US POLITICS SPRING 2011: Let's just call off this country.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/170987-mcconnell-fall-back-plan-that-leaves-debt-ceiling-hike-to-obama

The legislation would also require Obama to suggest spending cuts to accompany those increases in the debt limit, but would not require such cuts. The legislation would prohibit Obama from recommending tax increases along with the requests to increase the debt limit.

So are Dems gonna sign off on this?

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, July 12, 2011 3:54 PM (18 minutes ago)

"obama" = "the president", surely?

Maybe House Dems (in my dreams) will say that they do not want to play this game that involves only spending cuts and will vote against it, as will Tea party Republicans who may not like it. Thus it won't reach Obama.

But they still separately will have to consider the expiring Bush tax cuts and Republicans will run gazillions of tv ads accusing Dems of the largest tax increases in history

anyway what are the chances of this actually passing? republicans control the house iirc

no cuts are required, unless I'm misreading something...? Obama can just raise the limit, congress gets to complain.

i think shakey's reading is right -- obama can't "recommend" tax increases, which doesn't mean that tax increases can't happen

Weird. A Democratic Senate could propose tax increases but they won't pass in the house. Cuts have to be suggested by the President but the various appropriation committees don't have to include them. The Washington Post says that moderate Dems in the Senate will not like the plan's requirement that they vote 6 times from now through election time on raising the debt

Telling the president what he can or cannot suggest is extremely stupid

Yes

^^^^ that's what the GOP will run ads about.

xxpost

it seems incredibly bizarre + also stupid for the republicans to bet that ppl are going to give a flying fuck about the debt ceiling come a year from now

This is a face-saving gesture, guys: it allows Macca to think he's holding the President and Congressional Dems responsible for "adding to the debt" when the 2012 elections begin, and it lets Obama keep his dignity intact.

Why do you think Macca made that statement today re we gotta get Obama out of the White House? He knows the score.

honestly they would've been better off writing that obama can't suggest that casey anthony was guilty & that the senate will have to vote 6 more times on whether or not they agreed w/ the verdict

http://dystimulation.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/suggestion-box-closed.png

Alfred otm that this is all election cycle posturing, which lines up with Michael's point that this is like a public admission that the GOP has no actual interest in governing. because they don't.

also now I can't get the image of a blobfish singing Let It Be out of my head

and none of this means a damn to anyone outside the Beltway.

ding ding ding....we have a winner

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/us/13secession.html?ref=us

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Natives here have long called this area the Inland Empire, a grand title for a stretch of cities about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Now, a few political leaders are hoping this empire will lead a movement to break off from the State of California.

Frustrated by a state government he calls “completely dysfunctional” and “totally unresponsive,” a conservative Republican county supervisor is pushing a proposal for roughly a dozen counties in the eastern and southern parts of the nation’s third-largest state — conspicuously not including the heavily Democratic city of Los Angeles — to form a new state to be called South California.

is this, like, a thing?

lol every smartass socal punk has been floating that idea for years, but only as an excuse to hate on NoCal some more between cans of Meister Brau

meister brau, that's my name, that name again is meister brau

possibly the high water mark of my adolescence was me & two other guys killing off a short case of MB during the lunch break at the mandatory driver's ed for people who got a speeding ticket class

Meister Brau! so many dubious college memories tied to that name

meister brau, that's my name, that name again is meister brau

― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, July 13, 2011 12:36 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

IRL LOL

hahaha
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Natives here have long called this area the Inland Empire, a grand title for a stretch of cities about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Now, a few political leaders are hoping this empire will lead a movement to break off from the State of California.

Frustrated by a state government he calls “completely dysfunctional” and “totally unresponsive,” a conservative Republican county supervisor is pushing a proposal for roughly a dozen counties in the eastern and southern parts of the nation’s third-largest state — conspicuously not including the heavily Democratic city of Los Angeles — to form a new state to be called South California.

i grew up in SoCal. Riverside is the toxic waste capital and armpit of California. good freakin' riddance fascists!

