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The Senate approved a three-month suspension of the debt limit on Thursday, sending it to the White House for President Barack Obama’s likely signature.
The upper chamber voted 64 to 34 to add its approval to a plan conceived by House Republicans, which would push the deadline at which the government runs out of authority to borrow money to finance its obligations until May 18. The government would have otherwise run out of money within a matter of weeks.
In exchange for the extension of borrowing authority, both the House and Senate must now draft and approve separate budget resolutions by mid-April. The legislation approved Thursday by the Senate and last week by the House would place lawmakers’ pay into escrow if they were to fail to pass a budget.
The Obama administration has indicated that while the president would have preferred a longer-term extension of the debt ceiling, it did not oppose the short-term extension. Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law.
Attention will now turn to the normal budgeting process that typically dominates the first few months of the calendar year in Congress. Republicans’ gambit in offering this proposal was to highlight how Senate Democrats had failed to pass a formal budget resolution in the last four years. (Democrats argue they were working off of a de-facto budget stipulated by various spending cut agreements passed by Congress.)
Leaders of both chambers have suggested they’ll push ahead with ambitious, and markedly different, budgets.
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, will lead the GOP’s efforts; he’s vowed to produce a budget that would balance the budget in the next 10 years without raising any new taxes.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have said they plan to seek additional revenues from taxes in the budget they will produce. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, D, the chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, will lead that effort.
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It's about time the Senate passes a budget. That was a pretty embarrassing talking point to continually keep getting beat over the head with. When conservatives would throw that in my face, I couldn't come up with any good reason for the Senate not to have a budget.
Say Al, did you see the Ryan budget. No way to reconcile that with anything the Senate could have put up. So Reed did the right thing by kicking the can down the road.
Watch this become a lose/lose for the GOPTP. Republicans in the House will send over yet another love letter to Russion-born welfare queen Ayn Rand. Republicans in the Senate will filibuster, hold, and otherwise delay in any way procedurally possible to prevent the upper house from succeeding.
That's my prediction...we'll see in May if I'm right, but I'm very confident.
The answer to your question Al in Visalia is: Harry Reid!
After the three month extension, we will be back to the same crisis again. Those in the ruling class do not wish to act on the spending issues they created.
suggest that the Republicans eliminate the loopholes that Boehner suggested producing 800 billion. The Democrats must raise the SS age to 68 immediately and to 69 over the next 20 years. Medicare must have another 100 a month from all by next year. The Health care Law should be scaled back by 200 billion a year. Just figure that out. OK with my suggestions the Budget is Balanced. Now let sequester kick in and up the spending of that by 100 billion for Defense. We must stay strong. Cut the Generals by 100 and their staff. This will save 20 billion a year. there were only 50 Generals at the end of WW2! Reduce immediately Corporate Tax to 10%. Most Companies do not Pay tax in this Country as they are able to keep it in off shore accounts. The 10% for those who will bring the money on shore. Tthis will provide jobs and increase the Tax revenue by 500 billion a year. Simple solutions that can be bi-partisan. When this is accomplished push the job front! Immigration path to citizenship is worth another 50 Billion of Revenue a year!
#5 - Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:24 PM MST
I understand the GOP and I know of the Tea Party, but John D., how can you equate the two as one and the same?
When you want to include dysfunctional, you must also include the liberal party as a piece of the dysfunctional government we currently have. For example, just recently the President and Nancy blamed the cause of the recession on FOX TV talking heads. First Obama blamed bush for all the evils, then Congressional Conservatives, then legislators in general and now FOX TV.
When does he man up and accept blame for his failures?
Truman said: "The buck stops here." should Obama ""?
John B, what makes you think Republicians in the Senate are the ones to blame for anything. The majority party in the Senate controls what bills are brought to the floor for discussion & they hold the4 chairman positions in all Senate committees. The Senate majority leader a democrap by the way, has continued to refuse to bring any House passed budget to the Senate floor for even discussion. The democrap Senate held of the budget committee refuses to even consider holding meetings to form a Senate budget.
So, please stop blaming Republicians for doing their constitutional duty in the House & passing a budget. Why not bitch at the Senate democraps & ask them why they don't do their constitutional duty & at least pass a budget that could then go into re-consilidation conference with the House to produce a fromal budget to submit to the President for signature.
From the article above:
So there you have it.
..both the House and Senate…
Please, no more mindless chit-chat talking points on how the President needs to produce a budget.
Salud
I have the answer and so do you. Make suggestions as I have done to Congress and make them move. Hell I don't know if it's correct but I do know no one seems to be coming forward with a Budget from the Senate. the Democrats let the Republicans do so and screwed them to the floor with it. It's how they won the Election and the Republicans fell into the Trap! If the Republicans were to eliminate the loopholes they would be in a Strong position!
