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In a Washington Post op-ed, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner writes, "This week, I spoke to business leaders across the country. Not surprisingly, their relief that Congress has finally acted was tempered by concern about the damage caused to confidence by the months-long spectacle of threats of default. These business leaders, like many Americans, want to see Congress build on this moment of compromise."
"It is not enough for Congress to have prevented a disaster it brought on itself. Lawmakers should return in September prepared to act to strengthen the economy and get more Americans back to work. Doing so will help repair the damage this fractious debate inflicted on an economy that was already slowing, not just here but around the world."
“President Barack Obama’s signature on a bill raising the debt limit sealed a compromise that averted a U.S. default even as it did nothing to narrow the gulf between Republicans and Democrats over tax increases and spending cuts,” Bloomberg reports. “The measure postpones the thorniest fiscal dilemmas for later this year when the 2012 election campaign will intensify. A panel of lawmakers must push through a $1.5 trillion debt-reduction package by year’s end -- or risk automatic spending cuts across the government, including defense and Medicare.”
“The massive federal spending cuts that will follow the deficit reduction deal could further weaken a national economy that has been rapidly losing momentum, economists said,” the Boston Globe writes.
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Turning the page? I don't think either party can "turn the page." This fiasco will follow ALL of them into the 2012 election cycle.
No one...no party...can be proud of what happened in DC this week. And voters will not forget this any time soon.
biweeler
House Republicans gambled with our triple A credit rating, with the health of the economy, for what? For what? To please their Obama-hating base. This debt ceiling debacle really exposed the Republican-controlled House for the dysfunctional, hyper-ideological, anti-Obama body that it is. I couldn't believe the sight of elected representatives working against the interests of the country as a whole, putting their Party's interests ahead of the nation's. They were reckless with OUR economy, our international reputation, and that is unacceptable.
Amy:
You're absolutely right. The TParty has completed a bloodless coup and overtaken the GOP. The two entities are now just one, and it is led by the crazies.
Unfortunately, I don't think Obama or the Dems distinguished themselves either in the process. They demonstrated their inability and/or unwillingness to defend their principles.
Did I want a default? Of course not. But at some point, we either call the bluff or suffer the consequences. The Dems chose to suffer the consequences...just as they did in December 2010. I'm beginning to think that they are not willing to accept the TParty challenge. When the Dems are pushed in a corner, the TParty knows they will get their way.
A default would have been devastating to my personal finances. I'm retired, and depend on social security. Missing one payment would have been difficult; missing 4-5 payments would find me living in my car. But it's time to draw the line. My personal disaster is nothing compared to the national disaster we will have by continuing to give in to the crazies.
bilweeler,
I admire your courage. The debt crisis scared me to death. I was relieved the President kept pushing for compromise, but I would have preferred he'd taken a procedural way out by bypassing Congress to raise the debt limit himself. I think that would have violated Obama's principles as a scholar of the constitution, though, so, we were all held hostage by the Tea Party.
In 2012 we will give him a Democratic majority House.
Norquist or country? That is the question.
The Abuser Party is now enemy of the people, the President, and this country.
Look what's happening to the DOW, even though the debt ceiling was finally raised. Look at the $30million a day it will cost to continue the FAA fiasco because for GOP it's about ending unions, and not about saving/creating jobs. Republicans refuse to budge on the issue, leaving 70,000 construction workers without work and off on a five-week vacation. Look how Americans for Progress (Koch Oil)) sent mailers to seniors in WI giving the deadline as August 11th ~ two days after the actual vote.
Oath of Office? Taking something non-contraversial like the debt ceiling & loading it up with concession items they wouldn't otherwise get, doesn't have to become a habit if we say NO, NOT THIS TIME. This CorporateNewGOP war on the President is a war on all of us, and now we know it doesn't stop at our borders.
Amy:
You and your minions need to kill the "hostage" BS. What in your life was changing because some politicians were arguing? Those politicians were doing exactly what they were sent there to do. The people WHO VOTED FOR THEM were sending a message to D.C. and I guarantee all of America is hearing it now.
If you didn't vote for them, oh well, you lost now suck it up and drive on. I don't like a lot of the Democrats in D.C. but there is nothing I can do about politicians from some other area. I am glad I have been blessed to be able to live in a district that is a Republican stronghold. When I see those other districts in this area represented by Democrats and the conditions, it just reinforces my affiliation.
If you have voted for Democrats all of your life and not a damn thing has changed; then who is the fool?
IntheMiddle....
Norquist or country?
I thought the Healthcare debacle was 10 times worse than the debt ceiling. The way that whole bill was crafted, voted on, etc.
Backhouse
good one.
intermiddle tx
which one,
1 shared sacrifice or end/kill poor and middle class safety nets?
2 secretaries paying more taxes or while the big guns less or nothing
Backhorse:
Man you need to get a life. You sound like an ignorant azz conspiracy theorist.
PEN:
Everyone on this board that pay taxes opt to pay the least possible. You and anyone else that feel this is bad for your so-called moral obligations; you are welcome to pay more than you owe at any time. I'm sure the government will not turn it down.
Just because someone wears the liberal label does not exempt them from taking advantage of the tax codes. Liberals complain about the rich and taxes while participating in the same tax schemes just maybe at a lower level.
Ben on vacation for a couple of weeks, but it's good to see the tea people on here haven't got any smarter. In fact they've got worse.
I've been saying since January all tea people want is for the economy to tank so they can claim victory. And after the comments from the tea people around here they have confirmed it.
IntheMiddle, newGOP is the issue not me.
