Two weeks from today, deep, automatic sequestration cuts will kick in, doing real damage to the nation's economy, military, and public needs. Both Democrats and Republicans say they want to avoid that fate, but only one side seems to be doing anything about the threat.
This week, House Republican leaders, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said they would do literally nothing to resolve the problem until Senate Democrats acted. It was a bizarre posture to take -- the House GOP freely admits it doesn't want to do any work at all to clean up the mess Republican helped make.
The whole point of the sequester, which GOP leaders have admitted to championing, was to get both sides to the negotiating table, but this week, House Republicans said they refuse to participate. So, as is often the case, Senate Democrats accepted the role of grown-ups, and yesterday unveiled a balanced plan to replace the dangerous policy.
The plan pinpoints $120 billion of savings, split evenly between cuts and revenues, that would replace the sequestration-designated cuts to defense and domestic spending until the end of December. [...]
As designed, the plan would raise $55 billion in revenues over the next 10 months while slashing roughly $55 billion in spending during that same time period. The remaining $10 billion would come from interest savings.
The revenue side is made up of three main policies. The first is the so-called "Buffett Rule," which would set a minimum 30 percent tax rate on income above $1 million.... The rest of the revenue would come from eliminating businesses' ability to take deductions by relocating facilities overseas, and from a provision closing the tar sands loophole.
This is, in theory, the kind of plan that could enjoy broad support. If the sequester is going to be replaced with an alternative -- as opposed to, say, just turning the damn thing off -- the Democratic approach spreads the pain around. It includes significant spending cuts, but doesn't raise income tax rates and avoids deep cuts to social insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security. The White House quickly announced its support for the proposed compromise.
So, good news, right? With two weeks to go, the White House and Senate majority have put a credible compromise on the table that would eliminate a threat both sides say they want to avoid. Problem solved? Of course not.
As quickly as the administration said it liked the Senate Democratic compromise, congressional Republicans rejected it. They don't have an alternative solution, of course, but according to the House Speaker, they do have a target in mind: "The sequester will be in effect until there are cuts and reforms that put us on a path to balance the budget in the next 10 years."
It's important for the political world to appreciate just how insane this is. First, according to Republicans, any agreement has to give the GOP 100% of what it wants, without exception. Second, the same people who turned a large surplus into a massive deficit are now making demands that Democrats clean up the Republican mess in the way Republicans want.
And third, as Greg Sargent explained, the new rule that Boehner just arbitrarily made up -- no deficit in 10 years -- is truly laughable.
Getting rid of the deficit in 10 years with no new revenues would require extraordinarily deep cuts to the federal government. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently ran the numbers and concluded it would require across the board cuts totaling anywhere from one-sixth to one-third of the government, depending on whether defense and/or entitlements are included. Boehner is saying that it's either this or the sequester remains in effect. [...]
So here are the politics of this in a nutshell. Democrats want the sequester to be averted through a mix of roughly equivalent concessions by both sides. But Republicans are so eager to avoid raising even a penny of new revenues from the rich and corporations that they would sooner present this as a choice between the sequester -- which they themselves say will gut defense and tank the economy -- and downsizing the government by anywhere from one sixth to one third.
And when the sequester begins in two weeks, as now seems unavoidable, the usual suspects in the media establishment will be outraged that "both sides" allowed this to happen by refusing to compromise. That one side offered a balanced deal while the other side demanded a 100%/0% alternative will be deemed irrelevant.
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Lessons in how to destroy a democracy.
We really are at the point, as Rome was, where a popular reformer (which Julius Caesar was) could come in and overthrow the dysfunctional legislature. Of course, the history after that isn't so good.
As long we get to decimate congress much like the legion (perhaps multiple times), I'm for it. I'll deal with the history part in the future (hehe).
Thing is, there are two kinds of people in this world, those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't.
Politics by economic wrecking ball...
The republican war mongers must really want to see those non defense cuts kick in. What is surprising is how willing they are to let the defense cuts happen. Do you suppose that this willingness comes from the fact that even with those cuts to defense we still have the ability to defend ourselves?
Shhh, you aren't supposed to expose the Republican hypocrisy in rhetoric.
