Watching the Democrats - it's Fun and Macabre!

[SamIam]

@ BigV

Originally Posted by Adak

During (fill in the blank) 's presidency, the Democrats promised spending cuts, if (blank) would approve some tax hikes - he did. Those promised spending cuts were never passed for him to sign.

You know, Adak, your belief system may work just fine for the Rush Limbaugh born again crowd, but when you trot it out in the real world, it fails you abysmally. What part of bills signed into law don’t you understand? Congress (which just so happens to include the Democrats) has been using cuts in discretionary spending in an attempt to reduce the deficit for quite some time now. I’ll give you just one example – housing assistance:

To address projected budget deficits, the President and Congress in recent years have relied almost entirely on cuts to discretionary programs. First, they enacted funding legislation for fiscal year 2011 that cut discretionary funding below the 2010 level. Soon thereafter, they enacted the BCA that, as noted above, set ten-year binding “caps” on total budget authority for discretionary programs.

Figure 2 shows the impact to date on housing assistance and community development programs. From 2010 to 2012, funding for housing assistance fell by $2.5 billion, or 5.9 percent just in “nominal terms” — i.e., not counting the additional losses due to the effects of inflation — while funds for community development programs fell by $1.5 billion, or 24 percent. Policymakers cut funds for public housing and housing and community development block grant programs most sharply.

This glimpse of reality is provided by the NON PARTISEN Center for Budget and Policy Priorities – not MSNBC, not some populist blog, and not from the communist party. You might try stepping outside your comfort zone some time and try getting your information from a source other than Tea Party propaganda. That noise on the roof is not Santa’s reindeer or Charlie Brown’s football. It’s the sound of a wake-up call for the Republican Party. Is there any intelligent life in there?

*silence*

Originally Posted by Adak

questions I'd love to have a Democrat answer:

1) What part of "The overspending has to stop", do you not understand? We're talking about a TRILLION dollars plus, per year.


2) What part of doing the wrong thing, do you want to compromise with?

What part of the need for a reasonable tax code don’t you understand? Why do you and your Tea Party buddies think it’s perfectly fine to hold the entire country hostage for the sake of a few millionaires? What makes you think that the Republicans can continue to cover up a poor motive with doublespeak such as “entitlements,” “small business,” and “job creators,” to name just a few.

It’s time to leave behind the doctrine of the world according to Fox along with its vocabulary. Let’s get honest for once. How about:

“Big corporations, which continue to outsource American jobs overseas, demand that the middle class relinquish its EARNED BENEFITS and give the taxes from their hard earned pay checks to special interests which couldn’t care less about this country or its people.”

Please respond with something other than dogma. If I want to take everything on faith, I’ll join the Branch Davidians.

[SamIam]

While Adak has escaped off into some delusional fantasy land and is busy scribbling “Who is John Galt” on the wall in the men’s room, the real world marches on, and the Republicans still retain first place honors in the bizarre humor competition.

Yesterday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell actually stood up and filibustered his own bill.

Wait...

What?

Lawrence O'Donnell slammed Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell for filibustering his own bill on Thursday.
McConnell's attempt to embarrass Senate Democrats backfired when he proposed a vote on legislation that would increase the national debt ceiling. Senate majority leader Harry Reid called his bluff and agreed to move forward with the offer. McConnell then objected, arguing that sixty votes — the number required to end a filibuster and go to a vote — were necessary.

Speaking on MSNBC later that day, O'Donnell said that the stunt was "the most idiotic thing any minority leader has ever done on the Senate floor." After recounting how it unfolded, O'Donnell said that the event was remarkable for two reasons.

"One: a minority leader who has introduced a bill and asked for a vote, then opposing proceeding to a vote on his bill saying his bill should be subjected to the filibuster breaking vote threshold of 60 votes," O'Donnell said.

He continued, "And miracle number two was that the presiding officer, played that hour by Sen. Claire McCaskill... she actually comments on what has just happened instead of simply issuing the normal to and three word traffic directions that the presiding officer is limited to." O'Donnell was referring to what he called McCaskill's reaction to the exchange between McConnell and Reid. She snapped to attention and said, "Got whiplash."

- Huffington Post


Jon Stewart should fire his staff and just show clips from C-span.

[Adak]

“Big corporations, which continue to outsource American jobs overseas, demand that the middle class relinquish its EARNED BENEFITS and give the taxes from their hard earned pay checks to special interests which couldn’t care less about this country or its people.”

Please respond with something other than dogma. If I want to take everything on faith, I’ll join the Branch Davidians.

Oh, you should join 'em, Sam! Waco, Texas is looking for a few new head cases, I've heard.

You DO understand that it was OUR DEAR POLITICIANS, who have made outsourcing our jobs overseas, necessary if you want to stay in business, don't you?

Apple is bringing back a few jobs, but by and large, if you wanted to compete, you had no choice but to open a plant overseas.

It wasn't the businessman's choice - it was the dear sweet politicians, who made it a necessity. But who gets blamed for it? Why the dirty evil businessman - why can't he compete with nationalized "slaves" working for $2-$10 per DAY?

The nerve of those businessmen!!

When it comes to Tax code reform, Sam - you are preaching to the choir!

Our tax code is an utter mess, with thousands of loopholes, grants, exclusions, you name it - it's got it.

Any sense of fairness went out the window, long long ago.

Reagan was the last guy who cut our tax code down to size.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by Adak

Oh, you should join 'em, Sam! Waco, Texas is looking for a few new head cases, I've heard.

Interesting idea. However, upon reflection, I think Texas is best left to the Texans. If the weather co-operates, I may just go set up a winter camp for a few days somewhere near Island In the Sky National Park over in Utah.

No CNN, no Internet, no newspapers, no pointless arguments with strangers. Just me and my Corgi and the incredible landscapes along with clear desert nights where the sky is filled with more stars than many people ever get to see. Yeah, I'd like that. Going to go if I can.

You're actually better at arguing science than you are political issues, and that's pretty pathetic. You must think we're so stupid that we don't even know the difference between the national debt and the deficit. Sorry, you tried to sneak that one past the wrong crowd.

Maybe Glatt will explain it to you if you ask him nicely. I'm done wasting my time.