Well, that didn't take long.
By a 59-41 vote, Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid tabled the Boehner bill without allowing it an up or down vote and without any debate, At the same time, he filed cloture (which requires a 2 day waiting period before a vote) on his bill. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell then offered to waive the waiting period but Reid refused. I guess as far as Reid is concerned, we're really not in such an emergency situation, where every minute counts. At least when it suits him.
McConnell showed a bit of spine by saying that he was not going to huddle with Harry Reid and negotiate a new bill. The House is going to introduce and hold a vote on the Reid bill tomorrow. It hasn't been voted on in the Senate but they have the text so the GOP is just going to introduce it themselves and kill it.
Needless to say, Harry Reid Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer are holding a press conference and whining about how the GOP filibustered their bill and how McConnell won't negotiate with them, and are blaming the Republicans for 'ruining the economy'.
Reid said of his own plan,“right now this is the only compromise there is. Obviously — obviously — what’s being done in the House is not a compromise.” He assailed Boehner’s new plan as the result of “non-transparent dealings” behind closed doors involving only Republicans. Funny, Senator Reid liked that sort of thing just fine when it came to the 'Stimulus' and ObamaCare and the Republicans were literally locked out of the room. Harry Reid has no shame whatsoever.
Reid said the Democrats are "drawing a line in the sand" and that there will be no trigger (i.e. 2nd vote) for more cuts without more taxes.
Reid just said Republicans should "move toward them" or vote for his bill. As far as Reid and the Democrats are concerned, it's their way or nothing.
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3 comments:
Where is the compromise from Reid's side. This absolute madness that he gets away with this garbage.
The Boehner bill, Cut Cap and Balance, and any thing else that has been presented are actually bad ideas. So far our "leaders" have yet to really put forth a good plan. To there credit, the Republicans may actually be trying but the problem is they are "Democrat-lite."
The only difference between Democrat and Democrat-lite is how quickly the country runs off the cliff. With Democrats the country runs off the cliff to ruin faster than with Democrat-lite but the country still runs off the cliff to ruin. It just takes a little longer. Now since neither of them can or will present a viable option, its going to be up to the American people to retake their country from these people and do so.
I'd suggest the following. 1.)Vote absolutely NO on any proposals to increse the debt one more cent for ANY reason. 2.)The government currently owns roughly 30% of all US land and all valuable offshore mineral rights. Begin selling off. Sell off enough right now to pay off the immediate national debt. This property can be sold off in pieces each year to pay the social benefits of retirees that we are committed to paying. Social security is a ponzi scheme. Its operators should be treated like the operators of any ponzi scheme. Sell off the operator's assets to pay off the victims of the scheme. The sell off can be done annuallly to pay the liabilities as they come due. By doing it this way, the government is less tempted to squander the funds. 3.)Abolish the social security and medicare tax. Each American would see an instant raise. This would be hugely beneficial to the economy. Also, the commitments we've made to retirees are being covered by the sell off of government assets. Also, this can be used to settle with non retirees. Once this is completed, we will be out of the unfunded liability trap. 4.)We are drowning in government regulations in America. Numerous government regulatory agencies need to be cut. First to be cut should be the EPA, OSHA, Dept of Education, and Dept of the Interior just to name a few. Cutting these will save alot of money and it will help the economy. The states are actually in a better position to regulate in these areas any way.
Democrats won't push this plan and it is unlikely Democrat-lites will either. Doing what I suggest should also help preserve our credit rating as well, however, we should keep in mind that even if we do every thing I suggest and even if we do even better than I suggest, rating agencies such as Moody's STILL might lower our credit rating.
The problem is rampant anti-Americanism. It infects large parts of the world and even parts of America as well. As such, it seems unlikely that Moody's and other credit rating agencies will be completely unaffected. After all the standard narrative is America "has/had it coming", this is "blowback", or any number of other sayings. Moody's and others may relish the opportunity to "knock America down a peg." Some time soon a coherent strategy to address anti-Americanism will need to be developed and implemented.
It seems like the Democrats are the most desparate to get the debt limit increased so the country can borrow more money and go even deeper in the hole. Do they realize that by voting no on the debt limit increase they would effectively end America's military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya? Frankly a majority of the public wants this to happen and to be blunt our overall situation means it is going to have to happen. Maybe they are so busy trying to oppose Republicans that they've lost sight of this.
So far the Republicans are being blamed in the media for this. The constant mantra is "Republicans want to take social security away from retirees" or something to this effect. Its difficult to know how much this resonates with the American people.
In any event the Republicans should introduce a bill in the Hoous that, in the event of failure to reach a deal on the debt, the treasury department is required to pay retirees, military salaries, veterans benefits, and interest on the debt BEFORE any thing else is paid. There is currently enough money coming in to do that. This might put to bed the myth that Repubicans want to deny retirees their social security.
For a long range solution to social security, government assets should be sold off on an annual basis to meet the needs of retirees and settlements should be made with non retirees to retire the unfunded liabilities once and for all. This way retirees and those nearing retirement will get EVERY THING they are entitled to for the rest of their lives.
Will Republicans do any of this or suggest any of this? I'm not holding my breath. After all they are really little more than the Democrat lite party.
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