The major reason we didn't want the Ryan budget is that it was designed to create another recession on purpose and the new Ryan budget is worse than the old one.
Gee I wonder why the Democrats in the Senate doesn't want to do that to our country?
Austerity is driving England into their 3rd recession.
Is it really the republicans constitutional duty to destroy America's economy again? They sure do act like it is.
Vote for any republican at your own peril.
You make an excellent point!
Americans First---everything I read about yesterday's economic report said that the private sector was doing well but that a decrease in government spending was responsible for the shrinkage. But what does the GOP care about a fragile recovery?
The president has met his Constitutional obligation each of his years in office by submitting his BUDGET PROPOSAL BASED ON SUBMISSIONS FROM HIS VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, ETC. both houses of Congress have failed to take serious his proposals, which DID cut spending in many areas, including working to eliminate waste and fraud in all departments, combining cross-agency overlap under one department, etc. Ryan's budgets have all been a mathematical joke each year, and have been proven by the CBO to be such. The first thing both houses of Congress MUST do is reduce their own budgets by 50% to show the American voters that they are serious about balancing the budget. They must also repeal the current IRS income tax structure and go to a GROSS INCOME TAX with absolutely ALL sources of income taxed at the same rate and absolutely NO DEDUCTIONS, CREDITS, SUBSIDIES, OR ANY OTHER MEANS OF DECREASING THAT TAXABLE INCOME. That means that all of that money Romney and the other millionaires and billionaires have hidden away in off-shore accounts MUST be reported and taxed as part of that gross income. The first 25K of an individual's income (and all filings would be by income producing individuals, not married couples, dependents, etc.) would be tax free. Income over 25K up to and including $250K would be taxed at 15%, over 250K and up to and including $750K taxed at 30%, and all income over $750K would be taxed at 45%. That would be a good starting point for balancing the budget and starting to pay down the unfunded debt created over the past 30-40 years and Congress could finally pay their IOU's to the Social Security Trust Fund. They also need to give up their total control of the USPS and repeal that 75 years out mandate on pension payments.
I forget, how many budgets did George W. Bush pass during his 8 years in power...oh yeah, none, because the President doesn't pass the budget Congress does....so it is up to Boehner to send something to the President. Does the President propose a budget? Usually, yes, but it doesn't matter because Congress holds the purse strings. Not that it mattered, since Democrats at the time weren't willing to throw the U.S. over a cliff just because Al Gore lost. I really hope that Democrats grow some balls and the next time there is a Republican in the WH, hopefully long after I have passed, the let the debt limit expire unless the President agrees to Medicare for all....then if he doesn't agree, it is all the President's fault!
Steeler Fan-380417
I also heard the devistating drought in the corn belt added to the shrinkage.
What was the down-turn? 1/2 of 1 percent?
The economy is moving along quite well. The only thing really lagging is jobs, especially in the construction industry, and that will be the last to recover.
Salud, amigo.
When are your Republicans going to stop living in fantasy land? They haven't attended a budget meeting in 5 years, except for their own party. Remember both House and Senate Republicans have one goal: Make Barack Obama a one-term President. We know how well that worked out.
Chuck-2258469
lmao. Good one, Chuck.
There was a RW blogger chucklehead on here yesterday ranting about how President Obama was going to circumvent the constitution so he could run for a third term.
And we're suppose to trust these Teapartypooper chum-buckets with our money???
Salud
Good move Republicans. Lazy libs work best when their feet are held to the fire. We need to put some sort of stipulations such as these when it comes to receiving social benefits!
some one said That ryan budget will cause a recession. any budget cuts will cause recession but better than economic collapse. we get our financial house in order is important so people will still want to buy our debt.
Kornfed, lawmakers' pay should have been held up last year as well as their benefits.
You just hit the nail on the head. Vote for a Republican at your own peril and vote for a Democrat at someone else's peril. It's good of you to acknowledge your unwillingness to accept personal responsibility. Perhaps it's my pride, something the left is devoid of, that inspires me to accountable for my actions and not expect a handout or for someone else to bear the consquences of my decisions. The insane amount of debt the Democrats are running up on generations yet to be born is what is killing the economy.
Vote Democrat if you can't stand on your own two feet.
Vote Democrat if you're jealous of the successful.
Vote Democrat if you have somehow been victimized by the world and make your mere presence the World's problem.
Vote Democrat if you lack the effort to provide for yourself and your family.
Vote Democrat if you like stealing from the unborn.
Well, guess we have to pass it to see what is in the "Debt Limit Extension".
