Posted on 12/01/2012 9:31:12 AM PST by stop_fascism
Democrats appear to have the upper hand on the politics of the fiscal cliff, which might explain their brash pronouncements and mind-blowing conceptualization of "compromise." ... The GOP's dilemma is a doozy. Their opponents, emboldened by the election, are pushing for counter-productive tax hikes on "the rich" -- a politically popular proposition at the moment -- while offering almost nothing meaningful in return. Meanwhile, Democrats' allies in the media have been crafting a 'Republicans-as-stubborn-obstructionists' narrative for years. To a large extent, they've been successful; Republicans are poised to bear the brunt of an irate public's blame if a fiscal cliff deal doesn't get cut. Voters either don't know or don't care about the details. As the story goes, Obama wants a "balanced" deal, and House Republicans are the only people standing in the way of averting economic disaster. Thus, Obama is holding the public relations high card...
Short on good options, here's one play GOP leaders might be able to make to regain some of the high ground and throw the White House back on its heels: Embrace Simpson/Bowles. President Obama established a bipartisan debt commission with great fanfare in 2010. Its leaders were Alan Simpson, a former Republican Senator, and Erskine Bowles, President Clinton's former Chief of Staff. The panel was tasked with engineering a solution to right America's fiscal ship. In the end, they produced a set of recommendations that received the blessing of a majority of its members. The commission's blueprint drew a fair amount of criticism from conservatives, but was roundly blasted by liberals...
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Read the rest at Townhall.com
The old adage of the frog in the pot of water, with the temperature slowing rising? That's what we've been doing -- slowly, slowly, inch by inch, over a period of decades, drifting toward fascism as the GOP "sort of/kind of" tries to stop the Democrats.
What we need to do is help the Democrats apply a blowtorch to the hindquarters of the frog. Then see if We The People jump at the chance to make a course correction.
This is the best solution, requiring the least amount of courage from Republican “leadership”.
Which is good, because they indeed have “the least amount”.
It put’s Dem’s, Obama, and the media on the defensive.
They can’t criticize it!
The only 'ace in the hole' that conservatives may have lives in Alaska.
I’d certainly consider it. Especially since 0bama completely ignored them the first time around. Just like all of these stupid ‘committees’ and focus groups with executives, etc. He gets them to come up with proposals and solutions...and completely ignores them to push his my way or the highway crap. Sadly, the majority of clueless voters didn’t see it. But many do. And in an arena where we have to seemingly pick our battles, this is one of THE ones to pick.
The House GOP could pro-actively pass a resolution that would ‘lock-box’ all the middle-class monies collected from expiring Bush tax cuts, until a resolution is agreed to. I think the RATs secretly WANT the money, they have just found a clever way to blame the GOP for giving it to them. No thanks to the GOP leadership that went along with this plan in the first place ...
The poisonous atmosphere created by the State Media makes it easy to stand on principle. There is no political gain to be realized from any compromise. So ... do the right thing.
The sad fact is that liberals see reality thru the prism of their delusions. No matter how horrible 0bamageddon becomes, they will always blame the Republicans. Give the dims everything they want and the economy collapses resulting in chaos and widespread violent civil unrest. Urban feral youths and inner city tribal parasites will invade and savage white liberal enclaves. As the white liberal 0bamatron lies in a pool of blood and watches his wife and daughters being raped and sodomized, his last thoughts will be “it’s all Bush’s fault.”
Exactly. They should have never agreed to temporary tax cuts. Huge mistake. Obama doesn't really want to extend any tax cuts. They need too much money. Is Obama's 250K threshold indexed for inflation? I doubt it. So like the AMT the dems will suck in more and more over time. so either way he wins. Either quickly if all cuts expire or more slowly if pubs cave. The pubs will cave because they do not have the votes to fight this. They know Obama is content to let all cuts expire. When pushed they will accept half a loaf.
So I believe it is fairly obvious how the tax side of the equation will end up. The real battle is on spending
That might be his last thought here. But his next thought will be, "What? there is a God - and He's going to judge me? Oh sh**, in college they told me this was all bullsh**!"
In that article is this link from Oct 2008 which contained accurate predictions of dem intentions
That’s another very good idea. And..as Gingrich pointed out again, they are the ones in charge of appropriations. It could be done.
It really makes me wonder what is in the water down there...
Sounds good but I don't think there is any sort of an honest election at the end of that or perhaps not any election at all. The die is cast. Obamacare guarantees that all future elections, assuming honesty and existence of elections, will be "fought" on who can improve the healthcare lot of various groups. It's how it goes in England. Obama has ultimate power now, the power of literal life and death over every single American. He has the Homeland Security law that allows him to disappear or kill anyone he chooses without any pretense of recourse to habeas copus or judicial proceedings and the sayso as to what treatment any patient in may receive or whether the patient may receive treatment at all.
Agreed. I have not had any real faith in elections for a long time. I think we end this nightmare through civil war and through no other means. I think this will all run its course no matter what I want or what I do. My expectation is that it will get worse and worse until the shooting starts. If the Republicans go along and give the Dems what the Dems want, I suspect the nightmare will end sooner rather than later. If you know what I mean.
Nah, it doesn't have to be that drastic. All the GOP has to do in bring back the middle class jobs that they exported. Then a prosperous middle class will vote for the GOP like they did for Reagan and the two Bushs. The GOP has to get successful the old-fashioned way - they got to earn it. Running under the banner 'I know how to create jobs' is woefully inadequate. Just do it.
More a fly in the ointment than an ace in the hole.
Good article, thanks.
I really do want to open a prize fighting operation for Republicans. I wouldn’t even have to train. I’d just step in the ring and look at my Republican opponent and hold up my left hand and say, “Drop your hands and look at my left hand.” He’d do it and I’d hit him with a right. He’d drop and get up and I’d hold up my hand and say, “ Drop your hands and look at my left hand.” He’d drop his hands and look at my left hand again and I’d hit him with my right again. I could do that for the whole fight. He’d never catch on.
Sequestration was more like - I’ll stand over here with my fist raised, now run into it with your head as fast as you can.
The “blowtorch” will be the tens of thousands of layoffs by the military complex as the result of the 1.5 trillion in cuts to the Pentagon...
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