sad a double dog would produce such a misleading, useless graph. I’m ambivalent on the sequester, but that graph shows TOTAL government spending, when as Kyle mentions, large parts of the budget aren’t being affected. So the discretionary cuts that are happening are being masked by the much larger category of non-discretionary spending, which isn’t being cut. An honest chart would, for each individual affected department, look at the last several years backwards and forwards, adjust for inflation, and look at the cuts to each particular department – in other words, you need more than one chart.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:55 pm
Sue-
Nice try with half facts. The House does orginiate the budget and sends it to the Senate. If the Senate doesn’t like it, it amends the budget and sends it back to the House. Then if the House doesn’t pass the Senate verision then a conference committee is created to effect a compromise.
The Senate hasn’t even held hearings on a budget. You need to tell Reid to get off his fourth point of contact and do his job. Remember the President’s budget submittal was voted on in both the House and Senate. How many votes did it receive? ZERO from either party.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
2:56 pm
“Personally, I’ve long since tired of this game.”
So, are the majority.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
2:57 pm
get a life-
Republicans control the House, a majority of the governorships and a majority of the legislatures. When are the democrats going to fix their party?
Get Real
February 25th, 2013
2:58 pm
The liberal babble continues….headed by getalife…the Babbler -in-Chief
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:00 pm
Retired,
Stay the course then.
Good luck with that.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:01 pm
Upstairs: Deal suspends DeKalb 6.
Good for him.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:03 pm
Oh, Aynie Sue, a little Constitutional education is in order, missy.
The House is required to pass a budget (actually, the Congress is, but we’ll get to that later). There is no Constitutional requirement that one body of Congress “produce a federal budget acceptable to the Senate”. In fact, if the House passes a budget and the Senate fails to act on it (as the Reid-led Senate has done, it is clearly the Senate’s fault; not the House’s.
Here’s what has REALLY happened, Aynie Sue. In order to never go on record as having voted against a valid House budget (and thereby enter into negotiations on their differences), the Senate hasn’t bothered to vote on a House-generated bill which budgets this government. They have simply voted on their own versions which originated solely in the Senate.
And voted them all down.
The sequester is the fault of the Executive Branch being unable to work with the House and an inability of the SENATE to do their Constitutional duty.
Despite your ridiculous attempt to spin it otherwise, the facts are not on your side, and your so-called knowledge of the Constitution is faulty.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:04 pm
Bottom line:
The gop failed to do their jobs and will be fired.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:04 pm
getalife-
That was a quick witted response. Any suggestions why the Dems are failing in states and in the House?
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:05 pm
And what was their job? Please define.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:05 pm
“Flailing in the wilderness” is a specialty of getalife.
Just read any of it’s posts.
BlahBlahBlah
February 25th, 2013
3:07 pm
More SKY IS FALLING rhetoric from the left wingers posting comments. Laughable.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:08 pm
Retired,
President Obama 2.
You 0.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:09 pm
Correction, getalife:
President Obama – 2.
America – 0.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:10 pm
“Republicans control the House, a majority of the governorships and a majority of the legislatures. When are the democrats going to fix their party?”
Can’t agree, Retired.
The Gerrymander era is headed for correction. How many electoral votes in those GOP states?
Debt has been the cudgel, but Obama has been the target, every day, for four years.
And the GOP couldn’t get there. Couldn’t even get close, really. I’m still amazed by that.
Rove’s group is there for a reason. Those guys don’t throw money away. They’re doing it because there’s a need…
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:11 pm
If you think killing another 750,000 jobs to end our recovery is not big deal, proceed gop.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:12 pm
If you think going against the majority of the American voters is a good idea, proceed gop.
Don't Tread
February 25th, 2013
3:13 pm
So 0bama wants to blame the Republicans for sequestration when the idea originated in the White House and it was passed by the Democrat-controlled Senate, in addition to the Republicans in the House. From where I stand, his party is at least 2/3 responsible for this “disaster”. (We are talking about reducing 2%…TWO percent, not 20, not 200, but TWO.)
Quick, get in the bomb shelters! It’s a disaster! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:13 pm
Obama killed far more than 750k jobs. Remember getalife, sequester is Obama created, Obama signed into law. Like Obama likes to say, no easy off ramp for this one.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:14 pm
Stay the course cons.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:14 pm
Just saying-
Try again, can’t understand your rantings.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:16 pm
“Laughable”
We’re all waiting to see who laughs last…
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:18 pm
The majority are sick of these self inflicted wounds to our recovery and the gop will pay in 14.
Bet on it.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
3:19 pm
Tiberius, despite the fact that it’s a pointless endeavor to have a reality-based debate with you, I will ask: What right-wing blog informed you that the $85 billion in immediate cuts that will go into effect March 1 are only cuts to future growth?
On Friday, most federal programs will have their budgets cut by an identical and immediate 9.4%. That means not only departmental budgets but payouts like unemployment checks, Medicare payments to providers, etc. That is not a hypothetical check on future growth–that is downsizing NOW.
But please, go ahead & pull another “fact” out of your you-know-what. It’s very entertaining.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:25 pm
“Try again, can’t understand your rantings.”
Rantings? Don’t veer into Tib speak…you’re better than that.
Short form: Dems have profound problems, nobody should ever turn their back to them.
GOP problems are worse, in perception, and in the reality of their base and policies. Future of the Party is more grim than the day I voted for Goldwater.
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
3:26 pm
All tax rates have to return to prior levels…thats where the revenue went along with the corporate revenue. Quit kissing high income butt, they too are getting breaks they didn’t get before.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:26 pm
Holmes-
You are the one incorrect. The cut is a pro-rata of an entire year that started in Oct. The largest cuts are in the military, not your more important social welfare spending. You need to get your facts correct.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:29 pm
“If you think killing another 750,000 jobs to end our recovery is not big deal, proceed gop.”
If you think that killing 750,000 jobs is actually going to happen as a result of the sequester, you’re drinking the President Incompetent Kool-aid.
Hillbilly D
February 25th, 2013
3:30 pm
Future of the Party is more grim than the day I voted for Goldwater.
And yet that party of ‘64 survived. They got through that just as they got through Nixon/Watergate and just as the other side got through Jimmy Carter, Dukakis, etc. They have their natural ebbs, flows and pendulum swings but neither party is going anywhere for the foreseeable future. The jackassery of both parties will be with us, long after most of us on here are gone and forgotten.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:31 pm
Jefferson-
I am not a rich man, but you are correct that tax rates are wrong. When 50 per cent of Americans don’t pay fedewral income tax, something is wrong.
Solution for joint filers:
1. No deductions, period.
2. All income taxed at the same rate.
3. Earn 200k and above, flat rate of 10%
4. Earn 100k-199,999, flat rate of 7.5 percent
5. Earn 1-99,999, flat rate of 5 percent
Problem solved.
Retired Soldier
February 25th, 2013
3:33 pm
Jefferson-
Cut the numbers in half for single filers.
JDW
February 25th, 2013
3:34 pm
@Kyle…”in large part because the sequester doesn’t touch entitlements,”
Hummm…don’t we have taxes in place that specifically pay the costs of these programs Kyle? If memory serves we have for years taken in far more than we spent and even now continue to do so. Shouldn’t we focus our efforts on programs…say defense…that have so such specific taxes in place and make sure they are fully funded?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:34 pm
I guess Mr. Holmes doesn’t realize that spending is still rising in this administration, and that it is rising faster than the 9.5% the sequester will cut.
