Dems say no to fiscal responsibility

RIght, because no GOP politicians critici....oh, wait they did.

"Debt Commission's Plan Goads Dems, GOP Alike"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/12/politics/main7047466.shtml

jason, your point was addressed by Douthat:

Last week’s media coverage sometimes made it sound as if Bowles and Simpson were taking the same amount of fire from left and right. But the reaction from Republican lawmakers and the conservative intelligentsia was muted, respectful and often favorable; the right-wing griping mostly came from single-issue activists and know-nothing television entertainers. The liberal attacks, on the other hand, came fast and furious, from pundits and leading Democratic politicians alike — starting with the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who pronounced the recommendations “simply unacceptable” almost immediately after their release.

Liberals defended this knee-jerk response on the grounds that the commissioners’ vision, ostensibly bipartisan, was actually tilted toward Republican priorities. And it’s true that Bowles and Simpson proposed more spending cuts than tax increases over all. But most of the programs and tax breaks that they suggested trimming — from farm subsidies to Defense Department bloat and the home-mortgage tax deduction — represent the American welfare state at its absolute worst. And the duo went out of their way to avoid balancing the budget on the backs of the poor. (Social Security, for instance, would be strengthened through a mix of tax increases and benefit cuts for wealthier seniors; retirees close to the poverty line would see their benefits increase.)

why isnt this crap posted on the hannity site??

Politicians want power. Power includes grabbing money and making government bigger. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want fiscal responsibility. Personally, that's why I like gridlock and voting representatives out every few terms. Only the most important things should be handled by government.

Right, and the GOPers who called it "dead on arrival" don't count.

blah, blah, blah ...

Yeah, if only the Dems were as fiscally responsible as the Bush Administration. Man, those were the days. The Dems have had just under two years to try to fix what took Bush and the Reps 8 years to do--that is, essentially break the world. Man, those Dems suck.

Mcconnel was ready to take earmarks until he realized the likely voter backlash. Let's be honest, both sides spend too much.

"Yeah, if only the Dems were as fiscally responsible as the Bush Administration" Bush was a big government guy, just the way you progressives like.. He had a R instead of D next to his name so all you lap dogs had to yell and howl. We are still in iraq and Afghanistan, plus gitmo is still creating terrorists all through out the muslim lands, yet, no screaming bloody hell from the progressives.

"yet, no screaming bloody hell from the progressives."

Obviously, you are retarded. Obama is attacked for this daily on Kos, Huffpost, etc. Things you don't actually read. Bill Maher and John Stewart have pointed all this out, but you don't watch them. Get out of your echo chamber.

....why do you think there was an "enthusiasm" gap...because progressives were HAPPY with Obama?

"The Democratic Party has plans for many things, but a balanced budget isn’t one of them."

Who was it who balanced the budget, Mr. Clinton?

We've already shown through empirical evidence that the only times the budget has been balanced since the end of WWII was under Democratic presidents. LICCdope's posts are like the farmers in the midwest who complain about "welfare mothers," when in fact the ones who receive the most federal largesse are those very farmers in the midwest.

Look at all the states that receive more in federal payments than they pay to the federal government: with the obvious exceptions of Maryland, Virginia, and DC (because that's where the government is located) they are, almost entirely, Red States.

And Sarah Palin's Alaska is #1 among them.

No wonder he's known as LICCdope.

The historical irony is that the person most responsible for deficit reduction gets very little attention in the national media. The president who deserves the most credit for the fast-approaching balanced budget we are now witnessing is not Bill Clinton. And the Republican who deserves the most credit is not Newt Gingrich. Rather, the politician whose long-run policies are most responsible for leading us to a potential balanced budget next year is Ronald Reagan. Yes, Reagan, the man vilified by Clinton for "tripling the national debt in the 1980s."

Reagan's legacy affects us dramatically today in two ways. First, Reagan's anti-Communist foreign policy and his military buildup hastened the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In the past eight years, America's victory in the Cold War generated a half-trillion-dollar peace dividend. That peace dividend grows every year, and it fell like manna from heaven into President Clinton's lap. The budget deficit is falling, not primarily because Clinton raised taxes and not primarily because the congressional Republicans committed themselves to a balanced budget, but because the defense budget is nearly $100 billion lower today than when the Berlin Wall came down.

The second effect of the Reagan years was to launch America into what is now widely regarded as a remarkable 15-year low-inflation, high-employment bull market (the Dow was at 800 in 1982, 8,000 today)--interrupted only mildly in the middle Bush years. These 15 years of prosperity were propelled by Reaganomics: lower tax rates, a long-run decline in inflation and interest rates (which also lowers tax rates), freer international trade and a strong dollar. Even with the anti-supply-side Bush and Clinton tax hikes, the top tax rate today of 40% is far below the towering 70% tax rate that disabled the economy in the 1970s. The end of the Cold War has created an international environment of peace and stability, nudging the economy into still higher gear in recent years.

Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich can compete for the Washington spotlight over the good news of dramatic deficit reduction. Their policies have not contributed much to this riveting high-technology age of economic expansion and corresponding fiscal improvement—but, by the same token, their policies haven't impeded it either. Meanwhile, the politician whose policies are most responsible for cultivating this era of growth lives 3,000 miles beyond the Washington Beltway.

no source, rs? why am i not surprised?

