Super-Committee Republicans Want Sacrifice From Everyone -- Except The Rich
Super Committee Back Fire GOP!
Suoer Committee Back Fire GOP!
Turning Budget 'Failure' Into Success 69Thu, 11/17/2011 - 11:09am — E.J. Dionne WASHINGTON -- Here is a surefire way to cut $7.1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. Do nothing.
That's right. If Congress simply fails to act between now and Jan. 1, 2013, the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush expire, $1.2 trillion in additional budget cuts go through under the terms of last summer's debt ceiling deal, and a variety of other tax cuts also go away.
Knowing this, are you still sure that a "failure" by the congressional supercommittee to reach a deal would be such a disaster?
In an ideal world, of course, reasonable members of Congress could agree to a balanced package of long-term spending cuts and tax increases to begin bringing the deficit down, coupled with short-term measures to boost the economy.
But genuine compromise can't happen because Republicans refuse to accept any significant tax increases. This is not a partisan statement. It is just a description of the facts. It is maddening that the media are so desperate to avoid being attacked as "liberal" that they cannot describe the situation as it is.
Democrats have put huge spending cuts on the table -- and keep offering more and more and more. All the Democrats ask in return is that the cuts be balanced by some revenue.
By rejecting their offers, Republicans induce Democrats who are anxious for some deal -- any deal -- to keep coming their way. The Republican approach is wrong and irresponsible but brilliant as a negotiating strategy. As my Washington Post colleague Ezra Klein wrote this week: "Over the past year, Republicans have learned something important about negotiating budget deals with Democrats: If you don't like their offer, just wait a couple of months."
Finally, the Republicans decided they needed to look slightly flexible. So they came up with $300 billion in supposed revenue from a promised tax reform in a plan that also included a proposal to slash tax rates for the rich. There is a lot more tax cutting here than revenue. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, the co-chairman of the supercommittee, who said on Tuesday that this was GOP's final offer, reversed field Wednesday afternoon declaring himself open to other ideas.
Even Democrats inclined to capitulate know how shameful agreeing to such a deal would be. And mainstream, centrist deficit hawks should be grateful if a deal on such terms is killed. What Republicans want to do in effect is to make at least 90 percent of the Bush tax cuts permanent. This would only make deficit reduction even harder in the future.
That's where the do-nothing strategy comes in. Championed early this year in The New Republic by New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait, it looks even better now because of the spending cuts scheduled to go through if the supercommittee doesn't act.
Already, Hensarling is suggesting undoing the promised defense reductions. Here is an opportunity to challenge the fake deficit hawks among conservatives: If that military spending is so important, why are they not willing to ask wealthy Americans to finance it with slightly higher taxes?
The prospect of $7.1 trillion in tax increases and some cuts that would begin taking effect in January 2013 (thanks to Jim Horney of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for walking me through the math) should hearten every deficit foe now prepared to mourn a failure by the supercommittee.
Because the bulk of the $7.1 trillion comes from automatic revenue increases, the power in future negotiations would shift toward those seeking a balance between cuts and taxes. Doing nothing is not an option when it comes to job creation. Congress still needs to act. But on the deficit, inaction now could lead to wiser action later.
Yes, this strategy works better if President Obama is re-elected. Yet if Republicans take over the whole federal government in 2012, it should fall to them to enact the draconian cuts required to protect the wealthiest Americans from tax increases. No moderate or progressive should want to be complicit in this.
A balanced deal would be nice but it's now impossible -- and not because of some vague congressional "dysfunction" the media like to talk about. Sane fiscal policies are blocked because one party refuses to accept the need to roll back the excesses of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. If Congress does nothing, those tax cuts go away. That's why a "failure" by the supercommittee to endorse a deeply flawed deal is actually a victory for sensible deficit reduction.
