How the present fiscal ‘crisis’ rolls right into the next one
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had any pieces of sky falling on my head today.
The automatic spending cuts known as sequestration take effect beginning today. It’s a little early to gauge whether doom is truly upon us, but the way Americans sense the cuts have affected them — or not — will help determine how the next serial “crisis” is teed up.
We already know what that crisis will be: the debate over a new continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. Because congressional Democrats have given up on the budgeting process, which would force them to commit in black-letter documents to the kind of tax-and-spend plans they desire for the coming years, the government ends up being funded for a few months at a time. The latest CR expires later this month, so it would seem the debate will now shift to that fight.
It would seem so, except that that fight is the one the White House has been waging for a couple of weeks now.
The intent of the scare stories about sequestration, in all likelihood, were only partly about sequestration. President Obama no doubt would have loved for congressional Republicans to back down and either kick the cuts down the road a bit further, as they did in the “fiscal cliff” deal, or even agree to some new taxes in place of, say, defense cuts. But he was also fully aware that leverage was ultimately on Republicans’ side if they were resolved to let sequestration proceed — as was the case for him in the fiscal-cliff talks, when taxes were scheduled to go up if no one did anything.
So, it’s altogether likely that Obama wanted to talk up the effects of the sequestration cuts not just to pressure them to cave now, but also to build leverage for the CR discussions. After all, if Americans do feel pain from sequestration, he can argue for higher spending in the CR. If they don’t, he can claim to have taken all possible measures to avoid pain now — but to be without any such protective options if spending falls further in the CR.
The talk about “balance” — i.e., raising taxes — will become even louder when the CR is debated. Never mind that the tax hikes in the fiscal-cliff deal are double the spending cuts under sequestration.
The question now becomes: What do most Americans think about the changes wrought by both deals? Will they feel more affected by the tax hikes or the spending cuts? And will they then balk at going further down one road or the other — or maybe find themselves willing to keep going down both?
One would think the fact that everyone’s payroll taxes went up would trump the far less universal spending cuts. But there will be a lot of argument-by-anecdote about spending cuts in the coming weeks to try to negate that.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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499 comments Add your comment
getalife
March 2nd, 2013
3:25 pm
Thank goodness Bernanke is still easing 85 billion a month or this sucker could go down again.
bluecoat
March 2nd, 2013
3:26 pm
left the n out.This indicates ready,fire,aim,need to proof before print.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 2nd, 2013
3:29 pm
another one who is capable of making stupid comments
Yes true: I can only think of two people, who think they are infallible, Mark and Obama, both of which are long on ideology, semantics, flawed reasoning, word parsing and short on facts and evidence.
Didn’t mean to start a debate with you Mark, rather listen to my dog explain why he likes to roll in dead stuff and stink to high heaven. Out for awhile bathing my pooch.
MarkV
March 2nd, 2013
3:29 pm
Dusty @ 2:59 pm
Also, Dusty, if you want to dispute my expression, try the same with your friend Bruno:
Bruno @ 2:26 pm:“And, by ignoring any long-term economic suffering…”
bluecoat
March 2nd, 2013
3:35 pm
Rafe your dog does that to mask his smell.Could be he is trying to tell you something.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
3:35 pm
gitmo – You should have listened when we told you tax hikes bring in lowered revenues. Happens everytime a lib tries it. We all know that you and obozo are special libs but you cannot overcome economic reality with your specialness. Other people aren’t really that impressed of how special you and obozo are.
And bernake is busy building an even bigger downfall than you can imagine.
The American people are going to be really angry when our economy collapses and that will be the blessed, long awaited end to liberalism.
getalife
March 2nd, 2013
3:39 pm
Aesop,
Investors are saying don’t panic and stay the course.
The fed is still easing 85 billion a month so the market will be fine after a correction but the people are screwed on jobs and income so they will not buy cheap crap at Walmart.
getalife
March 2nd, 2013
3:45 pm
The good news is gas will drop.
bluecoat
March 2nd, 2013
3:48 pm
I wish you would convince the county and school property tax people their tax hikes bring in less revenue.
MarkV
March 2nd, 2013
3:54 pm
Bruno @ 2:40 pm
”According to the rules of your debate book, only YOUR points are allowed to be introduced and discussed, and any straying from the exact original language which you set forth will be met with a barrage of insults.”
Another stupidity from the great Bruno. And a lie. Why don’t you show where I spoke anything about anybody not be allowed to introduce and discuss any point?
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 2nd, 2013
4:10 pm
“Time to work on the President’s agenda”
————
Now that’s comedy.
