I perused this quick face sheet from WaPo. You should too. I refuse to become part of the outrage brigade that I am seeing all over so many social networking sights.
I will remind people of this, with regard to a "Clean Debt Ceiling" vote (especially for those that wanted it) we actually had one back in May.We were told of this back in April. You can see that at that point, the White house released this information: FACT SHEET: The President's Framework for Shared Prosperity and Shared Fiscal Responsibility. I think it's important to compare it to the "Deal" that we are going to see voted on today: Fact Sheet: Bipartisan Debt Deal: A Win for the Economy and Budget Discipline -- and what is MOST important to me, is that there are NO Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. In other words: The Ryan Budget deal appears to be dead. The agreement that is out there now, looks eerily similar to the one the White House sought. Considering there is a Republican majority in the House, I'm surprised the end result isn't far worse.From the beginning, the Obama White House wanted a "clean" hike to the debt ceiling... in other words, an increase not tied to any substantial spending reforms or cuts.
That dream just died.
In a largely symbolic vote, the clean hike failed 318-97.
If the congressional committee fails to result in approval of at least $1.2 trillion in defict reduction, automatic across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion would be enacted in agency budgets, split half and half between domestic programs and defense. Programs for the poor, including Medicaid and Social Security, would be exempted. But Medicare payments to providers could be hit.
For a little background:Now, I am going to ask for your reading patience here today.Under the deal President Obama signed on Tuesday, the top four Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress will each appoint three members to a special committee that must recommend by November 23 at least $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction through 2021. If a majority of committee members endorse a proposal, that plan is guaranteed a floor vote in both chambers by December 23 without amendment or Senate filibuster.
Those rules provide this group with vastly more leverage to stabilize the nation’s finances than any previous commission has possessed. The procedures effectively preempt a minority veto—either through the Senate filibuster or the informal House rule that legislation reaches the floor only if a “majority of the majority” party supports it. Because a majority proposal from the committee could be passed with any combination of Republican and Democratic votes, it provides a unique opportunity for the center of both parties to impose a balanced solution on the ideological vanguard of left and right.
You will recall that a failure for the super committee to come to a (simple) majority consensus would cause a trigger.You will recall that in lieu of this trigger the President offered his own ideas to cut the deficit. From Think Progress:* Crucially, Obama will vow to veto any entitlement cuts if revenue increases are not part of the solution.
That last one is key — a veto threat is a line the White House was unwilling to draw during the fall of 2010, when the battle over extending the Bush tax cuts was in full swing.What’s in it?
Well, $1.5 trillion of it is higher taxes. About half of that is the expiration of the “rich people only” portion of the Bush tax cuts. The rest comes from closing loopholes and for the proposed new millionaire’s minimum tax so that high-income individuals won’t be paying lower marginal rates than the middle class.
Then you have about $1 trillion in war savings as the fighting winds down in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last, you have the domestic spending element. That includes changes worth $248 billion to Medicare and $72 billion to Medicaid which the administration is promising fall on providers rather than patients and don’t involve any deep changes to the basic nature of the programs... There are also some other domestic spending cuts, worth about $200 billion...
the “other” cuts, which are as follows:
— $33 billion from agriculture subsidies.
— $42.5 billion from Federal employee retirement benefits, on both the civilian and military side.
— $4.1 billion from the disposal of unused government assets.
— $92.2 billion from restructuring government operations and reducing government liabilities.
— $77.6 billion from improving Federal program management and reducing waste and abuse.
Go back and look at what the trigger is. It's actually pretty much what the President wanted all along. He is willing to make cuts all over the place. The GOP is balking at cutting defense spending (and of course -- raising taxes for the rich)
But since the press is going to be obsessing over the supercommittee’s failure for days to come, and since we will be inundated with reams of bogus false equivalence reporting about it, it’s worth stating as clearly as possible what really transpired.
And so: Any news outlet that doesn’t leave readers and viewers with an absolutely clear sense that the primary sticking point was over whether the rich should see their contribution to deficit reduction increase or decrease is letting down its customers.
President Obama has been consistent and steadfast. He promised to return to this issue in 2010. Last time around we saw DADT repealed, we have had the ACA upheld in court -- he is keeping his promises in spite of the obstacles thrown his way. Don't believe me? Look here. The GOP fought EVERY one of those items.