Marty, you may have a point. Perhaps the defense budget so bloated the looming sequestration cuts aren't as catastrophic as it would seem.
Hell, these Republicans are insanely mad!
Fools, filibustering a Secretary of Defense fully qualified for the job!They are doing this during a time of war (Hey "we'll muddle our way through Afghanistan" McCain, remember)!
Our troops are deserving, our institutional comity is more deserving, President Obama is deserving, Chuch Hagel is deserving, and we American people are deserving of a vote, better treatment by Washington Republicans and some sort of open and honest explanation from the likes of McCain, Graham and Cruz why they are playing pedestrian politics instead of offering Americans in uniform better respect, more support and a Senate where the minority doesn't abuse the majority!
Mark my word John and Lindsay, yours are not names that will be revered in future history books! As for Cruz, he will be but a gnat in the annuls of our heritage! -Kevo
No, it just means that the cuts are a small enough part of the total slushpile that all of the usual beneficiaries will still be able to get theirs. We, as purchasers, may get less but the cream skimmed off will be mostly unchanged.
You want to compare Marco Rubio to Elizabeth Warren, are you kidding me? Marco Rubio is like the paid off scum dog of the rich bastards and Elizabeth Warren is by far better than a Marco Rubio would ever be. Elizabeth Warren actually works for all the people, not just for some select few rich bastards. The middle class and poor just don’t offer enough money to Marco Rubio in order to be even considered. Marco wants all the fame and fortune without the consideration of anybody else unless you are super rich of course.
Oh, these reoccurring dreams of pitchforks and torches...
Don't forget the guillotines - off with their heads! TRAITORS!
The Conservative Right Wing Entertainment Media Complex has been spoon feeding their audience the lie that the "Overseas Tax Deduction" doesn't even exist, that it is a falsehood made up by Obama during the campaign and Democrats to lie about. When the party can't even accept FACTS, how can we expect them to correct anything??
There are a lot of facts they don't want to believe: global warming, evolution, economics 101, definition of a small business, definition of tax increases, that Obama has lowered the deficit, the deficit was caused by two wars, wars don't pay for themselves, and many more. They are a party being led by a bunch of pied pipers singing a great tune that is leading their believer's money into their pocketbooks.
Where are all the real men? Has their growth been impeded by their own ego? The government is not an arena for games, If all the rest of the human race gets along, why can't they? Spoiled rotten my way or the highway attitudes, it's like watchiing the musical, Jets versus whoever, if I was their Mother I would send them to bed with no supper for a month, see what that feels like. They are all cowardly lions basing their policies on fear.
Edmund Burke said all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
We aren't doing enough...
Reps are so determined to crash this economy, just so they can blame it on POTUS and say "I told you so". Nothing but a bunch of RACIST HIPPOCRATES !!!!!!!!!!!!
Way to gut your own country, Boehner.
And the shield of
GodFox News hides your sorry actions like litter covers cat sh#t. Does their justification assuage your conscience or have you drowned it along with your liver years ago?This is California democracy in action. Remember what happened there in the late 90's and early '00s? The extremist, nihilist rump of a party gone bonkers can make governance literally impossible.
They say states are the laboratories of democracy...well, if that's the case then what we have here is the mad scientist's monster bursting loose from the lab and wreaking havoc across the country.
Of course, the good news in California was that as a result of Ahnuld's rampage, we got redistricting that has made the Republican Party irrelevant, giving us a chance to straighten things out.
And because WE have allowed the overgrown 3 yr. olds to have temper tantrums without a political cost, this is exactly what WE get! Face it, the GOTP don't really have any ideas, what they have is failed ideology that they refuse to pay attention to! What they have are a bunch of ignorant sheeple that they have courted and led to the edge of the cliff - no way can they turn around and say "hey wait stop we're hurting ourselves" cause that won't work with the sheeple that they've frightened with bs! No, these politicians need to be voted out for the good of the nation and our democracy!
