Did you happen to catch yesterday's Capitol Hill press conference with the entirety of the House Republican leadership? House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and House Republican Conference Cathy McMorris Rodgers wanted to talk about this week's sequestration cuts, but in the process, they offered a case study in how to insult Americans' intelligence.
It's awfully tempting to go line by line, pointing out every error of fact and judgment, but that would lead to a post so long, no one would read it. Instead, consider some of the more striking whoppers uttered over the course of the six-minute press conference.
Each of the Republican lawmakers said President Obama was responsible for the sequester, which is ridiculous. Each of them said it's up to Democrats to think of a way to make Republicans happy enough so that Republicans won't hurt the country on purpose. Each of them said the House already voted to replace the sequester, hoping no one would notice that in the current Congress, GOP leaders haven't even proposed, better yet voted on, a replacement.
But consider this gem from the House Speaker:
"Listen, the president says we have to have another tax increase in order to avoid the sequester. Well, Mr. President, you got your tax increase. It's time to cut spending here in Washington."
I assume Boehner is smart enough to know how little sense this makes, which makes his comments an example of willful dishonesty. It's true that policymakers accepted new revenue in 2012, but policymakers also cut spending by more than $1.2 trillion in 2011. Looking again at Boehner's quote, it's very easy to turn it around on him: "Well, Mr. Speaker, you got your spending cuts."
But that wasn't my favorite moment.
How about this gem from Cantor?
"So the president really ought to stop campaigning and come back to the table and work with us."
Work with whom, exactly? Republicans, including Cantor, have already said the only remedy they are willing to consider is one in which Republicans get 100% of what they want. As far as GOP leaders are concerned, there is literally no compromise they will even entertain. "Come back to the table"? Since when have Republicans been at the table? Does Cantor think every voter and every reporter watching this fiasco unfold is an idiot?
But my personal favorite was this quote from McCarthy:
"[T]he president's only idea to solve a problem is to take more from the hardworking taxpayers."
Yep, Kevin McCarthy is just lying -- blatantly and without shame. He knows the president's proposed compromise requires concessions from both sides, and he knows that under the White House plan, Democrats would accept hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts they'd just as soon oppose.
But there McCarthy was anyway, saying the exact opposite, hoping the public and the media wouldn't know the difference.
There's room for an easy solution to this latest Republican-created crisis, but there can be no remedy so long as one side of the political divide is so heavily invested in living in an alternate universe.
Leave a Comment:
There is a lot to comment about in this posting. Just to keep it brief:
Does Cantor think ... every reporter watching this fiasco unfold is an idiot? Yes!
And when you flip through today's op-eds he's right.
A reporter's bread and butter is access.
Call a source a 'lying, dirty dog' in print usually means he will no longer return your phone calls.
-Besides, :Both sides do it. ("I'll meet you guys and gals at the bar, as soon as I go cash this paycheck.")
I really don't understand what is so surprising.
It was and is very evident the American Citizen got exactly as voted............Gridlock
@From - You know that's not actually how the American population voted though, right? There were 1.2 million more votes for Democrats in the House than Republicans, so the American Citizen (sic) actually voted for Democrats to have control of the House, Senate, and White House.
But don't let facts get in the way of your talking point.
@FromDownHere, the American Citizen voted for no such thing. If we had a national election for congress instead of single member districts, it's quite likely there would be no speaker Boehner. Although I'm not stopping to google it before I post this, my recollection is that, in total, Democratic candidates for Congress received substantially more votes than did Republican candidates.
But of course popular votes don't really count in our system or we would have had President Gore preceding President Obama.
Popular polls really don't count in this country either or we wouldn't have ObamaCare.
I can see you got the memo on the revival of the "Old School" dance.......Twist and Spin!
Unfortunately these Republicans are getting away with these lies. How I would love to see each one of them be made to stand up and explain why they prefer to cause a hit to the economy rather than close a few tax loopholes for the uber rich!
They should be made to be explicit and each individual should give his/her reason for why they prefer this sequester, which will hurt a lot of people, to closing a simple tax loophole that the upper .01% of jet plane and yacht owners will not even notice.
These people control our destiny to some extent. They owe us that much.
Why can't they be made to individually explain themselves? We PAY them! They are supposed to be working for us! Why can't we hold them individually accountable?
We need, this week, to have a mob of protestors demanding individual accountability from these Republicans who are about to take a very deleterious decision that will affect millions of people.
Get on the steps of the Capitol and demand it. They are supposedly working for US! Why are we so willing to stand back and take this crap from them?
If the Egyptians can stand up to a dictator, why can't we stand up to People who WORK FOR US?
Agree, and it continues to amaze why the main stream media can't pin these folks down with questions that require answers based in fact. The Boehners, Cantors, etc. can spew this crap without challenge.
It is damned time we held them individually accountable for the decisions they take which affect our lives!
Woodward's entire career demonstrates that the real journalist in the Watergate investigation was Carl Bernstein. Woodward has become the Republican's Stenographer. He was never more than a hack who accidentally managed to get in on one big story.
The T-Party was not on the ballot where I voted . Yet they are being allowed to govern the country? They didn't even exist as a group before the Koch brothers founded and funded this bunch of racist lunatics in 2009!
How can this even be considered to be legal? How did this coup happen to the GOP? These are legitimate questions. A party no one voted for is determining the fate of America and no one can stop them???
The press needs to start doing their job and call these liars out on their lies.
FromDownHere:
We also don't vote for Congress, we vote for individual members, so it's also completely false to say "Americans voted for gridlock."
But don't let that get in the way of your spin.
I think Cantor is right.