That’s a cut in the increase in spending, bub.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:35 pm
It is fun watching the gop self destruct.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:37 pm
“The jackassery of both parties will be with us, long after most of us on here are gone and forgotten.”
Probably the only certainty here today.
TBone
February 25th, 2013
3:37 pm
Couple of points to make; baseline budgeting and if we are in a recovery then we are in DEEP DO-DO.
yuzeyurbrane
February 25th, 2013
3:38 pm
“There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” “Statistics lie and liars spout statistics.” Kyle, even you are overreaching to make your point. It is obvious that the part of the Federal budget subject to the sequestration will suffer draconian cuts which will be noticed by all and will severely harm many. I suggest you have a chat with Bookman.
JDW
February 25th, 2013
3:41 pm
“The cut is a pro-rata of an entire year that started in Oct.”
uhhhhh…no….the cut is a full cut that must be implemented within the current budget year ending Oct 2012. It is the reverse of pro rata….it is condensed into the next 7 months.
“How much will be cut in 2013? The sequester would cut government spending by an average of $109 billion over the next 10 years. But the last-minute fiscal cliff deal included cuts of $24 billion for 2013, so in the remaining seven months of this fiscal year the government must come up with $85 billion in cuts.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34227_162-57570678/sequestration-q-a/
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:42 pm
“And yet that party of ‘64 survived.”
True.
By changing their policies.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
3:43 pm
And I guess Tiberius doesn’t realize that total federal spending dropped in actual dollars (to say nothing of real dollars) from fiscal 2009 to 2010, and only in fiscal 2012 was it expected to top the previous high of FY2009, only to drop again in current projections for FY13 and FY14.
But again, please don’t let facts get in the way of your obfuscation, propaganda and LIES, sir.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:44 pm
““The cut is a pro-rata of an entire year that started in Oct.”
uhhhhh…no….the cut is a full cut that must be implemented within the current budget year ending Oct 2012. It is the reverse of pro rata….it is condensed into the next 7 months.”
Thanks, JDW.
Couldn’t keyboard fast enough…
Get Real
February 25th, 2013
3:45 pm
it is fun watching getalife be an idiot
JDW
February 25th, 2013
3:45 pm
“that it is rising faster than the 9.5% the sequester will cut.”
That is a lie..pure and simple.
Spending in this adminstration has risen at the rate of less than 3% a year from the budget inherited from Duhbya.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:46 pm
Current projections from the CBO are kinda like speeches from President Incompetent’s mouth.
Neither are based in reality and likely won’t come to pass.
MANGLER
February 25th, 2013
3:47 pm
So you’re advocating for Medicare and Medicaid reductions/reform? Kind of like the White House has been trying to do, only the GOP screams death panels and rationing when if comes from them?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 25th, 2013
3:48 pm
Poor, poor, JDW.
I didn’t know President Incompetent’s Kool-aid was alcohol-based.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
3:49 pm
And that’s what I thought. When confronted with an inconvenient fact, you scream bias.
How very Tea Party of you.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:52 pm
The gop civil war will end badly and when we return to full employment, I could not be happier
Get Real
February 25th, 2013
3:52 pm
Mr. Holmes …that is because spending went up 25% in 2009….duh
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:54 pm
“it is fun watching getalife be an idiot”
There’s a recognizable tenor to Con contributions, isn’t there?
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
3:56 pm
“Mr. Holmes …that is because spending went up 25% in 2009….duh”
Isn’t that when we started budgeting two wars?
getalife
February 25th, 2013
3:59 pm
Get Real does not handle facts and getting real very well.
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
3:59 pm
Go back to the federal rates at the beginning of 1980 and revenue problems are less.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:00 pm
Did you cons scream about cuts under w ?
Where were you when we needed you?
Hillbilly D
February 25th, 2013
4:00 pm
when we return to full employment
We’ve never actually had full employment and of course, you never will. The closest we’ve come since statistics have been kept was in 1953, with 2.90%. The lowest rate we’ve had in the last 40 years was 4.0%, in 2000.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/us-unemployment-rate-history/
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:01 pm
Hillbilly D .
Yes, 5% works for me
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
4:01 pm
We’re all gonna laugh in obozo’s face when the cuts happen but none of the harem scarem does.
The government monolith loves itself too much to just shut down.
And if you happen to think they will, you’re just as gullible as obozo thinks you are.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:04 pm
The turtle will cave again.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
4:05 pm
Not only could our government survive this and not lose the ability to brutalize us, it could absorb eight or nine more of them.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
4:10 pm
I’m glad “Aesop” chimed in because the back & forth over spending rates & what exactly the sequester entails is distracting from the main point of this blog post: That the sequester cuts will be no big deal.
If the sequester goes through, let’s have it entered into the record that Kyle and his disciples are fully in favor, think it’s just a terrific idea, and if they had their way we’d have a similar sequester twice a month, three times in December because it’s Christmas (think of the children). And then let’s all meet back in this space in a month or two to discuss.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:11 pm
“Consider how things were supposed to be working at this point. When Europe began its infatuation with austerity, top officials dismissed concerns that slashing spending and raising taxes in depressed economies might deepen their depressions. On the contrary, they insisted, such policies would actually boost economies by inspiring confidence.
But the confidence fairy was a no-show. Nations imposing harsh austerity suffered deep economic downturns; the harsher the austerity, the deeper the downturn. Indeed, this relationship has been so strong that the International Monetary Fund, in a striking mea culpa, admitted that it had underestimated the damage austerity would inflict.
Meanwhile, austerity hasn’t even achieved the minimal goal of reducing debt burdens. Instead, countries pursuing harsh austerity have seen the ratio of debt to G.D.P. rise, because the shrinkage in their economies has outpaced any reduction in the rate of borrowing. And because austerity policies haven’t been offset by expansionary policies elsewhere, the European economy as a whole — which never had much of a recovery from the slump of 2008-9 — is back in recession, with unemployment marching ever higher. ,” Krugman.
The gop want us back in a recession .
Tell them not no but hell no.
indigo
February 25th, 2013
4:14 pm
Aesop – 4:01
Many cons have been saying “end of the world” also.
Naturally, you did not notice this.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:17 pm
Kyle chose the newt for President so his judgement is bad.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:18 pm
It is very obvious the Catholic church is gay.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
4:18 pm
Let’s see here, we had negative growth last quarter and unemployment went up, so yeah, emptying out the treasury and borrowing from China has been a great idea. Right up there with the electric car.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:20 pm
It was a bad idea for w to give the banks and military complex a blank check.
I know Aesop cheered him on and never mentioned cuts to anything.
Jerry Eads
February 25th, 2013
4:21 pm
I realize you Republicans (not under any circumstances ever to be confused with conservatives) don’t care one tinker’s whit about others, but I’d bet you’d care more if it was your butt losing your job, home, etc. Sequester is one stupid shortsighted demonstration of egregious incompetence that will indeed make only a small dent overall, but it is senseless blind swordsplay.
