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

If the debt-ceiling impasse threatens future beer summits, I know President Obama will act.

god the post is so horrible. why in fuck is this in the STYLE section??

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/grover-norquist-the-anti-tax-enforcer-behind-the-scenes-of-the-debt-debate/2011/07/12/gIQAPGNSBI_story.html

[Norquist] has, he said, been in e-mail contact “on a regular basis” with “leadership and leadership staff” during the debt talks, “just to check in to see if there was anything they needed from me.” When he read in the news that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), a pledge-taker, was apparently considering a compromise, he simply dropped him a note asking, “What did you say?”

I seem to recall some story about Grover Norquist sleeping with a giant Planter's Peanut statue next to his bed, but can't find anything about it... was this just some horrible nightmare I had

As he meticulously folded sheets of newspaper, adjusted business cards, repositioned scissors and laid down a stress ball next to a pair of hand grips, Norquist acknowledged issuing gentle reminders to pledge-takers.

When he read in the news that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), a pledge-taker, was apparently considering a compromise, he simply dropped him a note asking, “What did you say?”

OK I laughed.

I think I have read weird stuff about him.

said this yesterday: the debt ceiling argument is lovely and I'm happy Macca is in trouble, but let's talk about SS and Medicare again.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Why? You get joy about hearing Obama say cutting them is good and necessary?

A reminder that no one "wins" this family feud.

If you're rich and don't need to rely on SS and Medicare,then one might consider it a win that instead of using "progressive" ideas to shore up these programs, Obama and Republicans are just advocating slash and burn

it's a "win" if the GOP nominates Bachmann right.

When he read in the news that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), a pledge-taker, was apparently considering a compromise, he simply dropped him a note asking, “What did you say?”

http://www.pluggd.in/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/don-corleone-checklist.jpg

At least somebody gets it. But I don't know what "fake cuts" the reader is excoriating Obama for.

With apologies to Rob Sheffield:

BOEHNER: A month ago he brought up this debt-ceiling business. A sure winner--I wouldn't even have to act, just be myself. “Taxes, deficit, spending cuts, blah, blah, blah.” Oh, Grover, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

GROVER: You can act like a man! What's the matter with you? Is this how you turned out? A Washington finocchio that cries like a woman? “What can I do?! What can I do?!” What is that nonsense? Ridiculous. (To Boehner, after glancing to see Mitch McConnell enter) You spend time with your base?

BOEHNER: Sure I do.

GROVER: Good. ‘Cause a wingnut who doesn’t spend time with other wingnuts can never be a real wingnut...Come're. You look terrible. I want you to eat. I want you to rest a while. And in a month from now, this Muslim phony’s gonna give you what you want.

haha, i originally was thinking sosa from scarface, threatening to unleash a hit squad of ninja Teabaggers if boehner so much as thought of not setting off the car bomb capitulating on the debt ceiling. then i remembered that tony montana was defiant till the bloody end which is so un-boehner. so vito corleone it is.

not sure who this twitterer is, but, lol

http://twitter.com/#!/cate_long/status/91158825503166464

Ron Paul to Bernanke: "Is gold money?" Bernanke: "No it's a precious metal". Paul: "Why do central banks hold it?" Bernanke: "Tradition."

that's great

bhahahahahahaaaa

But I don't know what "fake cuts" the reader is excoriating Obama for.

Is this a reference to December when Obama agreed to cuts and then they turned out to be the government not spending money it was going to spend on projects that have not started, and other accounting gimmicks?

no he's referring to something in the more recently offered deal. why he thinks those cuts are "fake" is beyond me. They come from the budget, does that mean including them in the deficit is also "fake"?

Although I see some have attacked prior Obama claimed defense cuts as fake:

http://ij-poli-blog.blogspot.com/2011/06/obamas-deep-cuts-in-military-spending.html

this piece quotes the following from a Forbes blog:

Mr. Obama’s new and improved plan for slimming down America’s national-security posture likely will entail little sacrifice for the federal government’s biggest source of discretionary spending, the Department of Defense. It’s not that there isn’t plenty of wasteful spending to be found — the Army will spend over $2 billion during the period in question just on its music bands — but the way the President has couched his proposed savings minimizes their likely impact on security (and the deficit). Let’s take a look at some of the factors mitigating what seems like a very big cut in spending.

