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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
OMIGAWD, The House passed it! We are soooo screwed...
Monday, August 1, 2011 2:07 PM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Quote:NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- There's plenty in it for everyone to hate. On Monday evening, in a vote of 269 to 161, the Republican-led House passed the deal finalized 24 hours earlier by congressional leaders and the White House. The Democratic-led Senate is expected to vote on the bill Tuesday. That's the day the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling must be raised so that Treasury may continue to pay all the country's bills in full and on time The deal would keep the country out of default and reduce deficits by at least $2.1 trillion over a decade. Whether the deal might also avert a first-ever credit downgrade for the United States is not clear, since ratings agency Standard & Poor's indicated it was looking for a credible, bipartisan plan that had at least $4 trillion of debt reduction. The plan includes no tax or entitlement reform measures up front, although theoretically it leaves the door open to both. A debt ceiling increase of between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion: The framework will raise the debt ceiling immediately by $400 billion, then by another $500 billion after September. After deep cuts are enacted by the end of the year, it will be increased by another $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion. All told, the increases should cover the Treasury's borrowing needs until 2013. Read the legislation - Full text - http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/debt_ceiling_bill/?iid=EL At least $2.1 trillion in spending cuts: The framework would immediately cap domestic and defense spending, resulting in cuts of $917 billion over 10 years. The framework then calls for more deficit reduction -- between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion worth -- to be determined by the end of this year and imposed over 10 years. Bipartisan debt-reduction committee: That second round of deficit reduction would be proposed by a special bipartisan joint committee of Congress. The committee has until Thanksgiving to come up with its proposals and those proposals would be guaranteed by an up-or-down vote without amendment by Dec. 23. If the committee proposes and the Congress approves between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion in cuts, the debt ceiling will be increased dollar for dollar. If the committee deadlocks or comes up with less than $1.2 trillion in cuts, or if Congress votes down the committee's proposals, the debt ceiling will be raised by $1.2 trillion. While it appears the committee will be free to consider entitlement and tax reform -- and dare we say it, tax hikes -- practically speaking it's more likely members would hit an impasse over these measures just as they have, oh, every other day this year. Across-the-board cuts as trigger: If the committee deadlocks or fails to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in debt reduction, the sword of Damocles will fall on most forms of spending in the federal budget. Specifically, as much as $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts would kick in -- evenly divided between defense and non-defense spending. (Video: U.S. is 'debt man walking') Dumbest Moments: Debt ceiling edition Exempt from this round of cuts, however, would be programs that aid low-income Americans, according to Democrats' fact sheets. These include Social Security, Medicaid, veterans' benefits and pensions, food stamps and Supplemental Security Income. While Medicare would not be exempt, the framework would restrict cuts to no more than 2% of the program's cost. And the cuts that occur would not affect Medicare benefits nor would they increase seniors' costs, according to the White House fact sheet. Required vote on balanced budget amendment: In theory, the across-the-board cuts could be avoided if instead both chambers of Congress pass a Balanced Budget amendment to the Constitution and send it to the states for ratification before the end of the year. But for a host of reasons, political and substantive, that's very unlikely to happen. http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/01/news/economy/debt_ceiling_breakdown_of_deal/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2
Monday, August 1, 2011 4:20 PM
MINCINGBEAST
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 3:01 AM
SIGNYM
I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 3:23 AM
DREAMTROVE
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 4:53 AM
Quote:I think life is more fun being Mince.
