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The Art of the Deal
Author: BobR    Date: 07/22/2011 12:58:34

With a fixed dealine quickly approaching, President Obama seems to be doing what he can to ensure that the debt ceiling is raised in time to avoid calamity, including floating a generous proposal yesterday. He had previously endorsed a plan by the Senate "Gang of Six". Both have been rejected by House Republicans because they include revenue increases. Yet they will likely have to accept a deal anyway. Let's take a look.

President Obama's most recent offer has something for everybody to hate. For those on the left, there are "adjustments" to programs like Social Security and Medicare. You will definitely be hearing screams like "Oh my God - he's really done it this time. This is the Worst. Thing. Ever..." Let's look at those cuts, shall we?

  • Increasing the eligibility age for Medicare recipients from 65 to 67 by 2036.
  • Raising co-pays and premiums for Medicare beneficiaries based on their incomes. Such "means testing" already exists; the president's proposal would expand it.
  • Decreasing the size of annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits.

Okay, um... that doesn't seem too bad, does it? Let's take them one by one.

Medicare Eligibility Age: This is a two year increase over 25 years. In the same time frame, life expectencies are predicted to rise by 3.5 yrs. This means the increase will actually lag behind the population. In that same time period as the baby boomers reach the age where they will be able to make use of Medicare, the number of people signing up will increase fairly dramatically. This increase is actually rather conservative.

Income-based premium increases: This means that the people who can afford it will pay a little more, and those that can't will see no change. This should make progressives happy.

Decreasing COLA increases: There actually haven't been any COLA increases the last couple years because of the economy. So (zero x anything) = zero. Once the economy begins to improve, then this will be a factor, but without hard numbers it's hard to tell how much. Note though that this isn't a decrease to existing payments, but a reduction of future increases to payments.

For this progressives are going to write him off?

The Republicans, of course, are acting as expected:
Some pundits and political insiders say Republicans should leap at the offer. But there's a hitch: The new revenue — mainly from overhauling the tax code and lowering rates by eliminating or limiting a broad swath of loopholes, deductions and tax breaks — presumably would violate a no-net-tax-hike pledge that scores of Republican lawmakers have signed.

Mostly for that reason, House Republicans so far have rejected Obama's overture, despite the interest shown by Speaker John Boehner. Some pro-Republican analysts seem bewildered.

Obama's offer of big spending cuts would have "brutally fractured the Democratic Party," and congressional Republicans probably "will come to regret this missed opportunity," wrote David Brooks, a moderate-to-conservative columnist for The New York Times.

Even anti-government anti-Obama stallwarts like Grover Norquist are backpeddling, saying that letting tax cuts expire do not violate the Tea Party anti-tax pledge. Presumably, Norquist knows this is the best deal the Republicans are going to get, and letting the debt ceiling default is bad for everyone.

For Obama, though, this is a win-win (from the first linked article):
If Congress approves a version of the "grand bargain," Obama can run next year as a president who began taming the runaway deficit, extracted concessions on higher taxes from Republicans and put Medicare and Social Security on a possible path toward greater stability.

If congressional Republicans block the plan — and especially if the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline is missed — Obama might persuasively argue that he tried his best to strike a compromise, at some political risk to himself. Recent polls suggest that strategy is working, as Americans seem disgruntled with the Republicans' dug-in opposition.

This is the art of the deal. Put the opponent into a position of having to reject what they want so that they will have to take what you are offering.
 

96 comments (Latest Comment: 07/23/2011 00:11:13 by wickedpam)
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Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:08:33
Morning

They better be just testing the waters on this and its not a done deal cause I'm gonna be pissed if I lose my HMI tax deduction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get the re-jigger of SS and Medicare/Medicad to make it more effecient but to say your taking away something that really impacts what I can do for my home every year and NOT make the rich pay just their fair share is cutting the legs out from under people like me.

Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 13:13:45
Blog is up.

Comment by Scoopster on 07/22/2011 13:15:27
Mornin' all & Happy Fridee!