The majority Americans in the House won’t be passing Obozo’s liberal fascist schemes.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
4:41 pm
Haven’t heard any lies from obozo today so that must mean he’s off golfing somewhere.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
4:43 pm
obozo golfing has some major upsides to it, for instance, while he’s on the course, the Office of the President of the United States isn’t getting soiled.
td
March 2nd, 2013
4:46 pm
Aesop’s Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
4:41 pm
Haven’t heard any lies from obozo today so that must mean he’s off golfing somewhere.
Or at Camp David shooting more skeet.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
4:47 pm
lbj was a war monger, a crank and a quitter; karter was certifiably insane; klinton was a creep and a pervert and now we have obozo the pathological liar and socialist tin pot wannabe.
Some legacy, huh?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
4:58 pm
It’s my understanding that they had to pressure wash the Oval Office before W could sit in there for the first time because it was too sticky.
indigo
March 2nd, 2013
5:45 pm
Barry – 4:10
I think this is where you get that “liberal facism” nonsense.
I’m sure this source fits your delusional thinking like a glove.
http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2013/03/jonah-goldbergs-nonsense-on-cpac-2591368.html
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 2nd, 2013
7:19 pm
Rafe, there is no such thing as a debate with MarkV.
He makes a statement he can’t back up, then spends the rest of the day back pedaling and lying to people by claiming he never said anything.
He’s the consummate coward and liar.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
7:55 pm
Dutifully passing along white house proganda is not, in fact, lying; it’s more of a sign of mindlessness.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
8:40 pm
obozo the belligerent has fallen silent! First Time Eva. Even the Prompter has nothing to say. Is there a problem? What, pray tell, has prompted this blessing upon our nation? Can we, like, expect more of it in the future?
Oh, now I remember, it was that beating he took at the hands of the Repugs. I’m sorry.
Never mind.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 2nd, 2013
8:42 pm
I’ll bet he’s off lookin for someone to blame.
moonbat betty
March 2nd, 2013
9:00 pm
“Can we, like, expect more of it in the future?”
Yes, more vacationing in some far away land.
MarkV
March 2nd, 2013
9:04 pm
Dusty,
When you are again in the mood for scolding me, like you did in the past for me not being sufficiently “pleasant,” think about your double standard. We have had a good example today. Read again my post @10:57 am, and then read the first response
Bruno @ 11:11 am: “I can only hope that jackasses like MarkV will realize one day that no one wants to see his fellow man suffering.”
You, of course, would chide me if I wrote anything approaching that. Mind you, I do not complain or go to Kyle to rule on that; I am glad Bruno is showing us his true nature as a person.
You did scold me (@) 2:34 pm,) inexplicably, for using the expression ”economic suffering.” Never mind that Bruno (@ 2:26 pm) repeated exactly the same expression.
It really gets quite amusing.
MarkV @ 1:37pm “I believe you write them mostly from the need colloquially known as “venting your spleen.”
Bruno @2:03 pm: “In return, however, he absolutely knows others’ motivations and intentions. Here, for example, he attributes Dusty’s comments to “venting her spleen”. Nice comment to about the only person here who will converse civilly with him.”
“I believe” becomes, in Bruno’s comprehension, “ he absolutely knows.”
And here is Dusty:(@2:01 pm): “As to “venting my spleen”, sometimes yes. but not today.”
Quite hilarious.
RC--apoi
March 2nd, 2013
9:18 pm
Well, I’m with Wingfield and the other godly Conservatives on here. We won’t be getting nowhere till we start whacking SS and Medicare. It’s been about 80 years and the librul Democrats still won’t agree to the cuts. So let’s starve them out. Now if the big money was being spent on wars and Tax Cuts I might could feel different. But it ain’t, so let’s whack. I won’t be happy till Sister Dusty won’t even be able to afford the cheap wine she
guzzlessips.MarkV
March 2nd, 2013
9:25 pm
Dusty @2:48 pm
“I did answer your question, MarkV. What ever your (sensible) budget has for infrastructure, that is ALL you spend on infrastructure. Get it? Follow the budget. No excuses!”
Thank you for clarifying it. I am very happy and grateful that you are not a government economist. What you would do is to bring the country to her knees for sure, by ignoring future benefits in favor of temporary satisfaction.
“Just wondering where you got your ideas on government. They are so different from mine.”
Some, as the above, certainly are. I do not know about all others, and you do not know about mine.
“May I suggest that you NOT present only counter arguments? Straight forward works better for me.”
Sorry, but it would depend what you mean by “straightforward.” If you mean proclaiming my opinion as you and others do so often, I usually do not do that for one simple reason: It serves absolutely no purpose. For instance, take all those statements you made @10:36 am. If, as you claim, these were not for “venting your spleen,” then tell me what was their purpose, and their effect. Do you think you have changed anybody’s mind? How many people do you think even remember what you wrote then? What have you accomplished?
