Debt Deal Emerges
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-08-02/debt-deal-emerges
It’s August 2nd, and lawmakers and the president have until midnight to raise the debt ceiling, or risk default. They’re on track to do so. The House passed the debt limit deal last night. The Senate votes this afternoon. The legislation will enact spending cuts immediately. And a bipartisan commission will consider tax reform and revenue adjustments over the long term. But just because the deal is on track doesn’t mean it’s popular. It faces opposition from both the left and the right, for different reasons. We hear reaction to the emerging debt deal and take a close-up look at its details.
Guests
Susan Page
Washington bureau chief for USA Today.
David Winston
republican strategist and president of the Winston Group, and CBS News consultant. Served as a strategic adviser to House and Senate Republican Leadership for the past 12 years.
Matt Kibbe
president and CEO of FreedomWorks and co-author with former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of the book, "Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto."
Katrina vanden Heuvel
editor and publisher of The Nation, writes a weekly column for The Washington Post.
Comments
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Wow, I am surprised No one is talking about the elephant in the room, the crime of the century was sneaked in through the back door and now threatens our whole political process of checks and balances....
“This "Super Congress" scam smacks of tyranny. 12 elitist politician s crafting legislatio n that cannot be amended or filibuster ed by the duly elected representa tives of the We the People.
sane wrote:
'because they refuse to play by fair rules and as they stated, their job is to destroy his presidency.'
"they stated"? Who is they? The Tea Party has no formal organization, so whom do you mean? Every one of them to a man or woman?
I am sick and tired of hearing this from the left. I don't like Obama's policies so I'm a racist. Brilliant!
Here's a thought. Why don't you all grow a pair and try forming an actual argument over policy issues for a change.
"Sane
Interesting model is Germany. With 81 million population they almost match us in exports. Have high salaries and greg benefits. They income distribution is very even and they require unions to sit on their board of directors. a German company are expected to continuously educated they work force, regardless of job position"
Insane:
How much longer do you think that is going to keep going. Every other country, PIGGS are all expecting Germany to pay for there deficit. They are the richest country, they are being expected to pay their "fair share".
It is very similiar to what is happening in this country where a certain group of people want the "rich" to pay their fair share for all these failed social programs.
But guess what, Germany population is somewhat center to left, but the Germans people are telling the poliiticans about these bailouts, not only no, but hell no. They the Germans know that these other countries will be coming back asking for more bailout money.
Read August 8th Forbes about the PIGGS
New Idea for the Super Committee of Congress:
How to decrease the government debt: take the profit out of government debt for the wealthy. During deficits and debt, tax cuts have to be paid for by borrowing money including from the wealthy. The wealthy get to lend money to the government that they could afford to pay in taxes and even profit from the interest payments. The bond market is a huge profit center for the wealthy and a hedge against the volatility of the stock market.
Ban the wealthy from lending the government money. Ban tax cuts for the wealthy while there is government debt. If the wealthy can better invest money than the government, then the wealthy should borrow the money on the open market instead. Perhaps, the government could make money by lending money to the rich, just like for students.
Six of the Reasons Republicans Love Government Debt and Are Working Hard to Keep It
Daniel Bennett
Washington, DC
P.S. Don't believe the balanced budget amendment ploy. The wealthy depend on the bond market and a balanced budget does not equal no government debt.
I don't see any good coming out of this. The President should have used the 14th amendment to raise the debit limit. The Tea Party got the win, the American people got the loss. Every economist, Right, Left and Center says that cutting spending now will only hurt the economy. The commission is a joke!
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS is what Congress should be working on!
Regards,
David
Grand Rapids MI
Any American with an ounce of common sense can see that this compromise is a nearly 90% Republican / Tea Party victory. For FreedomWorks to complain it doesn’t go far enough would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic. FreedomWorks members and all Tea Partiers should stay off federally funded highways, refrain from eating safe food and stop breathing clean air so they can see how important government spending is. I get really tired of hearing how government is the problem: our government programs have created the society we have, and gives these unreasonable people the forum to lobby for such damaging and unintelligent policies. Their inflexibility has led to a climate where passage of this very unbalanced bill was the lesser of two evils.
urbanrage: Will the supercongress wear masks and be driven in bulletproof armoured vehicles like death squad judges? When the structural violence comes down that may happen. Hidden identity means anyone could serve: Simon Cowell, Bashir al Assad, Tyra Banks, DSK.......
