Debt Ceiling Threats Not a Winning Formula

We just got a major tax increase on the middle class as well as the wealthy and little if any cuts in spending and no entitlement reform. Get used to it, Kiddies. You elected this guy. He's a tax and spend liberal and now he's going to raise your taxes because that is what tax and spend liberals "do".

Does anyone remember Obama's pledge that taxes wouldn't be going up for the middle class? Shouldn't be hard...he only made it about two months ago. Time to ask yourself just how naive you really are.

taxes on the middle didnt go up.

a temporary tax break did expire but that was the plan when it was given.

Taxes went up on 80 percent of american households. You shouldn't hate america so much.
 
Yes you do because the rw's STILL do not know what the debt ceiling is.



Looking back to our Big Spenders - Reagan and King Bush the Second, that's what they did.

Somewhere, there are videos of them running through congress, screaming CHARGE IT!

Prince O has racked up 7 trillion in 4 years, more spending than Reagan and Bush combined over 16 years.

You have never cared much for facts but here they are anyway.

National Debt Graph by President

What about Obama? Notice how the debt accelerated during Bush's last two budget years. Obama's debt is a continuation of that trend and neither Bush nor Obama are directly responsible for that acceleration. It happened because of the recession. Bush set the all-time record by increasing the debt by $1.1 trillion in 100 days between July 30 and Nov 9, 2008—but that had little to do with his choices.

Recessions cut tax revenues—in this case, dramatically. That accounts for nearly half of the deficit. So blaming Obama for the full deficit is like blaming him for not raising the tax rate to keep tax revenues up. Most of the increased spending is automatic increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps, and social security payments for early retirement. Very little of it is from stimulus spending, and that's over.

Now THAT is some amusing stuff, Luddly! Obama shouldn't be blamed for running huge deficits because it's increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps and social security payments for people retiring early? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all of those things the symptoms of a weak economy...a weak economy that remains weak BECAUSE of his fiscal policies and his agenda? It's been 4 YEARS since he took office and the economy is still grinding along at a little under 2% growth. He was supposed to fix that. Instead he chose to "fix" health care by adding trillions to the deficit with another entitlement program that we have no way of paying for.
 
We just got a major tax increase on the middle class as well as the wealthy and little if any cuts in spending and no entitlement reform. Get used to it, Kiddies. You elected this guy. He's a tax and spend liberal and now he's going to raise your taxes because that is what tax and spend liberals "do".

Does anyone remember Obama's pledge that taxes wouldn't be going up for the middle class? Shouldn't be hard...he only made it about two months ago. Time to ask yourself just how naive you really are.

And how naive are those who think the Republicans have performed any better?

The only difference is that Republicans cut taxes while they spend like drunken sailors.

Ah, but at least the GOP is making an effort to rein in spending, Dog...the election of tea party candidates proves that. Those newly elected representatives however have to fight against both progressives in the Democratic Party and many long time Republicans who spend just as badly as those across the aisle.

That remains to be seen. I've heard the "No, really ... we're serious about spending cuts THIS time" from the GOP before. Only to be sorely disappointed by their performance.

IMHO - they lose points for hypocricy.
 
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Prince O has racked up 7 trillion in 4 years, more spending than Reagan and Bush combined over 16 years.

You have never cared much for facts but here they are anyway.

National Debt Graph by President

What about Obama? Notice how the debt accelerated during Bush's last two budget years. Obama's debt is a continuation of that trend and neither Bush nor Obama are directly responsible for that acceleration. It happened because of the recession. Bush set the all-time record by increasing the debt by $1.1 trillion in 100 days between July 30 and Nov 9, 2008—but that had little to do with his choices.

Recessions cut tax revenues—in this case, dramatically. That accounts for nearly half of the deficit. So blaming Obama for the full deficit is like blaming him for not raising the tax rate to keep tax revenues up. Most of the increased spending is automatic increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps, and social security payments for early retirement. Very little of it is from stimulus spending, and that's over.

Now THAT is some amusing stuff, Luddly! Obama shouldn't be blamed for running huge deficits because it's increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps and social security payments for people retiring early? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all of those things the symptoms of a weak economy...a weak economy that remains weak BECAUSE of his fiscal policies and his agenda? It's been 4 YEARS since he took office and the economy is still grinding along at a little under 2% growth. He was supposed to fix that. Instead he chose to "fix" health care by adding trillions to the deficit with another entitlement program that we have no way of paying for.

Let's stick to the facts please.

Google Image Result for http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/slowest-spending.png
 
Prince O has racked up 7 trillion in 4 years, more spending than Reagan and Bush combined over 16 years.

You have never cared much for facts but here they are anyway.

National Debt Graph by President

What about Obama? Notice how the debt accelerated during Bush's last two budget years. Obama's debt is a continuation of that trend and neither Bush nor Obama are directly responsible for that acceleration. It happened because of the recession. Bush set the all-time record by increasing the debt by $1.1 trillion in 100 days between July 30 and Nov 9, 2008—but that had little to do with his choices.