Fuck a doodle fuck it's hot out there today..

Comment by Scoopster on 07/22/2011 13:22:36
Really excellent blog today Bobber. With any luck it'll shut up some of these damn 'zomg Obama gave away the farm' headless chickens running around.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:25:15
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.

The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 13:26:17
Ken!

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 13:27:48
Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.

The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.


Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/22/2011 13:28:45
Every time I look at the damn forecast the expected high goes up 1. Yesterday it was 98, now it's 103. I'm not looking any more.

It made 120+ on the balcony even though the sensor was in the shade. Must be heat coming up the building.

I gotta work tomorrow up in Andover because it was the only time I could get for testing. I "bought" myself a nice big tool box to take all my emissions-sniffing tools so I don't have to carry everything in falling apart cardboard boxes. I have a laptop ordered but I don't think I'll see it before the end of the day. My old desk in Andover is still there, with my old PC with the camera software still on it - which reminds me, I should take my old name tag back with me so I can put it out at the desk when I'm out there.

I'm starting to feel sorry for Boehner. He looks a bit more grounded in reality than the tea-bagging traitors infesting the House.

Comment by TriSec on 07/22/2011 13:29:48
Morning, comrades!

I'm planning on having my heatstroke soon; I expect it will be rather busy this afternoon.

<-- dies.

Sorry, if there was a magic weather machine that controlled everything, but it was broken and the only two choices were 20 or 90....I'd pick 20 every time.



Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:31:58
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.

The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.



WRT?

Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 13:38:18
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.

The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.



WRT?

With Regard To

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:39:26
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.

The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.



WRT?


nvr figured it out

Thats my biggest deduction I get to take every year. Its how I get to save quickly for things like possible new flooring or a new door or new furniture, new appliances, just something I can put back into my house or splurge and take a small vacation or do something fun

Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 13:39:38
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades!

I'm planning on having my heatstroke soon; I expect it will be rather busy this afternoon.

<-- dies.

Sorry, if there was a magic weather machine that controlled everything, but it was broken and the only two choices were 20 or 90....I'd pick 20 every time.


ditto that. I can put on warmer clothes when it's cold... not much I can do when the heat gets beyond my core body temperature

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:39:48
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've been talked off the ledge, thanks to Raine and others, and the tweaking of some very important programs. I get that it needs to be done. I'm okay with it so long as no one goes nutty. I'm looking at you Paul Ryan.

The things I have a problem with, from what I heard on TOP last night and the Post today, is losing my ability to take the HMI deduction on the taxes AND that there is nothing in writing that the wealthiest among us and their corporations will help to raise revenue at all.
WRT to the HMI deduction, I wan to look more into that.



WRT?

With Regard To



thank you

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 13:40:14
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:
The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details later”. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.

We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.


Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 13:41:10
Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:45:49
Quote by Raine:
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:
The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details later”. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.

We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.


nope, not a word that I say or heard - but that now makes more sense and I'm not so pissed about it


Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/22/2011 13:54:12
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades!

I'm planning on having my heatstroke soon; I expect it will be rather busy this afternoon.

<-- dies.

Sorry, if there was a magic weather machine that controlled everything, but it was broken and the only two choices were 20 or 90....I'd pick 20 every time.



I thought Cheney had the Magic Weather Machine


Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 13:54:37
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:
The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details later”. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.

We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.


nope, not a word that I say or heard - but that now makes more sense and I'm not so pissed about it
I gotta say honestly that we just don't know with regard to the deal being floated right about now. It just doesn't make sense to eliminate that deduction. It helps people -- as opposed to oil subsidies which helps business.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 13:59:45
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Mala, Did WTOP or WaPo say anything about the HMI being tied to how much income a person has? I say that because I just came across this blog:
The proposal would supposedly reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next ten years, although the AP article says that it “punts on many of the most difficult issues, leaving it to congressional committees to fill in the details later”. This seems like par for the course to me. The plan would reduce the number of tax brackets by half, and would cut the top tax bracket from 35 percent to between 23 and 29 percent. In order to pay for tax cuts, the plan would reduce or eliminate tax breaks for health insurance, mortgage interest, and charitable donations. Within the plan there are no specifics as to how the tax breaks would be reduced.

