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Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Another view?
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When the Mayan calendar runs out on Friday, it can only mean one thing: The end of life as we know it.
Gasp!
Perhaps an asteroid will hit the planet (duck and cover!) or the planet will spin off its axis (hold on!), or maybe it will be what the many doomsdayers have been bracing for: the zombie apocalypse.
Or not.
Despite many people’s love for a good ghost (or end-of-the-world) story, by next weekend the Mayan calendar will go the way of Y2K and Nostradamus, and apocalypse lovers and zombie hunters will have to move on to the next big scare. They may not have to go far.
If nothing changes in Washington in the coming days, they’ll have an easy transition to the only impending apocalyptic tale going: the “fiscal cliff”!
Gasp!
You know the story: There’s a standoff of epic proportions in Washington that could end with the country doomed, the economy in ruins and Third World nations looking down on America.
Or not.
That’s not to belittle or minimize the gravity of the situation. There are serious implications in the fiscal cliff that need to be addressed, but let’s not take it to end-of-the-world hyperbole. That has only exacerbated problems in the debate. As a result, neither side has been willing to budge much. In fact, the stakes seem to have increased. For the Democrats, it’s about taking a strong political position to set the tone for President Barack Obama’s second term. For Republicans, the fiscal cliff has been inflated into a matter of life-or-death principles, and they don’t want to cede any ground to a president they have spent four years vociferously opposing.
Not that the country hasn’t seen that act before. You may recall that some conservatives argued that if the president was re-elected, it would bring the end of truth, justice and the American way, not to mention the demise of the economy and spread European socialism across the land. (And perhaps usher in an era of zombies.)
Or, as it turned out, not.
Now, Republicans are accusing Obama of more of the same. Outgoing Sen. Jim DeMint, the Tea Party favorite from South Carolina, complained that the president “is intentionally trying to take us over this cliff” and said the country “is going to collapse.” House Speaker John Boehner posted a picture on his website of Obama surrounded by children with the caption, “Don’t worry, kids — I put it on your tab.” Alongside each child is the per capita share of the federal debt — $51,986.
Nothing subtle about that; Obama wants to harm the country and has doomed the nation’s children to a future of debt.
Gasp!
But the story of a national collapse due to the fiscal cliff is akin to the end-of-the-world myth surrounding the end of the Mayan calendar. The Republican leaders’ doom-and-gloom prophecies might make good sound bites and play to the conservative base, but they’re not accurate and they don’t help solve the problem. The debt has been decades in the making because of actions of both parties, and the cliff isn’t going to cause the nation to collapse.
Republicans shouldn’t duck their own responsibility. Not only have they been big spenders but also the fiscal cliff was triggered after they walked away from budget negotiations last year.
This situation can be solved, but it will take some good-faith negotiations and compromises by both sides. That takes some leadership, and you won’t find that in anyone clinging to a Mayan calendar or proclaiming that the end of the world is here.
When will Obama present his spending cuts as part of his "Balanced Approach"?
The SUN says "For the Democrats, it's about taking a strong political position to set the tone for President Barack Obama's second term....This situation can be solved, but it will take some good-faith negotiations and compromises by both sides. That takes some leadership,"
---
For Obama it is all about politics
Obama is failing America without addressing spending now
Republican have committed to revenue so where are the spending cuts?
Obama and Democrats campaigned for two years on $800 billion in revenue on the back of the 2% of job creators AND $2,400 billion in spending limits for a total of $3.2 trillion. At least that is what Obama knowingly lied about during the debates with Romney, in campaign ads and on the stump.
Now Obama is FAILING AMERICA. Obama and Democrats are RENEGING on their 2012 campaign promise to make a three to one (3-1) spending cuts to revenue increases as part of the balanced approach.
Politicians enjoy bringing the electorate to the brink, so the people will clamor for their action to save us. However, like the boy who cried wolf too many times, when the real cliff comes and the nose dive is imminent, will we believe them?
CarmineD
Sorry Re, tired propaganda cliche won't work on Sunday morning though I commend you for getting up to get the first word in.
It is not BO's job to propose spending cuts as he is our [Democratic/progressive/liberal] representative in the dog fight. We propose to work towards a healthier economy by raising taxes on the wealthy back to Clinton era rates [not even as high as Reagan-era rates], establishing a minimum tax for corporations like GE which has not paid Federal taxes in years, reducing or eliminating egregious loopholes, stimulus spending in key area [Kenseyan spending such as used by Reagan, Nixon, the Bushes,
etc.,] and also discussing reductions in services and funding with Republicans. I know you have a short memory, but it was only 6 months ago that your candidate Paul Ryan had a secret [because he never told anyone the details] plan to balance the budget and eliminate the debt. Your candidates lost....100 plus electoral votes, 3 million plus votes...as the American people rejected your bait and switch three card monte flim flam men. Now stop sniveling and bring your proposals to the table. Tell Boehner, Ryan, Cantor and Tea wackos to take off their training diapers and join the real world.
