Good job! I'm an independant conservative but I beleive I'd vote for him.

Do you think maybe that Bennet knew his mic was on and only acted like he did not know to avoid angering the leadership. I would not put it past a politician to "accidentally" do something like this in order to stir the pot and make his true feelings known. In any case, he is right. This entire lame duck session has been engineered by the Democratic leadership in order to try and get things like the DREAM act through that would never have a chance of passing in a regular session. The leadership is hoping that they can get a lot of the Democrats who lost their seats to vote for the DREAM act now that they know they are out of office and do not have to concern themselves with what their constituency really wants. The leadership is hoping that congressmen that personally support the DREAM act but would never have voted for it while they had to worry about reelection will now vote for it. This is a prime example of why we need to put an end to these lame duck sessions. Congressmen who have been voted out of office should not be allowed to then vote on issues of major substance to the nation. By doing so, you allow them to vote based on their personal wants and agenda instead of voting based on what their constituency wants. Allowing this to occur undermines the whole idea of us having a representative form of government.

The length of their term, is the length of their term. They can always ignore their constituents if they aren't concerned about being re-elected. Soon you will be demanding that we should be able to recall them from office after we have just elected them. Lame duck sessions are just as legitimate as any other.

We have set terms in Congress, and the new kids on the block will get their turn soon enough. They are still in offfice, by law, and have the right and the duty to finish their terms.

And a crooked, arrogant authoritarian Democrat administration is, as admitted by one of their members, exactly what IS wrong with politics. Their stinky backroom deals, all between a bunch of millionaires, divvying up the "spoils", otherwise known as our tax money.

Lame duck sessions show in many cases the true nature of these disgusting self-serving trolls. And make no mistake, all parties suffer from this troll infestation. The only real answer is limited government, a requirement for a balanced budget, and criminal prosecution for the gangsters who have negotiated salaries, benefits and retirement income that breaks with these requirements.

Like Professional Wrestling or Professional Sports

Blood and Circus

Lame Duck Officials take flight into Policy State legislation such as the Food Safety Modernization Act and the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act which are now on the fast track to becoming law.

This is Rigged.

(full)

http://sovereignthink.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/its-all-rigged-lame-duck/

-sovereignthink

or wear an extra depend!

American: Here's hoping you hold the GOP accountable. When it comes to things like the START Treaty, unemployment benefits, tax cut extensions for the rich, regulations...

You will. Won't you?

Hi Pat, Boston, of course the GOP will never be held accountable for anything beyond the GWBush debacle. The GOP turned tax cuts for the wealthy into job busting tax increases -- can't raise taxes on anyone in this economy -- while they spent 22 months -- doing everything they could do to stop job growth! The GOP even turned down unemployment benefits for the unemployed into tax cuts for the wealthy.

Only in America!

I think it is time for the politicians to take a pay cut including their aides.

American - where were you during the Bush administration when no one looked out for the American people? Oh, that's right, asleep!

@Pat, Boston, MA

Pat, my friend, please define wealthy to me. Bet your definition is different than the other 320 million definitions prevalent in the US. Tax cuts should NOT be targeted. The should be for EVERYONE, individuals, small business owners and yes, CORPORATIONS. Remember, those ugly monstrosities that allow citizens to earn a living?

Cathy, Pray tell how does unemployment benefits create jobs?

If I need new shoes, and am on unemployment, I can still buy them. If I have NO income, I cannot.

How does letting me go shoeless create jobs? Beats me. BUt hey- as long as the rich get more tax cuts, why would you care?

Pat-Boston, MA

Patty me boy, I'll gladly hold the damned republicans accountable for any and all of their shenanigans as they come down the pike. In the meantime-have ye heard the emerging news that the ruskies have been moving tactical and short range nukes up to the border points of NATO countries as recently as this spring? That would be under the O'bama admin and in direct defiance of the START treaty (current.) Yes, I believe it is important to sign START-but it is more important to sign and verify. Hang on to Maggie's drawers and let us get this done right.

Pat-WI

MLH in OK - unemployment benefits create jobs by giving the unemployed money to spend, thus creating the need for the things they buy. Someone has to make the things that the unemployed need to buy (food, clothing, household goods, cars, etc.) Jobs are created to make the things that the unemployed spend their pittance of unemployment benefits on. Get it? It's really very simple. It's called supply and demand. If there is no demand (because no one has any money to spend), there is no need to produce the supply.

Heartlight,

Unemployment benefits do not create jobs. Those on trying to live on 40% of their previous income generally do not do a lot of discretionary buying. They pay their mortgage or rent, and utilities. (No jobs created there). They buy food. They, or someone, would buy food anyway so no jobs really created there. They likely pay for cars they already own - which is no windfall for the auto industry. If possible, but unlikely, they pay down debt. No job created by doing that.