Redshift
After careful review of the first term everyone who voted for the second term of President Obama either voted for gridlock or was totally unconscious.
India Le Carre...the problem with shouting them out from the capitol steps is the very real chance your fearless leaders will be on vacation. Again!
Of course at the end of the week, the Republicans will have to face the fact that they can't win on this one. *Regardless of reality*, the media narrative is clear - Democrats want bigger government, Republicans want to drown it in the bathtub. It doesn't matter what either side says or does, that's the established narrative. Given that, Republicans automatically own any cuts (real or perceived) just as Democrats own any tax increases (real or perceived).
This isn' a comment on the accuracy of the competing claims or policies, just that the narrative doesn't allow the Republicans any room to maneuver. They will be stuck taking credit for the sequester whether they want to or not. All they've accomplished is wasting a time trying to reverse the narrative that's been a staple of the beltway since the 80s. It's not going to happen in a few weeks, regardless of message discipline or the size of their echo chamber.
Excuse me. Isn't the sequester the $1.2 Trillion in cuts Obama gave up? Why all the drama? Republicans got cuts, Obama got taxes. Everybody go home, we're done here.
Rush Limbaugh Rules of Engagement
Step 1: Blame the other guy, and lie.
Step 2: Downplay the damage, and lie.
Step 3: Laugh out loud, and lie.
Let's wait and see how the public reacts and how the beltway narrative assigns responsibility. Care to make any explicit prediction about who will "own" the cuts? My personal prediction is that "we're done here" is going to go over well with anybody but the Tea Party. The GOP doesn't seem to have gotten the memo, by the way:
Orrin Hatch: "With across-the-board spending cuts set to kick in next week, Hatch said sequestration would lead to an economic disaster in Utah as two-thirds of civilians working at Hill Air Force Base would be furloughed. He said it would be "devastating to our nation's readiness.""
Yes, it's a better narrative to be the party of free stuff. Especially when the Mighty Wurlitzer MSM handles PR.
Shooter, thank you for repeating Fox news. We hadn't heard any of this before. Now go in the corner and practice saying "No" like a good Republican drone..
Really shooter? My taxes went up, and I'm lower middle class. Yet I'm not asking anyone for a handout, and I still support the president's and Democrats plans to deal with our federal budget.
But you keep right on pushing the false narrative that those who support the President are only doing so because they're getting handouts. Except that they aren't.
Guess which offensive, denigrating radio host uses the phrase "party of free stuff" on a regular basis? Go ahead, take a wild guess. And then reassess the credibility of small-minded followers who repeat it because it makes them feel superior being on the bully's side of a one-sided argument.
LOL
Not quite. There are two kinds of voters in the Free Stuff party. The ones that want free stuff, and the ones that want to give it to them. Obviously you're in the latter category.
Speaking of free stuff , I'd like to pay at a 12% tax rate like romney and the boys
or make billions , pay no taxes , and even get billions back in free stuff like exxon mobile , rush limbaugh jr lmao
"There are two kinds of voters in the Free Stuff party. "
Yes...those that want to continue give free stuff to individuals and huge corporations that don't need it or even pay their taxes...
and those who want to give even More free stuff to individuals and corporations who don't need it or even pay their taxes.
The GOP.
@shooter, if you want to talk about the party of free stuff, perhaps we should start with all of the govt. subsidies going to banking, oil, gas, nuclear, pharma and other major industries, not to mention all that's being done to cripple the USPS to help FedEx and UPS? Just getting rid of those would help the situation dramatically.
Shooter..I think if you had been provided more "free stuff" earlier in your lonely, little life, you would respond respectfully in the face of an opposing opinion. But you are like the arsonist who needs the cover of invisibility to act out your anger and hurt. I imagine that in the real world, no one can stand to be anywhere near you. So you punish bloggers, strangers, instead. Grow up!
Shooter (who always misses): please remove head from ass and turn on brain before commenting. Thank you.
Shea- you're asking the wrong person to grow up. Shooter (drive-by) keeps a tally of how many threads he can derail. He loves to see people attack him because it validates his miserable existence. "Call me anything, but just spell my name right". He's a narcissistic little troll who stops by here to drop his unmentionables, and then scoots off to another site to do the same. He's been doing this for years, and has been banned from other sites.
He uses things like "free stuff" and "2%" over and over to irritate people. Not because any of it is true, but it makes him feel better and gets him more of those responses he lives for. Narcissistic sociopathy is a terrible thing because he will never accept that someone knows more than he does, or that he can possibly be incorrect.
I don't like to get personal; I'd rather discuss issues. But shooter is that annoying itch you just can't scratch, and it won't go away.
I don't know why anyone is surprised by this...I mean seriously think about it.
1. They don't care what the American people as a whole thing they only have to keep a relatively small group of them happy in their own home districts (Senators have a slightly larger problem but for the most part they are safe too).
2. They want the sequester to take place. This is like a government shutdown lite...even if it hurts the economy they don't care because it hurts entitlement spending and that's what they really want.
3. like the fiscal cliff deal they will let this happen and then come back and reinstate the defense spending under the guise of creating jobs and claim "Victory" over mean old Obama who is obviously a failed president.
4. Que revisionist historians to come in and whitewash the whole mess and make them look like heroes to their base...who as is evident by their own admission don't like Critical thinking skills anyway
What we have here is Contempt by Congress not Contempt of Congress.
Dragoon, don't be a puss. Surely a guy such as yourself can handle a 2% reduction in costs. Spread across everyone, no one need lose a job or constituents lose services. Get a grip.
Shooter
It's not the cuts it's the way they are made and applied...It's like treating a broken leg by amputation.