Pat,
During his two terms in office, Clinton reduced spending as a share of gross domestic product from 21% in fiscal year 1994 to 18.2% of GDP in fiscal year 2001. Today, spending stands at 24.3% of GDP. According to the Office of Management and Budget, Obama's two-term average spending level is projected at 23.4% of GDP as opposed to 19.9% for Clinton. During his two terms, Clinton grew spending by 12.3% in real terms -- a sharp contrast with the Reagan years and the Bush years. When he left office, total spending was close to $2 trillion, and the federal government registered a surplus of $142 billion (all numbers are adjusted for inflation). In fiscal 2012, federal spending was $3.2 trillion, and our deficit was $1.1 trillion.
Pat, why not bring spending in-line with the Clinton era?
For all the talk about returning to Clinton-era policies, the president is sadly silent about his predecessor's spending levels. To be fair, the only way that we could go back to these spending levels is if Congress finally reforms Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And reforming those programs is also the only way to put this country back on a sustainable financial path.
Pat retorts "It is not BO's job to propose spending cuts as he is our [Democratic/progressive/liberal] representative"
Two problems with this
One Obama ran on limiting growth in spend. So Obama needs to pony up with the limits on growth that he campaigned and won on
Two Obama is suppose to be everybody's President. The debt and Deficit are an American problem. Not a Republican problem
Ref and Company: Twas the 70's when ALL government (local, state and federal) was 20% of GNP. We've gradually "accepted" that government will step in and do everything we think should be done--herein lies the problem. If it's something we think should be done, do it. Volunteer. Donate. Leave your estate to the things that should be done. If others agree with you, the funding will be there.
RefNV (Re Freeman): You say "During his two terms in office, Clinton reduced spending as a share of gross domestic product from 21% in fiscal year 1994 to 18.2% of GDP in fiscal year 2001."
He certainly did. And it took G.W. Bush barely a year to fix THAT problem with a tax cut for his wealthy chums and two wars.
renorobert,
The top 10% of wage earners pay 71% of all federal income taxes.
The dot.com bubble burst in the early 2000's while the housing bubble caused our economy to recess at the end of Bush's second term, hardly controllable events.
Additionally, the mandatory spending, primarily entitlements and interest, has increased almost six times faster than discretionary spending, including defense, which is the part of federal spending subject to annual budgets.
In 1965, mandatory spending was $633 billion compared to $3.57 trillion today. Taxes on EVERYONE would have to increase 35% to pay for our government spending and close the deficit which is $1.1 trillion. Obama's class warfare tax plan only adds $82 billion to tax revenue which would lower our deficit to $1.04 trillion which is nothing.
The more we talk about tax rates the more people will realize the magnitude of the government spending problem.
Spending is our problem. Since 1970, federal spending grew nearly 12 times faster than median income(see graph enclosed).
Obama is not addressing our debt and deficit issues.
http://www.heritage.org/federalbudget/gr...
Pat is absolutely correct. Obama has proposed his revenue side, it now up the Reps to bring their spending cuts. The Reps are playing a game, they know there are NO real areas to cut that won't be violently opposed, so they want Obama to utter them. Not going to work. Reps are screaming for cuts....so what are they? We are all waiting.
Freeman: For the hundredth time, the top 10% have all the money, so the taxes follow. Equating tax percentage to counts of people instead of dollars is specious. Furthermore, the class warfare is ending. The rich will no longer be able to continually take from the middle class. Obama is not starting class warfare, he is ending it. AND increasing revenues, even if it doesn't solve the entire problem, is also a step in the right direction. The is kindergarten simple and obvious on all counts.
CreatedEQL,
Obama is just too frightened of his liberal left base to propose government spending cuts which are badly needed or he can't face the American people and state plainly that taxes must go up on everyone including the middle class due to our government's out-of-control spending. Obama needs to be honest about the situation.
Obama has proposed $200 billion in 'stimulus' spending as part of his balance approach to deficit reduction.
You can't make this stuff up.
RefNV (Re Freeman): You state "The top 10% of wage earners pay 71% of all federal income taxes." Etc.
I'm not up to banging my head against that wall yet again. . .
Maybe they are all waiting to see if they are here on Saturday before they get responsible.
There is no hope. The only question is when America will collapse. Congress is mired in partisan politics and the president is clueless.
Our kids and grandkids will be indentured servants to pay for what our government has wasted.
Both sides play a game of brinksmanship, and usually the Dems cave. I hope not this time. To balance the budget we need more revenue. I see very little talk about changing the carried interest and Capital gains rate. These need to be in the debate. Yes, we also need to reduce spending. But the Dems and Obama need to not give in to Republican pressure. Why do they start negotiations from where they want them to end up?
Lets just talk the truth here! We TeaPublicans, along with lobbyist Grover Norquist and the NRA, have control over ALL Republican legislators".local, State and National! All of us have informed these legislators that they WILL toe the line, whether fiscal cliff or gun control, or we WILL run opponents against them in their next primary election".and they know we have access to the money to just blast them out of the water! These legislators know better then to bite the hand that feeds them! Gun control is going NOWHERE! There will be NO tax increase for the job creators! Look, since the day America was born, it's been a Golden Rule country and still remains so! Since day one, those that have the gold makes the rules! Well that's the way it works in America"always has been that way"and always will! That IS why the job creators support our TeaPublican Party! Just like President Bush said: "This is an impressive crowd".the haves and have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." We TeaPublicans ARE taking back America in 2014 and 2016!