When the will of the People is denied anything can happen.
The so-called Tea Party is yet another compromised group of extremists being manipulated by by the same forces that use the "Pro Life" movement and other extreme right-wing conservatives to advance their extreme anti-regulation, anti federal government agenda. How do I know? These people are willing to axe programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid without ever touching corporate welfare. Big Oil, the railroads and the pharmaceutucal companies all enjoy profitable monopolies, yet all these so-called conservatives won't even discuss ending subsibides to such companies. Please discuss how many campaign contributions Big Oil has made to its supporters in Congress in just the last six months, including Speaker John Baehnor and his partner in chaos, Eric Cantor. These corporations are getting the best government and tax legislation that money can buy.
Bryan Chitwood, Greensboro, NC
We don't have a deficit or a debt problem, we have a jobs problem and a problem with federal revenues. Federal revenues are at a 60 year low as a percent of GDP, total tax revenue is lower (as a percent of GDP) than any time since 1965.
More importantly, total revenues are more than 10% below the OECD average. It isn't unusual that we have large deficits, it would be magical if we didn't have deficits.
Furthermore surveys show people want tax increases and do not want spending cuts by very large margins (64 to 34.)
However, the Tea Party has hijacked the discussion since they neither understand the history of austerity during downturns and are completely beholden to the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans.
Diane I LOVE LOVE LOVE your show, but please make the point if tax cuts "created" jobs. we would have had more than 4 million new jobs under President George W. Bush.
urbanrage wrote:
"Wow, I am surprised No one is talking about the elephant in the room, the ... “This "Super Congress" scam smacks of tyranny."
I thought of that too, urbanrage. Its one saving grace is that the full Congress gets to vote on whatever they come up with so it can be "vetoed". I suspect that each side will pick people that will defend their most critical issues with some mushy compromise in the middle that they know beforehand will pass.
urbanrage wrote:
"Wow, I am surprised No one is talking about the elephant in the room, the ... “This "Super Congress" scam smacks of tyranny."
I thought of that too, urbanrage. Its one saving grace is that the full Congress gets to vote on whatever they come up with so it can be "vetoed". I suspect that each side will pick people that will defend their most critical issues with some mushy compromise in the middle that they know beforehand will pass.
Repubs say STARVE the beast, Dems Say we need to exercise too. Isn't the point to get leaner AND stronger?
If Democrats think raising taxes is a good thing, why do they not raise state income taxes on the Rich in states that are controlled by Democrats? They could increase state income taxes on the rich by the same amount as the Bush tax cuts. Democrats think Americans are undertaxed....why do they not put their money where there mouth is and raise state taxes in states where they are in control like Rhode Island and Mass.
So your name really is eggyon face, and you are a bully as well as a racist. Why else would you throw such a baby fit? My email is beretco.op@hotmail.com and I live openly in Edison, NJ. I am a humanist and a neo-Abolitionist, unashamed.
Have Dems pick Repubs and vise versa. That would be interesting.
Bryan Chitwood wrote:
"These people are willing to axe programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid without ever touching corporate welfare. Big Oil, the railroads and the pharmaceutucal companies all enjoy profitable monopolies, yet all these so-called conservatives won't even discuss ending subsibides to such companies. "
Absolutely false, Bryan. End all the subsidies TODAY. End the mortgage deduction. Get the Federal Government out of the housing business and out of big business. I'm all for it. Congress has the right to regulate commerce, not participate in it.
Good morning, Diane.
