Tick, tick. August 2nd is the Debt Limit Armageddon. Or Not.

@revelette,

Rev, "revenue increases" is liberal code for tax hikes and you know it.

The plain language all Americans want to hear from PrezBO concerns spending decreases.

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Quote:

“The reason default is no better an idea today than when Newt Gingrich tried it in 1995 is that it destroys your brand,’’ McConnell said in a radio interview on Wednesday. “It would give the president an opportunity to blame Republicans for a bad economy.’’ Source

Really, Mitch? That's the reason it's not a good idea? Because it destroys your brand? I need to stop reading the press. These people all make me sick.

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Reading Republican blogs this weekend, and the chatter there, leads me to believe that they are in full retreat on this issue.

Next week will probably consist of some show votes in the House for 'cut, cap and balance,' which will likely fail; after which, the McConnell plan will likely move forward.

Cycloptichorn

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Debt Deal, Herman Cain, Marco Rubio and More

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@H2O MAN,

His poll numbers are not too great, granted, but then neither is congress poll numbers too good.

Speaking of polls

Poll: Obama winning debt spin war

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@revelette,

Speaking of polls, the Liar-in-Chief lied once again when he told us that recent polls indicated 80% of all Americans supported tax hikes.

The truth: The polling data indicated that 80% of Democrats supported tax hikes.

Obama is your Liar-in-Chief and tax paying Americans can't wait until he is voted out of office.

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Boehner has been saying all along that he can't get a deal passed in the house that includes any kind of increased revenues. Now they'll go through the exercise of convincing themselves that a BBA wont pass and eventually get back to the business at hand.

Quote:

*** Holding pattern: In the contentious and still unresolved debt-limit debate, much of the public activity this week will be meaningless. For instance, House and Senate Republicans will be voting on a Balanced Budget Amendment, which isn’t expected to garner the two-thirds vote needed to pass the Senate. (The GOP leadership idea might be [able] to convince its rank-and-file that such an amendment can’t pass, setting the stage for Mitch McConnell’s Plan B.) So all the real action will be behind the scenes, and the story remains in a holding pattern until we have a deal, which won’t be until after the Balanced Budget Amendment votes. Perhaps the eventual deal gets reached as early as Friday. But come on: This is Washington, and it'll probably take the weekend, and then some.

*** Two-track process: As noted above, the House GOP leadership needs to show -- and not just say -- to some of its new rank-and-file members that a Balanced Budget Amendment cannot pass. So once that's out of the way (after a necessary amount of messaging to go with it), the real convincing takes place. Right now, Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell (along with White House staffers) are busy crafting a deal that will include, apparently, MORE THAN $1 trillion in spending cuts to go along with McConnell’s “disapproval” idea, in addition to the "don't call them commissions" commissions on tax reform and entitlements. Already, word is leaking out that Senate Democrats are more open to cuts than what House Democrats, as a whole, are open to (remember, quite a few Senate Democrats are up for re-election in swing or red states). Source

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@JPB,

JPB, 'increased revenues' is lib-speak for tax increases.

The republicans better not pass any bills that include any kind of tax increases.

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The only budget proposal Barack 'he's kind of a dick' Obama has come up with in
2011 would INCREASE our federal deficit by $2.7 trillion over the next decade.

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CBS has a poll out this morning on the players in the debt ceiling/budget discussions:
Obama: 48% Disapprove of his handling of the issues; 43% Approve
Dems: 61%* Disapprove; 31% Approve
Repubs: 71% Disapprove; 21% Approve

*The article I read left that number out. I made it up based on an 8% or 9% "No opinion" option of Obama and the Repubs.

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@realjohnboy,

Yep, no matter what the polls say - America agrees that PrezBO is kind of a dick.

1 Reply

@H2O MAN,

H2O MAN wrote:

Yep, no matter what the polls say - America agrees that PrezBO is kind of a dick.

I think 100% of Americans agree that Cheney is a Dick.

1 Reply

@parados,

Admit it, parasite - you like dick, you really like it.

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@realjohnboy,

I wish they could split up the "disapprove" votes into "compromising too much" and "compromising too little".

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@Thomas,

Good point, Thomas. I found a link to the CBS poll questions. Maybe there might be some clarification there.

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@Thomas,

Not set in stone, but here are my guesses on #5 to #7:

rjb:

Quote:

5) What are the demands now on the table?
A) The Repubs are, as I understand it, willing to increase the debt ceiling by $2 trillion if the budget deficit is reduced by an equal amount and that must be done by cutting spending. The Dems want to accomplish the same goal by also increasing some taxes.

The demands are from both sides of the isle; the dems do not want to touch social security or Medicare. The republicans will not consider any new taxes (or increase).

Essentially a deadlock.

rjb:

Quote:

6) Why is $2 trillion the important number?
A) The cynic in me believes that that is the number that will get us beyond the 2012 election.

$2 trillion is not that important; it's a number that has very little meaning, because short term gamesmanship can make up $2 trillion. The republicans want equal amounts of cuts to any increase in the deficit ceiling, but they are unwilling to negotiate higher taxes. Obama put social security and Medicare on the table - the two issues the republicans wanted to "destroy" in their 2010 campaign - but they said "no." Just another deadlock.

rjb:

Quote:

7) How often has the debt ceiling been raised?
A) I believe the number is 117, but I am not sure. 5 times under Bush and 2 times under Obama.

Actually, the debt ceiling was increased 10 times under GW Bush. As for the "2" times under Obama, he was handicapped with the Great Recession, and spent most of the spending on tax cuts and unemployment benefits. To blame Obama for those debt ceiling increase is not only unfair, but simple-minded; they don't understand why it was necessary to keep from deepening the Great Recession. Why are Americans so against helping other Americans over the two wars that GW Bush started? No common sense.

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@Thomas,

That's what I'm prepared for. Even without the increase in the debt ceiling, most banks in the US and in Europe are in trouble. Bank failures in the US is increasing almost every week, and most of us understand the critical mass of the Euro countries that need bailouts - for which they are in no condition to pay back. The recent stress tests of Euro banks leaves me to believe the US and Euro country economies are going forward towards a cliff. It's desperation time. It's too bad the US congress thinks it's business as usual.

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@engineer,

I agree. Even with the debt ceiling increase, S&P and Moodys talk about dropping the ratings for US Treasuries is a bell ringer. Impressions are important when it comes to money.

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@JPB,

Well, whaddya know about that? Any Congress that would pass a balanced budget amendment wouldn't need one.

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I stand corrected.

Quote:

During Bush Presidency, Current GOP Leaders Voted 19 Times To Increase Debt Limit By $4 Trillion

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Tick, tick. August 2nd is the Debt Limit Armageddon. Or Not.

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