The "fine print" will be provided to the American taxpayers sometimes NEXT YEAR.
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Progressive idea for a balanced budget:
BTW: Heya "Pocket Veto" Reid, where are the National Budgets for the past FOUR YEARS ?????
This tax and spend mentality is mostly of the democrats making.
"Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have said they plan to seek additional revenues from taxes in the budget they will produce. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, D, the chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, will lead that effort."
California has raised their tax burden on those earning a substantial amount of income to 64%. From what I am seeing there are a lot of higher wage earners leaving that state for other states that are more tax friendly. We hear of Celebs leaving France (Gerard Depardieu) for Russia of all places, and others in France closing shop and moving to England. The same is happening in NY as well.
So ask yourselves this question. What good does it do to raise taxes on the wealthy if they just pack up and move to another State or Country?
So many of the liberal progressives believe this is the right thing to do. I say if they have worked hard earned their money legally, they should not be persecuted by the government any more than anyone else. After all in the recent fiscal cliff deal Obama only raised taxes on wage earners to 39%. Those making money from investments taxes only went up from 15% to 20%. This would include Warren Buffet. So the Democrat Buddy will still be paying less taxes than his secretary.
Al, when the House tacks on crap and changes the original budget including the one originally suggested by the Senate they aren't likely to pass it. The Republicans tack on all sorts of items, many that have nothing to do with budgets but everything to do with their narrow extreme right wing agenda. No wonder it doesn't pass year after year. Democrats aren't going to allow crap to be shoved down their throats. Better the thing dies in committee or on the floor than pass and hurt the American middle class which, as we know, is the ultimate goal of the T party and their backers on the far right.
Now is time for Democrats to earn their salary. Good for GOP finally hit on the nail.
Democrats stop whining your party is responsable for 6 trillions in debt with an economy where there is not light at the end of the tunnel.
They are just going to kick the can down the road when, if ever, they extend the debt limit. Pretty soon the politicians wil have kicked the can over the cliff and we will be in monetary collapse.
Oh yea that's smart lets just add some more debt and make the fall even more painful.
John B stated in post 1.2 the following: Republicans in the Senate will filibuster, hold, and otherwise delay in any way procedurally possible to prevent the upper house from succeeding.
John B, for your information the Senate Budget Resolution CANNOT be filibustered or held up. It only requires 51 votes to pass.
Adler, stated in post 1.23 the following: Al, when the House tacks on crap and changes the original budget including the one originally suggested by the Senate they aren't likely to pass it. The Republicans tack on all sorts of items, many that have nothing to do with budgets but everything to do with their narrow extreme right wing agenda.
I see you don't know how the budget process works. Maybe you should look up how the Budget is SUPPOSED to be done. BTW, the Senate hasn't written/passed a Budget for 3 yrs, so how can the House add anything to a fathom Budget.
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
Just more economic incompetence from Barrack Hussein and the Liberal bobbleheads.
Like the Democrats will ever come up with a budget let alone a fiscal policy. Maybe Barrack Hussein can just hope for a couple votes for his budget, 99-0 twice is pathetic.
But hey, maybe he can just appoint another "Blue Ribbon", Simpson-Bowles, commission like lst year, that worked out so well, didn't it?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Or maybe he can appoint another "Blue Ribbon" commission like the "Jobs Council" to help fix the economy?
OH WAIT,,,they just shut it down because it did such a wonderful job meeting all of 4 times in two years and creating low-wage/low-no benefit jobs.
I mean, just look how well our GDP did last quarter, it rose -0.1%!
THAT"S A -O.1% GROWTH RATE!!!!!
This administration will blame everything from the Republicans, to the Tea Party to the cold weather. Of course Barrack Hussein didn't mention ANYTHING about the economy during his inaugural rambling.
He has no intention of fixing anything, just spreading more of his social and economic justice nonsense.
Funny isn't it? PMSNBC doesn't seem to feel it necessary to run a story about the job council being shuttered.
Typical liberal lamestream yellow journalism to keep protecting Barrack Husseins incompetence.
I would like to make a new law: If the House, Senate and the President cannot come to an agreement on a budget then ALL members will not get paid a dime, have any benefits, etc. until a budget is passed! There would be no extra staffing for the White House (like full-time projectionists for the Obama children) and no more golfing or vacations allowed for the President! These politicians need to feel the pain that their inaction and bickering is causing to 330,000,000 + citizens!
Liberals certainly don't let facts get in the way of the blame game.
I really can't see the GOP led House staying in DC long enuff to pass a Budget, as Leader Cantors schedule will attest! I'ma guessing at the most, thier scheduled to be in DC about 20-30 Days outta the next 3-4 months.
