Posted on 01/07/2013 8:36:44 AM PST by IbJensen
Apparently Republican career politicians inside the Beltway have a collective death wish. Faced with what they believed to be political impasse, they opted to completely abandon their conservative base and give their full support to the abhorrent and fiscally reckless policies of Barack Obama and the Democrats. Of course Republicans would argue that since Obama won reelection in November, they must acquiesce to his uncontested leadership. Sadly, they give no thought to the possibility that perhaps it is their constant inexcusable capitulation to the liberal establishment which has, more than any other factor, empowered the left as the dominant political force in Washington.
The grim reality of the nation’s current financial debacle is that each and every year the government spends in excess of a trillion dollars more than it can afford. And while deficits have been a fact of life since the nation’s founding, the current levels are unsustainable, and portend an eventual economic implosion if the situation is not shortly corrected. But rather than addressing the real needs of the nation, and weighing them against its inability to continue operating on the current basis, liberal politicians see an opportunity to bolster their dominance in Washington by promising even larger handouts to favored constituencies.
Such reprehensible behavior by Democrats reveals a complete abandonment of their constitutional responsibilities, and should result in thorough censure from the right. To the ongoing shock and dismay of the conservative grassroots, nobody in the Republican “leadership” appears willing to carry that torch. Hence, liberals continue their devastation of the nation’s finances with total impunity for their corrupt actions. In fact they publicly laud themselves as the saviors of Middle America while they systematically plunder it.
Such blatant and shameless liberal propagandizing, makes it difficult to comprehend the actuality of the “fiscal cliff” situation. Yet for that very reason, the present degree of distortion and misrepresentation needs to be addressed by recalling the original premise of this whole debate, and holding to account everyone on both sides of the aisle who have allowed it to be so flagrantly distorted.
Throughout 2009 and 2010, as Americans grew increasingly concerned with the profligate squandering of the nation’s resources by the Obama Administration, the people demanded that his reins be tightened before he was able to completely bankrupt the country. In 2011, with the nation approaching its $14.3 trillion debt limit, mechanisms were ostensibly put in place to ensure that the criminally irresponsible spending spree would be brought into line. The imaginary “fix” to which Republicans agreed mandated federal spending cuts in exchange for Republican relaxation of the debt limit. This was the essence of naive GOP expectations for good faith Democrat reciprocation when Republicans caved on that occasion.
Now, with the arrival of that deadline, congressional Republicans are amazed to find themselves once again on the defensive, facing an intransigent Obama White House and blind partisanship in the Democrat controlled Senate. Instead of sincerely addressing the raging excesses of government spending, Obama continually upped the ante, imposing tax hikes that will punish the so-called “rich” (his most disfavored constituency) while bolstering his redistributionist schemes for those who worship at the altar of “the state.”
In his latest exhibition of brazen fraud, Obama advances a statist ploy as his “fix,” while challenging his critics to “do the math.” However, even a cursory examination of the numbers inarguably proves that he and his cabal of political supporters are in no way interested in factual accounting. The advancement of their anti-capitalist agenda is simply too important to be bothered with the inconveniences of reality.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bogusly named “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” contains $600 billion in tax increases, while conceding a mere $15 billion in “cuts.” Even if these figures were genuine, they would represent a fiscal atrocity. Yet even the occasional mention of reducing expenditures is once again only a cruel mirage. Liberals regularly “cut” their financial outlays by initially proposing deliberately inflated numbers, and then claiming to do some token “trimming” of those amounts.
With deficits projected to exceed four trillion dollars in the next ten years (a number that will be vastly exceeded), absolutely no effort to reduce the depredation of America’s pocketbooks will be attempted. In short, from both sides of the aisle, Washington disclosed an intention to continue its rapacious spending, with no end in sight.
Not surprisingly, House and Senate Democrats jubilantly supported Obama’s sinister plan, exhibiting callous indifference to the collateral damage it inflicts on our once-great nation. Just as abhorrently however, the Republican acquiescence and compliance that ultimately made it a reality constitutes a wholesale betrayal of the American people. The seditious strategy of the Obama Administration and its leftist collaborators is based on the perpetual expansion of the government and a relentless encroachment on the private citizenry. Yet Republicans abetted this effort. No longer is either side of the political aisle concerned with steering the nation away from the true fiscal pitfall that it faces on account of its inexorable lurch into socialism.
