Finding it hard to sort thru all the gunk around fiscal cliff discussions?
Hard to remember more confusion around basic pocketbook politics.
Let me take a NON-partison shot – please correct me if I mess up.
FIRST – who is waiting on whom? House members are trickling into D.C.; the Senate's been back since right after Christmas. Speaker Boehner believes the ball is in the Senate’s court, hence his pleas for them to vote on a measure the House sent over many months ago. He's apparently forgotten the Senate DID consider it, debated it, voted on it, rejected it. Which is why he put together his own bill, which crashed & burned when he couldn't muster Republican votes for it to pass the GOP-controlled House. Does that sound spot on to you?
SECOND - what happened to the bill that passed the Senate & was sent to the House for a vote? Speaker Boehner has not called for a vote on the bill, which would leave the tax cuts in place for all but the wealthiest Americans (who have benefited far more than any other group by the tax cuts). Pundits theorize he fears it could garner enough semi-centrist Republican votes to pass. So, from what I can see, he's ignoring the fact the Senate has considered the House bill, and rejected it, and the fact that the House won't even debate the bill the Senate sent over.
sigh.....
Confused? Who wouldn't be??
THIRD - never occurred to me until listening to conservative columnist David Brooks & progressive E.J. Dionne that it's political suicide for most Republican representatives to vote for increased taxes >BUT< if they let the tax rates go UP on everyone then after Jan 3 they can vote to LOWER tax rates on most folks, leaving higher taxes on wealthiest Americans without technically voting to raise taxes. Besides, if he asks GOP representatives to vote for taxes, Speaker Boehner puts his leadership in an iffy position.
This is bread & butter politics at its most basic - I strongly urge even the most politically disengaged to listen to the two pundits for yourself...
Friday, December 28, 2012
Allen West, I Hardly Knew Ye
But what little I knew was usually pretty darn jaw dropping!!
On his way out the D.C. door (sure he'll be back, in one guise or another), he had a few choice words to say about the re-elected president. Soon-to-be former Rep. West says no how, no way he's "idiotic" enough to agree with folks who think the president has sort of, you know - an obligation to raise taxes because it's a key part of what he ran on. Hell no, says Mr. West.
On his way out the D.C. door (sure he'll be back, in one guise or another), he had a few choice words to say about the re-elected president. Soon-to-be former Rep. West says no how, no way he's "idiotic" enough to agree with folks who think the president has sort of, you know - an obligation to raise taxes because it's a key part of what he ran on. Hell no, says Mr. West.
“I have to tell you that I’m not such an idiotic person where I’m going to follow someone off into the abyss," West said. "This is a horrible political gimmick that the president ran on."
Seems that Mr. West is a true modern-day Republican, seeing no fault in running on one "political gimmick" only to abandon it once in office. Like swearing up & down that you're running to stand strong for fiscal issues, only to consistently ditching them to zero in on social issues.
Even if it was a "horrible political gimmick," it was apparently one the majority of Americans wanted. Remember them, s-t-b-f Rep West? Wondering if you forgot, since most members of the modern-day GOP don't seem to give them much value, beyond their vote.
a VERY short Silly Season
GOP reminds me of little kids who threaten to hold their breath until their parents do what they want. They STILL insist that it's up to the Dem-controlled Senate to produce a compromise bill, utterly ignoring the one already on the table, utterly ignoring that a bill by Speaker Boehner that okayed taxes on those with over $1 million annual income was shot down by his how party. The ONLY thing the GOP is apparently able to see is a bill that continues the tax breaks for EVERYONE, which the American people have made abundantly clear would be against the will of the people.
Remember the "will of the people"? The thing that Republicans claim to revere while demonizing Dems for ignoring?
The past few days have been rife with examples of Silly Season thinking. Hard to believe the GOP congressional leadership are adults, because they are acting like little kids who threaten to head for home with their baseball if they aren't allowed to call the shots.
And how does Mitch McConnell, whose party not only failed to win back the Senate but lost seats in both houses of Congress, get to decide if a bill requires a simple majority or 60 votes to pass?
That's not silly - that's flat-out DUMB!
We have three days to pass the sort of bill Americans made clear they want. Get over the silliness & get it done!!
Remember the "will of the people"? The thing that Republicans claim to revere while demonizing Dems for ignoring?
The past few days have been rife with examples of Silly Season thinking. Hard to believe the GOP congressional leadership are adults, because they are acting like little kids who threaten to head for home with their baseball if they aren't allowed to call the shots.
And how does Mitch McConnell, whose party not only failed to win back the Senate but lost seats in both houses of Congress, get to decide if a bill requires a simple majority or 60 votes to pass?
That's not silly - that's flat-out DUMB!
We have three days to pass the sort of bill Americans made clear they want. Get over the silliness & get it done!!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Hear No ~ Speak No ~ Do No
Behold, the House GOP leadership, switching the word "nothing" for "no."
They only hear what they want to hear, in spite of what's said.
They only speak what makes sense to them, in spite of it making no sense to anyone else.
And they do absolutely nothing, insisting they've done all they can, that the ball's in the Democrats' court.
Sad but true, House Republicans HAVE done all they can do, because they can't agree on what to do next. Speaker Boehner clearly does NOT want to bring up the bill that the Senate did pass (which apparently missed his notice), which compromised in good faith, asking taxes be raised on those earning 400K+, to the original 250K. Doesn't dare, because it has enough bipartisan support to pass, and that cannot be allowed.
Once again, the GOP is utterly clueless about what to do next. They clearly had NO strategy plan in case of an election fail.