No, not a Democrat either. In this day and age I don’t have much truck with either camp. But right now Repubs are by far outstupiding the Dems.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
4:21 pm
I suggest credit counseling for our government.
Put away that credit card.
You can do it.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:23 pm
Aesop,
Why didn’t you scream for cuts under w?
Do you agree with td that w was a great President?
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
4:24 pm
we had negative growth last quarter and unemployment went up, so yeah, emptying out the treasury and borrowing from China has been a great idea.
Gotta admit, I’ve not seen economic analysis this sophisticated in quite some time. I suggest you whip together a resume package for the IMF and World Bank post-haste. Every day your wisdom is denied the world is a lost opportunity. For all of us. (Again, think of the children)
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
4:25 pm
Aesop @ 4:01. You sound just like Kyle’s choice for President – who tried it once.
Didn’t work so well for him, and it won’t work well for today’s Republicans.
Too bad that you have to drag us all down before you learn your lesson. Real people are going to get hurt.
But at least you’ve got the courage of your convictions, unlike most Republicans who are desperately trying to blame Obama.
Own the cuts! Brag about them… and as Mr. Holmes says, we’ll see how it works for you in a few months.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:26 pm
You can say w allowed the modern day robber barons of banks, corps and military industrial complex to rob our treasury and now cry about it.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:27 pm
now cons cry about it.
My bad.
Get Real
February 25th, 2013
4:28 pm
getalife….time to change your Depends as you are spewing out of both ends
getalife
February 25th, 2013
4:30 pm
Get Real,
That is a typical con rebuttal but I don’t wear diapers like vitter.
curious
February 25th, 2013
4:34 pm
If, as posted earlier, there is no net decrease in Federal Funding as a result of the Sequestor, then why do personnel and services have to be cut?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
4:42 pm
Why didn’t you scream for cuts under w?
The last budget put forth by W which wasn’t subsequently molested by the dummycrats in the house had deficitit of 161 billion. Now the federal budget has deficitit of 1.61 TRILLION.
Are you from Cuba or something?
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
4:42 pm
“If the sequester goes through, let’s have it entered into the record that Kyle and his disciples are fully in favor, think it’s just a terrific idea, and if they had their way we’d have a similar sequester twice a month, three times in December because it’s Christmas (think of the children). And then let’s all meet back in this space in a month or two to discuss.”
Now THAT is a capital/capitol idea.
Anyway you want to spell it…
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
4:46 pm
(Again, think of the children)
Coming from the people that are ravishing our children’s future.
They will live short, brutal, nasty lives because of your excesses and there are words for this but Kyle won’t let me use them.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
4:49 pm
“But right now Repubs are by far outstupiding the Dems.”
And there’s the sadness.
How do you even DO that?
It’s right there Toddlers and Tiaras.
And then comes Honey Boo Boo…..
1961_Xer
February 25th, 2013
4:56 pm
Why didn’t you scream for cuts under w?
Actually, getalife, a LOT of us screamed for cuts under w. A LOT of fiscal conservatives could see the folly of two wars without clear purpose. A LOT of fiscal conservatives could see the huge bubble in real estate. We were screaming, but the rest of the Republican party (and most of the Democratic party) were to drunk from the spending spree to even listen.
Similarly, a LOT of Democrats want sequestration to go through as well. The defense budget hasn’t been cut in years, and they see an opportunity. Of course, they are not all publicly stating their position for fear of not aligning with the WH. But a lot of progressives are jumping for joy at a reduction in spending for the military industrial complex.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
4:56 pm
DOW seems to be agreeing with Kyle today.
The Party of Business.
If your bidness is a carnival…
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
4:56 pm
Coming from the people that are ravishing our children’s future.
Yes, well, coming from the political worldview that would still have our children working in textile mills and drinking from separate water fountains, your concern is duly noted.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
5:04 pm
political worldview that would still have our children working in textile mills and drinking from separate water fountains
Nothing like a liberal getting swept away in their own feminine hysteria.
1961_Xer
February 25th, 2013
5:04 pm
If, as posted earlier, there is no net decrease in Federal Funding as a result of the Sequestor, then why do personnel and services have to be cut?
Ah, yes. The question no one is asking of the President. He has outlined the most difficult to accept cuts for hyperbole. For example, are 5000 kids in GA really going to go without vaccinations? Or can we just fire one Medicaid employee or take away their holiday party budget and vaccinate those kids anyway?
Another example: Dump the TSA. Make airlines hire their own security to man the TSA stations. Many wanted it to be that way to begin with… it was the Democrats who declared “if you want to professionalize you have to federalize”. A federalized TSA was a boondoggle to begin with, and the airlines could probably do it cheaper. So let them.
What the sequester may do is all hyperbole meant to scare.
Old Timer
February 25th, 2013
5:06 pm
It is time for Washington and our president to join the United States. The double speak coming out of Washington is an embarassment. Obama’s rhetoric changes from day to day, more in showman style than governance style. he enjoys taxpayer confusion as he rides around in his $180,000 dollar airborne carraige. He reiminds me of the playground bully who is making Jimmy Carter look like a precision instrument.
1961_Xer
February 25th, 2013
5:06 pm
Yes, well, coming from the political worldview that would still have our children working in textile mills and drinking from separate water fountains, your concern is duly noted.
Yep, it sure is nice that Republicans led the charge to end that.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
5:10 pm
“…feminine hysteria.”
For Fables, words of insult.
For the 21st Century…
bluecoat
February 25th, 2013
5:10 pm
If I was younger the Harem part my be ok.So the scarem part you cons can keep.
Mr. Holmes
February 25th, 2013
5:11 pm
Nothing like a liberal getting swept away in their own feminine hysteria.
And right on cue, the emasculating (well, attempted, anyway) insults. Accusations of communist/socialist impulses coming in 3 … 2 … 1 ….
td
February 25th, 2013
5:11 pm
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
3:59 pm
Go back to the federal rates at the beginning of 1980 and revenue problems are less.
Go back to the spending levels of 1980 and there will be no problems with revenues.
bluecoat
February 25th, 2013
5:12 pm
All ideas can’t be great like Ethanol.
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
5:14 pm
Furloughs are looming, but the feds are still hiring
“The federal government is facing massive furloughs beginning later this week, but it is still running help-wanted ads seeking workers to answer phones — at up to $81,000 a year — or to drive cars for the State Department, for as much as $26.45 an hour.
Among them were the staff assistant job at the Labor Department, which paid up to $81,204 a year for someone to do scheduling and screening calls; a new lawyer for the Morris K. Udall Scholarship program, with a salary of up to $155,000 a year; and a new director for the Air Force’s history and museums program, with a salary topping out at $165,300 a year.
There is also an ad for 10 “motor vehicle operator” jobs at the State Department, ranging in pay from $22.76 to $26.45 an hour for duties described as: “Drive and operate vans, trucks, and passenger vehicles on shuttle runs, special, long distance, and overnight trips; Perform maintenance and minor repairs on vehicles that includes but is not limited to changing flat tires and checking vehicle oil; and Assist passengers and loads and/or unload luggage.” ”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/25/furloughs-are-looming-feds-are-still-hiring/
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
5:18 pm
President Obama Faces ‘Cliff Fatigue’ in Latest Budget Fight
“Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk. Delays await at airports. Padlocks are ready at national parks.
