Mad_Machine76
Mad_Machine76's JournalUh-huh
Riiiiiiiiiight 
I can't wait for him to run for POTUS again in 2016 and be forced to explain all this to people who don't watch Fox News and/or read WND.
I know that they probably don't think it
But didn't they basically already break their pledge by voting in 2010 to allow the tax cuts to expire at the end of 2012? Of course, I think that the unspoken assumption is that they believed that they would sweep the Senate and WH and then just vote for another extension or, worse, to make them permanent. Now, they're not in a position to make what they want happen. They are pretty much screwed either way. Enjoy!
It seems pretty innocuous to me
Leave to the the right-wing to make something sinister out of it. I heard that Rick Santorum, who has a child with disabilities, weighed in AGAINST this? Not that I care much but what did Sarah Palin think of it, given that she has a child with disabilities as well?
Boehner, McConnell, et. al didn't have a plan for LOSING
They seem to have believed that they would sweep the 2012 elections and come back to the table afterwards with a much better hand. Whoops! Well, elections have consequences, as they are just now starting (maybe) to figure out. If they want cuts to Medicare and Social Security, then it's THEIR job to put 'em on the table or they need to STFU. BTW I haven't seen them willing to actually put any new tax revenue on the table yet- beyond some vague notion of closing a few "loopholes". I'm getting tired of Boehner, et. al demanding that President Obama "lead", which, as far as I can tell, means that they expect President Obama do their jobs for them.
My bottom-line take on the so-called "Fiscal Cliff"
If the *problem* that the Republicans and, basically, everybody in Washington DC is jumping up and down about right now is that the combination of the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts and the spending cuts signed into law as a result of the debt ceiling "deal" last year, let us remember back about the past couple of years.
First of all, the Bush-era tax cuts were SUPPOSED to expire at the end of 2010 but the Republicans held a bunch of stuff "hostage" until President Obama and the Democrats agreed to an extension of them. Mission accomplished. They were extended until the end of this year with no further extension for the wealthy contemplated.
Then came the debt ceiling agreement- you know, the deal where Boehner stated that he got "98%" of what he claimed they (Republicans) wanted- reached last year that locked in automatic cuts to defense spending and Medicare (on the provider side) if the so-called "Super Committee" failed to come up with an alternative deficit reduction plan. Well, their intransigence on revenue/taxes persisted and the "Super Committee"- not surprisingly- failed, bringing us to where we are now: spending cuts + the end of the Bush-era tax rates="Fiscal Cliff".
Of course, the fact of the matter is that Republicans never actually planned to have to follow through on either of these deals. Between the drying of the ink on the debt ceiling and now, House Republicans passed a new budget that basically disregarded the debt ceiling deal and restored the impending defense cuts and ran against the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. While such blatant hypocrisy from the GOP is so commonplace that it passes almost unremarked nowadays, it nonetheless illustrates their lack of integrity and their inability and/or unwillingness to negotiate in good faith. Above and beyond this, however, is the fact that the Republicans currently find themselves on the losing end of this year's election that they fervently believed- beyond all need of writing a concession speech- would see them install "vulture capitalist" Mitt Romney in the WH and take over the Senate, ensuring their dominance in Washington DC for the next 2-4 years.
Well, as we all know, despite all the millions of dollars spent on behalf of Mitt Romney and Republican candidates for the House and Senate, all the talk of "unskewed polls", and various electoral college vote scenarios that might throw the election into the House where Romney would be crowned POTUS, they lost.........badly. Not only did they fail to win the WH but they also failed to take the Senate (and actually lost a couple of otherwise winnable seats). They now find that they are, as usual without a "Plan B" other than, it seems, getting President Obama and Democrats to accede to all of their demands despite not having a leg to stand on. They bet the farm on sweeping power this year and proceeding to negate all of the deals they made during the past two years........and lost. Whoops! Well, as they used to tell us, elections have consequences! Time for them to come to the table and deal with the reality that most people don't want all of these draconian cuts to social programs and believe that the wealthy can and should certainly afford to pay more (how can anybody not seeing how much money they spent during just one election cycle)!