They are so used to a) having the ball or b) successfully acting like they have the ball that they clearly don't know what to do with a real life situation being played out in real time where they have no real advantage.
The time-honored GOP gambit of saying the ludicrous & having it swallowed whole no longer works, but they keep running the play anyhow, as witnessed by today's comments from Speaker Boehner's spokesman - - "Senator Reid should talk less and legislate more," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "The House has already passed legislation to avoid the entire fiscal cliff. Senate Democrats have not."
The bill Steel refers to is a relatively ancient measure the House passed that froze rates for ALL taxpayers and addressed some of the mandatory cuts. The Senate DID vote on that bill, last summer, rejecting it.
Perhaps someone should show Speaker Boehner how to google it. Because most Americans know who's playing pussy foot with reality.
Scary thing is that I seriously doubt that the Speaker has even a light grasp on reality. He is SO used to the GOP being able to get away with spouting the absurd that he doesn't seem to know the difference between reality & Republican fantasy. He hears no reason, speaks no reason, acts entirely unreasonably!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
My Theory
Looking at how the GOP has acted over the past 6+ weeks, it seems to me the party was TOTALLY unprepared for a Republican presidential defeat. It's increasingly clear that they have NO grand strategy on how to hand the current financial situation.
My guess is they figured everything would all be shelved once the GOP regained the White House & Senate. Losing the presidential election, not regaining the Senate, losing seats in both the House & the Senate seems to have left them flummoxed on what to do next.
They can blame the president & the Democratic Senate as much as they want, but - finally - the majority of Americans aren't buying the baloney that the Republicans are blameless in the current fiscal fiasco.
Cannot imagine what a rude awakening it will be when they finally realize that this is NOT a nightmare, that President Obama DID win reelection with a decisive victory, that Americans seem to LIKE what he is doing more than the alternatives offered by the GOP. It's been almost two months, yet GOP leaders still act as if this will all go away. They aren't grieving because the party remains stuck at denial.
It's no theory that what I said months & months ago is still true today - craziest election ever!
My guess is they figured everything would all be shelved once the GOP regained the White House & Senate. Losing the presidential election, not regaining the Senate, losing seats in both the House & the Senate seems to have left them flummoxed on what to do next.
They can blame the president & the Democratic Senate as much as they want, but - finally - the majority of Americans aren't buying the baloney that the Republicans are blameless in the current fiscal fiasco.
Cannot imagine what a rude awakening it will be when they finally realize that this is NOT a nightmare, that President Obama DID win reelection with a decisive victory, that Americans seem to LIKE what he is doing more than the alternatives offered by the GOP. It's been almost two months, yet GOP leaders still act as if this will all go away. They aren't grieving because the party remains stuck at denial.
It's no theory that what I said months & months ago is still true today - craziest election ever!
How Dumb Can You Get???
If you are Republican leadership & you want Americans across this great land of ours to believe that you & yours are doing everything possible to circumvent Democratic recalcitrance in forging a reasonable, country-first compromise, you get every one of your senators & representatives BACK in D.C. on the day after Christmas.
You have them hunker down in their House & Senate seats, resolutely refusing to budge, sending out the word to the president (who's still on his way home) and every man, woman & child in the U.S.A. - - "We are here, ready to do the business of our nation, ready to make the tough calls this president is unwilling or, god help us, unable to make."
You do NOT sit on your hands, with most of your members of congress twiddling their thumbs back in their home states & districts.
Leave it to good ol' Socialist Bernie Sanders to be a voice of reason amidst nuttiness. "It seems that, in the House now, Boehner has no control over his extreme right-wing faction,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told MSNBC Wednesday. “You have, over in the House, a situation where the Republicans are saying, ‘Hey, we don’t think billionaires should pay a nickel more in taxes, but we do think there should be devastating cuts in programs that are impacting working families who are already hurting as a result of the recession.’ So that’s the problem that we have.”
In a gesture of hope, Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz has ordered that "come together" be written on each & every Starbucks cup in D.C. Yeah, it sounds a tad loopy, but it has sound roots in generating positive cosmic energies. It should be noted that the catch phrase has to first catch on within the GOP.
So, a total thumbs down to Speaker Boehner for being so bone-headed & dumb as to paint his House members as insensitive to the moment. And a tip of my hat to Mr. Schultz for making way more effort at serving the nation than House Republicans appear to be doing.
You have them hunker down in their House & Senate seats, resolutely refusing to budge, sending out the word to the president (who's still on his way home) and every man, woman & child in the U.S.A. - - "We are here, ready to do the business of our nation, ready to make the tough calls this president is unwilling or, god help us, unable to make."
You do NOT sit on your hands, with most of your members of congress twiddling their thumbs back in their home states & districts.
Which is precisely what the Speaker did.
Leave it to good ol' Socialist Bernie Sanders to be a voice of reason amidst nuttiness. "It seems that, in the House now, Boehner has no control over his extreme right-wing faction,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told MSNBC Wednesday. “You have, over in the House, a situation where the Republicans are saying, ‘Hey, we don’t think billionaires should pay a nickel more in taxes, but we do think there should be devastating cuts in programs that are impacting working families who are already hurting as a result of the recession.’ So that’s the problem that we have.”
In a gesture of hope, Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz has ordered that "come together" be written on each & every Starbucks cup in D.C. Yeah, it sounds a tad loopy, but it has sound roots in generating positive cosmic energies. It should be noted that the catch phrase has to first catch on within the GOP.
So, a total thumbs down to Speaker Boehner for being so bone-headed & dumb as to paint his House members as insensitive to the moment. And a tip of my hat to Mr. Schultz for making way more effort at serving the nation than House Republicans appear to be doing.
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