The nation will suffer greater risk of wildfires, workplace deaths, and even surprise weather events, if government predictions are to be believed. Our entire military readiness and superiority are at risk.
What if nobody cares?
[snip]
But there are few signs to suggest the public is listening. A poll out late last week found that barely one in four Americans said they’d heard much about the automatic spending cuts — known unhelpfully for public-comprehension purposes as “sequestration” — and four in 10 said they were comfortable with the cuts going into effect.
“Here’s yet another deadline, and everyone’s telling us everything will be destroyed if we go past it,” said Michael Dimock, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which conducted the poll. “It’s very hard to get the same sense of urgency for a third time in a row, just two months after the last one.”
Call it cliff fatigue. After a series of dramatic confrontations with congressional Republicans, an American electorate that has little trust in Washington — and that’s seeing a soaring stock market, plus a recovering housing market — looks to be tuning out the latest round of fiscal fighting, at least for now.
That’s troublesome news for Obama, and not just for the recurring fights over spending and deficits. As his second-term agenda gets cranking with Congress’ return this week, the president needs to convince the public not just on the merits of his priorities but also on the urgency.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/president-obama-faces-cliff-fatigue-in-latest-budget-fight/
Aquagirl
February 25th, 2013
5:21 pm
Actually, getalife, a LOT of us screamed for cuts under w. A LOT of fiscal conservatives could see the folly of two wars without clear purpose.
The “I complained about W’s spending, so that doesn’t count” line. Yeah, we’ve heard that before. Everybody now claims they whined about it and were sooooooo against the spending. They would have spoken up then if they weren’t tragically kidnapped by pirates or aliens or whatever, it’s not their fault!
Face it—y’all got punked by a party touting fiscal and personal responsibility and they’re punking you all over again because you’re too proud to admit your mistake.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
5:22 pm
“Actually, getalife, a LOT of us screamed for cuts under w.”
BS, I blogged on many blogs during the w disaster and not one con say cut anything.
I watched C Span and not one gop proposed cuts.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
5:25 pm
The gop blew a surplus, a balanced budget, blew out the deficit and now cry about cuts.
That is reality.
It is a load of gop crap and self inflicted bs.
Own it cons.
Ray
February 25th, 2013
5:25 pm
You can’t have your cake and eat it (too).
Yet, everyone allowed the government to ignore it’s needs to save money, raise money, for the “Baby Boomer” generation’s retirement. It is going to make any chart look like a python that has eaten a pig.
Couple that with two expensive wars, and hurricanes (Katrina’s re-engineering project of the levees exceeded 5 billion dollars alone.) It seems logical that one might expect a HUGE increase in the deficit, if Americans were not, are not, being asked to pay for these decidedly “needed” endeavors.
Pay now, or later with cheaper dollars. It seems like the decision to pay later has been made. With less dollars to spend, the thought is there will be less waste. Time will tell.
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
5:27 pm
Only in the twisted logic of Washington DC can a decrease in the increase of spending be declared “draconian cuts”. Fortunately, few people believe them anymore.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
5:28 pm
I’ve seen women burst into tears over the most ridiculous things. That’s who they are, they can’t help it, no matter how much you libs freakishly wish otherwise. But that doesn’t mean you have to act like them.
Man up, libbies.
td
February 25th, 2013
5:28 pm
getalife
February 25th, 2013
5:22 pm
“Actually, getalife, a LOT of us screamed for cuts under w.”
BS, I blogged on many blogs during the w disaster and not one con say cut anything.
I watched C Span and not one gop proposed cuts.
I guess you never listened to Rush or Hannity from 2002 to 2005? They had a show at least once a week on nothing but how establishment Republicans were no better then Democrats on spending.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
5:30 pm
We’re going over this cliff, hahahaha.
So stop worrying and learn to love the cuts.
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
5:31 pm
Obama Nov. 21, 2011: “I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending”.
Politico
February 25th, 2013
5:31 pm
Rush and Hanitty?
I thought those guys didn’t have any pull within the party. When someone on the left brings them up their names, many on the right downplay who they are……….. until they want to peddle their influence and what they said.
too funny
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
5:32 pm
gitmo hasn’t torn himself away from cnn for decades. There’s a whole world out here he knows nothing about. If wolf blitzer hasn’t reported it, it would be like landing on another planet for getalife.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
5:34 pm
I thought those guys didn’t have any pull within the party.
They must not if they weren’t able to stop Repug spending.
Try putting two and two together sometime.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
5:34 pm
Well, that’s troubling.
I guess Jamie Dupree is also part of that Great Librul Conspiracy…
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
5:35 pm
Why is Wal-Mart worried? Payroll tax could cut consumer spending.
“Retailers are preparing for a triple whammy as the restoration of the payroll tax, surging gas prices, and stagnant employment and wages take a bite out of consumers’ disposable income, leaving them with less cash to spend on clothing, groceries, and eating out.
As a result, more than three years after the recession officially ended, American consumers might be preparing to downshift again, if only slightly, with low-income consumers hit the hardest. Sensing consumer trepidation, retailers are scrambling to adjust.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2013/0222/Why-is-Wal-Mart-worried-Payroll-tax-could-cut-consumer-spending.-video?nav=87-frontpage-entryLeadStory
Politico
February 25th, 2013
5:36 pm
Aesop
At least unlike your buddies, Dusty and Aesop, you don’t cry about who blogs here as if you are the blog sheriff and welcoming committee.
But do blather on as usual
Politico
February 25th, 2013
5:38 pm
Or do you?
hahahahaha
getalife
February 25th, 2013
5:41 pm
Not just cnn.
C-Span, msnbc, fox, drudge, NYTimes, the list is long.
I am addicted to being informed.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
5:41 pm
“I’ve seen women burst into tears over the most ridiculous things. That’s who they are, they can’t help it, no matter how much you libs freakishly wish otherwise.”
Just when you think he’d quit digging, he pops up to defend it.
No identity issues here…
getalife
February 25th, 2013
5:45 pm
All economists but the never right rw economists agree this is bad policy and government is in the way of free commerce. The dow is dropping, the majority is sick of it and we are falling behind thanks to the gop. Enough with this crap, get out of the way gop.
JDW
February 25th, 2013
5:47 pm
@Tiberius…”a little Constitutional education is in order, missy….The House is required to pass a budget (actually, the Congress is, but we’ll get to that later). ”
Indeed our resident self discribed “authority” is at it again.
Now strangely enough you must have your own copy of the Constitution because mine says nothing about a budget. All it says is that spending bills originate in the House, there must be an Appropriations bill passed before money is spent and each House of Congress makes their own rules.
Maybe you could point out the part where The Constitution requires an annual budget. While you are at it take a gander at the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 because that is how the process is governed outside of Tiberiusville.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
5:48 pm
And, sure enough, here I am quoting cnn -
Because of ongoing contracts and the Byzantine labyrinth of federal budgeting, only $44 billion of that $85 billion will actually be cut from this year’s budget. The rest will be cut in future years, but attributed to this year’s budget. So, the real reduction in federal spending this year is just 1.2%. If the federal government can’t reduce spending by less than a penny-and-a-half on the dollar without throwing us into the dark ages, something is truly wrong.
