News Dec 20, 2012 at 9:04 am

Comments

1
Nothing about Obama offering up cuts to Social Security in the name of balancing the budget?
2
@1: If the dems do not compromise on welfare programs, the GOP is going to send us off the cliff, where there will be deeper cuts to social security.

The GOP is not going to blink for nothing. They are prepared to sacrifice the country to prove themselves right, and for the knockout punch in 2016: The Democrats sent us over the Fiscal Cliff.

They have done this before. Both sides need to compromise, and both sides are at cros-purposes, and both sides have to give a bit.
3
The fact that the judge shot down the Feds request for prison time and gave Corbray what amounts to a light slap on the wrist is a pretty good sign going forward.

Plus he wasn't exactly in compliance with either the medical law, nor 502.
4
@2 There are no automatic cuts to social security from the fiscal cliff.

While it would slow growth for a short time, maybe even cause a recession, the fiscal cliff is really not that bad. We get rid of all the Bush tax cuts, military spending is cut, and we basically balance the budget in 5-6 years.

Nor is it really even a cliff. More of a slope.

Let us go over then we can start negotiations from a much more advantageous position.
5
@2, the GOP will run on the Dems cut social security and you know what? Social Security DOESN'T CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEFICIT!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12…

6
@4: My point is, if we do go off the cliff and another recession starts, the welfare programs we need to reform desperately will be the first on the chopping block. You have a much rosier outlook then economists and the CBO, I must say.

No one can deny that SS and medicare/aid are in trouble without serious reforms, and in the midst of another recession, there are going to be deep cuts, because this congress is unwilling to do meaningful tax reforms. Good luck getting another needed stimulus through the teabaggy congress.

That being said, the "deal" the GOP was offering was worse than the cliff, but that may not be the case now that Boehner is putting the Bush tax cuts on the table. But if the GOP will not budge on military cuts, the cliff probably is the better outcome. But both sides need to compromise, and some welfare cuts are going to be a part of that.

But hopefully the increased revenue will be put to social services, and not fast tracked directly to the military.
7
@5: I don't WANT cuts to SS, but I live in the real world where politics is about compromise, and you can not always have everything you want.
8
Glad to hear about Olive Garden's comeuppance. I hope this will dissuade other CEOs from threatening their employees' livelihoods in order to blackmail the government. Sounds like that douche who owns Papa John's has learned his lesson as well.
9
@6 CBO is what I am basing this on. Baseline gets us a 500b reduction in the deficit in 2013 and an essentially balanced budget by 2018.
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43539

That takes a lot of the wind out of the need to make deep spending cuts.
10
Ladies, don't put food items in your purse like Chelsea. You'll inevitably forget about something and have an unpleasant experience later.
12
@11 That post was much to short.
13
@ 2 is right, if we go into a recession grant funding to universities will get cut off and people will lose their jobs. So what is worst more unemployed people or a small cut to social security?
14
@4: I agree with giffy, and Howard Dean. And Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC, who refers to it as the "fiscal curb". Obama shouldn't even waste time talking to Boehner. Just let those tax cuts expire, period.
15
I can't eat at all these chain restaurants if I can't take a bus to them. Is there even an olive garden in Seattle?
16
@2 – Nothing will happen that hasn’t already happened before the new congress comes in. The GOP will blink when the bloated military budget (50% of spending) is on the table. Main Street has already compromised. It’s the turn of the 1% and they know it.

The best way to lose in 2014 is to demoralize those who noticed that Obama campaigns way to the left of where he governs (like in 2010 when they didn’t show at the box). The fiscal cliff kabuki is a manufactured crisis to provide cover for New Dems to hack at the safety net.
17
@13, in the long run, cuts to Social Security are worse. It's not even clear that the full effect of doing nothing would cause a recession. It would certainly not be as deep as the prior one. But let's say it raises unemployment by one percent. You would trade unemployment for 1% of the work force for a permanent decline in retirement benefits for everyone? Realize that the cuts are cumulative for each person, so that older people, who have higher personal inflation because a higher portion of their spending is on drugs and medicines, would have the least benefits in inflation-adjusted terms. That's not just a bad idea, it's immoral.
18
That 600-year old bra is old news. I saw this story months ago!

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.