The GOP's Debt Hypocrisy...

When the Republicans talk about the Debt during their convention, the one thing they're going to leave out is that pesky part about how they're the one's who ran it up.

How to feel about the Debt Ceiling deal, and more detail about what's in it... (VIDEO)

Announcing the deal:


Spinning the deal:


My biggest problem with the deal is that there’s a deal in the first place. The details of the deal don’t matter to me so much as the philosophy behind it. I don’t believe we are in a position to start cutting stuff right now. Virtually the entirety of the Stimulus’s impact (and I thought it was positive) has been blunted by equally heavy budget cuts at the state level

So now, we’ve decided to spread Austerity to the Federal level as well.

And yes, I'm referring to Austerity like a disease...because it is.

So look at what we got, and tell me, does it really matter in the scheme of things? What’s the point when we start to cut at the worst possible time to start cutting?

As for the deal, here’s what we (Democrats) got:

• A debt-limit increase large enough to provide the government borrowing power to pay bills through 2012.
• A special congressional committee to consider broad deficit reduction can consider tax reform along with entitlement changes.
• If the committee's recommendations are not adopted, half of the automatic spending cuts to follow would come from defense.
• If the committee's recommendations are not adopted, programs for the poor, including Medicaid and Social Security, would be shielded from the automatic spending cuts to follow.

Here’s what we (Democrats) gave:

• The deal includes immediate spending cuts of about $1 trillion but no tax increases.
• If the special congressional committee's recommendations are not adopted, consequences include spending cuts but no tax increases.
• If the special committee's recommendations are not adopted, Medicare provider payments are not shielded from the automatic spending cuts to follow.

This came via the Washington Post. I like the fact that it highlights the Debt Ceiling increase as a Democratic get, even though its supposed to be (and would normally be) an American “get”. Clearly, the Republicans did not give a shit about whether we defaulted or not, just like they don't give a shit about the deficit.

Here’s what they (Republicans) got (also, they produced the slide above):

• No tax increases.
• $1 trillion in cuts to discretionary spending over the next 10 years.
• A special congressional committee to consider broader deficit reduction can consider entitlement changes along with tax reform.
• The debt-ceiling increase will be matched dollar for dollar in deficit reduction, through adoption of the work of a new congressional fiscal committee or through automatic spending cuts that will occur if the committee's recommendations are not adopted.
• If the committee's recommendations are not adopted, half of the automatic spending cuts to follow would come from domestic programs.

Here’s what they (Republicans) gave:

• The immediate deal includes no entitlement reform.
• The immediate spending are cuts less than the GOP had sought.
• The special congressional committee could consider tax reform.
• If the special congressional committee's recommendations are not adopted, half of the automatic spending cuts to follow would come from defense.

I mentioned this last night as a question, but I’ve had a change of heart. I’m starting to feel one of the benefits of this deal might be that it lays the groundwork and terms for the next Budget Fight. What I want to see is if this is voted on, will the Tea Party renege on the deal, and demand even more cuts?  My bet is that they will, and how will America see them then?

The GOP gets paid to waste your money...

Bear in mind, it is the GOP who's interested in undoing the Affordable Care Act. Bear in mind that it's the GOP who receives the lion's share of Big Pharma and Insurance industry money (Lord knows, Democrats are guilty of that too).

So keep that in mind when you look at this...this is what the GOP wants to see continued, if not expanded.


Created by: Medical Transcription

Kevin Drum: Fun with numbers...

Of course, a lot of this is the Stimulus funds winding down, and being replaced with...nothing:

I should point out, that I'd move the blue back to January 4th, when the Republicans took over the House, and proceeded to concentrate on such things as the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, protecting Tax Breaks for Big Oil Companies, trying to end Abortion Rights where-ever they saw it, and...of course, reading the Constitution out loud on the House floor, while skipping the parts that were inconvenient.

Jobs Bills?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Anyone?

The Economist: "Shoe-Thrower" Index

Interesting. How accurate it turns out to be is another matter, it is (after all) the Economist.

SINCE our "shoe-thrower’s index" was published on February 9th, Bahrain and, most prominently, Libya, have continued to witness further unrest and demand for regime change. The index attempted to predict where trouble across the Arab world was most likely to arise by applying a subjective weighting to factors such as the length of time the leader had been in power, GDP per person and the level of democracy. We have added two further indicators that were not included in the original—the adult literacy rate and the percentage of people who are internet users—and made the whole index interactive. You can apply your own weightings to each variable to see which country may be the next to experience political upheaval. The index is presented with the weights used in the original version, but differs slightly from that version as some figures have been updated.