We’ve discussed the mortgage interest deduction many times on this blog. A budget plan proposed by the Obama Administration back in February would have reduced the deduction for those making over $250,000 as a household or $200,000 as an individual. Again, the plan proposed by the Gang of Six has no specifics, so we do not know how it would impact homeowners.


nope, not a word that I say or heard - but that now makes more sense and I'm not so pissed about it
I gotta say honestly that we just don't know with regard to the deal being floated right about now. It just doesn't make sense to eliminate that deduction. It helps people -- as opposed to oil subsidies which helps business.



Didn't people say that before they got rid of people being able to deduct their credit card interest on taxes? I just don't want it to be too late in getting the actual details.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 14:11:55
Random - if you are lurking, I think your Twitter account was hacked

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 14:13:31
Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 14:16:54
Quote by wickedpam:
Didn't people say that before they got rid of people being able to deduct their credit card interest on taxes? I just don't want it to be too late in getting the actual details.
Well I can understand that.

It's why I am kinda pissed this is taking so long. You want to bet money that once a deal is met the GOP will say we have to post it online for 72 hours to red the bill (or have a frucking hissyspit like they did with HCR?)


Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 14:18:59
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 14:22:51
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Didn't people say that before they got rid of people being able to deduct their credit card interest on taxes? I just don't want it to be too late in getting the actual details.
Well I can understand that.

It's why I am kinda pissed this is taking so long. You want to bet money that once a deal is met the GOP will say we have to post it online for 72 hours to red the bill (or have a frucking hissyspit like they did with HCR?)



I have no doubt. They see no problem just f-ing with people

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 14:26:50
An Into the Woods shout out!? Wow no one ever references my fave musial

Comment by Scoopster on 07/22/2011 14:29:34
Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 14:30:03
Quote by wickedpam:
An Into the Woods shout out!? Wow no one ever references my fave musial

I find uses for this one all the time:

So it's your fault
No it's your fault
No it isn't mine at all



Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 14:34:16
Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.



love these

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 14:35:43
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam:
An Into the Woods shout out!? Wow no one ever references my fave musial

I find uses for this one all the time:

So it's your fault
No it's your fault
No it isn't mine at all



and that is in my iPod along with Lament and well the whole cast recording is


Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 14:39:39
I think the Senate has voted to table the Cut Cap and Crap bill.

Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 14:40:24
It's 10:30 AM, and apparently someone left the door open to the gates of Hell:

Temp: 94
Humidity: 60%
Feels like: 108

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 14:43:02
Quote by BobR:
It's 10:30 AM, and apparently someone left the door open to the gates of Hell:

Temp: 94
Humidity: 60%
Feels like: 108



And just think of all those 25,000 re-enactors out in Manassas this morning I feel for them

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/22/2011 14:48:52
Good morning, bloggers!!

I have known it makes sense to see what deal is offered, and to state what you don't want to see. I think that the public should make its voice known, so that the President can say "The public does not want cuts to these programs." Mind you, I still want to see the deal -- and I hope that it is not a bad deal. (Let's say that Social Security is called the Third Rail of American politics for a reason. SSI, Medicare and Medicaid are not adding to our deficit, but the GOP has to go after programs that they hated from the start.)

I wonder if Boehner can sell his conference on anything. It may come down to Obama on August 1st saying that he is going to use the 14th Amendment remedy, and portray the House Republicans as do nothing fanatics.

Well, back to the wonderful world of house cleaning and job hunting. In some news, I have applied for my Massachusetts teaching license and will check on some position. (I have expressed a willingness to go to Mars for work. Mind you, I doubt that they need many teachers there.)



Comment by Scoopster on 07/22/2011 14:53:59
Ugh the handwringing over at DailyKos is killing me. Now they're all freaking out because supposedly there's a new backup deal in the works..