The problem here isn't reduction of spending it's what we are left with when we are done. I am all in favor of smaller government but I want it to be effective and worthwhile not some hollowed out shell that is in perpetual danger of financial collapse.
Jeebus, are you listening to yourself? A 2% cut across the board is a "hollowed out shell"? No it isn't. Hell, everyone with a W-2 just got dinged for 2% and Armageddon hasn't followed.
Calm down. You're acting like a junkie being threatened with withdrawal. We can get through this together.
Yes, of course. But the Right has already moved past the tactics of debate, and recently past the blame game. They're now downplaying the damage as if people won't be losing their jobs.
Geeze, Dragoon... didn't you get the Talking Points? If you missed it, there's a couple of misinformation trolls here who will happily shoot them off for you.
Each of these Republicans should be made to stand up and explain why they prefer the sequester, which will hurt a lot of people, to closing a few tax loopholes that affect the super rich and would largely go unnoticed.
We are paying these people. They control our lives in many ways. They work for us. Make them stand up and be counted, every damn one of them. Get them on record for their actions. A vote is not personal enough.
Explicit explanation, Please!
But Walmart had their worst month I think ever...but that goes to income inequality and just how close people are living to the margin of poverty...a 2% cut is all well and good depending on what exactly you are cutting...I would rather quit buying $48,000 toilet seats and keep funding head start (and notice I didn't say anything about increasing spending for it just maintaining it's current funding level)
A 2% cut in Federal spending looks a whole lot different depending on whether it's spread across the whole budget vs. when it exempts 3/4 of the spending and the rest all gets cut from Texas.
Too bad we can't just cut the welfare payments to the Red States and let them sink further into their swamp of ignorance and religious superstition.
@Shooter
There you go with your 2% lie again.
No, they can't just re-instate defense spending. Nothing about the sequester changes the way the bicameral legislature and the executive branch function.
If Senate Democrats and the President were willing to keep the non-defense cuts and cancel the defense cuts, then they might as well do it now. If they're not, then they will simply not move on any new legislation the House passes, or veto it if need be.
If Obama allows the House Republicans to reinstate defense spending without lifting the entire sequester, THEN he would be a failed president.
Obama may have no choice...it all depends on how bad the economy gets and how badly he needs job growth.
Think about this being played out over the next four years...we have already had a recession that has hung on like a migraine and the GOP largely in an effort to torpedo Obama's reelection did absolutely everything they could to keep it going. They will almost certainly do the same thing over the next four years if for no other reason than to keep Democrats from validating their own economic policies.
This is a Congress that is stacked with political nihilists who would rather commit national economic suicide than admit defeat...it's their economic version of Masada
I have no doubt it will end the same way. I can only hope we get the chance to kill em before they get to suicide. There is nothing moral or noble in the Republican party. It is ruled by fear and greed.
@Dragoon: There is always a choice. Defense spending is really the most wasteful form of corporate welfare. In my opinion it is the one place where cuts can be made and the fewest people are directly affected--mostly in the defense industry, not in the military.
We won't discharge servicemen. We will delay spending on unneeded new weaponry. And we will save on fuel, etc by not deploying aircraft carriers. Meanwhile the deficit goes down.
What has been missed in all the handwringing analysis, is that despite both sides claiming the sequester is so onerous as to force compromise, both sides can live with it. And so can we. It's a grand bluff on both sides. Yes it will hurt a lot of people on the non-defense side. The question is who do those people blame? If it doesn't change who they will vote for, it doesn't matter to the politics of it.
Mike
I agree. It always strikes me that the people who love to wail about "Welfare Queens" and food stamp fraud never seem to notice things like $500 hammers or the 3000 M1 Tanks we have stuffed in parking lots.
We still have a military that is still ready to fight the Soviet Union and we just don't need it.
Mike in Michigan ,maybe you out to go to the White House site and search what it will mean in our state.Here a few of the "highlights" :20.3 Million dollars out of education for children with disabilities, 22 Million dollars out of the K12 education, work study funds for lower income students in college. 67 Milion dollars out of Michigan's economy, Michigan's military bases for the state will be doing w/out 14 million dollars. Michigan's Senior population who rely on Meals on Wheels, and other food support system will lose 1.4 million dollars and I could go on. So if you really want to know how your state will be affected, remember all of those cuts mean that our state which already has been affected before and now dumping all of this on Michigan?? I am sure that our illustrious governor heard the facts and the Governors conference. I know that our citizens are already tired of these manufactured, self inflicted injuries to our economy, but it is our duty to put pressure on these House members.We can remind them that even gerrymandered districts can't excuse them from pressure of putting party ideology over the needs of the citizens of Michigan. Handwringing, cynical attitudes, manufactured crisis's are not going to give everyone who lives in this state a pass. Call your congressman or e-mail them. It's time remind the whole Michigan delegation to the house and let them know the cuts that are just days away and we will know who to vote for in the 2014 elections. Our house representatives votes are on line. So how many of us in Michigan will check it out. Just think what Michigan would have been like if the 30,000 registered Democrats would have paid attention and voted in the 2010 election.
I am just so damn sick and tired of congress governing by manufactured crisis! We need to start holding these people responsible for the way they are obstructing and harming this country.
Did we send them there to govern us or manufacture crises which harm us? It is time to stand up to this BS they keep handing us in the name of "ideology".
It' not MY ideology! Is it yours? Is it anyone's?
They have done enough damage. Let's end this somehow before we lose our Democracy entirely.
It is past time for the people of this country to say, "Enough!" We need to demand accountability!
The T-party now says it is taking credit for the sequester. OK Make them take that "credit".