Paul Ryan, really, yall can say That with a straight face! He may be the Lord of the Ring to You Republicans & Tea Partiers, but he's a POS LIEING HYPOCRIT to the rest of Real America. He Got his Daddy's Survivor Benefits from the age of 16, but Screw the Rest ofya who think they Deserve thier benefits!
Paul Ryan, ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO,ROFLMAO!
You Betcha!
Occupy SoggyBottom!
clank clank clank...kick the can down the road...Political games...No one doing what is right for America.
None of these politicians have any giblets....Just posturing.
Haven't they had over a year? Leaving more uncertainty in the air and continuing to make businesses hold back adding jobs.
Obama said one thing right....vomit....They need to set a long term policy and stop this 3 month, extention crappp. This is only keeping businesses from moving forward. What Obama wants is idiotic, but he is right about that point.
"Kick the can down the road,indeed." The GOP/TP are doing this deliberatley, they "Don"t want to get into a debt-ceiling fight right now." "We need to wait a few months, until the President's popularity wanes a bit." These are DIRECT QUOTES, from a statement made by John Boener, on the day after the Inauguration. So if any "Posturing" is being done it is the GOP/TP, that is doing it!!
Johntho "Say Al, did you see the Ryan budget. No way to reconcile that with anything the Senate could have put up. So Reed did the right thing by kicking the can down the road."
Have you ever heard of 'Amendments'?
Perhaps you are ignorant about the budgeting process;
1 - The House passes a budget (which they did).
2 - The Senate debates the House budget and makes changes to it (Amendments).
3 - A joint conference committee between the House and Senate resolves any differences, and the revised budget is then passed by both chambers.
4 - The revised budget is then sent to the President for signature.
What Harry Reid in the Senate did was REFUSE TO ALLOW DEBATE, ignoring his constitutional duty to pass a budget and forcing the government agencies to lurch from one crisis to another.
Inexcusable.
And obama hasn't pushed back on the senate about his budget proposal. His buddy reid has NEVER brought a budget to the floor.
In fact, O'bummer is supposed to have a budget proposal out by Feb 4 but he hasn't even started it. The reason for that is that he knows that the senate would not even consider bringing it up for a vote. The @$$hole in the front office has total disdain for the political process and duties of his office.
blueinut49 - The reason the house "kicked the can down the road" was a tactical move to get the dems in the senate to take their thumbs out of their @$$e$ and work on a budget. We all know that there was a snowball's chance in hell the senate would have done anything if the house hadn't forced them to.
hypocrisy1776 "I forget, how many budgets did George W. Bush pass during his 8 years in power...oh yeah, none, because the President doesn't pass the budget Congress does....so it is up to Boehner to send something to the President."
And Boehner HAS passed a budget each year the Republicans have been in control of the House - they just get ignored by Obama and the Democratic Senate.
Try putting the blame where it belongs - Harry Reid and Obama.
Here's the problem - When Obama took over in January 2009, he passed his huge $860 Billion 'Stimulus' bill, and his $411 Billion 'Porkulus' bill that dramatically increased spending (an increase of $535 Billion +18% over 2008 spending), and instead of cutting spending in subsequent years (after the stimulus and porkulus spending ended), the Democrats got so enamored of spending that they decided to keep up that level of spending by not passing a budget and just keep passing 'continuing resolutions' that allow the government to continue spending at the same level as the previous year. - thus BUILDING IN NEW STIMULUS SPENDING YEAR AFTER YEAR.
That's why federal spending has not been reduced despite the end of the original 'stimulus' spending bill, and why we continue to have $Trillion+ Deficits in every year under Obama.
If you have no intention or responsibility to pay back a credit card debt, wouldn't you spend it to the limits.?
These boys regulate everything, Who regulates them?
It should not take 10 years to balance the budget.
No tax loop holes, GE should be paying taxes.
Raising retirement age of SSI or Medicare is not a good idea. I know the Republicans have hated Social Security ever since introduced by Roosevelt during the depression but it has done its job admirably over the decades. Not only does it supply a base line income for the elderly, it is also a mechanism that reduces the workforce during economic slowdowns. Without it and its companion of Medicare the majority of Americans even with pensions and private savings would not be able to leave their jobs. Fiddling with retirement age may be necessary for budgetary reasons but its counter effect of slowing the flow of new bodies into the workforce must be considered. Also I don't trust the Republicans and their schemes. Just as they are poisoning the US Postal service they would happily make Social Security non functional.
May 18 will be here before you know it and then the blame game starts all over again. Geez, thanks for next to nothing.
I really don't think the Republicans will fight over the debt ceiling. I think they will fight over the sequestor or maybe even cause a government shutdown if there is no continuing resolution but they won't play with a default.