I was born in Riverside.

true story

Meanwhile Congressional leaders and Obama are gonna meet again at the White House this afternoon. 3 weeks more or so of this, or will Obama capitulate before that time, no matter what is on the table -the McConnell plan or whatever.

uh McConnell's plan is a total capitulation by the GOP

As long as it doesn't involve Republicans raising taxes on the rich themselves, McConnell may see it as a partial victory. While we wait to see the outcome, some insiders are just fixating on the Boehner versus Cantor issues- this from the w. post-

Since pulling the plug on the deal, Boehner has been largely silent in the meetings, leaving House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to present details of the House’s position. On Tuesday, people in both parties said, Obama tried to reestablish Boehner’s primacy.

Cantor, who is advocating a smaller deal, at one point demanded that Obama offer the details of his vision for a “grand bargain.”

“Where’s your paper?” he asked angrily.

Obama snapped back: “Frankly, your speaker has it. Am I dealing with him, or am I dealing with you?”

ooh snap

White House leaks on purpose when they want to

lol

White House leaks on purpose when they want to

here I was thinking they leaked on purpose against their will

Nancy sez

McConnell's statement yesterday about a deal being impossible for as long as Obama remains president was amazing. Obama's being pilloried here and many other places for being ready to give away the store; McConnell's statement was 180 degrees counter to the facts. Is he telling the country that any non-Republican as president is simply unnacceptable anymore, or is he hinting at deeper character flaws in Obama that make him specifically unacceptable no matter what he proposes?

As far as the idea, way upthread, that McConnell's proposal yesterday finally proves the Republicans aren't serious about governing, I'd go back to their 2008 VP candidate and start working forward from there.

I'd go back to their 2008 1992 VP candidate and start working forward from there.

fixed

GOP always says that kind of thing ahead of an election year clemenza

wow, i had no idea pelosi was 71 years old

she has like 30 grandkids or something

so boehner is on board, kind of, with the mcconnell plan, the right wing is livid, but even BIG GROVE aka the norquister is kinda sorta ok with it. i haven't read any of the lefty wonks' analyses of the plan yet.

this shit is getting really bizarre. maybe the rentiers are finally starting to twist arms? what would the right metaphor be, two people playing chicken on bicycles and then they look around and notice they're on a freeway...

Most of the strident tea partiers are too ideological (i.e., either too dumb or too poor) to realize that the real oligarchic implications of their intransigence don't actually serve the oligarchy's real interests.

waht

i think that's otm!

yep

Yeah, basically the GOP is dealing with two very different groups, tea partiers and big business. The tea partiers pretty much refuse to raise the debt ceiling without massive cuts and zero revenues. Big business OTOH just wants to get the debt ceiling raised and be done with it because they understand that it will be economically catestrophic to leave it along. The GOP leadership is obviously leaning toward the big business (and more reasonable) view and is trying to find a way out of this mess without losing too much face.

without losing too much face.many seats

fixed

honestly, I think they may be screwed in terms of the elections next year either way, but we'll see.

please someone straighten me out if i'm wrong, but it seems like President Obama missed an opportunity to advocate for something like he is now pushing several months ago, maybe even during the lame duck session? did the WH anticipate that letting it get to this point would smoke out the crazies? because it kind of has, so um kudos?

imo it was pretty evident he would come to the center (or even further right? i don't even know any more...) at some point; why not skip all the pressure-cooker theatrics and just, you know, say "hey fuck y'all we're doing x,y,z (ie. basically using the template the Simpson-Bowles commission laid out). get on board or the ensuing bullshit is all on your hands."

honestly, I think they may be screwed in terms of the elections next year either way, but we'll see.

I think they totally are, but I seem to be in the minority opinion about that

i mean, his base can't yell "sellout" any louder than they already are

xpost

honestly, I think they may be screwed in terms of the elections next year either way, but we'll see.

sort of depends on how many resentful, addled tea-partiers and tea party sympathizers kick the bucket before the next election. those guys aren't going to change teams based on *facts*