Boehner and McConnell saw two different elections.

[techs]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/u...house-gop-to-fall-in-line.html?pagewanted=all

Boehner Tells House G.O.P. To Fall in Line

Their party lost, badly, Mr. Boehner said, and while Republicans would still control the House and would continue to staunchly oppose tax rate increases as Congress grapples with the impending fiscal battle, they had to avoid the nasty showdowns that marked so much of the last two years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324894104578109000926531558.html

Mitch McConnell: 'We Have a Voter Mandate Not to Raise Taxes'

"Let me put it very clearly," says the five-term Republican senator from Kentucky. "I am not willing to raise taxes to turn off the sequester. Period." On Jan. 1, Washington faces both a huge tax increase and an automatic spending cut known as the "sequester," which could tip the economy back into recession.

 

[RabidMongoose]

McConnell is worried about getting primary'd out. It's a perfect time for the Dems to get rid of him in 2014. Fund his Tea People challenger. Get that turtle out of office.

 

[Matt1970]

And we have yet another thread started by techs saying the same thing.

 

[trenchfoot]

I really really REALLY hope the Repubs continue alienating themselves the way they have over the last four years. I guess they've not learned a single lesson from the four years they've been obstructing, filibustering, minority ruling, hostage taking, theocratic legislating, suppressing, disenfranchising and pandering to a core group of extremists that was in large part responsible for the humiliating losses the Repubs suffered this past election cycle.

It didn't work. IT DIDN"T WORK. It had an embarassing opposite effect. And if the Repubs continue on as if it did work they're going to lose control of the House come 2014 and possibly suffer from a supermajority by the Dems in the Senate.

Go go Tea Party! FTL

Boehner and McConnell had better wake up and smell the putrid trail of slaughtered moderate Repubs they left strewn behind them. It's what got them into the mess they're in right now.

 

[RabidMongoose]

I really really REALLY hope the Repubs continue alienating themselves the way they have over the last four years. I guess they've not learned a single lesson from the four years they've been obstructing, filibustering, minority ruling, hostage taking, theocratic legislating, suppressing, disenfranchising and pandering to a core group of extremists that was in large part responsible for the humiliating losses the Repubs suffered this past election cycle.

It didn't work. IT DIDN"T WORK. It had an embarassing opposite effect. And if the Repubs continue on as if it did work they're going to lose control of the House come 2014 and possibly suffer from a supermajority by the Dems in the Senate.

Go go Tea Party! FTL

Boehner and McConnell had better wake up and smell the putrid trail of slaughtered moderate Repubs they left strewn behind them. It's what got them into the mess they're in right now.

Doubt it. They're going to align themselves with the Tea People. Remember that Tea People are far more involved with the GOP than the average Republican voter. The Tea People will vote in the GOP primaries. The average Republican isn't that involved. Basically, if you want to survive a primary battle in the GOP, you need to be a Tea Person.

This is the end of the GOP. It will probably disband within 10 years or become a regional power in the south, sort of like the KKK.

 

[Lemon law]

And we have yet another thread started by techs saying the same thing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I ask Matt1970, why any number of techs posts should matter in any way. Just because Boehner may be more afraid of of the fiscal cliff than McConnell, the GOP very rich will never forgive McConnell if he allows the full fiscal effects of cliff to take effect if Mitch plays my way or the highway. Something Mitch McConnell has no answer for. Mitch McConnel is likely to learn he will not be able to claim to be a leader when he has no GOP Senate followers.

 

[Ausm]

McConnell is worried about getting primary'd out. It's a perfect time for the Dems to get rid of him in 2014. Fund his Tea People challenger. Get that turtle out of office.

He damn near lost his last election and I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to getting rid of that chinless turtle fuck in 2014.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Kentucky,_2008

 

[Doppel]

Mark my words: there is zero % chance of a tax raise come January 1st for virtually all Americans (maybe the dems will get one through on the rich). The only caveat I add to this is there MIGHT be one temporarily, but it will be retroactively deactivated. End result being 90+% of people need not shed one tear, worry one iota about it. It's politics as usual. Neither party will actually allow all of us to get a big tax raise. Forget it.

 

[Thump553]

Mark my words: there is zero % chance of a tax raise come January 1st for virtually all Americans (maybe the dems will get one through on the rich). The only caveat I add to this is there MIGHT be one temporarily, but it will be retroactively deactivated. End result being 90+% of people need not shed one tear, worry one iota about it. It's politics as usual. Neither party will actually allow all of us to get a big tax raise. Forget it.