Can’t argue with that.
JDW
February 25th, 2013
5:49 pm
@Tiberius…”I didn’t know President Incompetent’s Kool-aid was alcohol-based.”
It’s just math…I know you have issues with math.
Michael H. Smith
February 25th, 2013
5:49 pm
Anyone who says we can’t live with the sequester would probably say the same thing about any spending cuts whatsoever.
That would be every Big Gub’ment leftwinger on your blog and across the nation Kyle.
Truth is we can live with those spending cuts and a heck of a lot more federal spending cuts.
Aquagirl
February 25th, 2013
5:51 pm
I’ve seen women burst into tears over the most ridiculous things.
John Boehner says “what?”
Aesop just says this stuff to get attention, for some reason the cons here let him hang out and shoot everyone in the foot over his weird issues. Maybe he lends them his pristine hanky on election night in return.
Hillbilly D
February 25th, 2013
5:57 pm
“I’ve seen women burst into tears over the most ridiculous things. That’s who they are, they can’t help it, no matter how much you libs freakishly wish otherwise.”
Obviously, you’ve never met the women in my family, who’d just as soon jerk a knot in your ass as look at you.
Matz
February 25th, 2013
6:04 pm
“I’ve seen women burst into tears over the most ridiculous things.”
So, you admit to being in the immediate vicinity in each of these instances, then? Were you speaking to these women prior to these bursts? How many of them were you touching when the bursting occurred?
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
6:09 pm
“John Boehner says “what?” ”
Kamchak wants his infantile line back………..
Aquagirl
February 25th, 2013
6:12 pm
Kamchak wants his infantile line back……
Figured y’all wouldn’t like that reminder….Cry me an orange river.
Stephenson Billings
February 25th, 2013
6:16 pm
Creativity was never a lib strong point….
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
6:16 pm
Quit blubbering, aq.
Michael H. Smith
February 25th, 2013
6:22 pm
in large part because the sequester doesn’t touch entitlements, which are the fastest-growing part of the budget.
Speaking of touch the so-called entitlements give these reform ideas a hard looking into Kyle…
Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us
By Steve Brill
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
Richard Stengel, MANAGING EDITOR comments on the Brill article
Brill, who will be talking about health care on CNN all this week, has worked on this story for the past seven months. “What I learned in doing the piece,” he says, “is what I always tell my journalism students: opinions and policy debates are boring and meaningless without looking at the facts, without doing the grunt work of real reporting.”
If the piece has a villain, it’s something you’ve probably never heard of: the chargemaster, the mysterious internal price list for products and services that every hospital in the U.S. keeps. If the piece has a hero, it’s an unlikely one: Medicare, the government program that by law can pay hospitals only the approximate costs of care. It’s Medicare, not Obamacare, that is bending the curve in terms of costs and efficiency. Brill’s story is resolutely nonideological, but it resets the terms of one of our most important policy debates. Both sides of the aisle are culpable, as our elected leaders refuse to rein in hospitals and health care providers. According to Brill, there are things that can be done. He argues that lowering the age of Medicare entry, not raising it, would lower costs. And that allowing Medicare to competitively price and assess drugs would save billions of dollars. Asking wealthy Medicare recipients for higher co-pays would make sense. Most of all, health care must be a market in which patients can help control costs by understanding them better. And make sure you look at your hospital bill.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
6:26 pm
“Quit blubbering, aq.”
Well, when you think about how much oxygen you squander…
md
February 25th, 2013
7:23 pm
Geez, still arguing about which spouse charged the most on the credit card?
Fact….it doesn’t matter.
Now, the card needs to be cut up and the bills paid…..period.
bluecoat
February 25th, 2013
7:38 pm
I’ve heard that Oriental women treat their men better than the hillbilly women treat their men.I don’t think the oriental can shoot as good.just saying.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 25th, 2013
7:39 pm
Another manufactured crisis during the Obama reign of terror. Scaremeggedon, run for your life, children, you haven’t seen cuts like this before. The wailing and gnashing of teeth begin in only a few hours, get out while you can!
Tiberius is correct, this is what you get when you depend on government spending to carry the economy. Obama has set his economy up for failure by depending on the spending to keep it afloat. If you strategy is to spend, spend, spend and your opposition prevents you from confiscating money to spend, and you don’t have the authority to borrow indefinitely, you are eventually going to run out of money and crash the economy.
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
7:47 pm
I realize rafe that me pointing out a fact to you won’t make any difference, but the President can’t spend anything that the Congress – beginning with the House – authorizes him to spend.
Seems that folks like yourself just can’t get a handle on that concept….
bluecoat
February 25th, 2013
7:47 pm
Manufactured crisis.Think Iraq,Iraq.Afghainstand..
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
7:48 pm
oops worded it wrong – the Prez can only spend what Congress authorizes.
But i expect you know that….
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 25th, 2013
8:00 pm
how establishment Republicans were no better then Democrats on spending.
td is correct, with the House firmly in control of Nasty Pelosi and her entourage and the Senate under Hairy Reed, there were no votes to cut spending under W. The Dems were always in favor of increasing it sustantially. (Where are the jobs Mr. President? N Pelosi, (had to throw that in). She never asks that question anymore for some reason)
Before 2007, the GOP held slim margins in both Houses, and a large number of the GOP were “moderates” like Lugar, Snow, Collins, Chafee, to name four, that loved anything the Dems loved. We just did not have enough conservatives to take on Bush, and we sure couldn’t get any help from the Dems.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
8:06 pm
“Phil Gramm is the Forrest Gump of financial calamity. Time and again, his face appears at key moments in history. Unlike Gump, Gramm is usually planting the seeds of future disaster whenever he pops up.
Former Texas Senator Gramm is best known for his fine work dismantling financial regulations in the 1990s, which helped bring us the financial crisis of the mid-to-late-2000s. But he is also the intellectual father of the latest nightmare deviling the economy: the sequester.
Gramm was co-author of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, in which the idea of the “sequester,” or “sequestration,” was introduced as a fancy term for “nightmarish budget cuts.” In fact, Gramm was the guy who introduced the idea of using sequestration as a whip to goad policy makers into cutting the deficit, Marketplace points out.”
Get out and stay out of our economy gop.
If we want another collapse we will give you a call.
Politico
February 25th, 2013
8:08 pm
Rafe
Quit making excuses. Republicans as a whole have proven to be no better stewards of tax money than Democrats.
They do talk a better game. I give you that, but when they hold the check book and WH, they spend and spend just like the Democrats.
Don’t tell me what they say they want to do, but what they have done as a party not as individuals.
Nixon, Ford, Reagan and the Bush duo didn’t lower the National Debt. Bush 2 with a Republican Congress didn’t do it.
If the best you have is well Obama is worse, you might have a point, but looking at the big picture it means what? And explains Republicans own bs how?
getalife
February 25th, 2013
8:12 pm
Funny how the fiscal cons never showed up until they lost.
Get out and stay out of our economy gop.
They are another disaster waiting to happen.
Hillbilly D
February 25th, 2013
8:15 pm
I’ve heard that Oriental women treat their men better than the hillbilly women treat their men.I don’t think the oriental can shoot as good.just saying.
Orientals seem to have been historically good at warfare. So much for that theory.