Recessions cut tax revenues—in this case, dramatically. That accounts for nearly half of the deficit. So blaming Obama for the full deficit is like blaming him for not raising the tax rate to keep tax revenues up. Most of the increased spending is automatic increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps, and social security payments for early retirement. Very little of it is from stimulus spending, and that's over.

Now THAT is some amusing stuff, Luddly! Obama shouldn't be blamed for running huge deficits because it's increases in unemployment benefits, food stamps and social security payments for people retiring early? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all of those things the symptoms of a weak economy...a weak economy that remains weak BECAUSE of his fiscal policies and his agenda? It's been 4 YEARS since he took office and the economy is still grinding along at a little under 2% growth. He was supposed to fix that. Instead he chose to "fix" health care by adding trillions to the deficit with another entitlement program that we have no way of paying for.

Luddly doesn't have a firm grasp of basic economics, hence the constant misunderstanding of how deficits and debts really work.
 
The radical right and the radical left are so ill-informed about HOW we got into this situation (they are just hell-bent on blaming political opponents) that I put little confidence in their ability to fix the problem.

The solution will come from the middle.
 
It’s true that Boehner insists above that Republicans won’t back down from the demand that spending get cut by the same amount as the debt ceiling rises. But all that really means is that they will use the size of the debt ceiling hike as a metric to set the amount of their spending cut demand — not that the threat of default will be used to extract those cuts. Remember, GOP leaders well know that if they do that, the entire business community will join with Obama and Democrats to tell them to back off or take the blame for cratering the economy, leaving Republicans further isolated. So Boehner is letting it be known that Republicans don’t see the debt ceiling as their primary leverage point in the battle to come.

Boehner does this by threatening to only agree to “monthly” debt ceiling hikes. But this should be read, if anything, as a sign of weakness. It’s essentially a concession that the debt limit has to be raised; Boehner is merely threatening to drag his feet as he allows the inevitable to happen. But it’s just nonsense. The business community is not going to go for such a course of action, to put it mildly. And it risks dragging the country through monthly threats of default, a terrible thing to inflict on the American people.

Republicans getting weak-kneed about debt ceiling fight
 
...a growing body of evidence, hidden in plain sight, suggests Republican leaders are coming to terms with the unsustainable nature of their threat and might not be prepared to execute it.

In a Wall Street Journal interview, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) described the debt limit as “one point of leverage,” before acknowledging that it is “not the ultimate leverage.”

Though he will still insist on a dollar in spending cuts for every new dollar Congress provides the administration in borrowing authority, Boehner now envisions the fight playing out in a series of weeks-long increases in the debt limit — an admission that Obama won’t agree to hundreds of billions, or trillions dollars in spending cuts outright.

Instead, Boehner now says the sequester, which includes deep defense cuts Republican abhor, represents a greater, more realistic source of GOP leverage.

On CBS News Sunday morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) dodged a series of questions about the debt limit and would not commit to holding Obama to Boehner’s dollar-for-dollar rule.

Newt Gingrich — who attempted a less aggressive version of the debt limit hostage taking strategy during his speakership — has warned Republicans that their strategy will ultimately collapse.

“Everybody’s now talking about, ‘Oh, here comes the debt ceiling,’” he said on MSNBC. “I think that’s, frankly, a dead loser. Because in the end, you know it’s gonna happen. The whole national financial system is going to come in to Washington and on television, and say: ‘Oh my God, this will be a gigantic heart attack, the entire economy of the world will collapse. You guys will be held responsible.’ And they’ll cave.”

Republican Debt Limit Strategy Begins To Wobble | TPMDC
 
Instead, Boehner now says the sequester, which includes deep defense cuts Republican abhor, represents a greater, more realistic source of GOP leverage.

But they couldn't pull the trigger last time. So why next time?
Do Republicans have any leverage at all?

Bowles -Simpson not looking that bad anymore, huh?
 
Yes you do because the rw's STILL do not know what the debt ceiling is.



Looking back to our Big Spenders - Reagan and King Bush the Second, that's what they did.

Somewhere, there are videos of them running through congress, screaming CHARGE IT!

Ok - that's funny (but a little sad since it is so accurate.) And it amazes me that there are those who seem to think the Republican Party has earned some fiscal credibility.

Go figure.

Wasn't it Limbaugh who stole the maxim that advises to accuse the other side to do what you yourself are doing?

The rw's accuse the Ds of raising taxes while they love the Rs for spending, spending, spending but never repaying.

Now, the Rs say they want fiscal responsibility but, as usual, they want the poorest to pay for the richest.

I don't know who started it, but it's sure easy to see it happening all over the place. Accuse the other guys of doing what you're doing before they point the finger at you for it.

So really, if you want to get a good clean look at one party's mistakes, just look at what they are accusing the other guys of doing ...
 
Accelerating the spending and pointing fingers at others is certainly NOT a good solution, but please continue and see how it all ends up.
 

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