We will see tax fairness this year. I believe the GOP has run out of excuses. Obama gave them the tax cut extension 2 years ago, in return for DADT being repealed-- and the economy reacted exactly as many suspected. While some may criticize President Obama for not doing things fast enough, perhaps the long game is worth it in the end.
Quote by TriSec:
Earliest I've been awake in 4 days. Grunt.
Quote by Mondobubba:
By all rights I should be at home, trying to recover from the stomach bug that has been plaguing since Saturday. Due to late capitalism and a non-union shop we have a little rule here, if you call out on the day after or the day before a holiday, you don't get paid for it.
Quote by Mondobubba:
By all rights I should be at home, trying to recover from the stomach bug that has been plaguing since Saturday. Due to late capitalism and a non-union shop we have a little rule here, if you call out on the day after or the day before a holiday, you don't get paid for it.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Mondobubba:
By all rights I should be at home, trying to recover from the stomach bug that has been plaguing since Saturday. Due to late capitalism and a non-union shop we have a little rule here, if you call out on the day after or the day before a holiday, you don't get paid for it.
same here but only for those on a time clock - which sucks.
You had to work Friday too?
Quote by Mondobubba:
Christian Wackadoodles are vexing me 1st thing in the morning.
Quote by TriSec:Quote by Mondobubba:
Christian Wackadoodles are vexing me 1st thing in the morning.
"Thanks for calling this morning. Allahu Ackbar."
Quote by TriSec:
Hey, TR...wanna buy a pair of speakers?
I just took them out of my mother's house - I'd have to guess 70s vintage. They do still work, but volume seems low and it's only the tweeter and midrange in the box.
They are a brand called "Ambient". I have no other information at this time.
After failing as a politician, Barak's decision to quit was inevitable
Even if Barak will be part of the next government, he will wield even less influence than he does currently; this means that the next government’s policies will turn even more to the right.
By Aluf Benn | Nov.26, 2012 | 4:25 PM
Ehud Barak understood that he had no chance of crossing the electoral threshold in the January election so instead of conducting a campaign that would end in public humiliation and debts, he decided to cut his losses and forgo contending as the head of the Atzmaut party.
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants him as defense minister in his next government, he will have to name him as a “professional appointment.†And if the two of them decide during the three months or so left in their current tenures to attack Iran – as Barak seemed to hint in Monday’s announcement when he declared “I promise you there will be lots of security challenges,†it would be a thunderous end to a stormy political career that was full of reverses and positioned him as “the man everyone loved to hate.â€
Barak has been one of the most substantial influences on Israel’s strategic thinking over the past generation, and to a great extent he was its primary architect, akin to Moshe Dayan during the 1950s and ’60s. He led the Israel Defense Forces’ technological revolution and helped equip the army with guided missile systems and unmanned aerial vehicles that now play a major role in military missions.
He initiated and carried out the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, which served as the inspiration for the Gaza disengagement that followed. The peace proposals he made to then-Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in 2000 at Camp David, which later contributed to the formulation of the “Clinton parameters,†are still regarded as a reasonable outline for dividing the land between Israel and a Palestinian state, and served as the basis for the erection of the security barrier in the West Bank.
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Good morning, bloggers!! Raine, thanks for a great blog.
I think that the GOP may well not move on a deal, and it may be up to the new Congress to act. I do not want to see our social safety net cut, as these programs (SSI, Medicare, Medicaid) are not entitlements but insurance from poverty.
Quote by Raine:
It feels so good to be back home...
Rabbit, how are you doing?
Quote by Raine:The thing is, the original trigger-- which happened -- makes sure that there are NO Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The link is in the blog.Quote by Will in Chicago:
Good morning, bloggers!! Raine, thanks for a great blog.
I think that the GOP may well not move on a deal, and it may be up to the new Congress to act. I do not want to see our social safety net cut, as these programs (SSI, Medicare, Medicaid) are not entitlements but insurance from poverty.
Quote by Will in Chicago:Quote by Raine:The thing is, the original trigger-- which happened -- makes sure that there are NO Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The link is in the blog.Quote by Will in Chicago:
Good morning, bloggers!! Raine, thanks for a great blog.
I think that the GOP may well not move on a deal, and it may be up to the new Congress to act. I do not want to see our social safety net cut, as these programs (SSI, Medicare, Medicaid) are not entitlements but insurance from poverty.