Many among the conservative punditry claim that Obama will enjoy a significant political windfall from this debacle since the Republicans, by abandoning their core principle of opposing tax increases, are once again alienating their conservative base. However, to any who have observed flailing attempts by the philosophically bankrupt GOP Establishment to posture and pander its way into a position of leadership, this latest treachery comes as no surprise. With the exception of a few conservative stalwarts in its midst (many of whom Speaker Boehner vindictively purged from leading positions) the core of the Republican Party inside Washington is made up of morally and ethically rudderless political players.
Real conservatism has too often been squandered, even after such significant grassroots victories as the 2010 mid-term elections, because its key players were persuaded to align themselves with those they believed kindred in the GOP. In the wake of the “fiscal cliff” fiasco, and the needless and cowardly Republican acquiescence to Barack Obama, it has become painfully clear that conservatism must be unabashedly established and advanced as its own force for societal change if it is ever again to be taken seriously in the political world.
The primary stronghold of liberalism lies within the modern Republican Party. Until it is dismantled, attempting to turn the tide on the leftist onslaught will prove an exercise in futility.
Stop it. Taxes did not go down and posting whatever you want about Rush will not change that fact.
Spending went up and so did taxes. Just because they would have went up more if they had not acted, does not equal a Tax Cut. Propaganda works better over at DU, not so well here.
Your specious argument that taxes actually went up on Jan 1, therefore the bill to keep rates in place was actually a cut. 
The two year extension paased by the 2010 lame duck raised the taxes to Clinton rates Jan 1 2013, as did FICA from a different bill in 2011.
The Senate Bill the House passed lowered them on Jan 2 for 99% of Americans except the 1% so if Bohner listened to you we would be paying more in taxes now than we are,.
Then Republicans would be truly hated for raising everyones taxes, it would have been a lose-lose.
$39.5 Billion in Income-Tax Rate Hikes. President Obama and the Democratic Senate insisted on letting the Bush tax cuts lapse on high-income earners. Such earners making more than $400,000 ($450,000 for married couples) will see their marginal income-tax rates rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. That shift is projected to garner $395 billion in taxes over the next 10 years. The tax affects less than 1 percent of American households — but also impacts many high-spending professionals and successful small business owners who pay taxes on the personal returns.
$15 Billion from Limiting Deductions. The new law calls for a “personal exemption phase out,” or PEP, affecting the exemptions and deductions that wealthier families can claim. It affects individual filers at $250,000, and $300,000 for joint filers. The tax bill for a couple earning $400,000 averaging about $50,000 in deductions each year will rise by about $1,000 according to a Wall Street Journal calculation.
The cost of the new Obamacare tax hikes coming in 2013:
$21 Billion in Medicare Taxes. The healthcare law calls for a nine-tenths of 1 percent increase in the hospital-insurance (Medicare) payroll tax paid by couples earning more than $250,000 a year, or $200,000 per year for single filers.
$11 Billion from Surcharge on Capital Gains and Dividends. Married couples earning more than $250,000 per year, or single filers earning $200,000 will be slapped with a 3.8 percent surcharge in the tax rate for capital gains and dividends — in addition to the “fiscal cliff” compromise that hiked taxes on capital gains and dividends from 15 to 20 percent.
$4.5 Billion in Limiting Deductions. Obamacare eliminates corporate deductions for retirees’ prescriptions, raising tax costs to employers.
$2 Billion in Excise Fees. A 2.3 percent excise tax on manufacturers and importers of medical devices, which is expected to be passed along in higher costs to consumers.
$2 Billion in Limiting Healthcare Itemized Deductions. This reflects a reduction in the amount that middle-class families facing high medical expenses can deduct from their income taxes if they incur high medical expenses.
$1.3 Billion from Limiting Flexible Savings Accounts. A $2,500 limit will go into effect on tax-free flexible spending accounts, which employees use to help defray medical expenses.