India
But that's just the point...We Can't The only people who can are their constituents in their home districts and they aren't about to change anything.
I do not believe that, Dragoon. We have the right to demand why they choose to govern against us by moving the country from crisis to crisis. This is too harmful and has been for too long to allow to go unnoticed by the people affected by the decisions they take.
There must be a way to end this. There has to be. Surely there is someone in DC with the authority to call them out on this insanity.
Ask yourselves what kind of country we will have if this continues!
Our Founding Framers created a lasting social compact that took into account rights for the political minority. Boehner and Co. are not exercising their minority rights, their are abusing the majority!
And abusing the majority is not a construct our Founding Framers entertained! McConnell and Boehner are taking our nation's heritage into uncharted territory, save Calhoun's day when as VP he thought his beloved South Carolina need not follow federal authority!
Lies repeated as propaganda - the current 113th Congressional Republican political strategy! The majority deserves much better!
The Republicans have holed up in gerrymandered districts, prosecuting trench warfare upon the majority of the American people! Republicans need a good case of trench foot! -Kevo
Speaking of Founding Framers, they united to build a "more perfect union."
Then they devolved into politicians, and began to argue if the "union" should be made of brick or wood.
The brick makers gave them money, and so did the lumber folks.
And here we are, firmly mired in the dysfunctional morass of 2013.
There were two parties on the ballot where I voted. The T-Party was not one of them. It is bogus and we are being run by an illegitimate party of reactionaries.
We are being governed by a bunch of (literal) bastards whom no one voted for; whom no one could have voted for.
And people say we cannot end this reign of terror? I don't believe that
My gosh Steve, You are really starting starting to get annoyed at the fact that no one is buying your line of BS on where the idea for the sequester came from. Your getting louder just like a preteen when he is caught in a lie. Just give it up for heaven's sake.
Yes, but not in the way you think. The sequester idea originated from Obama's staff as an agreed-upon measure that no one in their right mind would allow to happen. If only the GOP were being managed by people in their right mind.
Oh waaaaaaaaaa! It was agreed to by all parties. (No pun intended) You taking the Fox news drivel and thinking that blame somehow absolves the GOP of responsibility is absurd. Grow the Hell up!
It is the T-Party which is claiming credit for the sequester. How can we allow an illegitimate party whom no one could have voted for, decide our lives?
Why are we being governed by an illegitimate party? Has anyone asked that lately?
In short, bastards are running the country! Literally!
if they weren't lying, you wouldn't know what to do with them.
You do realize that for 3 hours this morning on your own Network your Morning Joe host was using exactly John Boehner and Eric Cantor's talking points and spent his time talking about how Republicans have compromised on taxes and defense spending and President Obama has compromised on nothing. If you want to educate people on reality maybe you could start with your own Network's multimillion dollar morning show host. You would call Fox News on the sort of stupidity that came out of Joe Scarborough's mouth this morning, maybe it's time to get your own house in order to. I know the network has some form of protection plan for Joe Scarborough where the rest of the days hosts have to pretend he doesn't exist or not point out his stupidity but maybe you should clean up your own act. Because when you ask if John Boehner thinks the press is stupid the answer is yes and outside of Fox News MSNBCs morning host is number one on his cable tv list of idiots.
Last time I looked, Steve Benen does not own MSNBC nor have a controlling interest in the Morning Joe show, nor have executive power over Scarborough's commentary. But as a taxpayer, he does have a citizen's right to point out when elected officials are trying to play the public for fools.
Joe's a republican, duh.
Cantor is able to pack an uncountable amount of stupidity into a brain of measure zero.
He would have made an excellent Kapo.
Stupid or just plain evil? That is the question.
Uh, oh. Somebody around here has had measure theory.
As Chait explains this AM. The extremists or Ultras, as he calls them, have to get this out of their systems. The, Sequester, is the least harmful place to allow this to happen. That's why the PR battle is the only place that interaction is taking place.
Obama seems to be kind of enjoying this as a necessary step in breaking the fever that he is in front of and is confident that he can successfully manage.
It's defining how each Pundit characterize this issue. It's a tell on their savvy vs partisanship. Brooks and Woodward are partisan. Klein and Chait are savvy.
MSNBC is on the edge of losing credibility as well as CNN...David Gregory, Chucky Todd, Joe etc. have been dragging the network down into the irrelevant and un-watched...Even the nightly crew is sounding like nags...nothing new, no in-depth coverage, so on and so forth...Rachael is the one bright spot, but is starting to fade...the corporate strings are being pulled...I want to believe there is a new and energized press in this country...but we are only getting the same old crap from the right, with all the drooling and stupid that goes with it...and the dems??? where are you?
Obviously you don't watch Martin Bashir, Alex Gold, Tamron Harris, or Lawrence O'Donnell, otherwise you would not make such a statement. You want cheerleading and advocasy, watch Fox. If you want intellectual and honesty, stick with MSNBC...
Apparently....YOU are the only one watching those clowns.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Stop it Lebowsky your gonna make me pee my pants.
I bet your favorite two stations are FOX and the Blaze, huh? Loud, obnoxious cheerleaders for those who didn't get an education in critical thinking.
Scott: Martin Bashir is by far my favorite MSNBC anchor. He has style and substance. Sometimes his passion gets the best of him, but his humor more than makes up for that. I only respond to you to show contrast between you and I, you deny uncomfortable facts, and I like to discuss them. Same with Fox/MSNBC...
Such as audience numbers? THAT would be the uncomfortable part.
