President Obama Called The Republican Bluff on the Deficit, -they blinked, turned tail, cut and run-

[mikekohr]

like the hypocritical cowards they have always been on this (as well as many other) issues.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43701378/ns/politics-white_house/


But make no mistake about it, the Republicans are experts on the National Debt, after all they have caused the over-whelming majority of it. (see National Debt Chart @ http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html

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And if you wish to see what is driving today's deficit spending, here's the reasons: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-is-biggest-single-driver-of-todays.html

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[Cereal Kyller]

1. Who the hell would unrec this???

Corrected. ;-)

[mikekohr]

2. Could it be Satan?

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[Cereal Kyller]

4. Dick Cheney is on DU?

Gee, I wish I had the photo-posting skill to greet him with a raised middle finger. :(

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[tallahasseedem]

5. Recommended!

:)

[bowens43]

6. Obama is being played like a cheap fiddle.

This happened before. The republicans demand something completely outrageous , knowing they are not going to get and Obama compromises and gives them exactly what they wanted and expected to get. Obama and the true believers jump up and down shouting 'see how great we are!!!' and the republicans go home with a smile on their faces.

this going to happen here too

[polichick]

7. No, it's three dimensional chess.

:sarcasm:

[Hand_With_Eyes]

8. That is the pattern

Republicans enter 'negotiations' demanding the extreme, the looniest parts are tossed out in the name of 'compromise' and the core of what they are seeking gets agreed upon. Dems get a few token crumbs.

[vaberella]

9. Where are you getting this? Because it's Obama who seemed to come out on top in budget talks.

They did the same thing and Boehner's party wanted to castrate him after the CBO report came out.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

10. my guess would be that the poster got it from a place the sun don't shine >.> n/t

[Jim Lane]

15. I can't share your cheerful assessment.

We don't know what the final deal will be so I have to go by the linked article. It seems that there will be:
* Some cuts in social programs that benefit traditional Democratic constituencies.
* No repeal or even modification of the Bush tax cuts for the rich.
* Not even any closing of tax loopholes -- zero action on making the tax system more progressive.
* No change in military spending, which apparently has never even been considered in these negotiations.
* An extension of the "temporary" Social Security payroll tax holiday, increasing the difficulty of ever ending it and thus weakening the long-term financial stability of Social Security.
* An overall reduction in federal spending, with consequent contractionary effects even though unemployment is still catastrophically high; the net effect will be to put the economy in even worse shape during the critical months of the 2012 campaign, a situation that Republicans will gleefully blame on the Democrats who are supposedly "in power" in Washington.

Now, which part of this package represents a defeat for Boehner?

[bornskeptic]

18. The payroll tax holiday has nothing to do with the funding of Social Security.

It only affects the amount collected by the IRS as payroll tax. Social Security receives its money from the Treasury according to the exact same formula as has been used for years. Sometimes that is explained by saying that the reduction in payroll tax collection is paid from the general fund, but that is a little misleading too. What makes no sense is the claim made by some here that thr SS Trust Fund will be somehow tainted because some of it came from the general fund. Social Security is no longer running a surplus, and will not be in the forseeable future,so no money, tainted or untainted, is going into the SS Trust Fund.

[mikekohr]

19. Those on the Extreme Right Wing Agree With You

see original post at: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=705812&mesg_id=705812


This is from RW blogger James Pethokoukis, who prior to reporting Boehner pulling out of talks reported inside reports from Republican aides:
Two reasons I'm posting this: One, it's good news that the WH was really pushing for tax hikes on the wealthy. Two, whatever your views on Obama's actions in all this (I think plenty of the criticism is justified, personally), it's always useful to get some perspective. On the left - not just the "professional left" but among mainstream progressive punditry, Obama is being called "weak," and a "capitulator." If you peer into discussion on the other side of the aisle it's exactly the opposite: Obama as an intransigent, stubborn, but nefariously crafty, "insisting" on tax hikes, etc. May not change your views at all, but it's worth a look.

Will House Speaker John Boehner commit Republicans to raising $1 trillion in taxes as part of President Obama’s last-minute push for as much as a $4 trillion debt reduction deal? Obama and the GOP meet Sunday evening, but things continue to develop quickly:

[Jim Lane]

20. The extreme right wing will regard any raising of the debt ceiling as a defeat.

I don't know any extreme right-wingers personally, so my understanding is based on my occasional forays into Free Republic. The consensus there seems to be: Don't raise taxes at all, don't cut the military at all, and immediately balance the budget.