For the past two years of this tax cut much of this was the SS admin was redeeming the ‘trust fund’ IOUs to the treasury at a much faster rate than before/without it. Of course the Treasury buys back the IOUs by borrowing money from the Fedearl Reserve.(Medicare does the same thing)
So the path was Federal Reserve(loans) to US Treasury to SS Admin to retired voter so Grandpa doesnt figure out his $$ is long gone.
All the while both parties been saying SS adds nothing to the national debt even though it $$$ has to be borrowed to get to pay the seniors , they do this by calling the SS IOUs it holds (it got from itself) both part of the national debt and an gov asset at the same time.
Loan yourself some money that you borrowed from elsewhere (depending how you see the Federal Reserve) and call it an asset. Cool huh??
If it doesnt Republicans will never be believed again.
If it does they will have an argument against Dems for a change.
2009 to 2012 the Rs trapped themselves with help from Obama who knew what he was doing, unlike them
“This economy is doing terrible because of the crushing Bush era taxes” was not working, as we saw in November (2012).
No, that is not the way things work. SS is a pay as you go program, i.e., today's workers pay for today's retirees. SS has been running in the red, i.e., benefits paid out exceed revenue, since 2010. In order to make up the shortfall, non-market, interest bearing T-bills are redeemed by the General Fund so benefits can be paid.
The SSTF will continue to run in the red until all of the T-bills in the SSTF are exhausted. After that, SS, by law, can only pay benefits equal to the revenue taken in. 2033 is the date that starts happening. It is estimated that SS will only be able to 80% of the benefits at that point.
The SSTF is included in the $16.4 trillion national debt under "Intragovernmental Holdings" as distinct from the publicly held debt.
Source: CBO “Combined OASDI Trust Funds; January 2011 Baseline” 26 Jan 2011. Note: See “Primary Surplus” line (which is negative, indicating a deficit)
Matters are even worse than this chart shows. In December, Congress passed a Social Security tax reduction. Workers are temporarily paying 2 percentage points less, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, in Social Security payroll taxes this calendar year. Since the government is making up the shortfall out of general revenues, CBO’s deficit projections for the trust funds do not include that. But CBO’s figures predict that the “payroll tax holiday” will cost the government’s general fund $85 billion in this fiscal year and $29 billion in fiscal year 2012 (which starts Oct.1, 2011.) Since every dollar of that will have to be borrowed, the combined effect of the ” tax holiday” and the annual deficits will amount to a $130 billion addition to the federal deficit in the current fiscal year, and $59 billion in fiscal 2012.
Social Security has passed a tipping point. For years it generated more revenue than it consumed, holding down the overall federal deficit and allowing Congress to spend more freely for other things. But those days are gone. Rather than lessening the federal deficit, Social Security has at last — as long predicted — become a drag on the government’s overall finances.
As recently as October, CBO was projecting that it would be 2016 before outlays regularly exceed revenues. But Social Security’s fiscal troubles are more severe than was thought, and the latest projections show the permanent deficits started several years ahead of earlier predictions.
Don’t be confused by the fact that the trust funds are projected to continue growing for several more years. That’s because Treasury must still credit interest payments to the funds on the borrowings from earlier years. But unless taxes are increased or other spending is cut severely, the government will have to borrow from the public to pay the interest that it owes to the trust funds.
And don’t be misled by those who say the system can pay full benefits until about 2033 without making any changes to the law. That’s true, but does not change the fact that Social Security taxes no longer cover those benefits. The government is now borrowing money to pay them, and will do so every year for the foreseeable future. And keep in mind, if nothing is done, when those trust funds are exhausted, benefits would have to be cut by 22 percent in 2033, and more each year after that, according to the most recent report of the system’s trustees. By 2084, the system will generate only enough revenue to pay for 75 percent of promised benefit levels.