Unemployment checks are meant to help people survive. If people can go on a discretionary shopping spree with their unemployment benefits - maybe they aren't really hurting.

Can we find a way to actually create jobs for struggling families -- rather than believing that struggling families create jobs?

Most economists would disagree with you there, Candice. Someone who's on unemployment which allows them to pay their rent on time, perhaps enables their landlord to hire a contractor to make repairs and improvements. The money quickly changes hands thoughout the economy.

You've made a good point, Paul. But what happens when the 60% pay cut makes it so the renter can't pay the rent? The landlord loses his income as the renter moves out. Or the landlord spends money, not on contractors, but on eviction attorneys. I guess the eviction attorneys have work.

I'll help out a struggling family in a heartbeat. But I would rather give a person a job and a good living, (which would have a much greater or more sustainable effect on the economy and on everyone else), than near poverty level benefits and the stress that goes along with trying just to make it.

People will not get a job as long as Obama will pay them not to. I cannot understand why everyone doesn't want to know how it will be paid for? They keep saying these people cannot make it without the continuing unemployment. There are jobs out there. Yes they maynot be as good as the ones they lost, however they can work and won't . Over 50 percent of AMericans don't pay federal taxes. How can this be? How can the other 50 per cent keep everything going?

boston pat - of course, but I won't limit myself to just the republicans or democrats. I believe in equal opportunity. How about you??

Wgoin - I was busy building America, one school, hospital, clinic and church at a time. Why weren't you helping to build America? Apparently you like to dwell in the past,

Exactly. Senator Bennet was at least on topic. I'm glad to know that at least some Democratic Senators are thinking along the right lines. We need more people like him in Congress. Maybe they could get something of substance done instead of gridlock and playing chicken.Let's hope that Senator Reid has grown a set and will stand up to the gop from now on. First order of business after getting rid of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy , unemployment benefits extention, and START should be filibuster reform.

Put a time limit on the Fake Filibuster. It can only delay a vote for two weeks or up until the last two days of any session.

They have to be "NO", or else the liberals will drive this country off a cliff.

DADT - May actually pass, hard telling at this point

Bush Tax Credits - Til the 47% who don't taxes participate then why should the well off continue to support them?

Climate Bill - Dead, thank God. Quadrupling your heating bill or air conditioning isn't going to fix anything.

Immigration Bill - Real simple. Couple it with closing the borders and then allow the ones here to stay on worker visas. No citizenship for them ever

Skiddy,

Really? Seriously? It was the so called conservatives who crashed the economy and squandered the budget surplus. You have a very short memory or you believe every talking point the GOP and their talking heads spew forth.

Budget surplus!!... lol here read about the so called clinton surplus

www.craigsteiner.us/articles/16

There never was a budget surplus - there was a "projected" surplus, and then this little thing called an ATTACK on our soil happened. Certainly all the armchair quarterbacks can now say that we over-reacted and I would agree - but the overwhelming majority of Americans, AND Congress all were in favor of the war. And please enough about "Bush lied" - there were Democrats looking at the same intelligence along with world leaders who all agreed - you really don't believe Bush is that compelling, do you? Was he smart enough to snooker all those Ivy league dems? Yeah, can't have it both ways.

Democrats had just as much responsibility for the economy as did Republicans, your partisan nonsense not withstanding. From Barney and the banking nonsense to mortgages and free money for everyone, our Congress is to blame for the mess, and for the past 4 years, DEMOCRATS have CONTROLLED CONGRESS.

Republicans and Democrats have failed us. They have sold us down the river. Tea Party folks have it partly right - we must shrink the size and power of our government, because history shows us 1 very important lesson - politicians CANNOT BE TRUSTED. The only protection we have is not elections, it is laws. Laws like a balanced budget amendment, laws requiring our government to pay salaries, benefits and retirement in line with private sector and no more, and certainly not retirement incomes that pay 80-100% of the salaries they replace - these are criminally unsustainable contracts and must be broken.

Play your partisan games if you like, you are only lying to yourself. Federal politics is a cesspool.

We have no need for another immigration bill! Let's actually enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books. If we still have issues with our immigration policy after inforcing the law, we can then consider new laws!

I am in the top 2% that everyone bitches about because I own and run 3 small businesses which I started. I say - let the tax rates that were in effect under Bill Clinton return. I want a bunch of those 47% that aren't paying any Federal Income taxes to have to start paying them. I want those paying only 10% to now pay 15% and I will go from paying 35% to 39.6% gladly. Over 10 years the bottom 98% will contribute $3.2 trillion and the top 2% will pay in $700 billion. What is good for one group is good for the other. Do you think that a bunch of jobs will be created by raising everyones taxes?