There goes that can getting kicked down the road... again. Sheesh, what did we elect them for again!?
I remember once before when the Republicans threw one of thier little temper tantrums and shut the government down. President Clinton made sure everyone knew it was the Republican (Newt Gingrich) led HOUSE that shut things down because of their instance on shoving their agenda down our throats. Finally when a pure and good bill was sent to President Clinton without riders he sighned it.
What a comforting thought that is. Middle class, bend over and grab your ankles.
And kiss your azz goodbye. I'll finish that for you tony. ( - :
Rich guys, you can relax. Little Eddie's got your back.
Ryan coming to save the middle class in spite of Obama's and Reids efforts.
Tony,
The president said he wanted to raise taxes on the rich and he did. He said that doing so along with cuts in spending would fix the problem. He has half of his plan done. The second half is the cuts. Now you want to blame Ryan for the cuts the president wanted????
tony crying in your soup again at the community soup kitchen, because you failed to be successful. Too bad
I take it you can relate to my last comment
Oh yea, that's a good one (rolls eyes)! Hopefully for you, comedy is not your profession or you would be in line as well. But FYI, I have 3 community food banks as clients and they are all voluntarily funded. If you ever have the chance to visit one, you would find out that it's not all "losers" that are in need of a helping hand. But then again, I doubt you ever leave your keyboard to check anything out. And the term "soup kitchen" hasn't been used for some time now.
No. I don't want the cuts Ryan has proposed. It's not about placing blame. That is your game. Their is a bigger nut and it's called the defense budget. Trimming that one third would go a long way in solving the deficit. But we know the chicken hawk republicans would never do that because they would lose their funding. Guess we'll just have to vote them out in 2014.
Tony,
I agree with you partially. Cut defense spending heavily. The sequester is a start. We need to cut the social programs even more; medicare and SS need to be reformed. Taxes on the evil people have been rasied and now it is time to whack away at spending
Ryan is the only one showing any courage. Reid has not produced a budget proposal in over four years and Obama has not secured a single vote ever from either party in any of the budgets he has proposed.
Who would have thought it would take a law to get Harry Reid to put a budget forward. Oh, thats right. It has been a law and he flouted it. LOLOLOLOLOL.
The pain the low information non accountable voter (LINAV) is putting us through is barely palatable. And clearly, based on last quarters shocking economic contraction, the middle class is going to get squeezed even more. They voted in guy that is screwing them and they do not even realize it (though they are starting to).
BTW, in addition to the defense cuts, what else would you cut? Most LINAVS want to whine about the problem but do not want to do what it takes to fix them.
Ryan is the only adult in the room. A serious leader for serious problems. Unfortunaetly, we voted in the guy who was more concerned with providing us free birth control. Pathetic.
Tonybeerm, whe have been holding our ankles for the last four years!
I blame Obama and the Democrats COMPLETELY for not having a budget since Obama came into power! It seems really easy for the liberals to forget that they had the House, Senate and the Presidency for the first two years of Obama's presidency! How then can anyone blame the Republicans for the first two years!?
Yeah that's it - cut defense so the welfare benefits can continue unaffected.
Why is it that when republicans make use of a tax strategy it is called a "loophole" but when democrats make use of that same strategy it is called an "allowable deduction"?
Middle class, bend over and grab your ankles.
You must be talking about obama :
1. ACA is raising health care premiums on the middle class
2. Expiring the payroll tax cut (a good thing) while extending corporate welfare for GE, Citi, etc
Obama has been the single worst POTUS for the middle class since Jimmy Carter.
The brain surgeons on here want to "heavily cut" the defense budget. Ughhh let me see, we have 16% real unemployment and if we cut a bunch of money from the defense spending that will increase that to .............
I think King Obozo even understands that one.
Just,
I am not saying it will not be painful. But I am saying that it is time to get off the proverbial "government teet". The fact is that for every dollar the government recieves they incompetently manage it.
Time to move. 15% across the board REAL cuts. Do that and the deficit problem goes away in 18 months.
Not only does Congress set its own credit limit, but also its own payment due date!
Hey, it's only money. And the best part is, it's not even their own, it's ours.
Don't worry- "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter" Besides, we are at war, so shut up and blindly support our troops...which also means supporting Congress and our commander-in-chief or you are a traitor that deserves to go to Gitmo, or Somalia if you want a government-free, free-market paradise.
tony remember that the next time you use class warfare it's not your money it's theirs
Actually one can blindly support our troops for making the sacrifices they do and for doing what is asked of them by following orders while at the same time condemning the incompetencies of Commander-in-Chief who is handing down those orders. Personally I choose not to shoot the messenger.