Of course the Treasury buys back the IOUs by borrowing money from the Federal Reserve.(Medicare does the same thing)
Nonsense. Our publicly held debt, about $11.4 trillion, has many holders. They include foreign and domestic investors and the Federal Reserve, which buys up treasuries in order to drag down interest rates through quantitative easing. Fully two-thirds of the national debt is owed to the U.S. government, American investors and future retirees, through the Social Security Trust Fund and pension plans for civil service workers and military personnel. $5.4 trillion of the $11.4 trillion is foreign owned with China and Japan holding about a trillion each. The Feds hold about $2 trillion of the national debt.
The idea that we can continue to pay out money we don't have because the Fed can print money is insane. FYI: Medicare is far worse than SS. Medicare Part A has been running in the red since 2008. And by law, the premiums for Medicare Parts B and D pay for only 25% of the costs of the programs. The other 75% comes from the General Fund. In FY 2011, the cost was $222 billion from the General Fund and those costs will continue to skyrocket as the baby boomer generation retires at 10,000 a day for the next 20 years. If Medicare is not reformed, it will consume the entire federal budget.
Loan yourself some money that you borrowed from elsewhere (depending how you see the Federal Reserve) and call it an asset. Cool huh??
How can it be called an asset when it is included in the national debt? The T-bills held by the SSTF, the HI trust fund, the federal pension fund, etc. are just as valid as those held by the Chinese. They are debts, not assets.
What are you talking about? The economy will never "shut down." It will either get better or worse, but as long as man engages in the trade of goods and services, there will be an economy.
Except the SS trust fund T-bills are not really T-bills, they are just IOUs the SS dept got from the treasury dept when they transferred FICA taxes to general revenue to spend back when FICA collected more than benefits.
In contrast T-bills are those bills that the Treasury sells to get the money, they can be bought and sold.
Actually one congressman on Cavuto today played up the joke like he was serious. He said that SS and medicare benefits can be paid without increasing the debt limit. They can be paid out of the ‘trust fund’. I loved it, I suggested that line in 2011.
let Dems argue against that one.
you and I are on different frequencies as you always see past my points.
When does the economy appear (to voters) that it got substantially worse than it was last year 2012 to we can convince them it was caused by the taxes on income over $400K?
It really doesnt matter what really causes it, but it has to happen or all those warnings that it will from Rs the past ~ 4 years will appear to be just another WMD argument to general voters dooming Rs again.
Correction :To hurt Ds it doesn’t matter why the economy looks to get much worse as long as Rs dont make it look like they tanked it on purpose, . That would ruin it.
They are real T-bills that earn interest and are backed by the good faith and credit of the USG, the same way that the T-bills are backed that are held by the Chinese. All T-bills are really IOUs.
In contrast T-bills are those bills that the Treasury sells to get the money, they can be bought and sold.
The non-market, interest bearing T-bills held by the SSTF must be redeemed by the USG, which is the only difference. The USG is obligated to redeem them in much the same way as any other T-bill or savings bond.
Actually one congressman on Cavuto today played up the joke like he was serious. He said that SS and medicare benefits can be paid without increasing the debt limit. They can be paid out of the ‘trust fund’. I loved it, I suggested that line in 2011.
They can be paid out of the trust fund, but the GF must come up with the money to redeem them. Since we borrow 42 cents of every federal dollar spent, we will have to borrow the money to pay the benefits. And we can't exceed the debt limit to do that.
It would be foolish for the Reps to make that argument since the bill would never have passed without GOP support. We are part owners now of the problem.
It really doesnt matter what really causes it, but it has to happen or all those warnings that it will from Rs the past ~ 4 years will appear to be just another WMD argument to general voters dooming Rs again.
If you stick to your principles and be consistent, then you can make such arguments. Once you compromise your principles by helping to pass a 156 page pork-laden monstrosity, you lose all credibility not only with independents and the Dems, but also with your base. That was always Obama's objective, divide and destroy the GOP. I am more convinced than ever that we will see the rise of a third party populated by conservatives and some libertarians. It will probably happen after the Hillary is elected in 2016.
That is silly, they may say T-bills but they are just IOUs from the government to themselves. They are not to those who pay FICA or even those who get benefits.
‘credit of the USG’ ???
If you buy a T-bill the government owes that money to the bondholder, if you pay FICA the government gives an IOU to itself(when there was a surplus), spends your money and calls it a trust fund. Its a complete scam.