To my dismay, on your show today one of the male guest's earliest remarks focused on his opinion that the recent Tea Party ransom negotiations and outcome were good for his political factions. As the NYT columnist Joe Nocera noted today in that paper, " All day Monday, the blogosphere and the talk shows mused about which party would come out ahead politically. Honestly, who cares? What ought to matter is not how these spending cuts will affect our politicians, but how they'll affect the country." I couldn't agree more. PLEASE focus on that in the discussion. Does this deal create jobs? If so, how? Discuss past evidence to support that contention. Please reflect on what FDR faced and what happened in his era regarding government spending and economic stimulus. What, if so, is different now?
Thank-you.
Elaine
Hey, Grady Lee Coward,
Doesn't address your accusation does it.
Instead of hurling invective, how about showing ONE THING I HAVE SAID THAT CARRIES EVEN A HINT OF RACISM.
EITHER THAT OR SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE
Why isn't cutting foreign aid ever mentioned as a possible cut? I would think enough could be cut to cover the gap created by entitlements.
Sane: No politician will vote higher taxes on the rich because the rich have all the discretionary money to trash or fund their reelections, or post political careers. Opposing the Oligarchy is economic suicide for them due to Supreme Court decisions about money as free speech and corporations as persons. The next step will be death squads for union organizers and dissidents just like in Central America and Syria. Runaway power cannot restrain itself.
Yeh, just fire all the teachers and firefighters and letter carriers and police. Fire ALL gov't. workers and those private companies that subsist on Gov't. contracts. That will surely save the economy.
Yeh, just fire all the teachers and firefighters and letter carriers and police. Fire ALL gov't. workers and those private companies that subsist on Gov't. contracts. That will surely save the economy.
People need to realize that no one is voting in officials, rather they are voting out incumbents. It does not make sense to try to figure out what the voters are mandating by the newly elected officials. The newly elected officials are merely a tool to get the folks out of office.
I'll be glad when you return to the 9th grade in September. Why are you obsessesd with eating pie? We were discussing "eating cake" (and don't bring up that old worn out fascist muffintop speech). Until you address my learned inqiuiry about pie...!!!!!!!!
New Idea for the Super Committee of Congress:
How to decrease the government debt: take the profit out of government debt for the wealthy. During deficits and debt, tax cuts have to be paid for by borrowing money including from the wealthy. The wealthy get to lend money to the government that they could afford to pay in taxes and even profit from the interest payments. The bond market is a huge profit center for the wealthy and a hedge against the volatility of the stock market.
Ban the wealthy from lending the government money. Ban tax cuts for the wealthy while there is government debt. If the wealthy can better invest money than the government, then the wealthy should borrow the money on the open market instead. Perhaps, the government could make money by lending money to the rich, just like for students.
http://www.mythtakenpolitics.org/2011/07/six-of-the-reasons-republicans-...
Daniel Bennett
Washington, DC
P.S. Don't believe the balanced budget amendment ploy. The wealthy depend on the bond market and a balanced budget does not equal no government debt.
"After hearing Boehner say he would only pick members for the "Super Congress" that would never compromise, I say
have the Democratic leadership pick the Republican members and Republicans pick the Democrats.
Maybe then we could get some cooperation and compromise instead of this awful and damaging stalemate." - rea
I'm sure this was lost in all the grenade throwing, but this gem is a voice of reason and productivity in a land of accusation and stalemate. BRAVO rea BRAVO
When President Clinton left office, the country had a surplus. President Bush got us into this mess by his tax cuts and two unfunded wars. President Obama inherited a disaster and continues to take the blame for what is going on now.
Why haven't the Dems and Obama made an offer to sacrifice themselves by taking a token paycut and benefits cut. It could be tied to a specific length of time until recovery. If they would do this the republicans would be irreparably caught flat footed and the argument for sacrifice from the super rich would be advanced greatly.
Hey, Grady Lee Coward,
Doesn't address your accusation does it.
Instead of hurling invective, how about showing ONE THING I HAVE SAID THAT CARRIES EVEN A HINT OF RACISM.
C'mon Mr. Coward. You must have evidence! You called me a racist. Show us all the evidence. You wouldn't shoot your mouth off without that would you, Mr. Enlightened Liberal? Let's see it. Put up or retract what you said.