I'm guessing fake cuts means cuts that don't directly alter the nature of the service being cut. For example, cuts to Medicare will only be real when seniors are actually dying on the streets.

jonathan chait linked to this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/magazine/how-kevin-mccarthy-wrangles-the-tea-party.html

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said that the government will be unable to meet its financial obligations by Aug. 2 unless Congress permits it to borrow more. The freshmen have not been shy on this subject, either. McCarthy informally polled them when they first came to town in November for orientation. All but four of them said they would vote against raising the ceiling, under any circumstances. Then McCarthy (along with Ryan and the House Ways and Means chairman, Dave Camp) began conducting more listening sessions. The whip recognized that it would be counterproductive to lecture the freshmen about the economic hazards of not raising the debt ceiling. He also realized that it’s one thing to pass a budget — which in the end is a nonbinding political document — and another thing to throw America into default. And so McCarthy has urged them to consider raising the ceiling under certain conditions and thus to view this moment as a golden opportunity to force significant changes from the White House. “We all ran for a reason,” he tells them. “What’s most of concern to you? What is it that we think will change America?”

As a result, the freshmen have begun to move away from a hard “no” on raising the debt ceiling to a “yes, if.” In the conference room, several freshmen have said they’ll vote to raise the ceiling only if the president agrees to repeal his health care legislation. Or if Obama signs into law a constitutional amendment to balance the budget, after all 50 states have ratified it. Or if he’ll agree to mandatory caps on all nondefense spending. Or if he’ll enact the Ryan budget. The whip writes down all their ideas on a notepad. He never tells them that they’re being unrealistic

Or if Obama signs into law a constitutional amendment to balance the budget, after all 50 states have ratified it.

okay if these ppl can go to Congress, why can't I

i cant believe im still shocked at how stupid our elected representatives are!

The whip writes down all their ideas on a notepad.

The whip recognized that it would be counterproductive to lecture the freshmen about the economic hazards of not raising the debt ceiling.

so responsible! whatta guy

Nobody told these fools that a balanced budget amendment would likely not pass constitutional muster.

i mean the guy basically set up a day-care for the tea party reps

kevin drum gets email from an i-banker

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/07/has-wall-street-given-boehner

or, less charitably, a group therapy session in a mental home

several freshmen have said they’ll vote to raise the ceiling only if the president agrees to repeal his health care legislation.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry, but I'm choosing laugh.

Basically they have no concept of how politics actually work and the republican leadership is content with keeping them in the dark.

I really want these reps named

Me too, just googled, can't find them. But Bachmann's on board!

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/170847-bachmann-opens-door-to-raising-debt-limit-if-it-repeals-health-reform

House has always been full of morans

Mittens getting angry in Iowa.

A comment from Dan's post:

I LOVE this idea! Let's see how committed Obama is to getting the debt ceiling raised and "save our credit."

BTW, isn't this the longest amount of time Obama has spent in Washington since getting elected? I think so. If he stays in Washington until this is resolved, we will save tens of millions by him not using Air Force One and the entourage that goes with it.

I believe the correct term is "posse"

omg the comments on Dan's link are hilarious

xp: see?

Mittens is doomed

I hope conservatives appreciate how I defended Bush when libs got mad at his taking vacation time.

But sadly the mainstream media will phrase things using a false equivalency as "the principle-bound conservatives on the right" and the liberals on the left will not come together and agree to an adult compromise.

"alright, let's get down to business. let's fucking grow up and get serious. i agree to vote for this debt ceiling thing that must be done no matter what. but ONLY if you agree to repeal your signature accomplishment as president. i like toitles."

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/president-obamas-vacation-days/

I think the takeaway here is "ppl hate it when the President goes on vacation"

But sadly the mainstream media will phrase things using a false equivalency as "the principle-bound conservatives on the right" and the liberals on the left will not come together and agree to an adult compromise.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, July 13, 2011 2:30 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

this is like a mirror-world comment from redstate or something

That's what I was going for. Although I also had a discussion with someone who said "Obama is doing the right thing if both Bachmann and Kucinich are mad at him."

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/271742/ezra-klein-loving-it-michael-walsh

this just keeps getting weirder.

From Nate silver's article today:

If we do take the Republicans' no-new-taxes position literally, it isn't surprising that the negotiations have broken down. Consider that, according to the Gallup poll, Republican voters want the deal to consist of 26 percent tax increases, and Democratic voters 46 percent -- a gap of 20 percentage points. If Republicans in the House insist upon zero tax increases, there is a larger ideological gap between House Republicans and Republican voters than there is between Republican voters and Democratic ones.

This country is so fucked up

Lots of worthwhile stuff in that article btw

So it's come to this: the Republicans are divided and can't pick a candidate to back, so all Republican candidates are somewhat faltering when it comes to money, to degrees but especially compared to the fundraising juggernaut that is Obama. Which means more outlier right wing nuts will pick up local seats as Obama heads for a more and more certain second term (despite general dwindling of enthusiasm and support?). So we'll have a weak president, hopefully a familiar Dem senate (but who knows), and a House even more more definitively, defiantly Crazypants Republican. And hey, maybe at this rate another recession as well! If this first term was a frustrating mess, the second term will put it to shame on the dysfunctional front.