OMG - the hagiography of Ronald Reagan continues.

What a maroon.

no source, rs? why am i not surprised

so vile. you sound more and more like a baba yaga each day.

what's your source? did you write that yourself?

Clinton balanced the budget after the Republicans won Congress and forced his hand. RS post also makes a great point that Clinton benefited from events that were really not his doing.

steve sure seems to have degenerated to maniac status.

"no source, rs? why am i not surprised?"

Be careful what you wish for. We could end up with a spam-and-YouTube fest.

the comment sideline was very ironic, considering it works for a site that produces little if any original content and whose business model is to cut and paste from other sources.

at least i provide attribution. but sls is right, i should not be asking you for any additional info, what you spew on your own is enough.

btw, curbed, gothamist, etc.? i thought you liked my writing, although a bit "terse." i'm crushed.

tool.

I'm a very conservative life-long Republican, but even I think the Obama administration is doing a really great job navigating the US through this terrible recession and making the right decisions regarding investing in America's future.

The chance for our marxist utopia is being ruined because of the ineffectiveness of our regime's leader. We need someone who can fool and lie with greater efficacy. We thought we were all socialists now but those damn teabaggers came out of nowhere. The post-racial, post-competent . post-american story line only worked before our esteemed leader had to actually do anything. If only we can deploy the fairness doctrine and shut down fox and right wing talk radio, the morons would be helpless and lost.

"The Democratic Party has plans for many things, but a balanced budget isn’t one of them."

If only Bill Clinton was as fiscally responsible as Geroge W. Bush...

Look what this regime did to Bill's wife. Bill's wife was the rightful leader and this regime stole the women's spot and even called Bill a racist.

That's so typically sexist of you, Jersey Housewife, treating Mrs Clinton as the property of her husband ("Bill's Wife", the wife of Bill, like the car of Bill and the golf clubs of Bill).

the wife of bill would be teaching women's oppression study class at Barnard if she didn't marry up.

you mean the high-powered corporate attorney wife? or did bill have another wife somewhere?

I mean the wife who turned $2000 into $100000 speculating with cattle futures. The wife of Bill is a great trader.

The last and possible only true great woman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMTDaVpBPR0&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_r2-2r-7-HM

Minsk Housewife

Do you think bill's wife will run when america's mistake bows out of 2012?

my only important question is when you will be moving to finland and leaving here.

I mean the wife who turned $2000 into $100000 speculating with cattle futures. The wife of Bill is a great trader.

ok. here's the plan. Obama opens up an account for Hillary. We give her say $10,000 to start with. If she can solve our national debt we make her VP in 2012. It's win/win

I don't think she cares one way or the other what Bristol Palin's mother does, but she'll stay out of the 2012 race out of respect for The President of the United States of America.

The President of the United States of America.... Do you mean this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY

Back to the actual TOP -

"Cantor Dismisses Budget Fixing Proposal Because It Sounds Too European

...Rep. Eric Cantor (R., Va.), who is likely to become House majority leader in January, said Tuesday that many lawmakers wouldn't support VAT-type tax because its ties to Europe might make it politically poisonous in Washington.

"I don't think any of us want us to go the direction of the social welfare states around the world," Mr. Cantor said at the CEO Council...."

jason- yes, that is a good thing. A VAT tax would be a disaster for the economy.

Terribly regressive. We need a 1% annual tax on personal/family wealth above a certain level.

how about a tax on federal employees. after all, its our tax money that pays their salaries.

Ha, Ha. Want fiscal irresponsibility? Elect a Republican. Their track record is abysmal and much worse than the democrats in that regard.

LICC you miss the point ENTIRELY. When the Dems criticize parts of the overall proposal (but not the end-goal), you say all the critique comes from the left. When the GOP does it, its a good thing. You are so myopic it hurts MY eyes.

jason, Simpson and Bowles did not propose a VAT. So you basically just made a very stupid comment.

democrats and the republicans are basically the same. they both spend our money. the only difference is that they spend it on different things. dont tell me that republicans are fiscally responsible. and dont tell me that the democrats care about the little guy. we need third, fourth, fifth, party.

"Republican Paul Ryan Opposes White House Fiscal Commission Plan...

..."Obviously I'm not going to vote for it," Ryan said. "I think I pretty much telegraphed that."..."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/paul-ryan-opposes-white-house-fiscal-commission-plan.php#more

_______________
Heritage foundation does not like it either:

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/11/10/heritage-reacts-to-simpson-bowles-deficit-reduction-panel-proposal/

So much for the myth that DEMS are the only ones who don't like it.

Republicans are certainly good at talking the talk, though -- you have to give them credit for that.

"The same NBC/Wall Street Journal poll also included a series of questions on the draft report released by the co-chairs of President Obama's Debt Commission. The first described the draft proposal:

...as the Wall Street Journal's report pointed out, Republicans were more negative about the plan than Democrats. Only 17% of Republicans called the plan a good idea compared to 28% of Democrats...."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/30/all-talk-voters-want-spen_n_789872.html

Republicans hate the Debt Commisison proposal because it cuts the defense budgetand Republicans are owned by the military industrial complex

Not Ron Paul, and unfortuantly the vast majority of Dems are so owned too.