Norquist or country?
You might be interested in this then (quoted from thinkprogress.com who got it from the Washington Post):
In a stunning bit of candor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) admitted in the Washington Post today that his party had taken the debt ceiling “hostage,” and that some of his colleagues were willing to “shoot[]” it.
Ready to eat some crow, In the Middle?
fielden,
So what is wrong with cutting waste from government? The Gang of 6 identified numerous areas where debt could be cut without any disruption of services. Didn't the Simpson-Bowles committee also identify such waste?
Is anyone in the administration looking into these areas? I believe your answer may be no, and is that due to the lack of power a legislator may see if his area is reduced?
Frankly, I am happy to be an Elephant in the Room.
fielden,
ITM will never eat crow, after you've proven him wrong, he'll just threaten to beat you up to prove he is right. He is a real Neanderthal.
Wait a minute, hunky, Simpson-Bowles? But the Republican/TP Inc. party was against it . . . after they were for it . . . until President Obama agreed to set it up . . . then they were against it . . . until they saw the extreme supply-side, trickle down your leg slant of the final report (ignoring the dissenting report, of course) . . . then they were against it when President Obama included many suggested cuts from it in one of his compromise offers . . . until they were for it after rejecting the compromise with many elements of Simpson-Bowles in it . . . until . . .
Well, you get the idea . . . hmm, maybe you don't. Hypocrisy, they name is Republican/TP Inc.
Let's hope economic illiterates will understand that the economy need to focused on and be more open to harmonizing ideas than drawing line in the sand. Let's also hope they'll understand that their priority is this country first and not those barons who beat the drums for them.
Due to our diversity and different wants, lets hope they see from a divergent lens and not a myopic one and remember it will only take a shared scarifies to get us back. One thing is certain, no sane mind will be proud of the rowdy vibes that came out Washington recently. Let's turn the page........JOBS JOBS AND JOBS.
Pius,
Can you imagine if all the energy the Tea Party Representatives poured into the debt crisis had been used to focus on jobs? What were they elected to office to do anyway? The Republicans took over the House in 2010 and the recovery has been stalling ever since.
Amy B,
They couldn't hide their intent which is to throw spanner into the works hence derailing the success gained so far. what's most baffling is how they think that shrinking government involvement some how will optimize economy growth especially now..........simply stupid.
That was their plan all along Amy, to stall or tank the economy so they can claim victory. They don't have a clue what they're going to do once they get what they call victory.
Mo-1852032,
It's like the dog chasing the car; when they catch it, they don't know what to do with it, so they usually just pi$$ on it.
The debt ceiling debate revealed everyone's true colors and selfish political interests. Now that we are losing the roofs from over our heads in record numbers, coupled with bankruptcies and foreclosures, before you know it, parts of the United States will look like one of those tents villages in Somalia rather than the Land called Honah Lee
I Mean What, Exactly, the stimulus package & Obama Care is causing the country to drown in debt.
JFK-2112
You can keep repeating your lies for it called political expediency. We know why we are in debt. The same stimulus pkg you guys were claiming the glory e.g Mittens Romney claiming the success of the auto industries revival.
How about ask w. bush the surplus he inherited from clinton.........fiscal conservative
Are you saying Obama Care and the Stimulus has nothing to do with the Country's debt? Please explain how...
Guys it doesn't do any good to try and argue with an uneducated uninformed Fox (aka tea people propaganda machine) follower. Like JFK. You can't win he has no idea's, no thoughts of his own, no common sense, all he has is hate, and you can't argue with hate.
I hope MO doesn't mean you are from Missouri because I didn't think anyone from that state was that stupid
Are you saying Obama Care and the Stimulus has nothing to do with the Country's debt?
Please educate yourself! THe Healthcare Reform bill reduces the federal deficit by $130 billion over the first decade it is in effect.
In 2001 the Congressional Budget Office projected the federal debt would be paid off by 2011. What happened to change that projection?
Amy, explain to me how adding 50 Million uninsured Americans to Obamacare can save $130 Billion over a decade. Not to mention the cost of health insurance increased up to 35% the first year alone.
The only thing the King and his henchmen care about is how much they can enslaven the workers in America. They thrive on their"un-touchable" entitlements knowing give away money is the path to re-election. Only wish all our leaders would work 1/2 as hard fixing our out of control spending as they do "Fund Raising" How truely sad, our leaders make me hide in shame...............................
You're right, the person who doesn't read more than the headlines of history, they could be led to believe that it was Obama's fault that it went that close to the wire. But those that bother to read a bit deeper will know that the Republicans and their Tea Party caucus were the ones willing to allow the country to enter an economic disaster unless they got their way.
Of course, go deeper still and they would see that the president was, indeed, at fault for letting them get away with it and caving to their demands.
Here it is. Take it or leave it. The Tea Party or should I say the Kindergarten Congress Speaks again. I sense fear in the leadership of the New Congress. Fear consists of self preservation. The bravest of men know what it is. It is not a ridiculous malady, or one that a person need be ashamed of under ordinary circumstances. But these are not ordinary circumstances. Signing a pledge can be dangerous, not only for the person signing the pledge but for all of us. Remember Kennedy and the Pope? Now you have set a precedent, a previous decision (pledge) relied upon as authority. Someday the Master will ask something you do not agree with and you will sign. Take it or leave it, the peer pressure will win. Remember the Nuclear Option? Senator Byrd fought to save the Filibuster in the Senate. It has been useful, has it not? I am afraid, perhaps I should be. I know what power feels like. No better drug in the world. Please, all of you, use it wisely.