E.J. Dionne's email address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com. (c) 2011, Washington Post Writers Group
Comments Sheer Brilliance!!! Permalink Submitted by rustacus21 on Thu, 11/17/2011 - 6:14pm This is why I revere the opinion of this expertly MINDED commentator!!! For years, I've listened intently to Mr. Dionne & could always depend on his sharp,piercing intellect to set straight the facts, either on air (Diane Rehm) or in print (here or the Washington Post) & as usual, he gives us reason to hope that thru it all, somehow, things can get better, whether by accident, intent or fate. But there's s lessons to be learned here: 1st of all, the facility of intellect in this society, is so unappreciated. W/the pursuit thereof by more Americans, the last administration would not have succeeded in promoting the banality our politics suffers from at current. 2nd, we shouldn't wait for luck or chance. All the above were avoidable by virtue of roughly 580 voters who failed to show up in Florida on election nite, 2000. I know, I know- people will scoff at this assertion, but in spite of the nearly 80,000 "eligible" voters who were "evicted" from the voting rosters by Kathleen Harris, on orders from her boss, the election winners brother & Florida governor, that number represented the insurmountable winning total & bingo! We have another 8 years of prosperity & peace, as experienced the previous 8. Then, "compromise" could have meant genuine agreement, on the basis of a prosperous economic, social & political environment, managed by representatives content in obeying the will of the people, thru adherence to the Constitution. That's called "expanding" even greater success!
Tea Party Tennessee, conservative and veterans fighting to keep America free! Our constitution and freedom are in danger not just from one party but both,the Democrats are trying to put America under the control of the UN and the UN gun ban, on the other hand the Republicans are pushing for a one world order and attacking the senior citizens of America!
Herman Cain, GOP Hero! Lies to get media coverage and secret service protecting about lying about his life being in danger.
Herman Cain in reality is an extension of Boehner,Cantor and McConnell, They keep a poker face when lying, Herman Cain is so corrupt he does not know when he is telling a lie.
The so called Super Committee is a joke and a good example of why this nation is in decay. 54 millionaires in congress, the three from Tennessee are, Senator Corker over 23 million, Senator Alexander over 22 million, Rep. Black over 20 million. Now you know why they don't want to raise tax to pay for the wars they started based on lies and deception!
They would rather Rob the elderly, The senior citizens, the poor and disabled and turn this nation into a third world country then to raise tax to pay for their wars!, Senator song bird McCain wants to the DOD funded because he is on the committee and makes millions on contracts and out sourcing military equipment to foreign countries, He tried to get the KGB to give money for his presidential run, they refused.( McCain would be owned by Russia if he had been elected).
So-Called "Homosexual Marriage" May Now Become The Law Of The Land Because Republican Senators Voted For It BEFORE They Voted Against It.
You read that right. They voted FOR "homosexual marriage," BEFORE they voted against it. Of course, if you read the media reports, you probably heard that the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8, strictly along party lines, for S. 598, a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and sent it on to the full Senate so Harry Reid can schedule a quickie-vote and make "homosexual marriage" the law of the land.
Tea Party and Americans, this cesspool of corruption has got to stop and it starts with you! The politicians we elected are so corrupt that is is destroying family and promoting every foul thing that is an abomination.
People that attend big churches where the pastor is part of the far right in the republican party has better wake up and get out of that church. You are being led like sheep to a slaughter.
If you are a member of the Tea arty and you believe everything the republicans say, you are a sheep! God gave you the ability to think and to know right from wrong!
FDR WARNS REPUBLICAN, HE FORSEEN THE CESSPOOL OF CORRUPTION IN THE GOP TODAY, THE END OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!
The scriptures tell about the great white Throne Judgment when God will separate true Christians from the false. He said you fed me when I was hungry,you gave me cloths when I was naked, you came to see me when I was sick, the false Christians asked when did we do this, God cast them in to the burning fires of hell! Judgement is coming to the national of the world and the ( Republican Party that is attacking the elderly of America, Speaker Boehner is is so corrupt, he robs from the poor to give to the rich!),!
SOCIAL SECURITY MEDICARE
VETERANS fighting to keep America free.
OBAMA can not be trusted to protect Social Security and Medicare.
AARP betrays the senior citizens of America.
AARP Exposed Video!