But by all means, continue doing that, if that makes you feel better.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
8:09 am
Aesop: Dutifully passing along white house proganda is not, in fact, lying
————————-
That depends on whether the person doing the passing knows that it’s false, in which case it IS lying.
For example, repeating Obozo’s claim that “we don’t have a spending problem” would almost certainly be known to be false to anyone, even a publicly-educated progtard.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
8:16 am
How the present fiscal ‘crisis’ rolls right into the next one
————————–
Remember when we had a fully functioning, competent President and (yes, it once existed) a Senate that actually did their jobs and produced a budget, thereby avoiding these rolling crises?
So four years ago.
indigo
March 3rd, 2013
8:43 am
Barry
There have been times in our past when we had a fully functioning, competent President.
Eight years of George W. Bush was absolutely NOT one of those times.
He will likely go down in history as the worst President we’ve ever had.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
8:49 am
And yet, Our President Bush produced a budget every year, never ran or proposed a trillion dollar deficit, never had unemployment as high as his successor, fixed the dot-com bust, fixed Islamofascist terrorism, fixed the financial meltdown. In other words, He did His job.
Obozo? All campaign, no solutions. Nothing more than a rabble-rouser.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
9:08 am
Obozo? All campaign, no solutions. Nothing more than a rabble-rouser.
Oh, but you forget all his good points. He will serve as the poster boy for how not to govern as President. He is a one man economic stimulater, with all the WH dance parties, the trips, the vacations, and the constant campaigning. He unites the opposition by being so arrogant, intemperate, and angry. He makes all his lackluster predecessors look amazingly good. His policy failures hopefully will serve as warnings to future Presidents not to go down that road.
Got to look at the bright side of Obamanism!!!
Politico
March 3rd, 2013
9:20 am
“He unites to opposition….”
Yeah so much that is mediocre behind thumped Romney..
Guess you were trying to get united that you missed the elections as well as those on this blog touting Romney as President for the election…
Yes you were “reunited because it feels so good”
Bwhahhahahhahahahaha
Keep the “uniting” going and stay the course… It is working so well
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 3rd, 2013
9:22 am
At least GWB had flashes of competence, albeit rarely.
The current Incompetent hasn’t shown one shred of it since his inauguration in 2009.
Not one.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 3rd, 2013
9:25 am
Wow. Completely shocked that Politico would repeat his oft-repeated complaint about people predicting a Romney victory (instead of offering something insightful).
Repetitive and nothing to add. Puts him in the same company as many of the other useless libs (isn’t that a redundant phrase?) on this blog.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
9:29 am
Obozo doesn’t want a budget passed, as it would deprive him of all these opportunities to rabble-rouse, to fear-monger, and to encourage his base’s hatred of people who work for a living.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 3rd, 2013
9:46 am
President Incompetent doesn’t want a budget passed for one simple reason. Having a series of continuing resolutions allows the government to spend exactly the same amount of money on programs as they did in previous years with no changes allowed in prioritization to those monies.
In short, it allows him to continue to fund each and every program that was in place since he became President without ever having to make a decision on whether that program works or not, whether it should be changed or eliminated or whether other programs should take priority.
It allows him to do nothing, which is the one thing in life he’s eminently suited for.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 3rd, 2013
9:49 am
‘Just to make the final point about the sequester,” said President Obama at his press conference Friday, “we will get through this. This is not going to be an apocalypse, I think, as some people have said.”
There must be two obozos?!?
Georgia
March 3rd, 2013
10:32 am
The markets are telling us that the next four years will be a new Camelot. Michele O!
Big D
March 3rd, 2013
10:39 am
Hooray for Obama. He accomplished something though he is running from the only accomplisment of his administration. He sort of, not quite, but almost reduced his excessive spending through sequestration for which as usual he won’t take the credit. Meanwhile, liberals are afraid to go out side for fear the fg\alling sky will hurt them. One thing for sure though, Obamanomics has virtually stopped inflation. With the only new jobs added under his policies paying less than eight dollars an hour there is little danger of inflation.
Georgia
March 3rd, 2013
11:11 am
Inflation Report.
Value of a DOLLAR: 8 cents since Hiroshima (1945), 17 cents since the Kent State Massacre (1970), 47 cents since Police Academy 2 (1985), and 78 cents since 911 (2001).
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
11:15 am
Georgia: The markets are telling us that the next four years will be a new Camelot.
——————————-
The markets are telling us that when $85 billion new dollars have to go somewhere, a whole bunch of them go into stocks, driving up prices. The whole supply-and-demand thingy.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
11:15 am
That’s $85 billion per month.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
11:21 am
The stock market is telling us that these stocks are worth more in Obama/Bernanke inflated dollars than what they are currently valued. When you print all this money, it has to go somewhere, you can’t put in the bank and draw .75% interest and keep up.