In response to the danger of default, they point out (correctly, I believe) that current revenues are adequate to pay legally required interest on bonds already issued.

Voila - no change in the debt ceiling, no further deficit spending, and no default. Some of them seem to think that this could be achieved by eliminating good ol' waste, fraud, and abuse; those who recognize that this "solution" would require savage cuts in all discretionary domestic spending see that as an acceptable price to pay or even as a nice side benefit.

As a result, Republican legislators who agree to any increase in the debt ceiling will be denounced as RINOs by the far right.

I don't see how this means they're agreeing with me, though. My point was that the deal referred to in the linked article would advance Boehner's goals (protect the rich, gain political advantage). It wouldn't advance my goals (economic stimulus, fair taxation) or the extreme right's goal (immediate balanced budget), but Boehner doesn't care about any of those goals.

[Palmer Eldritch]

12. I take it that you're no fiddle player.

[toddwv]

13. He managed to pin 100% of the blame for any default on the debt on the Republicans.

Seems as though he's the one that did most of the playing.

[Jim Lane]

16. But if there's a deal, there won't be a default, and no one will care. (n/t)

[Cali_Democrat]

17. Rachel Maddow talked about this

I was watching a clip on DU a few days ago and she talked about how the Republicans keep pulling away the football like Lucy does to Charlie Brown.

First the Republicans wanted 85% spending cuts and 15% tax increases. Obama wanted 80% spending cuts and 20% tax increases (or something like that).

Now the Republicans are demanding 100% spending cuts and no tax increases. Obama has now moved to 85% spending cuts and 15% tax increases which was the Republican position all along!

[jenmito]

14. K&R!

[no limit]

21. If that's even true then all it took was throwing medicare and social security under the bus

but I guess whatever helps the guy get reelected, that's what's important here.

[mikekohr]

23. No limit to your hyperbole that's for sure.

The emerging details of the proposed "cuts" that are available, and subject to change, include means testing for Social Security benefits, increasing the SS taxable wage limit, adjusting the cost of living adjustments that most economists say are skewed and inaccurate. Some sacrifice? For sure. Throwing both programs under the bus? Not even an iota of credibility, in my opinion. Now Paul Ryan's plan, that's another story entirely.

As I posted above,(see post 19) those on the far Left are calling the President weak, spineless and naive. Those on the far Right "it's exactly the opposite: Obama as an intransigent, stubborn, but nefariously crafty." Both descriptions can not be correct. But both descriptions could be wrong. And in my opinion, both are.

[no limit]

24. If during this administration the retirement age is increased...

would you consider that throwing SS under the bus?

[mikekohr]

25. I would vehemently oppose such a provision

A person behind a desk can work into their seventies or longer. A working person, a person that actually labors, does not enjoy that perk.

President Obama shares our view on this issue.
see:
Obama won't endorse raising retirement age or reducing Social Security benefits
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/24/AR2011012403472.html

Social Security is not on Obama's hit list
The president knows that Republicans won't agree to the revenue increases necessary for a "grand bargain"
By Andrew Leonard
http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2011/07/07/reasons_not_to_panic_on_obama_and_social_security/index.html

[grahamhgreen]

22. I don't see that Obama has called their bluff, looks like he folded with a royal flush, to me.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

27. Folded? Has the plan already been announced? I must be missing something... n/t

[grahamhgreen]

28. If u don't know how to read this guy by now, you might want to pay closer attention.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

29. I know him very well, and am very proud. Trust me, I pay close attention.

I do not have these knee-jerk reactions like many of you here on DU *before* any details have been presented.

I'm paying less attention to those who have emotional conniption fits over anything the man does (or doesn't do), and more attention to *actual* proposals that have been forth.

[grahamhgreen]

30. This is the same pattern and practice he employed before caving on the public option,

letting the Bush tax cuts expire, bailing out the banksters, financial reform, troop withdrawal, etc., etc..

He is in the process of getting you to accept the fact that there is nothing else that can be done except to cave into the republicans.

[AlinPA]

26. But they can screw up the works by refusing to increase the debt ceiling. IMO, they

don't want to do anything now except default to hurt the president. After the default they will start working on budgets.

[mikekohr]

31. McConnel Caves On Debt Ceiling

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43725919/ns/politics-capitol_hill/


BaRocky Obama punches the pasty bully boy from Kentucky in the nose and he throws in the towel.