Quote:they're about to hand another trillion to their corporate friends
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 5:02 AM
FIVVER
Quote:that we know little and do so much
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 5:20 AM
Quote:Wall Street extends losses on economy worry
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 7:24 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SignyM: And then, after you have toked your sorrows, get up and DO something. It's a tragedy of "the American left" that we know so much and do so little. I'm actively campaigning for left-leaning Dems in the primaries, and third-party during the elections. And ALL progressives should protest every time Obama comes to visit, the "business as usual" GOP, and every so-called "tea party" event. There isn't a big corporate donor they're not sucking up to. Those assholes have thrown the economy under the bus time and time again. They need to feel the heat.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:50 AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:53 AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 8:57 AM
WULFENSTAR
http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 1:42 PM
KWICKO
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)
Quote:Originally posted by Wulfenstar: The Founding Fathers would have hung most of these bastards, (cept the TP folks) and rightly so.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 1:46 PM
BYTEMITE
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 3:21 PM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 5:02 PM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 5:04 PM
Quote:its paid for by the sweat of people who actually work.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 6:36 PM
DMAANLILEILTT
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 7:01 PM
SERGEANTX
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:53 PM
FREMDFIRMA
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 3:04 AM
JAMERON4EVA
Quote:Originally posted by SignyM: Quote:I think life is more fun being Mince. Well, my nose got a coffee-wash. So did my keyboard. Quote:they're about to hand another trillion to their corporate friends Yep, thanks to the friggin' "Tea Party" and Wall Street Dems. Exactly why they need to feel the heat!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 3:51 AM
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 3:52 AM
Quote:its paid for by the sweat of people who actually work.- WULFIE Well, then, how about shifting the burden to the CEOs and lawyers with fat bonuses and bulging portfolios? It would be hard to make an argument that they "work" in ANY sense of the word.-SIGNY
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 3:59 AM
Quote:govt, spending is the engine by which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:23 AM
Quote:(2) You seem to think that government is the only driver of wealth inequity. Do you really think that business isn't THE driving force in that process? After all, if government is flowing money through business, isn't it BUSINESS that's sequestering the wealth to a very small group of people?
Quote:(3) We need to focus on creating jobs in the USA, because otherwise much of the money that goes into the hands of the poor goes to China via Walmart.
Quote:By the way, you've just made a perfectly good argument for getting rid of health insurances. That's be more effective than getting rid of Medicare.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 5:42 AM
Quote: Our biggest problem is all our outsourcing for cheaper products
Quote: We need to focus on creating jobs in the USA, because otherwise much of the money that goes into the hands of the poor goes to China via Walmart
Quote: I think very little of the US economy is invested in tangible real world assets. Or even results, in the case of services.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 8:04 AM
Quote:Originally posted by dmaanlileiltt: "Rad"?! What is this, 1994?! And really is ANYONE suprised that this "compromise" sucks? There wasn't really any other alternative outcome to all this. "I really am ruggedly handsome, aren't I?"
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 8:12 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SignyM: Mincing, the 2000 Florida vote was stolen, as was the vote in 6 states in 2004. If you want, I can go into excruciating detail about why I think so, but it would prolly just bore you to tears. So congrats on voting for Nader. I might have voted for Obama, but now that I know what he's all about I'm not gonna make that mistake again.
Thursday, August 4, 2011 9:13 AM
Thursday, August 4, 2011 9:48 AM
NEWOLDBROWNCOAT
Quote:Originally posted by mincingbeast: Quote:Originally posted by SignyM: Mincing, the 2000 Florida vote was stolen, as was the vote in 6 states in 2004. If you want, I can go into excruciating detail about why I think so, but it would prolly just bore you to tears. So congrats on voting for Nader. I might have voted for Obama, but now that I know what he's all about I'm not gonna make that mistake again. The 2000 election was not stolen. It is well established that retired, Florida Jews voted for Buchanan in large numbers because they liked him and he was rad. The progressive's dilemma hasn't changed since 2000. The modern version is, do you: 1) challenge Obama in the primary and general election, thereby voting your conscience and building for the future...and also increasing the likelihood of a an awful republican presidency, or 2) support Obama in the primary and general election, thereby preventing a republican presidency but electing a democrat who will ignore your progressive politics. It should be noted that if, say, McCain did half the things that Obama did, stoned progressive types would riot in the streets.
Thursday, August 4, 2011 10:02 AM
Thursday, August 4, 2011 10:12 AM
Thursday, August 4, 2011 12:57 PM
Quote:Originally posted by mincingbeast: It should be noted that if, say, McCain did half the things that Obama did, stoned progressive types would riot in the streets.
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