I expect the GOP to try to gut programs that they have imposed from their inception. Mind you, I think that we have to get the word out on what the GOP intends to do and mobilize the public against it.
Quote by TriSec:
See now, I'm actually leaning towards the other opinion.
"Fiscal Cliff"? GOP Blocking any deal like always?
GO AHEAD. Drive us over!
With the GOP in a tailspin after the election, if it happens this could very well be the deathblow.
But that's just me. Intellectually I know it would be a disaster, just listening to my gut at the moment. Hey, it worked for W, right?
Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
Quote by Raine:How can I entice you to come visit?Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
Quote by Raine:
I'm kinda disappointed that Current and the SMS show is supporting the Salvation Army considering their stance on LGBT equality.
Quote by velveeta jones:
Morning! Home today waiting for a plumber. *sigh*
Stupid I heart radio. My stream keeps dying! UG.
Quote by BobR:Quote by Raine:How can I entice you to come visit?Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
tickets
Quote by Raine:
Blog is posted.
This one is worth a bookmark. Lots of debunking about this stupid idiotic fake Fiscal Cliff.
Quote by Raine:How can I entice you to come visit?Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Blog is posted.
This one is worth a bookmark. Lots of debunking about this stupid idiotic fake Fiscal Cliff.
I like what Chris Hayes called it, "The Fiscal Curb." As he pointed out if they don't get a deal done by 1/1/13, Congress can make thing retroactive to the 1st of the year. They do this all the time.
Quote by velveeta jones:
Morning! Home today waiting for a plumber. *sigh*
Stupid I heart radio. My stream keeps dying! UG.
Quote by Raine:Quote by BobR:Quote by Raine:How can I entice you to come visit?Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
tickets
Meh. Too much dinero for the meet and greet. Plus there are other things... not necessarily SLS show related.
Quote by BobR:Quote by velveeta jones:
Morning! Home today waiting for a plumber. *sigh*
Stupid I heart radio. My stream keeps dying! UG.
uh oh. I hope it's nothing serious (regarding the plumber, not the radio)
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Blog is posted.
This one is worth a bookmark. Lots of debunking about this stupid idiotic fake Fiscal Cliff.
I like what Chris Hayes called it, "The Fiscal Curb." As he pointed out if they don't get a deal done by 1/1/13, Congress can make thing retroactive to the 1st of the year. They do this all the time.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:How can I entice you to come visit?Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
Change the weather patterns so there is not a single chance of snow or ice the week before and that whole weekend.
I hate winter anymore - scratch that I hate snow and ice
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:How can I entice you to come visit?Quote by wickedpam:
Of course Sexy Liberal is going to be in DC in January
Once again there goes my chance of seeing it
Change the weather patterns so there is not a single chance of snow or ice the week before and that whole weekend.
I hate winter anymore - scratch that I hate snow and ice
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Blog is posted.
This one is worth a bookmark. Lots of debunking about this stupid idiotic fake Fiscal Cliff.
I like what Chris Hayes called it, "The Fiscal Curb." As he pointed out if they don't get a deal done by 1/1/13, Congress can make thing retroactive to the 1st of the year. They do this all the time.
I think what a lot of people are worried about here is all the companies that fill the government contracts that are centered in NoVA and MD
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by velveeta jones:
Morning! Home today waiting for a plumber. *sigh*
Stupid I heart radio. My stream keeps dying! UG.
which station - the MIc is usually pretty reliable
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Blog is posted.
This one is worth a bookmark. Lots of debunking about this stupid idiotic fake Fiscal Cliff.
I like what Chris Hayes called it, "The Fiscal Curb." As he pointed out if they don't get a deal done by 1/1/13, Congress can make thing retroactive to the 1st of the year. They do this all the time.
I think what a lot of people are worried about here is all the companies that fill the government contracts that are centered in NoVA and MDI know... but -- (you know me and my buts) The contracting cuts aren't going to happen over night-- they will be scaled back thru attrition.About $1 trillion in savings over 10 years from discretionary caps. Does not assume savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Gov't isn't going to flat out cancel contracts.
The cuts are going to happen over about 10 years.
Quote by velveeta jones:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by velveeta jones:
Morning! Home today waiting for a plumber. *sigh*
Stupid I heart radio. My stream keeps dying! UG.
which station - the MIc is usually pretty reliable
keeps saying the "I heart radio" is down. Methinks they want my info (to subscribe).