'C’mon, Man!' Exclaims VP in Deficit Meeting. 'Let’s Get Real!'

ABC News ^ | 07/11/11 | Jake Tapper

[Carry_Okie]

And you honestly think that would have a prayer of a chance when this deal is so precarious?

The Democrats know, as we should, that you don't start out by meeting your enemy at the point of reasonableness. By taking an honest position re the deficit, the sheer magnitude of Slave Party profligacy becomes the point of public discussion.

This plan to keep from spending more (as Obama's budget called for) and actually reduce is a start.

A minuscule reduction after 35% growth in two years is no reduction at all.

You won't get much more with a Dem Senate and WH.

We'd get more with this approach than yours.

Then vote a GOP Senate and Pres in. That's when we have more of a chance to do the 2 year thing.

With a $16 billion dollar hole to fill.

[P.O.E.]

high marginal income tax rates are job killers.

I've been trying for some time to revive the discussion of margin.

On the capital side, raising the rate on the high end discourages further growth, (especially on top of other regulations). The best example I can think of is how certain laws apply to companies with 50 or more employees. If you have 49, you sure are going to think long & hard about hiring #50.

Marginal effort applies on the low-end, too. Poor people aren't stupid. Why work at minimum wage when it's not that far from the bennies from not working at all. (and it gets even worse when one considers double-dipping and other fraud).

[Cheetahcat]

“how about 4 trillion next year???

While I appreciate the sentiment, you of course know that the entire budget is only about $3.6 trillion?

It would be nice to be able to get about $1 trillion next year, then another $.5 trillion the year after that, but without the Senate and Presidency I would take the $1.7 trillion. That would then kick the can down the road to about August 2012 and we could have this fight again just before the election (which is what the Demonrats don’t want).

My biggest concern is that in most past “deals” (Reagan in the early 80s, Bush I in the early 90s, Bush II in the 00s), the tax increases went in immediately and the later spending cuts never happened. Maybe the Republicans should agree to immediate spending cuts and a promise to raise taxes sometime after 2014 (extend the Bush tax cuts another two years).

The only time deficit reduction has worked in my lifetime, the Republican Congress (led by Newt) forced President Clinton to accept a cut in capital gains taxes now and a cut in the planned spending - which actually resulted in a balanced budget when the spending was actually restrained by the future Congress. That is the formula that actually works (cut taxes on the investor class and restrain or cut spending). But it will take a Republican Senate and a non-radical President to get that done.”

WHY DO TAX increases always come into the picture??

NO NOTHING, NOT A PENNY, The private sector will raise the country up once ,there is a regime change in Washington and that Idiot is sent back to wherever!

The Government takes in plenty of money even in the crippled state the Kenyan made economy is in.

LISTENING???????? Lower the Damn taxes on our industry and the capitol gains.

[BruceS]

Please re-read what I said. I said the only time a deal has actually balanced the budget was with tax cuts and spending restraint.

[lentulusgracchus]

Having a standard that works across all states allows for cross-shopping by customers. That is increased competition, which leads to reduced costs.

That is also ignoring the States and denying that they have any power to regulate and police an economic activity.

Honest markets need honest cops. Only crooks want unregulated, unpoliced markets where anyone who wants to, can stick a thumb in the scales and get away with it.

Or maybe you haven't had enough of the greed-and-fraud-induced CMO/CDO/CDS scandal/disaster/catastrophe yet.

AIG's broke, doing it their way, and their idea is to pass the hat to the public?

Don't think so.

Also, the larger the market... the more the insurance companies can spread the risk.

They can do that already in the reinsurance market, but then you knew that.

We don't have to let them walk all over the 50 States and just do what they want. We've already had a trainload of the way they like to do it, with several trains still out.

Pass.