From Diane
I truly hope not only that there is no “deal” but that even if there is one, Obama refuses to sign it. Why? Because the so-called “deals” aren’t really deals at all! They ALL start with a right of center set of basics and then move FURTHER to the right to “appease” the Neocons. Screw that! A compromise means one side sets out its goals, the other side sets out its goals and then you work to a middle ground. It does NOT mean you START by throwing a bunch of stuff from one side off the table and THEN finding a “compromise.” That’s what the “deals” have been and they suck! For instance:
Reduce SS & Medicare COLAs. What??? Those were PAID for already… by us in real dollars at the time the payments were deducted from our wages. We who have retired deserve to get back REAL today dollars.
Those earning $250k/year and more aren’t hurting. The crap about lower tax rates is a lie. In 1950, when the US had its highest ever growth in GDP, 13.40%,* the rate for taxable income not over $2k was 20% and it went up from there to 75% at $50k/yr, 89% for $100k and 91% for the excess over $200k AND there were fewer deductions/loopholes available.** Change the dollar figure to the 2013 equivalent of the 1950 dollars but KEEP the tax rates. Put THAT on the table and work from there, not the already emasculated rates in 2001.
Not enough journalists have pointed out that the really onerous results of the misnamed fiscal cliff (it should be called our Majestic Mountain because of the wonderful slashing of the unconscionably over-blown defense spending) can be rectified in the first session of the new Congress in January. The ill effects can be relieved by the Dems proposing measures to address each item ONE AT A TIME so when/if the Reps vote them down, THEY will be on record as voting against extending unemployment, reinstating a reasonable child care credit for working single moms, upping the minimum for the Alternative Tax to $1 million/year, extending the tax credit for middle-income parents with children in college, and upping the tax rates for higher incomes. Doing the “fixes” one by one will nail to the wall those who would vote against We the People.
The hell with any “package” deal.
*http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth-annual
**http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040–1950.pdf
Diane- I am in total agreement with you. I am disgusted with the Republican party, but equally disgusted by the process which makes the Democrats complicit. I am fearful that the Obama and the Dems are not fighting as strong for We The People and will be willing to throw us under the bus by making a deal with the devil. Why was there discussion a couple weeks ago about raising the mecicare age? Why was there a willingness to cut social security? And yet billions of dollars a year of tax payer susidies to oil companies and others who ship jobs off shore are not part of the discussion? This is what it looks like when a government is bought and paid for by wealthy special interest groups. Democracy becomes an empty shell where a vote means nothing.
LibDem,
Why do you continue to believe that there is any difference between these political parties? They are both owned and controlled by wealthy people, who are in turn controlled by mega-wealthy people. Keep in mind that not just Romney, but both candidates spent about 1 billion dollars in the last presidential election.
Both of these parties made their pact with the Devil a very long time ago. In 1913, the Devil went by a different name and had different rich men working for him then but he was commonly referred to as the Federal Reserve. Even President Wilson realized toward the end of his life that he had been duped by the Jekyll Island gang, but by then, it was too late. The rich already owned the rest of us and no one from either party has done a thing about it in all of the years since. Our presidents, members of congress, and their political parties are figure heads who are bought and paid for by the Fed. They just play this bi-partisan game to keep we the peons distracted away from who really controls this country.
How’s that for a conspiracy theory?
I don’t think that’s a conspiracy theory at all. In fact, I agree with you. If I thought a third party, such as the Green, had any hope of winning elections, I would gladly support them. However, they don’t. And besides, there are very clear differences between the Democratic and the Republican parties. Enough so that I support the Democrats. In my opinion, the Republicans have shifted far right, have made it clear who it is they support (not me), and have embraced an agenda that is rigid and uncompromising. I wish the Democrats were stronger and more unified, I wish they pushed an agenda that was less influenced by special interests, but such is democracy- and I accept that. Not sure where its all headed, although I think in general more and more people are becoming tired of Washington politics, are tired of the empty rhetoric, and are becoming aware that their vote is second to wealthy donors. Lets hope that this anger and frustration translates to movement and change. Change only truly occurs when the people vociferously and actively demand it.