Democrats favored one proposal: if Congress failed to pass tax reform by date-certain, then the top-bracket Bush tax cuts would expire -- a hefty stick that would encourage Republicans to cut a deal. Boehner never agreed to that -- and now that the grand bargain has been revived, Democrats are worried that Obama has abandoned that trigger, and perhaps his insistence on a trigger of any kind.

Multiple reports surfaced late Thursday that a trade-off might be in the works: Republicans would agree to the tax trigger if Obama and Dems would agree to nix the health care law's individual mandate -- an unpopular, but crucial component of the reforms Obama signed last year. This is precisely the sort of swap House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has argued for recently.


That will never happen. No fucking way.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 15:00:25
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 15:02:35
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.



love these
Still looking at all of them.


Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 15:03:05
The Cut Crap and scrap bill was voted down in the Senate.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 15:03:38
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.



love these
Still looking at all of them.



The Leesburg stuff is killin' me, I remember when it was nothing but country roads out there

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/22/2011 15:05:18
Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems


I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 15:08:06
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems


I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.



So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/22/2011 15:10:57
I rather like the quote on the Tea Party from Maryland's Governor -- kudos to Debbie on the UNN Facebook page for posting this from Maryland's Democratic Party.

O’Malley: “Comes down to one timeless question, and it is: whether we move forward, or whether we slip back”

Let me touch on one last thing and it is this you know on the way here I looked up the dictionary definition of tea party and one of the definitions was this, “a group of children who play with imaginary friends.”

Think about it Senator Dave Williams, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, they’ve really have us all believe a lot of things that aren’t really so, wouldn’t they. In their make-believe world with their imaginary friends they would have us believe that we can all somehow eat cake and lose weight. They would have us believe that unions cause recessions. They would have us believe bridges are, well you know, kind of like trees if you leave them alone long enough they’ll grow taller and stronger with age.

At their tea party there is no need to pay bills. There’s no need to be serious about spending and spending cuts. There’s no need to invest in the future because down is up, up is down, candy is a vegetable, and vegetables are candy. But of course, we know that their type of tea party is a lot more Alice in Wonderland then it is Sam Adams. It’s a lot more Mad Hatter then it is James Madison.

The real world doesn’t work like that. The real world is the world that our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents built for us.

They built it with their hands, they built it with their heart, they built it with their sacrifice, they built it with the hope they saw in the eyes of their children.



Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/22/2011 15:17:31
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems


I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.



So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.



Yes, it does. And some tests are required. I plan to call later to see if I need the Communication and Literacy Test -- even though I have a Master's in Education, two Bachelors and have worked as a freelancer for a major metropolitan daily.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 15:20:49
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems


I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.



So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.



Yes, it does. And some tests are required. I plan to call later to see if I need the Communication and Literacy Test -- even though I have a Master's in Education, two Bachelors and have worked as a freelancer for a major metropolitan daily.



Well, that's just silly. Seems to me, if you have a Masters in Education you should get to jump over a bunch of stuff.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 15:33:52
Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/22/2011 15:42:04
A massive explosion has hit downtown Oslo, Norway. At least one person is confirmed dead.

Giant blast hits government buildings in Oslo, Norway

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/22/2011 15:42:40
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by wickedpam:
Will have you tried VA for teaching? NoVA is always looking for teachers, esp Loudoun county is seems


I sent an application to a district there last year. As things stand, I had to deal with getting money for one license. If I am still here in a few months, I will see about a Virginia license. I am so tired of subbing and being broke that it is not even funny.



So you have to get licensed in each state? That sucks.



Yes, it does. And some tests are required. I plan to call later to see if I need the Communication and Literacy Test -- even though I have a Master's in Education, two Bachelors and have worked as a freelancer for a major metropolitan daily.



Well, that's just silly. Seems to me, if you have a Masters in Education you should get to jump over a bunch of stuff.


To quote Mr. Spock, "No one ever said that humanity was a logical species."



Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 15:54:40
Morning all. I only work 12-4 fridays w00t

Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/22/2011 15:55:45
Quote by Will in Chicago:
A massive explosion has hit downtown Oslo, Norway. At least one person is confirmed dead.

Giant blast hits government buildings in Oslo, Norway


I'm sorry, I started reading this as Giant Glass
1-800-54 GIANT


Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 15:56:12
Quote by Will in Chicago:
I rather like the quote on the Tea Party from Maryland's Governor -- kudos to Debbie on the UNN Facebook page for posting this from Maryland's Democratic Party.

O’Malley: “Comes down to one timeless question, and it is: whether we move forward, or whether we slip back”

Let me touch on one last thing and it is this you know on the way here I looked up the dictionary definition of tea party and one of the definitions was this, “a group of children who play with imaginary friends.”

Think about it Senator Dave Williams, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, they’ve really have us all believe a lot of things that aren’t really so, wouldn’t they. In their make-believe world with their imaginary friends they would have us believe that we can all somehow eat cake and lose weight. They would have us believe that unions cause recessions. They would have us believe bridges are, well you know, kind of like trees if you leave them alone long enough they’ll grow taller and stronger with age.

At their tea party there is no need to pay bills. There’s no need to be serious about spending and spending cuts. There’s no need to invest in the future because down is up, up is down, candy is a vegetable, and vegetables are candy. But of course, we know that their type of tea party is a lot more Alice in Wonderland then it is Sam Adams. It’s a lot more Mad Hatter then it is James Madison.

The real world doesn’t work like that. The real world is the world that our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents built for us.

They built it with their hands, they built it with their heart, they built it with their sacrifice, they built it with the hope they saw in the eyes of their children.



Tommy Carcett...Sorry Martin O'Malley is great!

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 15:56:44
That is kinda cool, Mondo.

Comment by TriSec on 07/22/2011 15:58:43
Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 15:59:20
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
This is a fascinating gallery of past and present photo images of the DC area superimposed.



love these
Still looking at all of them.



The Leesburg stuff is killin' me, I remember when it was nothing but country roads out there


Thankfully Waterford hasn't changed that much. That is on purpose to. Waterfordians prize the historical look of the town. My Dad used to work with a guy who is like a x generation resident.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 16:01:50
Quote by Raine:
That is kinda cool, Mondo.


What is kinda cool?

Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/22/2011 16:07:07
SFF (stolen from Fark)

The Republican party is the best funded and most powerful terrorist group in the world.



Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 16:09:23
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
That is kinda cool, Mondo.


What is kinda cool?

That you have a short Friday/

Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 16:21:55
Quote by TriSec:
Something for Bob!


nice!

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 16:25:13
Again Bernie is talking about Primarying the Pres. Yeah, thats not going to damage us too badly

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 16:27:29
Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 16:27:41
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
That is kinda cool, Mondo.


What is kinda cool?

That you have a short Friday/


Yeah I get to go to a tappas thing at Whole Foods tonight.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 16:29:07
Quote by Raine:
No baby Panda for DC.



no new butterstick

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 16:29:18
Quote by wickedpam:
Again Bernie is talking about Primarying the Pres. Yeah, thats not going to damage us too badly
I am just not a fan of primarying a sitting president. When has that ever worked out?

Wasn't the first Bush primaried? Now mind you, I wasn't unhappy with the results, but like Carter, it just doesn't seem to work out for the party in the WH.


Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 16:32:07
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Again Bernie is talking about Primarying the Pres. Yeah, thats not going to damage us too badly
I am just not a fan of primarying a sitting president. When has that ever worked out?