Why do the Democrats have to comprimise with the Republicans again instead of the other way around? Last I checked, the R's lost seats in the House and Senate as well as losing the White House - that equals a clean sweep and repudiation of their ideals. Why then must the Dems come to their side of the aisle to bargain? It is like our entire political environment has been taken into an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Is it just me or is the constant talking point speak, by not just elected R's but regular people you bump into on the street, making conservatives seem like the Borg from Star Trek? No original thoughts, repeat what they have been told to repeat, and refuse to think for themselves - it is about the party not them. Just a funny observation I have made.
Because the Democrats are wimps who don't want to see the American people hurt.
Hint: check on who is always demanding "pain" as a necessary element in any agreement.
Or, because the Democrats are wimps who don't want to see
the American peopletheir electoral chances hurt...NMC, when democracy is working as intended there's no difference.
How many big GOP donors, (ex: defense contractors), will be hurt? The're not getting the return on their investment they expected.
"The storm seems to be growing stronger."
"Don't worry, we will pass through it soon enough."
Serenity now.
I am sick to death of this kind of stuff. I know an obstruction crisis makes great television, but like most people I am really interested in government getting stuff done.
In the case of sequester, bad things happen only if we accept that Republicans really are as crazy as they want us to believe they are. History shows, on the other hand, that in the end they will fall to their pressure groups. In this case the defense cuts are very deep. Nearly every congressman and congresswoman is in the pocket of the defense industry. Their masters will pull the chain at the last minute (or maybe a little beyond) and a compromise will be reached. Pats on the back all around.
In the process cable news will have filled up hours and hours of air time asking meaningless questions of pretty panelists who don't know any more than the people writing blog comments. Occasionally a congress critter will make an appearance to impress the folks back home. A lot of soap will be sold. It is all good.
The sad thing is in the end we won't cut defense deeply enought or in the right way and we won't bring any sanity to the tax code, so we will end up weaker as a nation.
Zeno's Paradox of Congress:
Republicans demand 100% cuts. Democrats, wanting more revenue, compromise by offering 50% cuts and 50% new revenue. Pundits complain about partisan intransigence, blaming both sides.
Democrats offer a compromise of 75% cuts, 25% new revenues. Republicans reject this, they want 100% cuts. Pundits complain about partisan intransigence, blaming both sides.
Democrats offer a compromise of 87.5% cuts, 12.5% new revenues. Republicans reject this, they want 100% cuts. Pundits complain about partisan intransigence, blaming both sides.
Question for the class: at this rate, how long will it take to reach agreement?
If elizabeth " Pochantas " warren is so concerned about why bankers have not been prosecuted for the financial crisis they created, she should be asking eric holder, who is the country's chief law enforcement officer, and has not indicted even one banker in over four years. The fact is, obama is just as in bed with wall street as any republican, ( see john corzine, who would have been sec. of the treasury ), but obama does his Sunday morning preacher's speech, and everyone thinks he CARES.
Just cut the whole government's funding. They do nothing but drive our children deeper in debt, polarize the people of our country, take away our rights, and piss off the world at us with drone strikes and occupation of other lands. They have done nothing to better most of our lives, and have only served to drive this country toward the brink of civil war.
Roundabout way of saying "everyone is equally guilty -- there's not a dime's worth of difference between them."
Have insurance companies decided that they want to insure healthy 65-70 year olds?
What this country needs is another deep depression. In that way, we can finally achieve true 'third-world' status, get rid of all social programs, eliminate pesky healthcare agendas, allow the Kochs and their ilk to finish buying up the country, and finally have labor competitive with China.
Well I know how we can save a cool 2M per......Fire some windbags, each of their offices run about 2M, don't they? Instead of 435 windbags, go to 335, and tell the Senate they can have the next turn for a cut... They don't ride horseback, they don't have to go back home to till the crops, we have instant communication, fax machines and handhelds.....We do not need the lavish spending, the muddling, the lies and the bandwidth of these people who work but 100 days a year and vacation the rest.....How would it get started? There would be no better way than to put it in the air, have people talking about the possibility, sign petitions, discuss the cost benefits. As Americans we have a duty to protest our government when it is out of line, and that's what One Do Nothing Congress After Another does. We need editorial cartoon like ones of old, Uncle Sam rolls up his sleeves revealing a well developed forearm and a little blood in his eye as he's comin' your way.