No they didnt, they stopped a massive $4T tax increase that would have plunged us into a recession and avoided getting the blame for it, they just didn't stop the 1% from getting that automatic tax increase(by law Dec 2010) because they only had one House.
But that is the 1% they claimed thousands of timers were the job creators so the economy must slow down for them ever to be believed again.
There is no principle in calling extension of tax cuts(avoidance of $4T of tax increases) a tax increase .
That is pointless suicide.
I can only give you the facts. Whether you choose to accept them or not is another matter. They are real interest bearing T-bills. They represent an obligation for the USG to honor them. They are included in our $16.4 trillion national debt and they are included in the calculation of our debt ceiling.
Anyone who knows anything about SS understands that the contributions you make to SS do not belong to you. SCOTUS has already ruled on that in Flemming vs Nestor. Congress can change the benefits anytime they want. They did in 1983 when they raised the age for full benefits from 65 to 67. You can pay into SS for 50 years and not collect a red cent except for a small burial allowance should you die before being eligible for benefits. There is no individual SS account with your name on it.
If you buy a T-bill the government owes that money to the bondholder, if you pay FICA the government gives an IOU to itself(when there was a surplus), spends your money and calls it a trust fund. Its a complete scam.
SS is a Ponzi scheme, but once you make your contributions, the money no longer belongs to you. You have no claim on it.
So the government pays itself interest on money it loaned itself that it got from some people and gave to others.
That is like the government paying itself interest on the money it taxed the top 1% to give to the bottom 40% and claiming its a trust fund.
That means nothing, The same gubment would put a private corp in jail for such a scam.
There is an aspect which we simply do not discuss:
We are sending American jobs elsewhere. Millions of jobs so far, over several decades.
Go in any store these days, look at where anything was made.
CHINA.
Where does all the money go for those?
CHINA.
We need to reverse our trade balance, and return American jobs.
Now.
They agreed to a very bad bill that will increase the debt and deficit and may still plunge us into a recession.
Many news outlets are reporting the tax impact of the fiscal cliff deal to be in the neighborhood of $620 billion over 10 years. This overlooks the larger impact, however, of the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, which will rise from 4.2 to 6.2 percent – a one-year increase in that tax of 48 percent.
The payroll tax reduction was originally expected to last for one year, but it was extended for a second year. Some economists have questioned the wisdom of allowing the payroll tax to increase in the middle of a sluggish economy.
Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi issued a projection that the tax burden will cut GDP growth by three-quarters of 1 percent, causing the creation of 600,000 fewer jobs in 2013. But the general consensus among economists is that the impact will be much worse — about a 1.5 percent loss of GDP growth. Such a serious dip could push an already lackluster economy close to the brink of actual contraction.
But the impact of the fiscal-cliff taxes are only part of the story. That’s because several of the taxes that Congress approved as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, are also kicking in this year.
Based on the average per-year cost of those taxes, they will net the federal government an additional $41.8 billion in new tax revenue in 2013.
There is no principle in calling extension of tax cuts(avoidance of $4T of tax increases) a tax increase . That is pointless suicide.
The Orwellian use of language is so typical of politicians to disguise what is really happening. And remember that for every Rep who voted for the bill in the House, there were two Reps who voted against it. Just 15 Derms voted against the bill in the House. So are the 151 Reps who voted against the bill fools for sticking to principles?
As far as who gets the blame, no matter what happens the Reps will get the blame by the MSM and Dems. Have you been living in a cave this past four years? How could a failed President like Obama defy political gravity and ever get reelected. No President with such unemployment numbers, slow economic growth, huge deficits, higher poverty levels, household incomes declining by $4,500, etc has ever been reelected before.
Technically on Jan 1 taxes went back up to the higher Clinton rates.
So on Jan 2 Rs in the House helped pass a $1T tax cut that lowered them back down to the Bush rates.
Now the R house dissenters knew they could not make the argument that you are, that if the price for stopping that pork is that 99%(you and me) must pay a 1T$ tax increase then its worth it.
They knew that argument would kill them.
So they simply lied and said the tax cut was a tax increase.
No principle in that.
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