Notice anything interesting about the U.S. House? It's empty.
President Obama has cut short his vacation plans and will leave Hawaii tonight in order to return to Washington. The point, obviously, is to participate in more fiscal talks in the hopes of avoiding looming deadlines, just five days away.
But just because Obama is heading back to DC doesn't mean Congress is prepared to do the same.
According to House Republican leadership aides, House GOP leaders have not yet called their members back to Washington D.C., and WILL NOT be in session tomorrow for legislative business. According to one GOP aide, "It's up to Senate Democrats to act right now."
During the House Republican conference meeting late Thursday night, leadership told the conference that they would be given 48 hours before being called back to D.C. after Christmas. According to aides, leadership has not given that notice yet.
Look, it's Wednesday. The last conceivable day to reach some kind of resolution is Monday. If House GOP leaders intend to give the caucus 48-hour notice, that leaves a very small-and-shrinking window. Even if the White House and Congress were to work something out tomorrow -- that's extremely unlikely, but just for the sake of conversation -- the soonest the House would even consider voting would be Saturday.
As for this notion that it's "up to Senate Democrats to act," I've been hearing this a lot today and it seems more and more peculiar every time. Senate Democrats can pass a perfectly sensible package tomorrow, filled with popular proposals that enjoy broad support from the American mainstream, and which would earn the president's signature. But if it can't overcome a GOP filibuster and pass the right-wing House, it won't matter -- and Senate Democrats aren't in a position to accurately guess what Republicans might find tolerable.
In other words, it's not really up to Senate Democrats to act. Maybe if they showed up in town, ready to work, someone could explain this to them.
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It's time to declare the Republican Party an illegal seditious conspiracy against the United States.
It was time for that several years ago.
This bullshhit about "it's time for Senate Democrats to act" is just yet another bumper-sticker-like alternate reality meme for the Useful Idiots and clueless MSM to yammer into the zeitgeist so that the irresponsibly inattentive "average" American believes there's something the Democrats aren't responsibly attending to. And of course, the ineffectual Democrats will let it go unanswered.
And we PAY these rotters?! And they have the BEST health insurance, and work when they freakin feel like it?! What a travesty.
All they do is tear down this country and they'll bankrupt us before it's over.
The GOP Party of Do Nothing, know nothing, care about nothing but their own a##@s and their rich backers. How in the world did we get into this situation? How can we get out of it?
Actually, there's one thing the GOP cares about and one thing only: destroying the government and anything that helps them do that. The only other thing you have to know about the GOP is that they are team players, loyalists, and fanatics on the order of sports fans.
Remember those two things and everything the GOP does makes sense. Forget it and nothing they do makes sense.
They are the party of the Terminator....oh, wait, they won't "Be back".
Not in time to help their country. "#@$%^&& *&^ %$#", That's what I say to them.
Everything the GOP does makes sense if you realize that the "Southern Strategy" put the Old Confederacy in charge of God's Own Party. They're traitors all now.
They're traitors.
And the people will fall for this until they are reminded that it's the House that controls the purse strings, so what exactly is the Senate supposed to do?
And imagine that! They were throwing a hissy fit before they went home for Christmas and now they are STILL throwing their hissy fit and refuse to show up for work. I'd like to see anyone try that at their job and see if they still have one when they decide to show up.
They still get their pay, perks, pensions and benefits from we, the people, yet we can't fire them for not doing their jobs until they are up for re-election.
DisgustedWithItAll
This country gives the GOP and those who support them the freedom to act the way they do so they destroy the government at their own peril. Imagine trying to do what they are doing in ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. Keep that in mind every time you go and vote.
Article I, section 7 of our constitutions states explicitly that all bills to raise revenue may only originate in the House. The Senate may amend, but until Boehner and crew pass something, the Senate Democrats' hands are tied, at least as far as tax rates are concerned.
Why is it up to the Senate Democrats to act? Is Obama negotiating with them now? Unless Boehner is saying that whatever the Senate Dems can pass--including things they can get through after filibuster reform in a few days--he will have the House rubber stamp, that's ridiculous.
If I'm Obama, I just wait until after January 1. Whatever he needs done will be easier to do then.
On the good side we are better off without them.
What I'M hearing a lot of today is 'WHY won't Obama take the 2011 deal?' I've been screaming at the TV 'why SHOULD he?' Does the media not GET it? WE HAD AN ELECTION. 53% of the country said 'we hate your previous freakin' deals! You said you could come to agreement when the sequester went in. You wasted a complete freakin' YEAR pretending you were going to win and now you've left town. Do your JOB and get us a job!!!'
Of course the media doesn't get it. The media is nothing but a bunch of intellectual mediocrities that, for the most part, went to journalism school. They're technically incompetent at the topics they cover and that's how we get a Washington lead around by the nose by Pete Petersen type thinking and end up with the Villagers.
Wait! Are we supposed to feel badly because these @#$%~~! folks are staying away from their jobs? Is it better that they be here -- I mean ~35miles north of me -- doing what they think are their jobs?
I say No harm, No foul. What they were doing while here was unimaginably worse than what they can do while they're not here.
Stay home, Lame Ducks. We have your nearly-as-lame replacements coming in shortly.
