The Deal of the Century
The deal to take us back from the edge of the fiscal cliff (actual cliff not included) features $41 of real-as-a-heart-attack tax increases for every $1 of imaginary never-gonna-happen spending cuts.
What did the GOP get out of the deal? The loss of the last thing it actually stood for.
What did President Obama and the Democrats get out of it? GOP complicity in yet another scheme on the nation’s long road to ruin.
I said it weeks ago on Trifecta and I’ll say it again here: The GOP had no good bargaining position, and it’s not like the Democrats were ever going to negotiate in good faith anyway — so the GOP shouldn’t have even tried. They had exactly one option open to them, which was to give the Democrats everything they wanted, vote “present” on the disgusting mess, then go home for the holidays.
Let the Democrats live with the results of their taxes and spending, without a single Republican fingerprint anywhere near it. It wasn’t a great play, but at least then they’d have stood for something. Yes, they’d have paid for it with lost seats in the midterms — but that’s going to happen anyway now, and probably even worse.
Instead, Obama got everything he wanted, including the Wedge Issue of the Century with which to beat the GOP for the next two years.
The Republicans could have left Washington weeks ago, with at least their dignity intact. Now they’ll take full ownership of the craptaculent mess we lovingly call “Obamanomics.”
Congratulations to Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, for becoming the first multi-trillion-dollar losers in our Republic’s history.
And to think it’s only the beginning…a new year, a new beginning of the end.
Let the Marxists get real cocky. They will overplay their hand and push too far. Kinda like the Brits did at Concord. Same for the Judenrats of the GOP who just intend to make the best of a bad situation–we shoulg thank them. They want to keep their powder dry so they can surrender later. We have a Marxist party and a Liberal party. Time we had an Americam party. Those other guys can split the idiot vote.
I am reminded of a Churchill quote – he was speaking of the Brits first real victory of WWII, in N. Africa, and his quote was for them a harbinger of hope to the country – today it would be a dire warning to a country embarked upon a course of financial ruin:
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
A few of his other quotes come to mind as well:
“Some see private enterprise as a predatory target to be shot, others as a cow to be milked, but few are those who see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon.”
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
“We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. “”
I fear greatly that we are at such a juncture in our history.
We past that juncture last November and voted away anything remotely familiar to Churchill.
Nuw it’s time to quote Sam Adams, Tom Paine, etc.
We got a few things out of the deal. First off, we’ve made the tax rates for the overwhelming majority permanent. No longer will we have to negotiate with the Democrats over that. We’ve also given those making between $250,000 and $400,000 a strong incentive to keep at least one house in GOP hands, as well as showing those who make over $400,000 who their friends and enemies are. And its not like the House cant pass a seperate bill undimg the tax rate rollback for higher earners. We’ve also gotten explicit admission from Democrats that taxes hurt the economy.
I don’t think walking away would have worked. Obama would have gladly taken more tax money from the middle class and blamed the GOP for caring mor about their buddies the rich than the little guy. With this deal liberals will at some point be forced to explicitly raise taxes on the middle class. That is, after all, where the money is.
I also don’t think this is a terribly powerful wedge issue. The issue of whether or not taxes were going to go up was settled in November, if you don’t like it talk to the million or so people who voted for Bush in ’04 who didn’t show up for aromney. The only issue under discussion was how many people were going to see higher taxes. The GOP saved as many as they could, but they couldn’t get them all.
Now we turn our focus to the debt ceiling, and here the GOP hand is much stronger. Without the House Obama either has to balance the budget or start playing some shady tricks that will spook the markets. Now, if the tax deal had some language that took some of Timmy’s options off the table it would be the political version of Cannae, but I doubt “Boehner” is a corruption of “Barca”.
“if you don’t like it talk to the million or so people who voted for Bush in ’04 who didn’t show up for aromney”
This is just one more reason that I don’t think Obama and the Senators were voted in legitimately. Where did those voters go? Did they just disappear?
I think their votes were magically transfered into the “correct” pile by fraud. Probably using the computer voting maxhines which are more efficient, but less accountable. Any system can be hacked, especially by the guys who made it in the first place. I can understand black districts having 120% partipation and NO votes for Romney. I can undertand the same thing out west with Mexican illegals. That is a regular occurence, and, even though that should be looked into as well, the missing Republicans I just can’t account for. Just where did the fired-up Republicans go to?
I do not trust the new computerized voting machines. I had NO proof that my vote was counted correctly. I got a receipt for “voting”. Thank you, hve a nice day. How do I know, and how can anyone verify that my votes were applied correctly? Answer: you can’t.
I find it strange that there was very little change in the House, as opposed to the Senate and President, from 2010. But the House is elected by districts, and a white, middle class district is very hard to fool with. But for Statewide and federal offices, that 110% black turnout sure matters, especially when victory is almost always a few percentage points at best.
There is NO WAY IN HELL that those states which went for McCain in ’08, went for Obama in 2012, without a massive voter fraud plan in place.
Like I said, look to the House. Why no big wave there?
Add that to all the bs about voter suppression and all the stupid things we’ve let them do to the voting procedures since Motor Voter. Do you not see more than ample opportunity for rampant, organized fraud? The current DOJ is completely interested in voter “suppression”, but not in any actual fraud. Is that not strange?
Yet, curiously, noone seems much interesed in treason, these days. We’ve become a country of idiot Ostriches, our heads glued to American Idol. This time, We’re the ones doing the fiddling while Rome burns.
I don’t see the GOP losing seats in 2014 because of these tax increases, even as one citizen who will be hit hard by them. While I admire those Senators and Representatives who voted no on principle, the reality is that this is the best overall deal that the GOP could actually achieve. Even though Obama and the Dems got the better end of it, now they own the consequences.
Well Thursday will be interesting. The rumor machine is saying that there are enough angry conservatives willing to kick Boener out of the speaker’s seat and it looks like Cantor will be who they are putting up for the job. Yeah and I’ll get a motor scooter for my birthday complete with a blond chick to ride pillion.
Well, a few more months of crap like this and I see the end of a GOP House come the 2014 elections. Remember the Golden Age of complete and total Democrat fule? Imagine the sequel with Barry in charge. You can almost taste the awesome which, strangely, tastes like shit.
Forget Churchill and Adams, etc.
Obama and the media are going to thrash the Republicans every two months for the rest of his term in fake negotiations. The Republicans are a hapless as puppies in burlap bag.
I didn’t think it could get worse than Obama ruining our nation. It will be worse: Obama will get the Republicans to ruin the nation for him.
Obama will overplay his hand eventually, but we will be a third world nation by that time and who will care?
This is a tragedy on the scale of the Simarillion.