@Nancy - glad to hear you were against the Fox news a-holes who showed responsible citizens protesting the Iraq war and all you would hear is...here are liberals who don't support our troops. We need common sense on the right...unfortunately, those with common sense tend to move to the left of libertarian....leaving what we have in the current Republican Party.
I suggest that the Republicans eliminate the loopholes that Boehner suggested producing 800 billion. The Democrats must raise the SS age to 68 immediately and to 69 over the next 20 years. Medicare must have another 100 a month from all by next year. The Health care Law should be scaled back by 200 billion a year. Just figure that out. OK with my suggestions the Budget is Balanced. Now let sequester kick in and up the spending of that by 100 billion for Defense. We must stay strong. Cut the Generals by 100 and their staff. This will save 20 billion a year. there were only 50 Generals at the end of WW2! Reduce immediately Corporate Tax to 10%. Most Companies do not Pay tax in this Country as they are able to keep it in off shore accounts. The 10% for those who will bring the money on shore. Tthis will provide jobs and increase the Tax revenue by 500 billion a year. Simple solutions that can be bi-partisan. When this is accomplished push the job front! Immigration path to citizenship is worth another 50 Billion of Revenue a year!
If you are working a hard job like most of the people depending on social security, it is almost impossible to work past 66 when you have a job that you stand on your feet all day.
Can you imagine a 66 to 69 year old being a roofer or a construction worker?
Young people are all so willing to throw our elderly over the cliff. Work until you drop. Most people I know want to retire at 62 as they are getting old and tired.
Agnes
Who will pay for your SS if the rich don't pay into it? Remember it takes about 3 people working to support 1 person on SS. So who is being a 'greedy bastard'? The 3 people working or you collecting?
Mistake number one, depending on the Government for your well being. Why are you so incompetent that you cannot care for yourself?
Who's being greedy? The person that wants to keep the money he/she earned or the one that wants to take money that someone else earned?
I really believe that if the government ever got serious and tried to cut waste and fraud in the different agencies we could see massive savings immediately! The problem is that we have a zero-based budget system which punishes efficiency and praises waste. If an agency found ways to lower their expenses and thus save the people money they would have their budgets cut even more!
Endora, (I hope you get the joke), how can you say that the "rich" should not get benefits that they have been paying for their entire lives! They did this with an implied promise that they would at least get some of these payments back when they retire. To take these benefits away would be tantamount to theft! It is not just immoral it may even be considered unconstitutional! Just remember that Social Security and Medicare "taxes" are really payments for future services. It is just easy for liberals to constantly play the "hate game" against people who have spent their entire lives creating jobs and the wealth of this country!
I am not a wealthy man, but, I do not hate those with more than I have. I know several "rich" people who spent their entire lives working their a$$es off and now you and your ilk want to steal their hard work and now you want to steal their promised benefits! Just remember that when the money does finally run out you will be dining on the same scraps from the table of the liberal intelligensia as will the rest of the country!
Democrats stick it to the American people without a condom. Republicans stick it to the American people with a condom. Either way the American people get screwed.
Well said common man, well said. They're all a bunch of prostitutes for their pet projects and "social programs" to keep people dependent on government. At least prostitutes are upfront about what you're paying for.
Thinking either way as you say we Americans get nothing!
Dotties girl
So are Architects, the SECOND oldest profession.
LOL.
Salud
To paraphrase a famous quote: The difference between liberals and conservatives it with conservatism, man exploits man. In liberalism, it is the other way around!
Dotties girl, at least with prostitutes they leave after we pay them!
At least they agreed on something. Since it's a law that Congress must pass a budget by a specific date, how come they all aren't in jail for breaking that law for the past 1000+ days? Why have they been getting paid when they aren't doing their jobs? If I came to work and didn't do what I was being paid to do, I would be out of a job very quickly. Why is Congress any different.
There should be no more "Present" votes aloud. It's Yay or Nay, on the record.
Term limits for Congress
Line Item Veto for the President (or line item voting for Congress)
If a sitting politician wants to run for another office, he/she should be forced to resign their current position at the same time they announce their new candidacy.
Todd you make sense!
None of that will ever happen since Congress makes their own rules!
Technically, the budget control act of 2011 is a budget. It gave us the fiscal cliff, sequester, & the gang of 12. The folks that took their toys & went home.
As for the pass by date, they don't get paid if they done pass one correct? Well... they do get paid, but its escrowed so they can't spend it, they'll have to borrow from their campaign coffers or a lobbyist until they change that rule.
Good ideas, besides the line item veto.