Michael H. Smith
March 3rd, 2013
11:32 am
Obamanomics has virtually stopped inflation. With the only new jobs added under his policies paying less than eight dollars an hour there is little danger of inflation.
You really cannot be serious D?
The Fed has been monetizing our debt. We are financing our own government spending and borrowing by printing more money to buy our own U.S. Bonds. While this has a proven positive benefit on the Dow Jones, it will have a very long term negative effect on the main-street economy via inflation.
Oh and by the way, according to official government means of accounting food and gas are not included in the reported inflation figures. According to people like me who buy groceries and gas at least on a weekly bases, inflation has been on the rise for quite some time.
It is time to stop this experiment in Social(ist) Democracy and admit that we have done no better at perfecting it than Europe or the old U.S.S.R. . Government re-distribution of wealth is not a viable means for securing the livelihoods of our people or for this nation to prosper.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
11:44 am
Politico
I didn’t miss the election. I noted that a great deal of folks, who had differences with and were not pleased with Romney, who previously voted for other candidates as diverse as Ron Paul, John McCain, and Michelle Bachman, quickly united to oppose Barry and to oppose his fundamental changes to America. They voluntarily went to the polls to vote against the Obamanation. Not enough, for sure, but those 49% were united in their opposition.
The GOP did not have to provide buses, send out the union thugs, use peer pressure to intimidate, invade peoples privacy to identify the targeted pro dem voters, and scare these folks into supporting their candidate. Obama won because he was able to turn out the vote. Extra time for early voting has been used brilliantly by the Dems, to identify, encourage, intimidate, and verify that the voters they have selected have done their duty.
The GOP has got to do more to encourage reluctant conservatives to get to the polls, we don’t need to get into the peer pressure intimidation, used by the Dems, as it will not work on Conservatives, but too many conservatives are sitting it out, waiting on the perfect candidate.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
11:48 am
MHS@11:32 you nailed it! Waiting for the Libs to pull some chart off a government website, that shows little or no inflation. They have no shame in repeating ad nauseum the Obama talking points.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
12:03 pm
This should scare the bejesus out of any Freedom loving American. So, I guess it is OK for the President to state that his only agenda is to make the House GOP leadership a one term proposition, in his second term.
Obama has committed to raising money for fellow Democrats, agreed to help recruit viable candidates, and launched a political nonprofit group dedicated to furthering his agenda and that of his congressional allies. The goal is to flip the Republican-held House back to Democratic control, allowing Obama to push forward with a progressive agenda on gun control, immigration, climate change and the economy during his final two years in office, according to congressional Democrats, strategists and others familiar with Obama’s thinking.
“The president understands that to get anything done, he needs a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “To have a legacy in 2016, he will need a House majority in 2014, and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/stymied-by-a-gop-house-obama-looks-ahead-to-2014-to-cement-his-legacy/2013/03/02
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 3rd, 2013
12:03 pm
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America: you can’t put in the bank and draw .75% interest and keep up.
————————-
I’d like to know where you can put your money in the bank and get 0.75%. Thought I was doing well finding a bank (American Express savings account) that pays 0.5%
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
12:10 pm
For the Libs who constantly whine about returning the tax rates to the Clinton years, when all was right with the world, looks like you over shot your goal by a good margin. And, we are so much better off for it, right?
For 2013, families with incomes in the top 20 percent of the nation will pay an average of 27.2 percent of their income in federal taxes, according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a research organization based in Washington. The top 1 percent of households, those with incomes averaging $1.4 million, will pay an average of 35.5 percent.
Those tax rates, which include income, payroll, corporate and estate taxes, are among the highest since 1979.
The average family in the bottom 20 percent of households won’t pay any federal taxes. Instead, many families in this group will get payments from the federal government by claiming more in credits than they owe in taxes, including payroll taxes. That will give them a negative tax rate. [...]
The middle 20 percent of U.S. households — those making an average of $46,600 — will pay an average of 13.8 percent of their income in federal taxes for this year, according to the Tax Policy Center. Over the past three decades, the average federal tax rate for this group has been about 16 percent.
- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/03/03/ap-shocker-tax-bills-rich-families-approach-30-year-high#sthash.Ih5TvqyJ.dpuf
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
March 3rd, 2013
12:13 pm
LBB
I got that from a scrolling ad on the front page of online AJC for a CD offering a whopping .75%. (probably requires a five year commitment!!).
indigo
March 3rd, 2013
12:24 pm
Barry – 8:49 “he did his job”
Oh, he did his job all right.
His job, as he saw it, was to get us into two completely useless wars to fullfill Biblical prophecy, finance them with credit cards, and leave office after saddling us with the worst financial depression since the Great Depression.
Obama is a regular Abraham Lincoln compared to your Bush idol.