Audience numbers mean nothing. Of course, stupid and gullible people outnumber intelligent and discerning people. Always have. Which is why Fox "News" and Honey Boo Boo have big audiences. But Bashir and Rachel and 60 Minutes have intelligent audiences. We all know which group you belong to.
Betsy, #11,7,
That stupid and gullible also accounts for the T-Party membership.
And lets not forget racism. That plays a large part in the fix we find ourselves in today.
The Koch brothers founded and funded the T-Party to further their agenda. They have roots in the Nazi party. They used the T-Party and the T-Party was too stupid to know they were being used as pimps for the Koch agenda.
They paraded them as a grass roots organization. What a crock.
MSNBC Uses Selectively Edited Video to Smear McCain
MSNBC’s Rachel Madcow ran with KTVK’s segment during her show Thursday night, sarcastically saying that McCain’s use of the phrase “straight talk” led to “boisterous” applause from the senator’s constituents.
Unfortunately, Maddow did not feel it was necessary to play the full video for her viewers.
The main stream media have to get on the bandwagon and call these people out for their lies and distortions. Also where does the phone campaign start to hound the prevaricators ?? Call your member Congress and Senate..tell them no more votes for them..also while your at it..demand your tax dollars (their salary) be paid back. Afterall, they have taken the money under false pretences..you sent them to Washington and pay them to work on your behalf not against your best interests.
I'd like to see CBS DO SOMETHING. They'll dwindle to nothingness if they go the way of Fox. And Fox? Take their license away!
All they have left is projection, like Blanks.. That's it, that is the only trick left in the bag!
What the Republican's are campaigning against is what they ran on. To a man or woman they argued that trillions would be saved over the next decade by closing tax loopholes and that a top bracket tax raise would destroy the economy. Now in the most recent Ryan redux which is a sophomoric exercise in Randian mental masturbation the GOP include the revenue as permanent from the Obama tax increase which they said would destroy the economy and reject any corporate or top bracket loophole closing which they deemed essential to the economy.
The sad fact is that most American's do not read a great deal and certainly not policy papers or legislation and prefer to listen to whatever shill most closely represents their preconceptions regardless of reality. Otherwise dystopians like Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly et al would have no audience. If the president came out tomorrow and proposed a plan virtually identical to the screed of the House Republicans it would be overwhelmingly rejected by those same House Republicans. It is all about causing the Administration to fail regardless of the consequences and I think the large majority of people have finally caught on.
jkh
Yes Jim..the American people have FINALLY caught on. After 4 years of 8% unemployment,record food stamps and welfare being handed out, 4.00 a gallon gas, Tax increases and a STILL shrinking and contracting economy and spending by this Administration equal to EVERY administration before this one....This President is perhaps the biggest failure in the history of the United States. Instead of worrying about putting Americans back to work...this failure is more concerned with breaking American immigration law as well as trampling the Second Amendment to really concern himself with the 47 MILLION Americans on Food stamps. Hard to believe it only took 4 years to "Catch on"......
well said, scott... well said.
@scott: There are two ways to reduce the number of people receiving food stamps. One is to lift more people out of poverty, the other is to simply cut the program. The GOP doesn't care how many are on food stamps, as long as they can cut the program's total funding.
It would actually be in the administration's interest to cut people off when the sequester hits, thus showing "lower participation." But it won't, because it is more humane to reduce the benefit per person per month. Did you know that although the number of recipients is up, the amount each receives is down? Did you know that most of those families have at least a part-time job?
It would really be helpful if the House would actually pass some jobs legislation, instead of spending all their efforts on triply-banning government payment of abortion services. Yes, this administration could be more successful, with just a little cooperation from the House.
But as for Obama being a failure, I will just go back to my favorite line from the election:
Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.
Add in Obamacare, the Ledbetter Act, the addition of two qualified women to the Supreme Court, the end of DADT, and more, and I say with confidence that Obama is far from a failed president, despite the GOP's best efforts.
1. the economy is better.... improving but very slowly
2. Food stamps have nothing to do with economy woes
3. The 2nd amendment is not being trampled... and also has nothing to do with the economy
4 The biggest failure was the administration that started 2 wars, 1 ...perhaps both, completely unnecessary, without paying for them after pissing away a surplus.
Talk about NOT catching on!
The economy is better? Are you living in a cave? Or just listening to MSDNC? The Economy AND American manufacturing has CONTRACTED the last two months. AND of course...Gas prices has tripled because of this failures policies which is a DIRECT tax on the poorest of Americans who can least afford it. And this failure want's to dump 11-25 MILLION ILLEGALS into an economy where Americans have been out of work for two years and longer...WHAT does that do to the labor market besides keep AMERICANS out of work and depress wages? And if you want to "Catch on" Albie...try listening to the monthly jobs numbers and factory output numbers and don't keep your head in your third point of contact.
Things would have been much better if Mitt what's his name were president.
/sarcasm off/
Talking to Scott is like talking to a post. The economy has turned around. Remember when we were losing 870,000 jobs a month, Scotty? Gas prices are not controlled by the government, even when G.W. was President. Gas prices are a direct result of speculation and per barrel costs. And where do you think those 11 million illegals have been hiding, Scotty? You seem to believe that they are all suddenly going to take jobs away from hard-working Americans, when they are already here, and already employed, paying taxes, C'mon, Scotty, I'll just bet you can't wait to get a job doing stoop labor and putting your college education to good use. Think of all those lettuce fields that could use your expertise.
The economy contracted by less than .01%, largely due to the uncertainty of the sequester and the debit "cliff". And even the experts think they're wrong, and that there was actually a slight growth during the last quarter.
So, again, your rock is calling you.
But Scottie,
Increased gas prices mean that the capitalist American Oil companies are continuing to make record profits.