Yup
but I agree with Klein- I'm getting really tired of all of their "
p)outrage". Even when they're in charge, they find things to be "outraged" about. I can only imagine how hard- physically and emotionally- it is for them (and their supporters) to live in perpetual "outrage" mode all the time. I have my bad days too where I get overly upset about something or other (Bush's re-election in 2004 was definitely upsetting) but then I usually find a way to suck it up and move on. Frankly, life's much happier that way. It would seem that the electorate may be getting tired of it too. I think that this probably explains why all of this Benghazi/Rice BS is not having the kind of effect that the right-wing/Fox News pundits were hoping for prior to the election/since the election. They really just need to get a life IMHO. As they used to tell us, "elections have consequences." In order to be taken seriously, they need to learn that they don't own the WH/Congress any more than the Democratic Party does and that when the election is over and the dust settles, both sides need to get back to working for the common good of all Americans, which they have never really ever learned how to do, unlike Democrats whom, though they detested Bush, saw fit to try to work together with him on a lot of things, particularly after 9/11, or at least didn't spend all of their time trying to keep government from operating properly.
I guess they really expected him to propose something really radically anti-Democratic
like cutting Social Security/Medicare. If he wants to talk "bait-and-switch" or just general "WTF moments" when it comes to newly re-elected Presidents, why don't we spend a few minutes talking about how George W. Bush campaigned in 2004 on his *credentials* on fighting terrorism ( ) and how we were all going to be vaporized if we voted for Kerry and then his first policy proposal out of the gate was privatizing Social Security whereas President Obama is, well, promoting policies that he actually campaigned on but I guess, as usual, Republicans are choosing to be oblivious to those things called.............facts.
Republicans: If you want to cut Social Security and Medicare, YOU propose the policies and we'll have a vigorous debate about them. Don't expect Democrats (real ones, anyway) to do your dirty work for you!
At some point or another, this Benghazi BS that the Republicans are trying to perpetuate
is going to get old without any new fresh evidence of wrongdoing. How many people does anybody here know whom are talking about this? I know of nobody outside these boards. Most people whom ARE aware of it don't believe that there was any coverup. Susan Rice didn't even have anything to do with what happened in Benghazi other than disseminating talking points on Sunday morning talk shows shortly afterwards that she was approved BY THE CIA to deliver in a manner that avoided tipping off the suspects that we were on to them. In fact, a confirmation battle just might be the best way to finally expose the Republicans' hypocrisy and idiocy over it- though I about imagine that McCain, Graham, Ayotte, et. al are probably helping every time they hold another one of their bizarre couch-fainting "press conferences" talking about how "troubled" they are by Susan Rice and repeatedly asking questions that have already been answered. I think that it's fair to say that most people- if they were forced to really pay attention to the aforementioned Senators' ramblings about Rice- would come away from the confirmation hearings scratching their heads about THEIR fitness to continue to hold their seats.
Nice little scheme
execs get bonuses, workers/unions asked for multiple concessions to keep business afloat, workers/unions finally put their foot down and refuse any additional concessions and get blamed for bankruptcy of company, execs ask BANKRUPTCY COURT to keep bonuses
What is up with Sen. Ayotte (R-NH)?
I just got done watching a clip of one of the latest press conferences given by McCain, Graham, and Ayotte about Susan Rice and, well, why is she there and what is she there for? I haven't actually heard her speak but she looks so....vacuous and....distracted whenever she's hanging around Graham and McCain doing one of these press conferences to show how "troubled" they are about Susan Rice (re: Benghazi). Come to think of it, Graham looked somewhat uncomfortable too. Are they putting her up there as a cover to "prove" to us that all this feigned concern about Benghazi and Rice's initial CIA-approved statements isn't just two old white men picking on an intelligent and eminently qualified African-American woman? This is a sideshow quickly becoming a farce. Does Ayotte know what she is getting herself into? Does she realize that she is (probably) just being used by McCain and Graham in order to go after Rice? 
I would almost feel sorry for her..........if I thought that she wasn't doing this willingly.
Profile Information
Name: Mara Alis ButlerGender: Female
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Home country: USA
Current location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Member since: Sat Feb 28, 2004, 01:13 AM
Number of posts: 24,412