The money has already been spent and the bill is due. Unless we pay the bill we default. Once that debt is paid off we are going to continue to have to borrow more or make more money. Unfunded wars are expensive. People have paid into Social Security and should be getting it when they are old. Yes, 3 support 1 but once baby boomers die off there will be a huge surplus and it will be a lot less supporting a SSI recipient. As for Medicare we all pay for Part A but when one is eligable they have to pay part B and part D so we pay private insurance companies to cover us for those areas. Nothing is free as some would have us believe.
People who weren't responsible enough to save outside the SSI deductions are going to have a tough time living in old age. It was never meant to be the only means of support but a suppliment for one's savings. It was also supposed to be off limits to Congress in robbing it to pay other bills. Unfortunately that changed and we need to demand Congress pay it back with interest.
A line item veto may be a good idea but would those line items be up for override? Would the President sign the bill with line items crossed out, would the President send it back with instructions to cut this or that? If so is the President a dictator telling Congress what they should and should not do?
We have term limits. They are called elections. They happen every 2 years for House Members and every 6 years for Senators. If you don't like the incumbant you don't vote for them. If enough people vote that way their term is over. If more people believe that the incumbant is doing a good job and shoud remain in Copngress than they will vote for them and they get another term. Is that so hard to understand?
Did you not read about the "No Budget, No Pay" part of the tax bill?
Did they say how much they raised it by?
Is there an actual number or does it give Obama free reign to 'borrow' $4 trillion in the next 3 months to put in his 'rainy day fund'?
Todd, and there should be no last minute additions to bills being voted on. How many pork-jobs are added at the last minute, and to whom are they sponsored by and for whos benefita?
I was under the opinion that the President didn't like pork or lobbyists, and would veto any legislation having it in it.
Does any member read the legislation prior to passing it? What was it that Nancy Pelosi said: "We must pass the bill to see what is in the bill"!
Do you mean legislation like this when you talk about Obama's veto?
From 2009:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/29632177/ns/politics-white_house/t/obama-signs-massive-imperfect-spending-bill/#.UQ2kALkx4Ut
Kick the can, kick the can, and kick the can.
The cans are to flat now from stepping on them sounds like the same problem Agnes has
Agnes, why so angry?
It's the economy stupid. Obama cannot blame the failing to recover economy on anybody but himself. His 800 billion dollar stimulus has left us treading water and no better than that. At this point I'd like to see the sequester if only to see all the politicians get off their butts and do something positive.
I believe anyone Blogging about this without a suggestion on solving the problem is wasting your time. Kick the Congress in the ass with what you believe. It is viewed by the Congressional Staff. They all have their Internet Bloggers. When you hit them or as I say a nerve watch the defensive nature of the response. Tthat negative Blogger is a Staffer!
national debt at $16.493 trillion today and rising. Go team.
How much of it was from Iraq? Afghanistan? The Bush tax cuts? Remember - "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter"....What were the numbers under Clinton?....under W? Do you honestly believe that a Republican administration would lower the deficit? When was the last time that happened?
ProFreedom-5130956
Courtesy of Adam Entous, Reuters, on AOL News Jan 11, 2004
Salud
hypocrisy
From 2004 to 2007 the Deficit declined. The FY2007 deficit was 160 Billion. What have they been since the Democrats took over Congress in 2007?
Why take offense to what ProFreedom-5130956 said? He didn't blame any party in particular. Then again, watching people argue party against party is sad. They are all the same and only in it for themselves, at our expense.
Debt rose $7 trillion under Obama-more than at any time in history.
Salud
@soldon, look at W's numbers again when you add the money spend on the Iraq war into the budget...he mysteriously left them off budget for some reason. Also factor in the costs of Medicare part D, then look back at the numbers. Maybe we should just ask Barry to take all the war related costs off the books...maybe some other bills as well...then we will have a huge surplus again!
Saying the wars were "off the books" is misleading if not an outright lie. The Congress at Bush's request funded the war with emergency” supplementals to the budget. This was accounted for in the national debt. BTW, an emergency supplemental is the same way Congress is funding Hurricane Sandy relief funds.
Need to bite the bullet, bite the bullet, bite the bullet. The problem isnt going to solve its-self. The problem is perpetual elections.
Well good luck to the Country. Doesn't look like anything will be done. So easy yet nothing. the same thing happened to Greece!
I think that Boehner has been asked to keep quiet along with his side kick Cantor!
So how much pork barrel spending did they have to add to the debt limit extension bill LOL
Three Month Extension
Getting shorter kicks down the road
Maybe they need to eat their Wheaties
r
Sh-t they have been serving the people
I pray that the Republicans will NOT allow the Democrats to raise more taxes to waste on social welfare give away programs to buy more votes. There are already enough states that have more people on welfare than they do working so please do NOT give them more money to waste.