I agree with the prediction in your first sentence, but the balance is dead wrong. Businesses HAVE to plan based on expected demand and the current situation. I expect nearly all businesses will put hiring on hold at least until this situation gets sorted out. In addition, the USA is almost sure to get its credit rating downgraded again if this happens. These two reactions alone will substantially drive our recovery down and unemployment up.

So the GOP gamesmanship is not without costs by any means and the public should not be so willing to let them off the hook for the consequences their obstructionism causes. Especially because these are both crisises 100% created by intentional Congressional action in the first place.

 

[michal1980]

I hope taxes do go up.

Just to prove to the dumb ass liberals that the problem with deficts wont be fixed.

 

[her209]

And we have yet another thread started by techs saying the same thing.

You know you could just not click on them.

 

[Phokus]

70% of Americans want to raise taxes on those making 250k or more. McConnel is on crack.

 

[techs]

McConnell is worried about getting primary'd out. It's a perfect time for the Dems to get rid of him in 2014. Fund his Tea People challenger. Get that turtle out of office.

It's sad that after 35 years McConnell just can't bring himself to do the right thing because he doesn't know what to do with himself if he got voted out of office.

 

[Engineer]

Ashley Judd is thinking about running against McConjob in the next election. She has my vote whether she runs or not! :biggrin:

 

[techs]

And we have yet another thread started by techs saying the same thing.

The fiscal cliff is most important short term issue facing the US and the two leaders of the Republican party stating their views for the first time after the election is maybe the biggest news of all.

 

[techs]

Ashley Judd is thinking about running against McConjob in the next election. She has my vote whether she runs or not! :biggrin:

Anyone remember Leflers Laws:

Lt. Cmdr. Robin Lefler was posted, fresh out of the Academy, aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, under the tutelage of Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge. She is extremely smart and witty. She collects sayings and rules to live by which she calls Lefler's Laws. Now numbering more than 200, she calls upon them as needed in life.

As of stardate 54529 (mid-2377), she had committed to memory a total of 260 such Laws. ("Perihelion")

1. You can only count on yourself. (TNG "The Game")
7. Never reveal more than you have to. (HF "Voyage of the Defiant")
12. Give credit where credit is due. (HF103, "Enemy Unknown, Part 3")
17. When all else fails, do it youself. (TNG "The Game")
22. Never date a co-worker. (HF102, "Enemy Unknown, Part 2")
23. Never look back. The obstacles are all ahead. (HF "Enemy Unknown, Part 3")
29. Always make time for friends. (HF103, "Enemy Unknown, Part 3")
36. You gotta go with what works. (TNG "The Game")
43. Never underestimate the power of teamwork. (HF "Echoes")
46. Life isn't always fair. (TNG "The Game")
56. A little elbow grease never hurt anyone. (HF "Echoes")
65. Never second-guess your own work. (HF "Echoes")
91. Always watch your back. (TNG "The Game")
97. It always pays to think ahead. (HF103, "Enemy Unknown, Part 3")
98. Anything can happen. (HF103, "Enemy Unknown, Part 3")
103. A couple of light years can't keep good friends apart. (TNG "The Game")
123. If it works perfectly, someone will re-design it. (HF102, "Enemy Unknown, Part 2")

 

[trenchfoot]

Well, considering that the rich have been tilting the economic table in their favor through legislative shennanigans for decades, given the current economic situation, it's a perfect time to reverse the trend.

The rich, however, is using these hard times, a time that they are mostly responsible for creating, to hoard even more of the nation's wealth for themselves. Their greed has no limit, no sense of fairness, no consideration for the health of the nation.

In this regard, Boehner and McConnell truly represent a mere sliver of the population's interests and they are willing to hold hostage and starve the rest of the nation to give this small yet very powerful minority even more riches that continue the trend the rich have corrupted their way into enjoying.

True, our social assistance programs need overhauling, but not in the way the rich want to exploit it to make even more $$$ for themselves. Equally so, the rich have to give back a few pennies of the hoard of loot they have unfairly gained for themselves through perversion of our legislative processes.

Obama's reelection is the perfect vehicle to right some wrongs and to tilt the economic table back to where the whole population has a better chance of gaining a decent standard of living, rather than having the table tilt so far in favor of the rich that they will have the plutocracy they're hard wired into creating for themselves.

