Where is the US economy headed?

@izzythepush,

I thought it was more cryptic than usual, too.

@roger,

Well it could hardly be less so.

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It appears that House speaker Boenner is trying to cave in on the Rupubs opposition to extending the employee's portion of the payroll tax cut. If he can pull it off, the House - or how ever members are left - can get in line tomorrow with the 2 month extension that the Senate passed last week.
If the T'Party faction refuses to go along, Boenner is probably toast.

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@realjohnboy,

I thought he and the t-party were already toast. The 180 million workers also includes conservatives who are voters.

Maybe, I'm confused. It could be that they want their taxes increased while they advocate for tax cuts.

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@realjohnboy,

He's going to try to get unanimous consent tomorrow. If any of the TPs refuse to give consent then the House will have to reconvene next week to have and up or down vote by the full House. I can't imagine that he'll get all of the TPers to go along with it. I wonder how many $$$$ it costs to fly everyone back to Washington to cast a single vote?

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@JPB,

That is the scenario. I can not imagine unanimous consent, either. As for the cost, these are some of the same people bitching about the cost of Obama going to Hawaii for Christmas.

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@realjohnboy,

Right. They should have brought it to a vote on Tuesday before they left town. Horrible state of affairs in Washington. Everything is games and politics. I'm thoroughly disgusted.

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@JPB,

I've been disgusted ever since McConnell said he wants Obama to fail.

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@JPB,

Quote:

I wonder how many $$$$ it costs to fly everyone back to Washington to cast a single vote?

That's the point JP. Imagine how important one might feel to be urgently flown back to Washington to vote on a crucial issue affecting the whole chattering class. Who gives a **** about the $$$$s.

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@spendius,

I do!

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@JPB,

Why?

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@realjohnboy,

realjohnboy wrote:

That is the scenario. I can not imagine unanimous consent, either. As for the cost, these are some of the same people bitching about the cost of Obama going to Hawaii for Christmas.

Apparently Boehner had all the lines on mute last night during the R conference call except his own. I suppose that's one way to get unanimous consent.

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@spendius,

Why do I care how Congress spends tax dollars? Because they aren't a gift. When I gift something to someone or donate funds to a charity I don't spend energies on how they use it. My gift/donation is just that... funds that I'm giving away for another person/entity to use how they see fit. My tax dollars, otoh, are not a gift. They are the $$$ that folks at the federal/state/local level have decided I owe so that they can support the needs of the masses. I have no problem paying taxes, and I pay a boatload of them, but I definitely care if they're burned, stolen, or pissed away by folks who are charged with representing our interests. Political games come at a cost. It's a cost I'm not willing to support and I'm quickly coming around to the position that our national congress is a political body rather than a governing body and one we can afford to do without.

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@JPB,

How many lines are "all"?

It's very interesting actually. It's as if Mr Boehner has seen some projections, blinked and is telling the party what they must now do and with no objections.

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@spendius,

About 240

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@JPB,

But it's an assertion JP that "we can afford to do without" Congress whether it's a political body, which is what it was designed to be, or a governing body, which it was designed to not be except under necessity.

What do you suggest in its place? A constitutional conference starting with a blank sheet of paper? Like the original.

Congress is really too big to fail. And possibly too big to save.

I think the break up of the Union is on the end of your assertion. Even our little and long established union is under severe strain. Some people agitate for breaking up England never mind the UK. And their argument boils down to "we can afford to do without" that bunch of free-loading shysters in London.

But can we? Really?

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@spendius,

I believe we can afford to do without the current reality where only a 60+ majority in the Senate will ever get to vote on an issue and a small faction of the majority in the House gets to hold the nation hostage. We also have TREMENDOUS influence peddling by lobbying groups from the AARP for seniors to Grover Norquist and other strong groups who wield the threat of future electability over elected officials. We have career politicians who are susceptible to those threats because they have no future ambition beyond the next election cycle and getting a majority for their party. It's all about power and influence for these folks. Term limits is coming out of my fingertips on a regular basis these days. They'll never invoke them on themselves so if we want to take control away from the power brokers we'll have to do it ourselves. No easy task, but easier than a new Constitutional Convention.

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Both houses of Congress passed the bill this morning.

Quote:

Passage in the House — Friday's action on the measure took less than a minute — capped a swift retreat by House Republicans. Their move to force a holiday season confrontation with Obama and Senate Democrats had threatened to hit 160 million workers with a tax increase on Jan. 1. But it backfired badly.

Just 24 hours earlier, House leaders had insisted the only way to prevent that tax hike and a phase-out of jobless benefits for people out of work for more than six months was to pass a full-year renewal.

...

Friday's House and Senate sessions were remarkable. Both chambers had essentially recessed for the holidays but leaders in both parties orchestrated passage of the short-term agreement under debate rules that would allow any individual member of Congress to derail the pact, at least for a time. None did. More

Curious if they were given a voice line.

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@JPB,

Best of luck with that JP.

The Constitution + Human nature = What is before your very eyes.

Those who wrote the Constitution were super-human and high principled and disregarded the lower classes. The fools.

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12.2011 Dodd-Frank-Act Useless -- Financial Collapse Parallels 1929 Crisis --

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Where is the US economy headed?

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