Well, we really stuck it to the rich at 1:39 in the morning. Whew, now we can breathe a sigh of relief. The 40 Republicans who voted for Obama’s stimulus bill had to swallow hard voting for over $100 billion in new spending just in 2013, but at least those of us who are not super rich won’t see our taxes increase this year. Oh | Read More »
Surprise surprise, they have a deal to avoid the politicians’ cliff. Who didn’t see that coming? Here’s an enigmatic riddle for you: what happens when Republicans publicly obsess about the degree of tax increases they are willing to accept without a commensurate demand for spending cuts? You get tax hikes and no spending cuts! In fact, we will spend even more as a result of | Read More »
It feels like yesterday when John Boehner was bragging how he got 98% of what he desired from the deal negotiated to raise the debt ceiling in August 2011. Yet just 17 months after Obama was granted a $2.1 trillion debt limit increase to preserve his reelection, we have breached the new ceiling. In just 519 days, we’ve burned through $2.1 trillion in debt, for | Read More »
So Boehner plans to introduce a bill on the House floor that increases the top marginal tax rate on those earning more than $1 million per year. Most likely, Boehner and Obama will ultimately agree on a deal that splits the difference between $400,000 and $500,000. Many Republicans will shrug their shoulders: “Who cares about a few rich liberals?” However, this rationale represents a shortsighted | Read More »
Democrats live by the dictum “never let a good crisis go to waste.” What better way to insert their campaign wish list into a Hurricane Sandy disaster aid bill? To that end, Obama has submitted a $60.4 billion dollar aid request for recovery of damage from Hurricane Sandy. His proposal is chock full of items from his campaign wish list, and will be considered before | Read More »
What is worse than striking out? Grounding into a double play. Not only is Boehner prepared to raise taxes – both through capping deductions and increasing marginal rates – he is now prepared to preemptively surrender our last point of leverage in one fell swoop. The media is now reporting that Boehner offered Obama a clean 1-year debt ceiling extension as part of the deal | Read More »
A common tactic used by someone who fears confrontation is to contrive an excuse for not battling his adversary at the present, while promising to deal harshly with him in the future. That’s how the GOP has operated with Obama in all of the budget battles over the past two years. It’s always ‘the next fight.’ There is an emerging consensus from some conservatives inside | Read More »
It’s not like we haven’t been through this recently. In fact, we’ve seen this rodeo less than 18 months ago. When will Republicans learn their lesson? Republicans came to power in 2011 promising to put a stop to Obama’s addiction to spending and growing government. They pledged to cut $100 billion immediately. They had a number of opportunities to leverage their control over the budget | Read More »
While discussions in Washington are focused on the fiscal cliff, the White House is looking ahead to spending a record amount of money on a three day celebration. Inauguration day will fall on a Sunday in the new year, meaning the President’s official swearing-in will be a small, private ceremony as is tradition. The President has called for a day of service the day before | Read More »
Here are two things to keep in mind with regards to Boehner’s budget offer. First, when you begin negotiations agreeing to 60% of the demands of the other side and fail to offer a bold contrast on the other 40%, you are headed for an outcome that is 80-90% favorable to your opponent. Second, when you need to outsource your budget plan and entire view | Read More »
In 2008, President Obama campaigned on hope and change. He made lofty promises from closing Gitmo to changing the sea levels. At a debate in 2008, in between John McCain obsessively saying “my friends”, we heard a different Barack Obama than teh one we hear today. One that believed we must deal with our entitlement crisis and we must deal with it swiftly. He addressed | Read More »
For those of us who are not schooled in the ways of Washington, here is a glimpse into the duplicity of the “budget savings” as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations. House Agriculture Chairman Frank D. Lucas has raised hopes that Congress might still be able to produce a multi-year farm bill soon, possibly as part of a package to block impending tax increases and | Read More »
Last Wednesday, speaking in reference to Grover Norquist’s tax pledge, Senator Saxby Chambliss revealed himself to be a big government statist. Then again, we always knew that. He told a local TV station that if we hold the line on the anti-tax pledge, “then we’ll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that.” This line of thought is emblematic of | Read More »
The Bureau of Economic Analysis published its report for 3rd quarter GDP and found that the economy is growing at a mediocre 2.0% rate, a slight improvement of the 1.3% growth in the 2nd quarter. Had we not experienced such a deep recession, this number would not concern us. However, in order to recover from such a deep recession we need consistent growth of 4% | Read More »
In many respects, this country no longer looks like the American Republic that our parents and grandparents experienced. More than ever before, government is destroying private enterprise on the one hand, and offering permanent dependency on the other hand. With all the focus on big bird, binders, and the 47%, the most important figure is the $1.03 trillion – the cost of combined federal and | Read More »
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}