Don't you support capitalism?
Don't you think profits are good?
You confuse me comrade - make up your mind.
The GOP have discovered a seemingly bottomless well of FREE, FREE, FREE campaign money.
All they have to do is manufacture a crisis every few months or so and the Media -mainstream or otherwise - gives them almost unlimited access to assorted cameras and microphones.
So the Politicians get all this free "face time" in front of a camera or mike - usually against an appropriately posed backdrop of imposing Congressional architecture - and the Politician then intones, bemoans, decries the lack of cooperation, vows to "do his (usually "his" but sometimes "her") best for the American people", and then rushes off to some unknown important function. Of course they provide no details, no original ideas and certainly no specific solutions.
But hey, they just got 3 (or 5 or 15 or...) minutes of free, prime time TV airtime. Do you have any idea how much it would cost to actually buy that time?
I have no idea how many
hours, days, weeksmonths of free political advertising Boehner, Cantor, and assorted other GOP ilk have managed to finagle with their never-ending-crises-scheme, but if Media stopped covering their assorted infantile tantrums, we might actually be able to get some appropriate governing done."Appropriate Governing"? Month after month the economy has reflected this failures idea of "Appropriate Governing". A CLEARLY idiotic statement.
Oh, please. The economy shows the effects of two long wars, a tax cut for the rich, and a medicare giveaway (rather than let that free market they are so proud of buy prescription drugs from other, cheaper... canadian.... sources) ALL UNPAID FOR... Government dug this hole and it took at least 8 years to dig it... it's going to take AT LEAST that long to fill it in, much less start building a positive economy... the mentality of supply-side economics and W's republican credo of war is good and tax breaks for the rich "trickle down" has been proven WRONG. We all know what really trickles down and it sure as hell isn't money.
Quit trying to sell me an umbrella for the rain REPUBLICANS created. I mean, they created the weather and now they stand around and say, "@!$%#, it's RAINING!"
I know! Redneckgirl.... it's mind boggling how concerned folks like Scott are about spending and deficits NOW, when none of that mattered during Dubya's disastrous administration.
And it took 30 years for the hole to be dug. 30 years of the obvious failure of Reaganomics.... and Scott still thinks that was viable! Where did they dig up this dinosaur? Scottasaurus-3860658
Does the SMALL FACT that this administration has spent as much as EVERY ADMINISTRATION BEFORE IT...mean ANYTHING? Europe is broke because of it's failed Social programs....so what does this loser do? Piles on MORE BENNIES, and then want's to add 11-25 MILLION more Illegals for the American taxpayer to pay for. Remember, THIS is the first time in American history that America's credit rating has been downgraded. Our debt now is more than our GDP for the first time, and This failure wants to add MORE programs. You overspend you go bankrupt...Guess what?
Except that multiple charts and facts shown on RM's show that this isn't the case. This admin has actually spent LESS money than GWB... Why ignore that, scott?
Xeknos,
Put Scott on ignore. Everyone else has.
Some Liberals like to be "In the bubble" even on a Liberal website....eh,India? And RM can play with the numbers, but the facts are the same.
You mean like having a 35th vote to repeal Obamacare?
Scotty: Please remove head from ass and turn on brain before participating. Thank you.
Scotty @16.4 Your comment is a perfect example of how many flat out lies can be told in one paragraph. You do remember, Scotty, that the US credit rating was downgraded due to the Republicans holding the debt ceiling hostage, don't you? Remember that even Standard & Poor said that that was the reason?
I'm not going to address the rest of your lies, because you can't convince a sociopath of anything. But remember, before you return to your rock, that the US government cannot, I repeat, cannot, go bankrupt. We print our own money. European nations that belong to the European Union do not print their own money, and thus can go bankrupt, because they cannot control monetary policy, while we can.
The idiocy, ignorance, audacity, and complete disregard for the well being of anyone that is older than a fetus and younger than and 18 year old registering for the military, older than 50 years old, the elderly, retired, disabled is just amazing. Yet more and more people are becoming wise about the lies and the "republican" true focus on corporate profit and enslaving Americans in poverty level jobs. It seems like they want to destroy everything that millions have worked their entire lives to build for short term profit.
It's always about the best interest of the rich and monopolies with Republicans.
Actually...it's always about the welfare and Government dependance with this big eared Liberal. BTW...Seen any of the Economic reports under this failure? Poverty never had it so good.
Leave it to republicans to start calling names about appearances when actual facts don't work for them, huh? Ridiculous.
"Poverty never had it so good."
Sorry Scott, that lie they have already tried and it didn't work.
Corporations and the uber-rich never had it so good! I assume you are worth tens of millions. No? But someday.... right? All those perks will be yours!
Unpaid for wars and tax cuts for those who don't need them are killing the economy, not help for those who actually need it. And there is 1 single reason nothing gets done: The Congress of "no" and the "block even our own ideas" minority in the Senate.... the GOP
Everybody know it. Even you Scott. But you don't get paid to post that kind of stuff, do you?
The war on poverty started by LBJ started in 1963...how has that worked out? Welfare has resulted in the dropout rate,the single parent rate and the incarceration rate skyrocketing after the invention of the Welfare society. A little history lesson.
