The debt ceiling was raised SEVEN TIMES for George W. Bush with nary a peep

by: Zappatero

Sun Jul 10, 2011 at 09:58:49 AM MST

This, from House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson is decent, but rare:

"The American people get it.  They are weary of the theater and the political drama because  they understand that it is their pensions, their savings, their mortgages and their 401Ks that the Republicans are playing with.   This shouldn't be about who's going to be the next President or who's going to control Congress, it should be about who's going to protect their savings, their mortgages and their 401Ks in this crisis.  Republicans continue to hold in disregard Americans true needs: jobs and financial security.  

"For the sake of the nation, it's time to forget the politics and vote a clean debt ceiling increase, as was done seven times for President Bush."

The sheer incompetence of our employees on our side is staggering. It adds insult to injury, and  I hope it leads to a massive refudiation of the Democratic Party Establishment, because they are failing massively before our very eyes.

Will Cantor And Republicans Save The US By Destroying It?

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Wed Apr 13, 2011 at 06:24:16 AM MST

There is an apocryphal quote from the Vietnam War "We had to destroy the village to save it". I call it apocryphal because its attribution is murky and it has been distorted from the original quote over time. However it is still a powerful idea that leaders can get so close to their immediate goals that they lose sight of the bigger picture of what they are trying to achieve.

The quote comes from the story of Ben Tre , a provincial capital in the Mekong Delta. The United States Army made the decision to shell and bomb the town, even though there were large numbers of civilians in it, in order to break the Viet Cong hold on the town. They destroyed the town to deny it to the enemy. Not exactly a productive thing to do when you are fighting a counter insurgency.

It sees that this kind of thinking has infected the Congressional Republicans. Yesterday Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Dr. Evil -VA) said that he and his caucus, who control the House of Representatives, will not take up the issue of raising the debt ceiling until after it actually is hit. Right now the Treasury department estimates this will happen no later than May 15th.

Why is the House Majority Leader going to wait? Because he sees political advantage in playing with the nations credit rating. You see even when we a prevented by law from borrowing any more money there are ways that the Treasury department can shift dollars around for a few weeks to keep paying for things. They think they can get us through June and into July before those emergency measures run out.  

Goverment Shut Down Looms, Time To End The GOP Hostage Habit

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Tue Apr 05, 2011 at 06:08:28 AM MST

There are many ways to fall into bad habits, but the easiest is when one tries a vice and then is rewarded for having done so. This is where the nation is with the Congressional Republicans. Their vice has been economic hostage taking, and like all successful hostage takers, when they want something they look around of the nearest economic crisis to grab a hold of and insist that they get their way.

Which is exactly where we are with the impending, and probably inevitable, government shut down; their least reasonable members, newly elected (thanks midterm voters) have been signaling for months that if they did not get every little mean spirited and economically moronic thing they wanted, they would shutter the Federal Government.

Now with Speaker Boehner (Putz-OH) reneging on his privately agreed to cuts, there is little chance that there will be an agreement and a vote. In fact there would have to be a bill published today in order to be able to follow the new House rule of 72 hours before a vote, for there to be anything to vote on by the deadline on Friday.

It is not like the Republicans think that the public is going to be kind to them on this issue. Their leadership remembers how it played out in 1995 and they don't want to go into another presidential election with weak candidates and a sour taste for their party in the mouths of the electorate.

Which is why they are trying to do everything they can to pin this on the Democrats. Too bad the facts are all against them. Today they are going to introduce another Continuing Resolution that would extend spending for another week. Sounds good until you hear what the price tag is.  

Speaker Boehner Stop Lying, Broke Nations Can't Borrow

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 07:29:03 AM MST

We're flat broke. What do you think of when you read that? Having been busted more than a few times in my life it means no money and no prospect of getting any. Pretty simple and straight forward, unless, of course, you are the Speaker of the House; then "broke" can be parsed and spun and twisted.

We have all seen the great orange Speaker saying "We're broke" over and over again as he tries to sell a justification for what his masters (the Freshmen Republican "Tea Partiers") insist on him doing with the budget. It is really an effective statement, powerful, short and direct. It would be perfect if it were not for the fact that it is flatly a lie.

The United States has a deficit. That is true. The United States also has a lot of debt, but to say that we are "broke" is ridiculous. It is just another half truth scare tactic from the party that has made a performance art-form of the practice.  

Rounds 2 And 3 Of Republicans Screwing The Little Guy - Austerity

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Mon Nov 01, 2010 at 06:42:35 AM MST

The big push from Republicans as the campaign season is ending has been about the need to cut spending. They look at our deficit situation and they say that the reason we have such high unemployment is the massive federal spending. Things like the COBRA subsidy and unemployment benefit extensions. Of course this includes the stimulus bill with its 300 billion (300,000 million) in tax cuts, which all but the ultra wealth have received some share of in terms of payroll tax reductions.  

Fair Is Fair: Markey, Salazar, Debt and Infrastructure

by: WeatherDem

Fri Sep 10, 2010 at 11:08:04 AM MST

Well, fair is fair, and my disappointment in Colorado's politicians grew this morning when I read that Reps. Markey and Salazar are joining the debt mirage crusade.

Bennet, Debt and Infrastructure

by: WeatherDem

Thu Sep 09, 2010 at 07:14:46 AM MST

The worst part is Sen. Bennet rejected the wrong part of the stimulus plan.  And even by supporting the part that I assume his staff is telling him will appeal to Republicans isn't and won't actually make him appealing to those Republicans.

Sen. Michael Bennet rejected the idea Wednesday of a new $50 billion stimulus package focused on U.S. infrastructure projects, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's effort to rally Democrats around a cohesive economic plan.

Minority Leader McConnell, Can We Talk?

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Tue Aug 24, 2010 at 06:26:11 AM MST

I don't know you Senator, but I have to think that you don't really want to face what 3.2 trillion dollars in additional debt will do to our nation. You would have to cut or end social safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. While that might appeal in an ideological sense, the reality of starving elderly baby boomers, indigent children wearing rags in the streets of our nation is one that even you will not want to see on a daily basis.