Speaker BOEHENER and Republicans attack senior citizens and try to destroy Social Security and medicare paid for by big business.
America Gives Foreign Aid To Countries That Hate Us.WHY? The GOP attack senior citizens to pay for it!
How our so called allies voted in the United Nations:
Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States.
Their voting record is recorded by the US State Dept. and United Nations records:
Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time
Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time
Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time
United Arab Emirates votes against the U.S. 70% of the time.
Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time.
Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time.
Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time.
Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time.
Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time.
Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time.
Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time.
Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.
Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time.
Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time.
Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time.
India votes against the United States 81% of the time.
Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time.
Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time.
U S Foreign Aid to those that hate us:
Egypt for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid.
Jordan votes 71% against the United States and receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.
Pakistan votes 75% against the United States and receives $6,721,000,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.
India votes 81% against the United States and receives $143,699,000 annually.
OUR GOVERNMENT IS WILLING TO SEND MONEY TO THESE COUNTRIES EVEN THOUGH THEY DO NOT VOTE WITH US.
THEY’LL CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE FOR OUR OWN SENIORS AND GIVE THE MONEY TO THOSE WHO DO NOTHING FOR IT!!!
Perhaps it is time to get out of the UN and give the tax savings back to the American workers who skimp and sacrifice to pay their taxes.
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Fri, 11/11/2011 - 12:00am — Joe Conason
With a Thanksgiving deadline only two weeks away, the Capitol Hill "super-committee" responsible for reducing deficits in a fair-minded, bipartisan and honest manner is on the verge of collapse. Fearful of being blamed for failure -- and the enormous reductions that will follow in defense spending, their party's sacred cash cow -- the Republican members suddenly acknowledged that revenue must be raised. They proposed $300 billion in tax reform measures. Compromise seemed possible, if not palatable. With this proposal, Senator Patrick Toomey (R-PA) and his super-committee colleagues proved that they were willing to compromise their original vow to cut the deficit solely by reducing spending.
Upon inspection, however, the Republican plan is nothing more than an audacious attempt to do what they always want to do: It would provide still more favors to their wealthy patrons, a class that includes their own millionaire colleagues, while inflicting pain on everyone else. And it would fall far short of the deficit reductions demanded in Republican rhetoric.
Annoyed Democrats -- who have seemed all too eager in recent weeks to offer concessions toward a "grand bargain" cutting Medicare and Social Security in exchange for tax increases -- rejected the Republican deal outright.
Why? Because even though the Republicans agreed to raise revenues by closing loopholes, nearly all of that revenue would be used in their plan to pay for extending the Bush tax cuts. This would not only do nothing to close future deficits, but would ultimately make them bigger.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities laid out many of the problems with the Toomey plan in a pithy analysis released on Thursday, which showed that it would cut the top-tier tax rate enormously and preserve preferences for capital gains and dividend income, while penalizing lower- and moderate-income taxpayers by eliminating their preferences. Quoting a preliminary estimate by the Joint Committee on Taxation, the CBPP analysis indicates that taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year would receive tax cuts under the Toomey plan far more generous than they would get if Congress merely renewed the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire this year. At the very top, taxpayers earning more than a million dollars a year would get the biggest cuts from the Toomey plan -- which would reward them still further by permanently reducing the estate tax for the top one-quarter of one percent with an extra gift of more than a million dollars.
As usual, Republican affectations of grave concern over the deficit were actually a scrim behind which they hoped to provide still more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and slash Social Security, Medicare, and other programs that serve the rest of the nation. That was the true nature of Rep. Paul Ryan's "path to prosperity," a plan laid out by the Wisconsin Republican for ending Medicare altogether and replacing it with a cheap voucher plan, while cutting taxes for the top bracket -- without significantly reducing the deficit over the next 10 years.
The most mysterious aspect of the deficit debate is why anyone still believes that Republicans believe in balanced budgets.
Republican does not want to balance the Budget, they want to destroy Social security and protect the wealthy. They started wars and do not want to pay for them, they use that as an excuse to destroy Social security and Medicare.
