It’s hardly a surprise – Pawlenty has been arguing since January that automatically raising the debt ceiling without exhausting other options (read: spending cuts) first is a bad idea – but the video below shows that the former Governor of Minnesota continues to want Republican legislators to not back down on this issue: As GOP 12 noted, this statement by Pawlenty… Now is the time. | Read More »
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the possibility of QE3, Italy, and the latest on the debt ceiling negotiations. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We | Read More »
“From here on out, if you lose this fight, every time you balk at expanding government, social security checks will be withheld, medicare payments will be withheld, and in just a few short years, surgeries will be cancelled, vaccinations withheld, and hospitals shuttered.” Dear House Republicans, In the election of 2010, voters sent you to Washington to do two things: (1) End Obamacare and (2) | Read More »
The always-reliable (mouthpiece for Democrats, that is) Greg Sargent is playing Alinsky-stalking-horse-by-proxy for his party this morning by trying to push out the narrative that President Obama’s abrupt cutting and running from debt ceiling negotiations yesterday night reflects badly on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor , somehow. This is, of course, absurd – aside from everything else, it’s not Cantor’s fault that the President couldn’t | Read More »
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed Last night the President engaged in off Broadway theatrics trying to scare the Republicans into folding on debt ceiling negotiations. Playing the role of Hollywood President, not the real President, the President said he didn’t care if this brought down his Presidency and he would not yield. He then dared Eric Cantor to call his bluff. Mr. Speaker, | Read More »
Moody’s Investor Services is sending out a pretty clear rejection of Mitch McConnell‘s “Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011.” Republicans and Democrats who are spinning it in favor of folding like a cheap suit and just raising the debt ceiling should pay attention. According to Moody’s, “the outlook assigned at that time to the government bond rating would very likely be changed to | Read More »
There has been much ink spilled trying to determine the best political strategy for Republicans in dealing with the debt ceiling. Throughout the process, many Republicans have ceded ground to Obama by credulously buying into the premise that failure to raise the debt ceiling will spell disaster for the country. Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL), one of those unvarnished freshmen conservatives, cuts thought the clutter and | Read More »
If it weren’t bad enough that Harry Reid is trying to make Mitch McConnell‘s ‘Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011″ acceptable to Republicans, you might want to consider that Nancy Pelosi congratulated Mitch McConnell on a job well done. Not kidding. Stephen F. Hayes, who my wife says is the best looking guy on Bret Baier’s panel other than Bret (yeah, I have | Read More »
Just how pathetic is Mitch McConnell‘s ‘Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011,’ his proposal to let the President automatically raise the debt ceiling by $2 trillion without any cuts so long as the GOP doesn’t get blamed? Harry Reid is intervening to make it more palatable to Republicans. Publicly, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) left the door open to the idea. | Read More »
Everyone is using the hostage metaphor these days regarding the debt ceiling. Barack Obama started it back in December when he called the GOP hostage takers before the GOP gave him everything he wanted. Well, I hope the GOP noticed Barack Obama yesterday upped the ante and declared his willingness to shoot his hostages, i.e. senior citizens. Yes, if the GOP dares to hold the | Read More »
“I cannot guarantee that those checks (Social Security Payments) go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it,” – President Barack Obama, CBS News President Barack Obama has announced that he may not be able to mail Social Security checks out on 3 August if he has not been | Read More »
It’s so sad to see someone you admire lose all credibility serving as mouthpiece for the people who got us into this mess on our side. This was Fred Barnes on August 15, 2003, writing in the Wall Street Journal: IS PRESIDENT BUSH really a conservative? When that question came up this summer, the White House went into crisis mode. Bush aides summoned several of | Read More »
Editor’s note: I decided to make the title less incendiary. Consider the Associated Press’s headline right now: “GOP Leader McConnell proposes giving Obama new power for automatic debt limit increase” ————————————Mitch McConnell is right now talking about making a historic capitulation. So fearful of being blamed for a default, McConnell is proposing a compromise that lets Barack Obama raise the debt ceiling without making any | Read More »
“There are solvency problems with both programs (Medicare and Social Security),” Sen. Olympia Snowe said in an interview on Friday, “They have to be addressed but not as part of the debt reduction talks.” (Bangor Daily News) This cowardice displayed by Senator Snowe in the face of reality, is the key assumption in the Democratic Party’s strategy to win the debt ceiling showdown and make | Read More »
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the worsening debt crisis in Greece, it’s spread to Italy, and the latest on the debt negotiations here in the U.S. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email | Read More »
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