Wasn't the first Bush primaried? Now mind you, I wasn't unhappy with the results, but like Carter, it just doesn't seem to work out for the party in the WH.



exactly

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 16:32:39
To answer my question, Yes, Bush was primaried by Pat Buchanan:
Within the Republican Party, President Bush easily won the nomination. But his Republican primary opponent, conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan, personified the dissatisfaction of the right wing of the party. Bush had lost the support of many conservative Republicans for a variety of reasons, including raising taxes and cutting defense spending. Buchanan's challenge forced Bush to move further right during the primaries, especially with regard to social issues. To appease the right wing of the party, the Bush team asked Buchanan to give the keynote address during the Republican convention. Buchanan's speech alienated many moderates and was roundly criticized in the media. In his address, Buchanan offered a gloomy view of America's health, noting that this election was "about what we stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself. And in that struggle for the soul of America, Clinton and Clinton are on the other side, and George Bush is on our side."


Comment by livingonli on 07/22/2011 16:39:15
Good day everyone. Getting close to 100 here and already 101 in the city. Another deal I feel like sleeping but I have to go in and work a late Nationals game tonight.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 16:41:52
Hey caller - Obama wasn't the one who tied the debt ceiling to the budget crap it

Comment by livingonli on 07/22/2011 16:50:58
Quote by Raine:
To answer my question, Yes, Bush was primaried by Pat Buchanan:
Within the Republican Party, President Bush easily won the nomination. But his Republican primary opponent, conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan, personified the dissatisfaction of the right wing of the party. Bush had lost the support of many conservative Republicans for a variety of reasons, including raising taxes and cutting defense spending. Buchanan's challenge forced Bush to move further right during the primaries, especially with regard to social issues. To appease the right wing of the party, the Bush team asked Buchanan to give the keynote address during the Republican convention. Buchanan's speech alienated many moderates and was roundly criticized in the media. In his address, Buchanan offered a gloomy view of America's health, noting that this election was "about what we stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself. And in that struggle for the soul of America, Clinton and Clinton are on the other side, and George Bush is on our side."

I still remember how Molly Ivins commented that Buchanan's speech at the '92 convention probably sounded better in the original German. The whole family values rhetoric at the '92 convention was a big turn-off and I think also contributed to the GOP's defeat that year. With many GOP-teabaggers going extra crispy on the family values platform there could be very well a re-enactment even crazier version of that rhetoric coming out of the 2012 convention and hopefully that with their reactionary economic philosophy will hopefully bite them in the ass.

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 16:53:06
If people are nervous, they should be calling calling calling calling calling

Hell, I love BErnie to death, but the idea of getting people engaged is moot if we can't even get people to contact their representatives.

I understand pushing back, I even understand what Bernie is doing here, but I have to wonder if he is aware of the kind of people that want to primary the president -- they aren't exactly much better than the teabaggers.

The answer to extremism not always more extremism.

Comment by Scoopster on 07/22/2011 16:57:37
Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 17:07:45
He wasn't in Iowa he was in Maryland at a town hall. Thom, seriously.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 17:19:56
Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 17:58:53
Mala, are you listening to Talk Radio news?

Comment by TriSec on 07/22/2011 18:07:34
No record yet:

Current Temp 37°C (99°F)
Dewpoint 22°C (72°F)
Heat Index 43°C (109°F)
Humidity 42%


Who needs quantim science, anyway? All that thinkin' stuff is for snooty furriners. Where's mah shotgun?


Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 18:08:56
Blogger peeps, do yourselves a favor and check out Wilfred on FX. It is the heart warming story of a man and his dog. His pot smoking, cheese eating and then farting, larcenous dog. It is a hoot and a half.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 18:09:44

Quote by TriSec:
No record yet:

Current Temp 37°C (99°F)
Dewpoint 22°C (72°F)
Heat Index 43°C (109°F)
Humidity 42%


Who needs quantim science, anyway? All that thinkin' stuff is for snooty furriners. Where's mah shotgun?


42% humidity? You wimp.

Comment by TriSec on 07/22/2011 18:15:37
KJAX is only reading 52%, and 8 degrees cooler.

Wanna talk wind chill?

(Actually, 6 degrees with a blustery wind is sounding pretty good right about now.)


Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 18:19:31
Current Conditions:

Temp: 100
Humidity: 47%
Feels Like: 117

W...
T...
F...



Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 18:25:44
Quote by Raine:
Mala, are you listening to Talk Radio news?



hmm - I was downstairs fanagoling for a master key

Comment by wickedpam on 07/22/2011 18:28:29
Quote by BobR:
Current Conditions:

Temp: 100
Humidity: 47%
Feels Like: 117

W...
T...
F...




weather.com says 101 in Manassas - ick! Hell, I'm inside my office its overly warm and humid and my hair is fighting against the product I use to keep it straight - its not pretty


Comment by livingonli on 07/22/2011 18:29:57
It reached 100 here and now has dropped to a cool 98 degrees

Comment by TriSec on 07/22/2011 18:35:35
Say now, ya know how when it snows in the winter, all the right-wing lovemuffins come out to say there's no global warming?

Where are they now?



Comment by TriSec on 07/22/2011 18:48:25
I know we have our favorite weather gizmos, but this one gives you aviation weather (METAR data). Since most of the official NOAA stations are located at airports anyway, this might come in handy.



Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 18:57:05
Quote by TriSec:
KJAX is only reading 52%, and 8 degrees cooler.

Wanna talk wind chill?

(Actually, 6 degrees with a blustery wind is sounding pretty good right about now.)


Who cares about what's happening at the airport? It is 40 miles from where I am. it is all about Memememememe! Which is the name of a paper Niles Crane wrote about a narssasitic opera singer.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 18:59:08
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
Current Conditions:

Temp: 100
Humidity: 47%
Feels Like: 117

W...
T...
F...




weather.com says 101 in Manassas - ick! Hell, I'm inside my office its overly warm and humid and my hair is fighting against the product I use to keep it straight - its not pretty



I will be breaking out the sweater I keep in my desk since it about 60 degrees by my desk. But the lights in the bathroom time out if there is not movement. We're a green building! :snort:

Comment by livingonli on 07/22/2011 19:11:48
It's hit 108 degrees in Newark and 104 in Atlantic City which is the hottest those places have been since 1977 and 1969 respectively.

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 19:29:56
We're at 102 right now. Thank god for the pool.

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 19:32:46
WTOP says it feels like 120. I say it feels like hell. Warrenton has a heat index of 132. This is sick.

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 19:37:16
The government will not collect act any taxes on Airline tickets as of midnight tonite.

Comment by livingonli on 07/22/2011 20:03:22
Wish I had a pool to float in right now

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 20:30:16
The pool was great, but I gotta say -- it was really warm. I hope we get a good thundershower or something to bring it down a few digits.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/22/2011 21:33:16
It has been raining like crap here for about an hour.

Comment by BobR on 07/22/2011 21:38:58
I still get emails from my former fuckwit senator from GA Saxby Chambliss. In his latest missive was this bit of bizarro world nonsense:

In terms of tax reform, for example, we eliminate the alternative minimum tax that ensnares the middle class. We broaden the revenue base significantly – lowering all individual and corporate tax rates – to make our tax code more competitive for U.S. businesses here and abroad. This is a proven path to prosperity that President Reagan implemented in the mid-1980s.

Every sentence is the exact opposite of truth. The alternative minimum tax provides a lower tax rate for those that don't have enough deductions to itemize. Lowering tax rates will shrink the revenue base - significantly - not broaden it. And Reagan's path to prosperity was rolled back when it was proven to not work.

Do people really buy this shit?

Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 21:52:48
Quote by Mondobubba:
It has been raining like crap here for about an hour.
We just had the most pathetic, sad excuse for a thundershower ever.

5 minutes, max.


Comment by Raine on 07/22/2011 22:47:48
Well, After watching the President just now -- I think that Bobber can sit back and say simply:



I told you so.

He called it in todays blog.

Comment by livingonli on 07/22/2011 23:25:48
Saying the GOP are behaving like children is an insult to children.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/23/2011 00:11:13
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
It has been raining like crap here for about an hour.
We just had the most pathetic, sad excuse for a thundershower ever.

5 minutes, max.



There was a thunderstorm? I was just in Springfield when you posted - that's sad didn't hear a thing.

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