LBJ's Great Society: 40 Years Later
1964 was a very busy year for Lyndon Johnson. First he rammed through Congress the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving him war powers in Vietnam. Next he signed into Law the now famous or infamous, depending on ones political slant, Civil Rights Act. He called this ambitious undertaking his "Guns and Butter" program. The first part of this equation to go sour was the war effort. Johnson treated the war like a political problem that he could solve by twisting the arms of Ho and Giap the same way he had got things done in the Senate for so many years. When this strategy failed to produce results he next tried to micro-manage the war from the Oval Office as if it were a giant chess game with our troops as the pawns. He went so far as to select bombing targets and to turn missions on and off like a switch with a carrot-on-a-stick approach to entice Ho to the peace table. Meanwhile on the home front, with his Great Society and War on Poverty programs, he was socially engineering our country into a welfare state while funding a military adventure overseas. When asked by a reporter if it was fiscally prudent to fund a war effort and his social programs at the same time he replied, "Heck yeah man, we're rich".
When Cronkite abandoned him on National TV, as he strolled through the ancient city of Hue with his battle helmet and somber intonations that we were mired in a quagmire and that it was time to seek peace, (code word for surrender), with honor, Johnson folded up like a wet tissue, tucked his tail between his legs, and slinked off back to his ranch in Texas.
As bad as his failure in Vietnam proved to be, the results of his Great Society Programs were far more insidious, deadly and injurious to our Nation's psyche. The mammoth social welfare entitlement programs that streamed out of Washington did more damage to the fabric of our society than any number of Vietnams could have done. The irony is, that the segment of our society that it meant to help, was the one that was most grievously harmed. Of all those who fell victim to the welfare mentality, none suffered more than the black communities.
In the fifties, although blacks were still struggling for equal oppertunities and were on the low end of the economic ladder, the black family was for the most part strong and stable. Two parent families were the rule, not the exception. They attended church together, had strong moral values, and did not comprise a majority of the prison population. Compare that to the present state of the black community after 40 years of Liberal Socialism. Our prisons are disproportionably black, unwed mothers and single parent families are the rule, black youths without a strong male role model other than rap stars and basketball players, roam the streets and are drawn into a culture of drugs and crime.
The following statistics are provided by Star Parker's Coalition of Urban Renewal, (CURE).
*60 percent of black children grow up in fatherless homes.
*800,000 black men are in jail or prison.
*70 percent of black babies are born to unwed mothers.
*Over 300,000 black babies are aborted annually.
*50 percent of new AIDS cases are in the black community.
*Almost half of young black men in America's cities are neither working nor in school. What we have here is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
What was the message of the social programs that came out of LBJ's Great Society? One of the most devestating to the family was that if an unwed woman became pregnant, moved out of the home of her parents, did not name or know who the father was, then Big Daddy in Washington would provide for all her essential needs. Ergo she no longer needed a husband or the support of her family. In fact, the more children she had out of wedlock, the more money she would receive from the government. This program was the death knell for many families, especially in the black community. Unfortunately many black men saw this as the best of all possible worlds. They could father as many children as they wanted, from multiple women, without ever having to accept the responsibility of fatherhood. Many women rejected marriage in favor of a boyfriend who could slip in the back door and not jeopardize her government check. In this dysfunctional culture why would education be important? Why seek an education only to have to compete for a good job in the market place when they could just hang around the neighborhood and have all of life's amenities? In fact studying and getting good grades, for many blacks, became a social stigma. They were called "Uncle Toms" and accused of trying to act "white". Many blacks who had the potential to succeed gave in to this pressure and opted for failure. After all they had the perfect excuse. Did not the NAACP and race hustlers like Jesse Jackson tell them that it was not their fault? That they were just innocent "victims" of white racism?
This is the legacy of LBJ's Great Society.....compassion as defined by Liberalism.
scottie's post translated: I am an ignorant, bigoted, troll.
And Scotty is not only a bigoted troll, he's a lousy historian. Scotty, did you just cut and paste that whole thing from the Conservapedia? Damn, you are a racist little pig. A graduate from Glenn Beck University, are you? Look, your friends at the local chapter of the KKK are waiting for you. After all, you have crosses to burn and times a wastin'.
The sore losers refuse to do their duty to the people in their districts and the country by opting instead to look out only for the interests of the rich.
We get it, Mr. Boehner & Co. How much more does the GOP leadership and its anarchy-driven Tea Party faction think they can punish citizens within their districts before they rebel?
No Congressional District will be safe for Republicans (no matter how they gerrymander) if they continue to pile on the austerity and only pass bills that rename post offices. And Republicans won't even allow the USPS to run their own business. There will be no post offices left to rename if they have their way.
Its funny boehner and cantor keep saying Obama and Senate Democrats need to pass someting!Every time they try the rebublicans fillabuster.This is a great plan,block everthing the Dems try to do,then say "the Democrats are doing nothing".This kind of stuff REALLY gets under my skin.
Go take a look at the history of the German Reichstag, 1931-33, after the Nazis got representation in the parliament. They began obstruction for obstruction's sake, causing further elections, in which they ran against the "do nothing" government, promising if they had power they would solve the problems. We all know how that turned out.
Letting the Sequester happen is probably in the end the best thing that can happen. We have better places to spend that money like fixing our roads, electric grid, renewable energy, etc and it ends wasteful spending on the military killing machine. With that kind of money we could provide solar cells and wind turbines to peoples homes plus money for furthering better energy technologies. There would be all kinds of work generated for people. So Republicans that’s no problem with you causing the Sequester, we always wanted to get rid of you deadbeat paid off worthless bums for the rich bastards anyway. The American people are aware of all the crap you have been pulling so don’t let us stop you go for it. Please do us all a big flavor.
Just think this could be like a spring clean-up in getting all the Republican trash out of government. The American people have always needed a good spring cleaning in removing garbage and waste.
Let's really look at what Republicans call "big" government.