DWIA, i have my doubts about journalism school. maybe some secretarial school steno degree. no critical thinking skills. no thought of calling out an obvious lie. no ethics. no balls.
i am not disparaging those secretaries who were one of the few joys of my so long ago time in the business world. they make life so much better for the white collared. they are also the main reason that i still can't type or file. to them, thank you.
And if Democratic Senators really intend to bring back the old-fashioned filibuster, they might as well all go out and buy some nice comfortable cots, because they are going to be spending a lot of wasted time sleeping in the hallways. The Republicans won't care if quorums are met.
DanP,
Right. These monsters care about nothing but their own as#$s. I am beyond disgusted.
We ought to stop paying our taxes. We have taxation without
representation!
President Obama, don't give these Republicans a CRUMB of anything Democrats care about!
India...
Love your new avatar...
Obama's for compromise striving,
Dems want the economy thriving,
But TEA Partiers hate
Any compromise state,
They'll take us all 'fiscal cliff' diving...
Good one, David!
David, I'll try one, too, though I am no poet like you! Here goes:
The House is now taking a recess;
To indulge in their favourite excess.
They don't give a whiff
If we go off the cliff;
They've already achieved their success,
And don't care that they're making a mess.
I learned to distrust government when I was a youngster. I heard Nipsey Russell say a poem that went like this:
"The opposite of pro is con, that fact is clearly seen. If progress means move forward, what does congress mean?"
If I knew only half of congress was a joke, I wouldn't have memorized that line way back when...
"We could certainly slow down the aging process if it had to work its way through
Congress." - Will Rogers
and he thought it was bad back then!
The Senate already passed a bill, AND it is up to Boehner to bring it up for a vote in the House. Clearly not going to happen.
it's unclear if the Senate is even allowed to pass a bill first.
The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue MUST originate in the House. Any deal that would raise taxes may require the House to pass it first.
Good points, and we all know that Plan B didn't even come up for a vote, so there is nothing to work with.
Even a bill to lower rates is off limits for the Senate to originate.
I have no idea why we're calling it a fiscal cliff. What, is it really that big of a deal that the rich will have their taxes go up from 35% to 39.6%? Is it really that big of a deal that defense will be cut since we're getting out of two major wars?
Yes, it could be. It will take demand out of an improving economy and possibly send the country back into recession if it goes on long enough. It seems pretty clear Republicans actually want this so that they can blame the new slump on taxes going up when that won't even be the majority of the problem.
Disgusted, Two things we need, though: those cuts to the defence budget and ending the Bush tax breaks. The defence budget is so bloated and excessive and poorly managed. The GOP keeps giving them a lot of things they don't need or want. As for the taxes, the GOP can hardly now say they won't LOWER the taxes on the 99% of us. If they do....well....they're worse than I think.
Nah, not possible. They couldn't be worse than I already think.
The rest of the cliff is the automatic sequester of funds, and the debt ceiling. In short order the Federal government will need to furlough workers, cut services and defense, and then stop paying bills. All so the Tea bagggers can see first hand how bad things can get.
This is how Hitler rose to power.
We are going over the cliff and it is the Republicans fault. I guess that is why Americans didn't spend much money this Christmas. If only the Democratic party hadn't been asleep at the switch in 2010, America might have been saved, but it wasn't and the clowns running the Republican house caucus won't.
It was obvious last thursday that the GOP was done with all this when Boehner said it was now up to the senate dem and obama if that wasnt washing his hands of it all I dont know what is.
You can go to the bank with this, "Nothing Obama sends them will pass the damn House obstructionists."
They are not there to represent or help this country and should be tried for treason for the harm they've done and continue to do.
I'm with you, India. That the teapubs take the oath of office, but their pledge with Grover overrides their oath of office should be enough to try them for treason.
Hey - I don't want a deal if it's as bad as the last offer by Obama.
It never was up to the Senate -- Democrats or Republicans -- to make legislation that deals with the automatic tax increases and spending cuts looming on January 1. Spending bills have to originate in the House. If the House can't or won't propose legislation and won't act on legislation that has been proposed, then there is nothing the Senate, the President, the Supreme Court, or the American People can do. The House "leadership" is refusing to do its duty and trying to blame everyone but themselves.
JArmen,
You are correct. There is, in fact, nothing the American people can do to scare some sense or patriotism into these T-Party extremists. They are unmoved and care nothing about what the American voters want and care only about their wealthy right wing supporters. (Like the charming Koch brothers).
In short, they will take the country down and if I were the president right now, I'd pull an Assad and turn the military on the bas%$#ds. I am so mad at this point that we have idiots running our country after a Democratic election that I can barely stand it. We are now a country being held by idiots who want to destroy our economy. How about that!
So, what do you do, or what does the average American do ? All we have is a vote, and that has already been cast... Impeach... sign me up, abolish... sign me up, over throw... , sign me up, but none of that will happen... No this country is a Do Nothing Country just like Congress is ! Sad but TRUE !!!
What a horror these T-party extremists have brought on our country just as we were starting to recover. By God, it defies belief that Americans can ruin their own country through a minority of whack jobs that the likes of Newt Gingrich primed and put in our law making body! Deliberately put in the House of Representatives to ruin our duly elected President.
I swear this has to be treasonous behaviour. Maybe not literally but it is moral treason.
Rich folks make a lot of money crashing/shorting the economy.