 

[quest55720]

It is just big talk to appease the tea party. Boehner has already admitted he will have to give in on this. They just want to frame it from tax rate hikes to increased revinue. Obama holds all the cards on this and both know this.

Going over the fiscal cliff will be disastrous for the GOP from all sides. The NEO-CONs will destroy them for cuts to defense budget. The big donors will destroy them for causing a recession for nothing since their taxes went up anyways. The people in their districts will destroy them for raising their taxes to protect the rich. It is a no win situation the president will have the SotU address to lay out his plan and make the GOP the bad guys for raising rate on the middle class and military cuts. The GOP does not have that kind of platform to lay out their side. I would think they would look at history like when Newt shut down the government and Clinton raked him over the coals and won.

 

[Jhhnn]

Well, considering that the rich have been tilting the economic table in their favor through legislative shennanigans for decades, given the current economic situation, it's a perfect time to reverse the trend.

The rich, however, is using these hard times, a time that they are mostly responsible for creating, to hoard even more of the nation's wealth for themselves. Their greed has no limit, no sense of fairness, no consideration for the health of the nation.

In this regard, Boehner and McConnell truly represent a mere sliver of the population's interests and they are willing to hold hostage and starve the rest of the nation to give this small yet very powerful minority even more riches that continue the trend the rich have corrupted their way into enjoying.

True, our social assistance programs need overhauling, but not in the way the rich want to exploit it to make even more $$$ for themselves. Equally so, the rich have to give back a few pennies of the hoard of loot they have unfairly gained for themselves through perversion of our legislative processes.

Obama's reelection is the perfect vehicle to right some wrongs and to tilt the economic table back to where the whole population has a better chance of gaining a decent standard of living, rather than having the table tilt so far in favor of the rich that they will have the plutocracy they're hard wired into creating for themselves.

Thank You. Well said.

I think Doppel's comments, above, ring true. The only way to raise taxes on the Uber-wealthy is to let the Bush tax cuts expire, then claw back retroactive cuts for the lower 98% of Americans.

The fight isn't really about earned income tax rates, but rather about rates on LTCG's, interest & dividends, which is where the incomes of the wealthiest Americans come from. Repubs will never compromise on that, revealing their song & dance about deficits & middle class taxes as a sham.

It always was a sham, a sop to the greedy & gullible. All they can see is their own measly taxcut, not the enormous cuts received by the wealthy, by people who didn't need tax cuts at all.

 

[techs]

Has anyone else noticed that the Tea Party Queen and leader of the House Tea Party caucus has been silent since she barely squeeked by her re-election?

Where, oh where, are you Michelle Bachmann?

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Has anyone else noticed that the Tea Party Queen and leader of the House Tea Party caucus has been silent since she barely squeeked by her re-election?

Where, oh where, are you Michelle Bachmann?

What does she need to say? Other than thanks to those who voted for her and her colleagues in the house as they still have the majority.

 

[jagec]

I hope taxes do go up.

Just to prove to the dumb ass liberals that the problem with deficts wont be fixed.

No one, aside from the very looniest .1% of the far-left, think that the deficit can be fixed with tax increases alone. Everyone on the left (and plenty of people on the right, and almost every economist and historian who has ever looked at how deficits are fixed) thinks that it should be a blend of spending cuts and revenue, with the lion's share being spending cuts. Whether it should be a 2:1 ratio or a 10:1 ratio is up for debate, but only a fool would completely eliminate one side of the equation. Particularly after we've been cutting taxes for most of the last half-century, while dramatically increasing spending.

 

[Jhhnn]

What does she need to say? Other than thanks to those who voted for her and her colleagues in the house as they still have the majority.

Teahadists are still a minority in the majority party in the HOR.

 

[trenchfoot]

Has anyone else noticed that the Tea Party Queen and leader of the House Tea Party caucus has been silent since she barely squeeked by her re-election?

Where, oh where, are you Michelle Bachmann?

She's still sitting on a flusher somewhere trying in vain to unclench that nasty case of sphincter cramp she developed while watching poll results come in.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

The tax cut portion is easy for Obama, he holds all the cards that matter. He can simply wait until they expire then have his buddies propose a tax cut for everyone under 250k and it will carry his name. It would be suicidal for a politician to not vote for it. Pretty simple stuff.
The rest of the cliff paying off debt that is where team work will be required.