Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

[ProfJohn]

Oh, you finally realized this? Good, now Boehner needs to introduce legislation that can gain Dem support. There are twice as many Dems in the House as there are tea party brand Republicans so gaining passage of a bill with Dem support should be easier than the current approach of appeasing Republican fanatics.

It will NOT work like that.

It is basic politics 101. No sitting speaker is going to ignore his own party and cross over to make a complete deal with the other side. The second he crosses over he probably losses 50+ votes if not more. It would be stupid of him to do so.

The best thing for everyone is for the Senate to pass a bill and then for the two sides to sit down and compromise on a bill that will pass BOTH houses.

Then everyone can claim victory.

 

[IronWing]

It will NOT work like that.

It is basic politics 101. No sitting speaker is going to ignore his own party and cross over to make a complete deal with the other side. The second he crosses over he probably losses 50+ votes if not more. It would be stupid of him to do so.
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Harry Reid does it day in and day out. Lose 50 votes, gain 160, seems reasonable.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

The Tea Party is 100% to blame for this mess.

Their actions have been counter constitutional and undemocratic. After they realized they couldn't get their legislation passed through Congress they did what any whiny 5 year old child would do, threw a tantrum and refused to compromise.

You tell me if that's how a healthy democracy is going to prosper.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

The Tea Party is 100% to blame for this mess.

Their actions have been counter constitutional and undemocratic. After they realized they couldn't get their legislation passed through Congress they did what any whiny 5 year old child would do, threw a tantrum and refused to compromise.

You tell me if that's how a healthy democracy is going to prosper.

How dare they vote the way they think they should. Clearly they should just vote the way you want them too. Who do these ~20 elected officials think they are....

You are a joke. anyone trying to claim this is the tea party's fault is delusional.

 

[IronWing]

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You are a joke. anyone trying to claim this is the tea party's fault is delusional.

The delusion is in thinking the tea party is anything but a bunch of Republicans and yes, the debt limit "crisis" is 90% the Republicans' fault. They are the folks who decided to hang unrelated budget riders on the bill. No one forced them to do that. The other 10% fault falls with Obama for falling into the extortionists' trap.

 

[wuliheron]

The delusion is in thinking the tea party is anything but a bunch of Republicans and yes, the debt limit "crisis" is 90% the Republicans' fault. They are the folks who decided to hang unrelated budget riders on the bill. No one forced them to do that. The other 10% fault falls with Obama for falling into the extortionists' trap.

Obama didn't fall into any trap. The republican party is broken and being half the government that means the government is broken. You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse and Obama can't make a broken government work. Its up to the public to fix the government by voting these assholes out of office.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

At the end of the Clinton term, the National Debt was ~$4 trillion.

At the end of the Bush term, the National Debt was ~$11 trillion (a $7 trillion upsurge of which the ~$3 trillion Iraq War was a major reason).

At the end of Obama' first year in office, the National Debt was ~$12 trillion (an addition of about $1 trillion).

However, this does leave out some information. The government's fiscal year ends on September 30th of every year; and the new fiscal year begins on October 1st. In mid-September of 2008, Bush attempted to get a $700 billion bailout passed in Congress to save the failing financial sector. He failed. The House Republicans blocked the bill. So to attract those votes, Bush added $150 billion in pork. That works, the Republicans cave, and they pass the now $850 billion bailout bill.

Problem is, they passed Bush's ~$850 billion bailout bill in mid-October; AFTER the new fiscal year, Obama's fiscal year, had already begun. Bush was still President, but it was passed in Obama's first fiscal year. In other words, BUSH'S $850 billion spending is counting against Obama, NOT Bush.

So $850 billion of the $1 trillion added to the National Debt in Obama's first year actually belongs to Bush, not Obama. So basically $150 billion has been added by Obama; and $7.85 trillion was added by Bush. So no, Obama has not added more than Bush did in 8 years. He's not even close. $150 billion is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS than $7.85 trillion. In fact, Obama's addition to the National Debt is only 1.91% (just under 2%) of what Bush added to the National Debt.