"Osama bin Laden's attack is underway, Mr. President."
Yeah, that's what ALL great leaders do when told they're under attack - they freeze and think of the thirty people closest to them, instead of the 311 million citizens who would like to have their government respond and defend against the on-going attacks.
inaugurated by an all-out assault on women's reproductive rights, the healthcare bill and a series of
negotiations intended to bring government spending to heel. But though the speaker sets the agenda,
he quite clearly took his cues from a boisterous set of backseat drivers: his new Tea Party members.
Fast forward to July, and the dewy-eyed freshman class (and their more tenured conservative
coattail-riding colleagues) are threatening to take the wheel from Boehner altogether, over what
they view as his stubborn willingness to compromise one iota with the administration over raising
the debt ceiling to avoid a default by the US government.
Aw, Newticles is upset that his crash-and-burned campaign isn't getting serious coverage from the media. After all, he's the candidate with the most Twitter followers.
One small problem, though: he bought most of them.
Now I understand why he needed all that Tiffany's credit.
Even if we take Fischer's number as accurate, that 1.5% represents millions and millions of Americans who go hungry every day. But that's OK! Glory! Praise his name! The cuts in discretionary spending are going to hit the states in a seriously bad way — and, subsequently, poor people.
While the details of the spending cuts to states remain unclear, lawmakers from both parties have discussed the need to cut or impose caps on so-called discretionary spending over the next decade.
That could mean wide-ranging cuts in federal aid to states, affecting everything from the Head Start school readiness program, Meals on Wheels and worker training initiatives to funding for transit agencies and education grants that serve disabled children.
There also was concern among governors, state lawmakers and state agency heads that Congress would make deep reductions or changes in federal aid for health services for the needy, most notably through Medicaid. That could shift more of the costs onto states that already are having trouble balancing their budgets.
Of course many of the states have austerity baked into their constitutional pies with balanced budget amendments. Do we seriously believe they'll raise taxes on the rich to fill in the gap left by discretionary spending cuts?
An immediate economic collapse was avoided, but the slow backslide is yet to come.
Republican Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO) is easily today's worst person. Here he is speaking on the Caplis and Silverman radio show last Friday
"Now I don't even want to have to be associated with [Obama], it's like touching a tar baby and you're stuck, you're part of the problem now. You can't get away."
Stay classy, Republicans.
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Every so often, something good happens on the floor of the House.
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Way to go, Florida!
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Jill: Another columnist uses the "T" word
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Robert Reich: A ransom we already regret
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But the repugs do not, in fact, give a flying fuck about the deficit and debt that they themselves created during the Smirky/Darthy interregnum.
Steve Benen reminded us back in December that repugs don't care about the deficit/debt:
That said, the CBO score does bring to mind a fairly consistent trend in recent policy debates. For all of the obsessive attention, especially from the right, focused on reducing the deficit, Republicans have a nasty habit of rejecting ideas that actually help close the budget shortfall.The Democratic health care reform proposal lowered the deficit ... and Republicans opposed it.
The Democratic student-loan bill lowered the deficit ... and Republicans opposed it.
The Democratic effort to let Bush tax cuts for the rich expire would lower the deficit ... and Republicans oppose it.
The Democratic energy/climate bill would lower the deficit ... and Republicans oppose it.
The Democratic effort to reduce bloated Pentagon spending would lower the deficit ... and most Republicans oppose it.
It's almost as if Republicans say they care about deficit reduction, until they're offered a chance to actually reduce the deficit.
If I didn't know better, I might think GOP officials don't think a deficit-reduction measure "counts" unless it undermines struggling families in some way. That couldn't be, could it?
Liberals seek budget "victories" that benefit working families and small business, not Wall Street or bond markets or Village analpundits or repug nihilists. For America's real economy, this deal is a catastrophic defeat.
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