Aquagirl
February 25th, 2013
8:15 pm
We just did not have enough conservatives to take on Bush, and we sure couldn’t get any help
Are you referring to some undefined group of people as an excuse, or just using the royal “we?”
Politico
February 25th, 2013
8:19 pm
Aqua
It is an excuse to demonize one side, while giving cover to a “phantom percentage” of the other side.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 25th, 2013
8:22 pm
Cherokee
Seems that folks like yourself just can’t get a handle on that concept…
Seems like folks like you continue to blame Bush for the spending and the collapse when the Congress was firmly in Dem hands from 2007 to 2010. Prior to that he did not have a governing majority, what with all the dang moderates and a large Dem minority. So, if Obama doesn’t control spending then neither did Bush.
Libs love to throw the Constitution requirement for the Congress to pass a budget around when you blame Obama, but not when you blame Bush for the spending.
People with working brains know the President sets the agenda, advocates for spending programs, i.e., things like Obamacare, and that spending is self sustaining, unless it is confronted. The only way to confront it is with leadership, demanding cuts and vetoing spending. Indifference to spending on the Presidents part, results in more spending, and if you base your economy on government spending, you are going way way way beyond indifference to advocacy.
Aquagirl
February 25th, 2013
8:30 pm
Prior to that he did not have a governing majority, what with all the dang moderates and a large Dem minority.
Well, there’s the clearly identified problem—not enough True Scotsmen.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
8:37 pm
But, but, but, but bushie spent money.
Someone please give the liberals a pillow to clutch, cause this ain’t gonna be pretty…..for them.
For America? Jubilation, we finally lowered the rising……………..spending.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 25th, 2013
8:40 pm
Politico
I will admit the GOP spent too much during the Bush years, but as I noted in my 8:00, the money was going to be spent anyway, in the early years, Bush tried too hard to be liked with his compassionate conservative crap and he swooned over Teddy Kennedy and let him write the No Child Left Behind boondoggle. Then 9/11 and we had to ramp up the military and fight the wars.
After 2007, when the Dems got in power there was so much pent up demand to spend on Dem agenda items, he couldn’t stop them, too many RINO’s would have voted with the Dems.
Bush may have been conservative on social issues, but like his father he believes in BIG government conservatism and he was definitely a big contributor. Reagan, unlike Obama, realized in a divided government, to get some of his agenda approved, he had to give Tip O’Neill some of the things he wanted. O’Neill wanted social spending , Reagan Military spending and the result was too much spending. That has been Barry’s biggest failing. He wants it all and doesn’t want to give anything, and that is why we are in gridlock.
So yeah, GOP big spenders in the past when we were in much better shape, fiscally, and that contributed to our problem. No we are in dreadful shape and the Dems don’t seem to have noticed, but want to again ramp up spending, but the GOP is at least talking the right way, the Dems are talking like there is no problem with insolvency. Our fiscal condition has worsened since the GOP did their spending.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 25th, 2013
8:45 pm
Are you referring to some undefined group of people as an excuse, or just using the royal “we?”
“We” being the folks who do not want our every selfish need and wish to be filled by the fed government, while the debt is passed onto our poor grandchildren and their children.
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
8:46 pm
So hard for you, I know, Rafe, but I don’t recall blaming Bush… Try again, my friend…
But then that’s a well used right wing noise machine tactic – ‘folks like you’ – guilt by association – you’ve learned well from the masters of talk radio…
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
8:50 pm
‘every selfish need and wish’
Yeah those folks on the government dole live so well, don’t they….
I guess I do selfishly wish that I could get through Hartsfield in less than four hours. And that our soldiers have the civilian backup they need in order to do their job.
So rude of me….
getalife
February 25th, 2013
8:57 pm
“Lindsey Graham Backs Compromise With New Revenue” HP.
Caved.
Told ya.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
9:00 pm
Lindsey who?
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
9:07 pm
I’m sure the Republican senators know this would be a disaster for their party.
Even if their counterparts in the House aren’t so bright…
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
9:08 pm
We need an intervention done on the liberals, it works on some addicts but not all of them.
But we have to try to save our country……….from them.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
9:10 pm
As a con, I’ll proudly take credit for the cuts. You loser parasite progs should be embarrassed for being so frightened, but that’s how your Idiot Messiah wants you, and you’re only too happy to comply.
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
9:16 pm
Good for you Barry, but you’re rare – if it’s going to be so wonderful, I wonder why Boehner – and many of the bloggers here – are trying so hard to pin the blame on Obama?
Politico
February 25th, 2013
9:17 pm
Lil Barry
Those Republican Governors crying to their states House member and Senators are “parasite progs”?
bwhahahahahahahahaha
Politico
February 25th, 2013
9:19 pm
Lil Barry
Preach from your step stool little fella, preach it.
Take care little tike. Get them libs, boy
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
9:20 pm
Probably because they know Obozo is going to make cuts that do maximum damage, rather than smart cuts that no one would notice.
Politico
February 25th, 2013
9:22 pm
You mean that “backdoor” Keynesian economics that fuels jobs via military contractors. Even those governors know that and don’t want to feel the pain.
Thought you said you were good with it, now it is about “smart cuts”
Bless your little heart, little guy
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
9:24 pm
Do maximum damage to the government…….please!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
9:26 pm
I’m ok with it, proggy, but someone asked a question and I was answering it. Please try to keep up with the adults.
Politico
February 25th, 2013
9:28 pm
And I’m sure you know that some of the very ones complaining are close to election time
Strange coincidence, huh?
bwhahahahahahahaha
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
9:29 pm
Any other situation, military contractors would be HALIBURTON!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAKING WAR PROFITS FROM THE SUFFERING OF INNOCENTS!!!!! but today they are Saints Essential To The Functioning Of Government. Can I get an amen for them? Our new found heroes?
Politico
February 25th, 2013
9:30 pm
But keep flailing and wailing. Just don’t fall of that step stool……. again
hahahahahahaha
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
9:30 pm
Since you Obozo receptacles make up 51% of the population, you can fix the sequester simply by adding 4% to your tax bill for 2012.
Didn’t think so.
Hypocrites.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
9:32 pm
Will the 2% cuts apply to the no-bid contracts Obozo gave to Halliburton?
Politico
February 25th, 2013
9:34 pm
And you don’t have one post stating I was against it………
Just your assertions and typical nothings……… keep flailing and wailing. I can see your little arms just moving around and your chest puffed out
bwhahahahahahahahah
toodles
Real Athens
February 25th, 2013
9:34 pm
“I’ve heard that Oriental women treat their men better than the hillbilly women treat their men.I don’t think the oriental can shoot as good.just saying.”
Genius, oriental is a rug. I’m pretty sure the preferred nomenclature (in the 21st Century) is Asian.
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
9:41 pm
“make cuts that do maximum damage”
How many times has it been said around here that the cuts are required to be across the board – there is no discretion….
But then I guess Jamie Dupree must be one of those progs you keep talking about, huh….
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
9:46 pm
How did we inherit jamie dupree?
td
February 25th, 2013
9:55 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout – OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
9:10 pm
As a con, I’ll proudly take credit for the cuts. You loser parasite progs should be embarrassed for being so frightened, but that’s how your Idiot Messiah wants you, and you’re only too happy to comply.
