Posted on 12/07/2012 10:25:08 AM PST by Brad from Tennessee
Let’s understand President Obama’s strategy in the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. It has nothing to do with economics or real fiscal reform. This is entirely about politics. It’s Phase 2 of the 2012 campaign. The election returned him to office. The fiscal cliff negotiations are designed to break the Republican opposition and grant him political supremacy, something he thinks he earned with his landslide 2.8-point victory margin on Election Day.
This is why he sent Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to the Republicans to convey not a negotiating offer but a demand for unconditional surrender. House Speaker John Boehner had made a peace offering of $800 billion in new revenue. Geithner pocketed Boehner’s $800 billion, doubled it to $1.6 trillion, offered risible cuts that in 2013 would actually be exceeded by new stimulus spending and then demanded that Congress turn over to the president all power over the debt ceiling. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Sounds like a plan!
Going over the cliff won’t cause a collapse.
Massive government spending cuts would be salutary for the economy.
Massive tax increases would wake up the electorate to the values of conservatism.
I say, let’s do a Thelma and Loise!
I’m liking that.
Right, and since “O” turned Conservative America into people who have NO stake in the future of this country, why are we (fully 50% of voters and more) supposed to comply or cooperate with ANYTHING, EVER?
Whether or not the House does anything, the top rate is going to 39.6% - the only question is who get blamed.
The House should pass a simple bill, that includes two parts:
1) the top rate goes to 39.6% for 2013, but ONLY if government spending is lowered in a steady, rigid fashion until it reaches levels of the last years of the Clinton administration.
2) given current federal spending at 25% of GDP, federal spending for 2013 must be 23.5% of GDP (or lower) for that tax rate to rise; for 2014 it must be 22% of GDP or the top tax rate goes back down to 36%; for 2015 it must be 20.5% of GDP or the tax increase is cancelled; and by 2016 it must be 19% of GDP (I think that’s about 2000 levels) or the tax increase is voided for that year and thereafter.
The House GOP should pass that plan, keeping it as simple as possible - and leave town, so it’s in Obama and Reid’s lap.
That’s a specific plan; it’s balanced; and the beauty is the donkeys will NEVER agree to it - there’s no way Obama and his crew would let federal spending drop even marginally - that’s how they buy their votes.
Whatever the GOP does, it has to expose the fact that the Democrats will not do anything serious to restrain - let alone reverse - profligate spending.
Obama did win the elction so, some tax increase (or revenue increase) is inevitable but, only if a real spending cut is awarded to us in return. The idea of trading tax increases in return for raising the age on Medicare and changing the way inflation effects SS payments is a fait trade in my book....as much as I hate to raise taxes.
With that said, if we get noting in return for raising tax rates I do say we just take it over the cliff. We then immediately pass the Bush Tax cuts (all of them) through the House of Reps and then accude the President of preventing tax cuts on the Middle Class. What else do we have? If Obama pisses us off, then we can refuse to raise the debt ceiling. It would all create a poop storm but, that’s probably what we need anyway....at least we’ll be able to sleep at night for holding to our principles. The bottom line is: Negotiating with a President who doesn’t care about fiscal responsibility is extreme;y difficult. We’re right in the ‘long run’ but, what sells is the ‘short run’ and Obama is seeling the ‘short run’ very well.
At least one person actually sees what’s going on. This is an attempt by Obama to crush the opposition, and pave the way for him to get whatever he wants over the next four years, and target anyone he wants. Boehner is so freakin’ clueless in this whole scenario that it’s hard to even watch.
Obama WANTS both the tax rate increases AND the defense budget cuts. Going over the cliff is no big deal to Obama and Reid. So, that is why they proposed even more insane proposals! What should the House counter with or should they just allow the changes to take effect?
I’m sure Reid would just table it, but how about passing a bill in the House that:
- Kept the existing tax rates for everyone
- Removed the SS cap
Exactly. Though they may not fully realize it yet, Obama has intensified his war on Republicans. He's not a leader—he's a glorified political hack with a corrupt news media cheering him on. But sooner or later the political pendulum always swings back to the right.
I hope so. I fear that the demographics may have once and for all buried the right in this country, especially once Obama legalizes all of the illegal aliens in the country right now.
Because Barky and his dogs look so sharp in their creased brown shirts, that will soon be replaced by even snappier black ones with silver piping.
The Republicans must absolutely NOT listen to the "you have got to give the NALEO bean-stirrers what they want" chorus, and stiffen up and get tough.
This is Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis all rolled into one. Lose, and it's the end of your People.
Unfortunately, I think the time for that was during the Bush Administration. In my opinion, this election was the last chance to stop it; four more years of unfettered illegal immigration and the "transformation" will be complete.
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