Fiscal Cliff

We appear to be at an impasse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/the-fiscal-cliff_n_2371667.html

dems are running around claiming that the vast majority blame the repubs...a bold faced lie this is....27% say repubs, 22% say dems, and 31% say both.

27% blame Republicans.
31% blame Republicans and Democrats.

It looks to me like 58% blame Republicans while only 47% blame Obama and 37% blame Democrats. I don't know how you can claim that 31% don't blame Republicans other than through a bold faced lie or complete ignorance of what "all of the above" means.

The Senate is in session; the House follows next hour.

Senate Dems will caucus at 3:00pm EST. No word yet on any kind of agreement. Obama blamed the Rs this morning on Meet the Press. Beohner responded as expected with pointing the finger back at the Pres.

There are times that I agree with Sen. Coburn from OK. This is one of those times.

Reid is out re the negotiations and Biden is in. McConnell made an offer Sat night. No counter-offer from the Dems yet.

Biden will bring a gun to the negotiations

Seeing as how the Budget Control Act caters heavily towards Democratic ideas in regard to budget cuts aimed mainly at the military, and doesn't affect Social Security, Medicaid, civil and military employee pay, or veterans, although Medicare benefits would be limited to a 2% reduction (this I got from Wiki), it's perplexing how the Republicans actually went with this deal and voted for it.

Well, the idea was supposedly that allowing the sequester cuts to occur would be so painful that they'd force themselves to agree to something (ANYTHING) as an alternative. So far.... that remains to be seen. In the meantime

@LisaMascaroinDC GOP Sen Collins says a bipartisan "common sense caucus" has been talking backup plan if leaders go off #fiscalcliff #GangofEveryOneElse

Wouldn't it be interesting if a group of sane people was able to accomplish what the leadership cannot?

The latest is that Senate Ds and Rs are in agreement with taxes going up >$400,000 - 500,000 but they disagree on where those tax $$$ can be spent. Dems want new spending, Rs want sequester offsets.

Chained CPI for SS was on, but now off the table.

The two sides are negotiating a solution that neither of them can enact alone.

It is meaningless to go off about who won the most recent presidential election.

It will happen if both sides get something they must have for giving up something they don't have to have.

Social Security reform is coming, if not now than later, and eventually the Democrats will have to accept it. If they refuse to accept it now, it is for purely political reasons.

No one is accepting anything tonight, it seems.

The Senate will reconvene tomorrow at 11:00am

Yes, yes, yes!!!

"Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our American economy is the American Congress." @Sen_JoeManchin D WV

I think that they are trying to deal with too many issues at the same time, and that's making compromise next to impossible. They should focus on letting the tax cuts expire for only the wealthiest--and raise taxes for that group--and stop arguing about other changes-- to estate taxes, and tax deductions--that have gotten thrown into the discussions, but that should really be tabled for the moment until more comprehensive tax reforms can be addressed without this deadline looming.

Similarly, the issue of reducing spending, to address the deficit, is not the most immediate problem, one that has to be solved by Monday. Yes, spending cuts have to be made, but those can't, and shouldn't, be done recklessly, just to avoid going off the fiscal cliff, because the wrong move could plunge a fragile recovery back into a severe recession. There is no lasting harm to the economy that will result from the wealthiest paying a little more in taxes, it will generate needed revenue, but a lot of harm could result from the wrong spending cuts, made in haste, just to strike a deal.

I don't think the majority of Republicans are without common sense, or are really entirely unwilling to let the tax cuts for the wealthiest expire. It's mainly a group of more extreme right wing Republicans in the House who refuse to budge, so they hold the others hostage, and to appease them, the leadership drags in the entitlement programs as leverage, demanding cuts there, essentially as a face-saving move for their party if the wealthy do wind up having to pay more in taxes. It's not about what is good for the country, or the economy, right now, I think it's about the Republicans trying to save face and deal with their more extreme members.

I am absolutely sick of the partisan nonsense, particularly when party and politics is placed above the welfare of the country and the immediate welfare of the economy. Most of the issues being batted around can wait until after Monday, and they should wait until after Monday, so the most immediate problems can be resolved by Monday night. These people need to prioritize the way they do triage in a hospital ER--you address the most serious, urgent emergencies first, and the others can wait a little longer. How to reduce spending, and where the tax dollars can be spent, and reforming our tax codes, can wait a little longer.

But, they're not asking me. And, at the moment, I'm so disgusted, I'm not bothering to watch cable news. I'm tired of listening to them, and to the excuses for their failure to get this situation resolved.

Im not so generous with any understandings about Congress. They have NOT passed a farm bill and thats not some special topic that should be jutified with this Glacial pattern.
I want us to remember this crap when the next batch of elections happen nd we should all send clear message to Congress to VOTE every damn incumbent out . Theyve not done the peoples business at all.
Self important bunch of plutocrats

I agree with you about the failure to pass a farm bill. That's another disgrace.

The price of milk, and of all products made with milk, is going to skyrocket if they don't do something.

The entire situation with Congress is sickening. It's time for them to act like adults and remember why they are there.

I think we should let them know that weve lost confidence in the whole bunch D's and R's

I think they already know that. How much lower can their approval rating get?

I saw reports of a one year (?) extension passing out of both committees. No word on whether Boehner will bring it to the floor for a vote but it could pass and be signed by Obama by Tuesday. I agree with you on the total disfunction going on in the Congress. I see the problem as K-Street and partisan politics driven. I'm more convinced than ever that we need a viable independent-driven focus on getting rid of our career politicians.