Only problem is the progressives will layoff every Federal worker and cut defense to zero before they will touch one means tested program.
Splavistic
February 25th, 2013
10:10 pm
Sorry, Kyle, but it will be your gun-lovin’ medicare people and disability-havin’ lazy rednecks (who both vote for GOP) that will be the loudest whiners when the sequester hits. Watch what you wish for. You clownservatives are still in you echo-chamber when it comes to knowing what ‘reality’ really is.
Splavistic
February 25th, 2013
10:12 pm
BTW, you clownservatives STILL need to get a grip. W was the moron who started the ‘giving free phones to the poor’. Can’t blame Obama for that one. (though you will because it makes you feel better)
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 25th, 2013
10:12 pm
I’m actually quite proud that the sodomites disdain me.
Splavistic
February 25th, 2013
10:14 pm
And, PLEASE, stop saying, “Just sayin’”. It is so overdone. We know you are ‘just sayin’” because you JUST said it!
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
10:27 pm
Yeah, it’s kind of sad that the folks whose checks will get cut are the ones who do some nominal amount of work to get them.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
10:29 pm
Spazistic, they’re called “Obamaphones” because that’s what the Obamaphone lady called them.
Just Saying..
February 25th, 2013
10:48 pm
Lil Barry, here’s your very own obamaphone.
Call someone who….
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
10:56 pm
“Obamaphone” it is…
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
10:57 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:16 pm
Do you care about welfare for the banks ?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-20/why-should-taxpayers-give-big-banks-83-billion-a-year-.html
Socialism for record profits.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:18 pm
How about welfare for big oil and high gas prices.
I wonder what these record profit industies are still getting welfare in a time of cuts.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:20 pm
But you are worried over a phone program w started.
Pitiful and stupid.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
11:22 pm
How about welfare for big oil and high gas prices.
——————
How about Democrat control of the House, Senate, and White House 2009-2010
Cherokee
February 25th, 2013
11:26 pm
“How did we inherit Jamie dupree?”
Via that flaming bedwetting liberal Boortz. Thought everyone knew that….
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:38 pm
“How about Democrat control of the House, Senate, and White House 2009-2010″
The gop have the house and will block the senate.
If your party wants to cut, start with too big to fail bank and big oil welfare.
They are mooching.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
11:41 pm
My party does want to cut. And they don’t have to do anything to cut 2% at the end of this week.
Your party said they wanted to cut big oil welfare and bank welfare. They just didn’t do it.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:44 pm
The turtle will cave.
graham already did.
Jefferson
February 25th, 2013
11:45 pm
In the end the GOP loses this one again, they bend or break.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
11:47 pm
If the sequester goes through, Americans win.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:50 pm
Just surrender and get out of the way.
We are going to build infrastructure in our country for a change.
You know we need it.
getalife
February 25th, 2013
11:57 pm
“Americans win.”
Self defeatist comment but they lose jobs and services.
That is not winning.
Get a freaking grip on reality con.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 25th, 2013
11:59 pm
Get a freaking grip on reality con.
——————
Hilarious, coming from someone whose messiah thinks we don’t have a spending problem.
getalife
February 26th, 2013
12:01 am
We got one party fighting for jobs and one party trying to kill jobs.
Dysfunctional living in separate worlds.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
12:04 am
Keep waiting for Obozo to fix your problems. Sounds like a winning plan.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
12:07 am
Obozo got his tax increase. Where are the jobs.
Politico
February 26th, 2013
12:10 am
Getalife
At least little b isnt saying President Romney any longer
He left this very blog so fast on election night one would have thought he ran track
Bwhahahahaahah
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
12:15 am
You must not have been paying attention, Politico. I was on the blog until the networks made their call.
President Romney would have done things to fix the economy, not wreck it on purpose like your Failed Messiah. Parasites decided to take the government check instead.
Politico
February 26th, 2013
12:26 am
If this, if that little b
Maybe in 2020
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 26th, 2013
7:03 am
“There is a responsible way to cut less than 3 percent of the federal budget. It’s time for the president to show leadership,” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told reporters after a meeting between the president and governors. “The president needs to stop campaigning, stop trying to scare the American people.”
“We heard the president say last week that he was going to be forced because of the sequestration to let criminals loose on the street if he didn’t get another tax hike,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters Monday.
We haven’t had a president for so long that I’ve forgotten what he’s supposed to do.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 26th, 2013
7:12 am
That is not to say the millions of people in government offices do not work hard; all you have to do is to walk into one of their on-site gyms to see them sweating and breathing heavily. Nor should we disparage their work product. My personal favorite is the Manure Management Planner (MMP) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is part of the Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) which is required of farmers with Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs.)
In the immortal words of the USDA guidelines:
CNMP planners are strongly encouraged to use Manure Management Planner (MMP) because it was designed to simplify and hasten the CNMP development process. MMP was developed on a state-by-state basis to include each state’s unique data and circumstances…
Jefferson
February 26th, 2013
7:19 am
The GOP continues to suffer from lack of credibility, after years of gut busting spending and running up a huge deficit, now they have changed. You folks got whooped by 2 times and still don’t get the fact more American know you wrecked the country. Revenue increases are on the way, these unfounded cuts you can bet will cost you the house, you already are bleeding seats. GA better wise up or the will continue to lose federal dollars while taxes are sure to rise.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 26th, 2013
7:31 am
Notice how pimp daddy obozo hasn’t threatened to shut down the white house office yet?
TiredOfIt
February 26th, 2013
7:32 am
Ted Cruz for president. He has been invited to CPAC to speak, unlike Christie. Ted Cruz, the new face of the republican party.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
7:37 am
The GOP continues to suffer from lack of credibility, after years of gut busting spending and running up a huge deficit
————
And yet they never spent as much as Obozo or ran deficits as unpatriotic as Obozo’s.
Obozo: Inferior to his predecessors.
stevie ray
February 26th, 2013
7:47 am
My favorite bit of hysteria..this one should be etched in WH stone..
The unkindest cut? Energy Secretary Steven Chu has revealed that sequestration would reduce the number of houses being “weatherized” by the feds by “more than a thousand.”
independent thinker
February 26th, 2013
7:53 am
Nothing above explains the House sitting in permanent recess and the stupid partybeing unwilling to pass one dollar of increased revenues. Good news is this may be the only way to cut the defense budget which keeps ballooning along with entitlements. How does that unfunded Medicare drug program the stupid party passed to get the imbecile reelected fit into this graph?
stevie ray
February 26th, 2013
7:59 am
Agree with you 110% on DoD…we could likely shed 20%..
As far as Medicare D, it appears the current imbecile has decided to one up this one…PelosiCare is gonna make D look like a small m pot hole in the highway of waste. The two of them really aren’t very different at all.
All this hysteria for your guy about the sky falling is simply a political manuever to stop sequester at all costs lest he and his sheep look foolish since the cuts aren’t cuts at all and will have a small fraction of impact as suggested..all this talk about teachers, air traffic control and the like is pure unadulterated BS…of course, if BO is certain that horrific outcomes are on the horizon, why doesn’t he simply let the sequester happen to put what my be one of the final nails in GOP coffin?
indigo
February 26th, 2013
8:02 am
Republicans want to cut Govt. spending by reducing Social Security, Medicare and Medicad benefits as much as possible.