It is time to end this mess and stop the wasteful spending and start to live within the supposed budget, even if it is just an imaginary one.
Most of the States that receive more welfare from the feds than they send to the feds are Repub. states. Let them secede. Problem solved.
So Guy,
Do you think it is OK to spend money we don't have as long as the majority of it goes to one political party or the other?
But, if the Red States secede, they will stop getting their welfare farm subsidies from evil big brother....and what about their SS checks? They will have to take up arms to end the tyranny of big brother and get their welfare back. Now you and I may see this as contradictory, like Orwellian double-speak....but just turn on @!$%#head news for a while and it will all make sense.
earl welfare and other programs are not give away programs, the government does have a responsibility to look after the people.
Who are these people that think that red states are going to secede? Are you the same group that thinks the Easter bunny is going to be busted for trespassing this year? Here, here, I've got one: The vice president is going to buy all the stock in Gorilla Glue and put them out of business. Then he is going to put that glue on everyone's income tax refund check so they won't be able to cash them. Then the government will have a surplus. (Much more likely than a state seceding from the country!)
JC Read the petitions coming out of the red states.
What a surprise! The elected jackasses approved wasting more money. Will the American voter ever get smart?
Our "leaders" are NOT leading by example - because who in their right mind would want to act like our Congress ? (both houses and the administration) - are you kidding me folks?
All of you "overpaid" and "underworked" Congressmen (and women) need to get a freakin' clue !!!!!
The American people are so tired of your "crap" - you are acting like a bunch of out-of-work public housing tenants that do nothing but bitch, complain and point the finger at the other guy saying it's all his fault we are in the "mess" we are in - GROW UP Congress - and start acting like responsible adults and do your damn job!
AMEN
How much longer will we all have to wait for the people who get paid from our taxes to do the job? I got a hunch we'll be in here typing about this subject for the next 4 years at least.
When I was a child, I enjoyed playing kick the can. Now, as an adult, I am seeing that Congress is still playing the game but doing a bad job of it.
At some point, both parties have to realize that playing hard ball is not going get anything done. The problem is old, the growing national debt, and the solutions are not simple. We either tax for the things we want or cut spending for the things we think we need and want. Cutting government revenue by reducing taxes was a dumb move by Bush. There was no justification for the cut and then the cut should have been immediately removed after we got involved in all those wars.
The problem with the national debt goes back over forty years so both parties are to blame for the problem and both parties should work together to solve the problem. Seems silly for those in Congress to want to hold power if the nation goes into bankruptcy or a depression, the prize will smell pretty bad for those last in office.
Jr how about if we all go to DC and play kick the butt :) giggle
The Bush tax cuts were just made "permanent" by Obama for 99.3% of taxpayers. Was that also a dumb move??
Minor correction. The Bush tax cuts were made permanent by Obama and a BI-PARTISAN votes in the Congress.
Obama just is clueless how to use the bully pulpit - he should veto this POS and tell them to stop screwing around in a national prime time press conference. The more he "gives in" the more they will try to take out!
Obama is in retirement mode since he was handed the 34 million dollar beach house in Hawaii
To Viknat: what utter nonsense. If the President was taking it so easy, he wouldn't look 20 years older than when he got in office 4 years ago. Have you ever gone shopping with a tormenting kid that refuses to leave the car? Pretty hard to get anything done when that little House Rep, I mean kid refuses to do anything.
TJ- Have you ever seen Obama attend his job counsel meetings in the past year, We sure did see allot of pictures of him attending his Hawaiian vacations
Harry Reid has tabled 2, 748 bills set forth by Republicans
That was as of May, 2012.
What does it matter, the long term goal of the LIBERALS is to turn our country into a socialists style government where the Gov get bigger and the citizen gets smaller....Communism failed in the Soviet Union back in the 80's and now that we haven't learned, will also fail. This endless printing of money will catch up to us sometime, then the collapse will begin. Our taxes will be the determining factor of when. When taxes hit 50% you will see failure on a massive scale, and then you can thank the LIBERAL DEMOCRATS !
reality: When taxes were much higher, the country was doing well.....how do you explain that?
The sky is falling, the sky is falling! There is nothing to fear but fear itself. Sounds like you have a bundle.
reality when taxes were much higher, everyone paid more tax... Wanna try to explain that away?
Obama got his tax rollback on de rich... Now he be wantin more.
Typical Democrat..
They better change over to total computerized money before we run out of wood.
The President keeps complaining the republicans do not want to work with him and cooperate but is he showing them any reason to do so, I don't think so. All you hear from the President is do it my way or else.