Health care for all Americans
Food
Shelter
Education
A living wage
What isn't "Big" government to a Republican? Intrusion into the private lives of the People. Women being told what medical procedures they can have. Gay citizens being told they can't marry their partner.
Republicans are soulless, mindless, corrupt hypocrites.
Sooooo...The Government nipple is what Government is all about for you?The American spirit is truly dead in the left. Where is the JFK mantra "ask not what your Country can do for you...But what you can do for your Country" And if you look in the Dictionary under the word Deviant...Republicans did not define the word.
"The Government nipple is what Government is all about"
Sure! Ask Wall Street. Ask Exxon/Mobil
Do stop pretending Corporate welfare is not tenfold what personal welfare is. That's just dishonest.
Scott,
Do you have any idea as to how the US economy has been constructed throughout our national and colonial histories. What drew colonists was FREE land what established wealth was FREE land. The 1st US federal governments invested at the time huge funds in the creation of canals and road systems as well as a series of land purchases outside of any constitutional justification. They then had the audacity to give away the land, mineral and water rights. We developed a standing Navy to protect commerce at no charge to the ship owners. We funded through loans and massive land giveaways the railroad systems and cattle empires were the beneficiaries of both land and grazing rights as well as the right to drive cattle through both public and private lands. Mining claims were virtually free, Lincoln established Land Grant colleges and the list of government investment is endless. Our worst economic downturns correlate directly to a lack of Federal involvement in investment and regulation. The Long Depression and series of Panics and failures from the 1870s to the early 1900s were a result of Laissez Faire and the consolidation of wealth in the hands of the few. It was only the Progressive Movement and T. Roosevelt's "Trust Busting" which led to 20 years of an expanding urban and small town middle class. The next 20 years of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover led to the Great Depression and the return to Progressive Economic policy.
From the FDR years through George Bush II we have followed the exact same pattern. Without Federal investment we would still be an agrarian backwater. It was public funds that brought phone and electric service to the nation, built our dams, canals, airports and navigation systems. If you use a laptop you can thank the government for the development of satellites and the internet as well as the clean air and water you eat and drink, the vaccines you have been given the highways and transit systems that bring you your food and have been the driving force behind every leap forward we have experienced as a people.
Ummm...no. FDR did NOTHING to get America out of the depression...America was STILL burdened with 21% unemployment numbers until the advent of the "lend-lease" program and the run up to the war and becoming the "Arsenal of Democracy". And taxes ARE NOT imposed...they are voted on. GET IT? at a time when EVERY Government fee has tripled, gas prices TRIPLED..it is no time for Government to come with their palms up. There is already a gas tax for infrastructure and it is not a funding problem...it is a SPENDING problem.
I just can't finally resist - Scott, really? I mean, you can type, so at least you have some kind of motor skills. But the things you say - if I was a skeptic, I'd say Rachel and her crew think of the craziest, most out-of-touch-with-reality, rewriting of history comments and post them to move the discussion along. Is it a scam (the bizarro-world comments attributed to "scott") or...
Mike- Scotty is not a historian, nor does he know much about history. From the day that FDR took office the economy started to rebound. It's easy to find that out by looking in just about any history or economics book, or by using Google, but he's to stupid to do that. In 1938 FDR allowed the Republicans to reduce taxes, and the economy slid back into recession. Again, in the history books.
Scotty also seems to believe that the gas tax is for infrastructure and that it is adequate. Even though the price of gas went up, the only beneficiaries were the energy companies, because the gas tax is fixed, and not a percentage of the price of gas.
Captain, time to beam Scotty up!
Boehner is so talented a psychological projection...the POTUS is done with campains...but not Boehner.
The GOP will take the rap for the sequester. The GOP is stupid enough to think they can cut a better deal after the sequester hits. WRONG !!! My hope is that Obama directs all the cuts possible to the states represented by the likes of Boehner, Cantor, McConnell and the rest of the band of lying yahoos.
Understand what "Across the board" means? This loser just got his beek wet with taxes from American pockets....no more...get it? Liberals could care less about the debt, or the fact that these Government freebies are bankrupting America and her next generation...Liberals just have their elbows out and their palms up,AS THEY ALWAYS DO...WAITING FOR THE NEXT HANDOUT. Shameless...the lot of you.
"Government freebies are bankrupting America"
Freebies to big corporations and 2 unpaid for wars started by Bush jr.
Personal welfare, Medicare and SS are NOT bankrupting the country. Tax cuts for those who don't need them and those who cheat on their taxes along with unnecessary wars are.
Your meme that handouts to freeloaders only works when you realize the freeloaders are corporations & super rich people.
It takes a low IQ mentality to blame those who provide a way of living for individuals as well as healthcare and a retirement program as being the "unproductive" members of society. And it is jealousy such as displayed here that allows failures like the one currently in office to promote a class warfare agenda INSTEAD of keeping an eye on the guy's miserable job performance.
Blah blah blah - oh, capitalist giant, please provide a meager living for me, I worship the invisible hand you use to check me for obstructions in my lower bowels...
It actually was the Obama administration's idea. They thought that if they set up this artificial, draconian deadline that the consequences would be too terrible for even the GOP to contemplate. They were wrong.
I tried--I really tried to listen to these people but I could not stand it. I am sick to death of Republicans, sick of the sequester, sick of the drama but most I have reached the point that I can not stand Boehner and change the channel when he pops up. Could Washington, please, for God's sake get it right just once?
Again, we need to make them stand up and be counted, individually, for the way they are playing games with our lives. Make them go on record as to why they choose to govern by going from one manufactured crisis to another and why they choose the sequester over a few tax loopholes for the super rich.
Get each one's explanation on the record for the American people to see.
They are supposed to be working for us!