I just heard an interview on the radio with US Rep. Joe Walsh (not the singer but R-IL) that made me do a facepalm. Rep. Walsh was blaming the Senate and the President over the budget negotiations saying they are not compromising with the House, not sitting down and talking to the House, and not providing an alternative. When the interviewer asked him if he would accept a deal that had less than the $61 billion in cuts that the House is proposing he said no. When the interviewer pointed out to him that doesn't that mean that he and the his caucus then aren't compromising he changed his what he was saying to "they are not going to compromise but want cooperation" and also saying he hasn't seen another number put out by the Senate. Considering there is a Senate deal out for $30 Bil. in cuts and also the President has called Senate and House leaders in to meet about the budget I don't know where this guy has been the last few days.
I'm sure Harry is scoring a few holes himself, just like he does back home when he takes the grrr out of grassy.
Robert Reich on GOP government haters benefiting from making govenrment look ineffective. ******* Cynicism about government works to the Republicans’ continued advantage. Case in point. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan unveiled a plan today that should make every American cringe. It would turn Medicare into vouchers whose benefits are funneled into the pockets of private insurers. It would make Medicaid and Food Stamps into block grants that allow states to ignore poor people altogether. It would drastically cut funding for schools, roads, and much else Americans need. And many of the plan’s savings would go to wealthy Americans who’d pay even lower taxes than they do today. Ryan’s plan has no chance of passage – as long as Democrats are still in control of the Senate (even Democratic deficit hawks like Kent Conrad and Ben Nelson are appalled by it) and the White House. But this so-called “blueprint” could be a blueprint for America’s future when and if right-wing Republicans take charge. Which is where the cynicism comes in – and the shutdowns. Republicans may get blamed now. But if the shutdowns contribute to the belief among Americans that government doesn’t work, Republicans win over the long term. As with the rise of the Tea Partiers, the initiative shifts to those who essentially want to close it down for good. That’s why it’s so important that the President have something more to say to the American people than “I want to cut spending, too, but the Republican cuts go too far.” The “going too far” argument is no match for a worldview that says government is the central problem to begin with. Obama must show America that the basic choice is between two fundamental views of this nation. Either we’re all in this together, or we’re a bunch of individuals who happen to live within these borders and are mainly on their own. This has been the basic choice all along — when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, in the Civil War, when we went through World War I and World War II and the Great Depression in between, during the Civil Rights movement and beyond. The President needs to remind us that as members of the same society we have obligations to one another — that the wealthiest among us must pay their fair share of taxes, that any of us who loses our jobs or homes or gets terribly sick can count on the rest of us, and that we have collective obligations to our elderly, our children, and the rest of the planet. This is why we have government. And anyone who wants to shut it down or cut it down because they say we can’t afford it any longer is plain wrong. We are the richest nation in the world, richer than we’ve ever been. We can afford to remain a society whose members are in it together. http://robertreich.org/rss
Is there a worse leader than Obama? The guy is a completely indecisive joke. I've worked with a lot of lawyers and negotiations over my career, and when reaching agreement, what I've found is a bit counterintuitive. You don't worry so much about the other lawyer being very very smart and outfoxing you, it's the really dumb guy you worry about, because he'll drag it out and never reach a decision or consensus. We've got the really dumb guy as our President.
Naturally, this impending deadline has not and will not stop the house from passing more fruitless legislation that benefits various large industries.
I see the "dumb guy" as the GOP, proposing "solutions" that do not solve problems and have no chance of passing. There IS a worse leader than Obama, his name is Boehner.
I agree and share your angst. The House and Senate must quit providing sweetheart legislation and solve the debt crisis.
Mainly the house. Particularly stupid because all this BS legislation is obviously not going anywhere in the Senate or on Obama's desk. Just a waste of time.
I disagree with your stance -- the power of the purse resides with the House. A rational solution must start there, but both sides of the aisle need to practice an arcane art known as compromise.
I thought we were talking about time-wasting nonsensical legislation a la the anti-net-neutrality statement I linked to. In that case, the House is by far more to blame at the moment, and it certainly has nothing to do with purses or compromise. Just grandstanding for the sake of political points with lobbyists I guess.
I thought Obama was supposed to be the great uniter. LMAO he can't even keep the government running. He's a failure.
The "uniter, not a divider" was Bush. Obama doesn't have the ability to pass a budget through the House and Senate. Perhaps you, like many on your side of the aisle, need to go back and look at Schoolhouse Rock again so you can learn how a bill becomes a law.
Ok, now it's getting personal. I need to get passports for a couple of my children to take my summer vacation. If they shut down the government, my passport applications won't get processed and I'll be stuck here. That **** ain't cool!