Let us understand the dreaded "Bush era Tax cuts." This or these are the tax tables we have been paying taxes on since I believe it was "02". The only thing that is certain, is that if they expire, WE all get a tax increase. IF they extend them, there is no change.

On paper the democrats speak of a 700 billion dollar cost to giving the breaks to the rich. I agree that we cannot afford that-howeve, the democrats are speaking in sound bites to promote class warfare. They pre-suppose that nothing changes and there is a miraculous 700b in savings over 10 years. How about downsizing corporations, maintaining static operational levels because of higher taxes and reduced or disappearing profits, or just moving offshore. That is a great job creator. I nor you create a business to provide someone with a job, I create a business to make money and as an offshoot of my success, I need to hire people to further the business. I need to take care of my people, but when things get really tough, it is my business.

Don't buy into this class warfare.

How do the individual tax rates effect the corporate tax rates?

Paul - Small Businesses are generally either Sub S Corps or LLC's (Limited Liability Corporations) At the end of the year the small business owners (can be up to 1500 shares) divide up the money that is left over. They then pay taxes on their small business at the individual or couple rate depending how the business owner files their taxes. Most farmers, Dr's, lawyer's and businesses under 300 or so employees pay their taxes this way.

What Paul said. We're not talking about increasing corporate tax rates. We're talking about taxing personal incomes (and only for those amounts above 250k a year) an extra 4%. The income gap in this country is ridiculous, yet for some reason asking the upper class to tighten their belts is out of the question.

Don't buy into anyone saying the democrats are pushing class warfare. Class warfare has been going on for 30 years, and the upper class is winning.

You need to get your talking points right before you decide to invite an audience to read your rants.

It must be very hard to live with yourself. So sad!!

We need to take the power back from Washington and give it back to the states where the founders intended. Gov Perry of Texas has written an excellent book about how to do just that. He would be a great Prez candidate in 2012!!

They aren't going to have to work too hard on that, Ed. Those libbie policies are driving us off a cliff, someone has to stop them. Do you really think that great health care bill no one has read yet is so wonderful?

Skiddy, the ones who drove us off of cliff have a big "R" by their name. It wasn't those "libbie" policies that created the massive debt, the two unfunded wars or the economic crisis--it was all conservative ideas.

Amen.

Skiddy,

You are simply amazing your GOP bias is showing... again. The GOP starting with Reagan began running up the deficit to titanic proportions and all the while talking about cutting the size of government while doing the exact opposite. Cutting taxes during wartime? Preposterous! The GOP wrecked the economy and then got the lemmings to buy into it's the poor, the unemployed, the working class and the Democratic Party's fault. Get real and check the facts.

.....and Skiddy....it has been this Democratic administration that stopped our country from going over the very cliff you mention.

consumer confidence...up stock market.....up manufacturing....up just to note a few indicators

As wakeup said....check the facts

This admin has spent more in less than 2 years than the Dubya admin did in 8 years including the 2 wars and 2 years of Reid and Pelosi. Google or Bing the deficit and spending by year and maybe you will learn something other than talking points from MessNBC

As soon as someone resorts to the old, stale "libbie" rant, you just KNOW you're going to get a bunch of canned talking points that don't require any real effort at critical thought.

Obama Free....the general state of the country (economy) during the 8 years of Bush cannot be compared to the first 2 of Obama. They are simply not apples to apples. You can't even compare this recession to that which Reagan dealt with because he was pretty much just dealing with inflation and unemployment. This recession has been coupled with unemployment, massive bank failures, stock market loss, housing marking bubble, and then many etc's.

For a fair comparison of Obama's spending you would need to go back to spending after the Great Depression.

Vt Girl - are you talking about the spending during the FDR New Deal from 1933 to 39 that didn't work? FDR's Keynesian policies didn't stop the depression - WW2 did. FDR's spending prolonged the depression by 6 years. I don't think you want to go down that road again.

FDR's spending prolonged the depression by 6 years..... just your opinion, there is no formula that proves this.

What we DO know is that FDR's spending kept millions off the streets and fed. The social programs he began still do that to this day.

Obama Free-

I agree the current Administration is spending much more than it should. However your statement about spending more in 2 years than Bush did is false.

http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2010/oct/27/eric-cantor/eric-cantor-tells-jon-stewart-us-spent-more-past-t/

In 2009 and 2010 we've spent 7.2 trillion, according to the Office of Budget and Management. You just need to add up 2006, 2007, and 2008 to surpass that, at 8.3 trillion. And remember, the 2009 spending was according to the previous admin's budget.

Bottom line, Obama has increased spending, but not to the depths conservatives portray and the majority of that was to try and stimulate the economy, the merits of that of course are up for debate.