Naturally, they want to take from those least able to contribute to Party election and re-election campaigns.
Money = everything
Conscience = none
independent thinker
February 26th, 2013
8:12 am
Stevie Ray – Please explain why your boy McCain is trying to ram a bill through Congress that give the Kenyan Marxist total discretion on budget cuts in lieu of the sequester?And I thought you folks claimed Obama was guilty of treason for cutting $760 million from Medicare and doing away with privatized Medicare Advantage which gave granny free gym memberships and big profits to private insurers which your imbecile passed? Or was that just more lies by those two clowns who got their butts whooped by the Kenyan Marxist??????????????????
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
8:28 am
“McCain is trying to ram a bill through Congress”
——————-
The minority party generally doesn’t get to “ram” bills through Congress.
Real intelligent, Depends.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 26th, 2013
8:29 am
Notice how pimp daddy obozo hasn’t threatened to shut down the white house travel office yet?
geez
independent thinker
February 26th, 2013
8:29 am
Sorry for the error cons- that is $716 Billion (not million)dollars the two stupid party clowns accused Obama of cutting from Medicare as high crimes and misdemeanors. Funny how Kyle does not mention a word about his heroes claims in the ill fated electiIf the president were to be reelected you’re going to see a $716 billion cut to Medicare,” Romney said. “You’ll have 4 million people who will lose Medicare Advantage. You’ll have hospitals and providers that’ll no longer accept Medicare patients. I’ll restore that $716 billion to Medicare.”"”"”"”"”"”
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2012/1004/Presidential-debate-101-Is-Romney-right-about-716-billion-in-Medicare-cuts
Yeah right the Kenyan Marxist is not trying to cut entitlements- How about cutting Romney’s deduction for interest carryovers and $75,000 write off for that dancing horse or taxing those offshore profits?
HDB
February 26th, 2013
8:29 am
What many people fail to note is that in economic downturns, the federal government is the last, best hope of arresting the downturn and creating economic growth! In every downturn save this one, the federal government hired people and went into deficit spending to EXPAND the economy….and when economic expansion was maintained and the private sector could recover…THEN did the government begin its contraction. What is happening now is that the government isn’t spending on a level it should be to foster recovery….while simultaneously contracting!! Granted, both parties have blame in this scenario….but the GOP fosters the majority for their refusal to work towards policies to expand the economy for those who need it the most…rather, they would persist in maintaining the status quo so that those of means could continue to prosper!!
If the sequester adversely affects the nation as is expected, will Republicans continue to shift the blame to someone they refuse to work WITH (remember — their goal was to make Obama a “one-term President”….and have persisted in obstruction and obfuscation….)…..or will they admit to attempting to maintain a wealth-focused orthodoxy at the expense of the nation as a whole???
Jefferson
February 26th, 2013
8:41 am
Children will always be the first to call names, if you are a child do it.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 26th, 2013
8:45 am
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) tells FOX News if House Speaker John Boehner “caves” and agrees to tax revenues to avoid the sequester, he will lose his speakership.
Dat’s what I’m talking about.
Aquagirl
February 26th, 2013
8:46 am
of course, if BO is certain that horrific outcomes are on the horizon, why doesn’t he simply let the sequester happen to put what my be one of the final nails in GOP coffin?
Maybe because he does believe it would have long-lasting and negative effects and he doesn’t want that. Most politicians do have a germ of conscience and occasionally balk at actions that will directly cause bad $#!^ in return for only their personal gain.
I can’t believe I wrote that. My inner cynic is horrified.
indigo
February 26th, 2013
8:49 am
Barry – 8:28
Republicans are a MAJORITY in the House.
Real intelligent, Barry.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
8:55 am
Yeah right the Kenyan Marxist is not trying to cut entitlements
——————-
Entitlement spending is exploding. Real intelligent, i.t.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 26th, 2013
8:56 am
indigo: Republicans are a MAJORITY in the House.
——————–
Uh, which chamber is SENATOR McCain in?
indigo: Another unfortunate victim of public schools.
independent thinker
February 26th, 2013
9:00 am
Time to cut the “Obamaphone program sarted by the real culprit -George W.:
“”"”"”"”"”The Tea Party Victory Fund, a super PAC, released a misleading ad recently implying that President Barack Obama was passing out free phones to gain votes.
“Keep Obama in president…he gave us a phone,” an African-American woman in Ohio says repeatedly in the black-and-white video.
The text that appears over a talking woman in the video blames Obama for job loss and the national debt.But as The New York Times notes in an editorial, the Obama administration does not pass out free phones for votes. There is a national program that provides low-income people with free or discounted phones, but it was started under George W. Bush, Obama’s Republican predecessor.”"”"”"”"”"
http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/myth-obama-phone/story?id=17507339
Ah the lies and deceptions of the cons are always amusing especially on this blog.That Little Barry guy is so much fun-Now I know why they call it the stupid party.
indigo
February 26th, 2013
9:00 am
Barry
Congress is the House and Senate.
Republicans control the House.
Democrats control the Senate.
I know where McCain is. That was not the point of my post, genius.
azazel
February 26th, 2013
9:12 am
bring it, everyone deserves the worst!!
James
February 26th, 2013
9:16 am
Thank God that we don’t get the government we pay for.
td
February 26th, 2013
9:19 am
HDB
February 26th, 2013
8:29 am
“What many people fail to note is that in economic downturns, the federal government is the last, best hope of arresting the downturn and creating economic growth!”
It is also well known (even Obama said it) that you never raise taxes in an economic downturn. Well taxes went up so that means Obama and the Dems believes the economic downturn is over or they wanted to kill jobs in the private sector.
TiredOfIt
February 26th, 2013
9:41 am
Aesop’s Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 26th, 2013
8:45 am
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) tells FOX News if House Speaker John Boehner “caves” and agrees to tax revenues to avoid the sequester, he will lose his speakership.
Dat’s what I’m talking about.
++
I recommend Ted Cruz
Just Saying..
February 26th, 2013
9:47 am
“Ted Cruz, the new face of the republican party.”
So many Democrats hope you’re right…
Just Saying..
February 26th, 2013
9:54 am
“Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) tells FOX News if House Speaker John Boehner “caves” and agrees to tax revenues to avoid the sequester, he will lose his speakership.
Dat’s what I’m talking about.”
If Boehner goes, the public is not aware of another GOP House member they’d trust to wash their car…
independent thinker
February 26th, 2013
3:51 pm
I hear McCain and Graham are slinking over to the White House to ask old Joe for help in getting Obama to cut a sequester deal they can sell to Boenhead in the House. Crazy Joe might have Jill pick up a rifle by mistake for protection from these two crazy loons..
Obama has the authority to ensure sequester cuts don’t bite | Kyle Wingfield
February 27th, 2013
9:18 am
[...] course, it’s also a dubious proposition that sequestration would lead to unbearable outcomes even absent this flexibility. If the president truly believes that the last $85 billion of federal spending is the difference [...]
Numbers for Medicaid expansion don’t add up | Kyle Wingfield
February 28th, 2013
5:02 am
[...] large deficits Washington is running — as well as lawmakers’ reluctance to accept the relatively small cuts of sequestration, due to hit [...]