Time to trash Bob Woodward

pineinthegrass wrote: All I said was it is a big story. And it is. The sequester is a big story. The blame game is a big story. We have 19 pages of it so far in the Courthouse.

Don't ask me to explain it. I blame both parties for the sequester. It was dumb to make blind cuts without any control over it, but no one thought it would actually happen. Otherwise cutting a measly 2.5% or so while spending continues to increase shouldn't of been nearly as big of a deal.

Republicans have and will bring solutions to the table that will enable the President some discretionary
authority to make better decisions about where those cuts should be made. Why would he be opposed to that?

frogger wrote:

pineinthegrass wrote: All I said was it is a big story. And it is. The sequester is a big story. The blame game is a big story. We have 19 pages of it so far in the Courthouse.

Don't ask me to explain it. I blame both parties for the sequester. It was dumb to make blind cuts without any control over it, but no one thought it would actually happen. Otherwise cutting a measly 2.5% or so while spending continues to increase shouldn't of been nearly as big of a deal.

Republicans have and will bring solutions to the table that will enable the President some discretionary
authority to make better decisions about where those cuts should be made. Why would he be opposed to that?

Because there are no increases in revenue included that will create a more balanced approach to balancing the budget. Why would Republicans be opposed to new revenue?

i don't know of any republican that is not in favor of more revenue. We just disagree on how to get more revenue.
I personally think a great way to get more revenue is to put more people on the tax rolls aka (unemployment) which decreases a certain amount of pay out from the government and increases revenue to the government. That would be one way to obtain more revenue.
Still haven't heard why Obama opposes rep solutions to enabling him more flexibility in the cuts he has to make.

“The discussion about revenue in my view is over." -John Boehner

archer wrote: “The discussion about revenue in my view is over." -John Boehner

He was referring to the tax hikes, not expanding the economy to get REAL revenue increases. I agree with frogger... Democrats focus heavily on tax increases while Republicans want to tackle the debt and deficit with a supercharged economy. Increasing taxes during a recession or a down economy will not be a boost for the economy. (and this is not the Clinton technology boom economy)

Rick wrote:

archer wrote: “The discussion about revenue in my view is over." -John Boehner

He was referring to the tax hikes, not expanding the economy to get REAL revenue increases. I agree with frogger... Democrats focus heavily on tax increases while Republicans want to tackle the debt and deficit with a supercharged economy. Increasing taxes during a recession or a down economy will not be a boost for the economy. (and this is not the Clinton technology boom economy)

That is one interpretation, the other is that the Republicans are more intent on protecting the growth of wealth in the top 2% than they are in debt, deficit, or the economy.

I have to disagree. The people who run up the debt should pay it. Personal responsibility seems to be a thing of the past. There is no guarantee that we can supercharge the American economy. When my family racks up debt, I don't depend on a raise. I cut my spending and get a second job. No fun, I know, but it's the responsible thing to do. Neither party is willing to incur the pain required to fix their mistakes. Yes, THEIR mistakes. Both sides have given huge gifts to their bases. Now it's time to bite the bullet and pay the piper. Neither party is willing to admit that money doesn't grow on trees, and their bases happily buy into the notion that this deficit can pay itself off if the country were only to give them control of both the executive branch and the legislative branch. Well, we all saw what happened when we did so. We got a bloated, useless health care bill and an expensive, useless war. Both sides will be unwilling to admit what a mess their party made, so we will do it all again. A plague on both your houses.

archer wrote:

Rick wrote:

archer wrote: “The discussion about revenue in my view is over." -John Boehner

He was referring to the tax hikes, not expanding the economy to get REAL revenue increases. I agree with frogger... Democrats focus heavily on tax increases while Republicans want to tackle the debt and deficit with a supercharged economy. Increasing taxes during a recession or a down economy will not be a boost for the economy. (and this is not the Clinton technology boom economy)

That is one interpretation, the other is that the Republicans are more intent on protecting the growth of wealth in the top 2% than they are in debt, deficit, or the economy.

I agree, that's the liberal talking point for sure but I don't believe it holds water. The fact that the wealthy do benefit from lower taxes does not negate the fact that everyboby else also benefits from a growing economy. If there was a good way to punish the productive, reward the poor, and revive the economy all at the same time, I'd like to know what that is.

I believe both Republicans and Democrats want to see this country succeed... if not for themselves, for their children and grandchildren. I don't understand this "they just want to help the rich" mentality. It reminds me of the nuts who insist that Bush went into Iraq to help his oil buddies. It made for some good liberal outrage, but it had no basis in fact.

It is easier for some to just broad brush all conservative beliefs based on what Representative Boehner says. (it gets old)
Rick is right. You cannot continue to just tax the rich to fix this problem. Some complain about offshore bank accounts, outsourcing.......what do you expect when you tax someone to death.

frogger wrote: It is easier for some to just broad brush all conservative beliefs based on what Representative Boehner says. (it gets old)
Rick is right. You cannot continue to just tax the rich to fix this problem. Some complain about offshore bank accounts, outsourcing.......what do you expect when you tax someone to death.

No one is saying that we should just continue to tax the rich to solve the problem, at least I have never seen anyone say that.....have you? If so, please give us a source for that claim. Closing loopholes that give the very wealthy and corporations advantages that an average American does not have is just but one part of a balanced approach to a balanced budget and reducing our deficit.