Cathy - you need to get your facts straight. The top 2% will pay $700 billion in tax increases over the next 10 years if the Dubya tax cuts for them expire. The bottom 98% would continue to receive the Bush tax rates which add up to $3.2 trillion over 10 years - you got your numbers reversed. The infrastructure bill you refer to was passed with Democrat votes only - Repubs couldn't stop it. Ask your liberal leaders where the jobs are - they are the ones that passed and borrowed the money to pay for the American Recovery Act or whatever the exact name was. You are blaming the party that was out of power and not the party that passed the bill. Have you been into the medical marijuana again????

Obama Free....you too need to check your facts on a couple of points...

A "bipartisan" office has detemined that jobs were, in fact, created as a result of the Recovery Act. As many as 3.6 million. But every dime of the Recovery Act was not put towards "projects". Remember, there was money for tax cuts and other programs.

Infrastructure....about 2 trillion needs to be spent in order to bring our infrastructure up to exceptable levels. The 700B given to that is woefully short of what is needed. That is why the President is suggesting more.

As far as letting the tax cuts expire.... for upper income earners ($700B) vs. those for the vast majority of Americans ($3 trillion).....Treasury expects the $3T would go directly into the economy while the $700B would probably not be spent at all. This IS a compelling reason to re-establish only those cuts for the <$250,000 crowd. We get a win-win on the $3T.

Nothing against you Vt_girl but I don't believe your statistics. We have been lied to so many times by supposed bipartisan offices. This admin promised unemployment wouldn't go above 8.5%. It is using 10 years of income to pay for 6 years of benefits in the HC ponzi scheme. It is trying to save $500 billion in Medicare when you have the largest generation ever of people using the system effective Jan 1, 2011. I agree with you that the $3.2 trillion in the bottom 98% will be spent. I also think that almost all the $700 billion is being spent as well. I know that if my taxes go up I will be forced to lay off some of the bottom performers in my 3 small companies so that I keep the companies viable for those left behind. I also am not going to cut my share of the take when you have 47% of the people not paying Federal Income taxes and this admin comes after me. The govt can use the extra taxes they got from me to pay for unemployment for the people I had to lay off.

There are many small businesses that make over 250,000 per year and employe many people. Why do they have to suffer? They cannot keep paying and paying and paying. If they want to tax the rich then make sure they have to pay too. THey got out of the health care bill and many of the people on obama's staff owe back taxes. Why not have them pay up?

Very well put. Too bad the Congress isn't following along on this thread.

I nominate Phil for.....I don't know....something....

But you've got it figured out!

Your last sentence summarizes the problems P E R F E C T L Y.

I don't think that the new House members are going to feel like giving away the committee chairmanships when they have been shut out of every important legislation that has been passed during the last 2 years. There is also no way that there is going to be changes in the Filibuster rules in the Senate for the next 2 years either. There are 23 Dem Senate seats up and only 11 Repub seats in 2 years. There is a good chance that the Presidency will switch parties as well. The Repubs have been elected to repeal 0bamacare first and foremost and that means having to own all 3 branches and then get down in the mud like the libs did and if it takes it - using the nuclear option like the libs did to ram 0bummer care thru.

This may end up being a moot point when the court system gets finished hearing the cases against 0bummerCare. Congress overstepped their authority over the states with this one - Congress can regulate commerce - not mandate commerce - a big difference.

The car may be in the ditch but it has an 0bama/Biden sticker on the back of it. Just saw that one the other day. The other good one was - Don't blame me - I voted for the old guy and the hot chick.

Bush almost drove the international economy off the cliff?

You mean 50 some odd years of cradle to grave nanny state social programs spending in Europe that's just about ready to collapse the whole of Europe and the euro...is all Bush's fault?

If you want to see where we're going, look at what's happened in Europe...and in a city like Detroit, states like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey and countries like Argentina. The inefficiencies of big bloated government spending at all levels of government show that indeed, the chickens are coming home to roost!

Is that all Bush's fault too?

Bennet is an empty suit Senator and was only elected because the Repubs shot themselves in the foot - the same thing they did with the Gov. seat.

The Republicans put forth the best candidates they had. The voters chose in the primary. That is HARDLY the definition of shooting yourself in the foot. That's just politics.

The race between Buck and Bennet was neck and neck down to the last minute. It was a great race to watch AND indicates Colorado isn't really a blue state....more like purple.

If a candidate self-implodes (McInnis) I'm not sure I would blame the party for that...I think it's all on McInnis. He is a humorless, condescending guy who doesn't deserve to be trusted by the citizens of Colorado.

At least Sen Bennett has the guts to state that the Democrats are playing politics with tthe American people in the way they are manipulating issues in the lame duck session