As far as debt talks are concerned, Republicans are going to get everything they demand, probably sometime next month but definitely before the treasury runs out of money.
Let me lay out the situation developing in Congress for you.
Republicans control the House and the Supreme Court; only one of which actually (supposedly) develops legislation and creates policy.
Democrats control the Executive Branch and the Senate. As far as crafting legislation is concerned, they oversee half of its creation and the entire implementation process.
You could say then that Democrats hold ¾ of the power in Washington. And that makes any outcome happening on Capitol Hill predominantly their fault.
So for the Democrats to try and paint the debt issue, if they fail to pass a raise in the ceiling, as the fault of the Republicans, makes them look completely ineffectual. It makes them look absolutely retarded, actually.
Meanwhile, Democrats espouse to help the poor, blah blah blah…but if they fail to raise the ceiling, then those exact people will be hurt the most when the checks stop getting cleared.
To use a metaphor, this standoff is like a game of chicken, where the Democratic Party has to keep driving the car at top speed at a wall, and the Republicans never have to take a turn. They just get to chalk down imaginary lines for the Dems to try and beat while they sit there and wait for the crash.
If Democrats are willing to play ball, then Republicans will get their cuts, including to the sacred entitlement cows. If Democrats aren’t willing to go on the record, then Republicans get what they want anyway by letting the Treasury get screwed, and frankly it’s much more likely that the Dems or Obama will get blamed for it. Are the Dems willing to risk creating a financial nightmare under their watch, simply because they refuse to accept net spending cuts without putting it on the backs of the country’s citizens? During a time when most people are suffering, including the most wealthy?
It sounds stupid just saying it.
Entitlement reform is being reluctantly accepted by some of the biggest political groups, including the AARP. If the AARP can swallow the medicine, I think you’d be surprised how reluctant people will be to punish Republicans for pushing the issue. Spending cuts are the mood of the moment, after the binge of the recent years.
Republicans are already on the record being flexible and stating they DO NOT want to shut down government or cause a technical default. This outcome is the Democratic Party’s child, and they will own it. Expect a Republican victory.
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That’s nothing, I had Christmas just the other day in Frankenmuth, MI.
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I heard. Was it for business?
Yeah… seeing some clients, but not there.
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Jake, are you also living in this area? I can’t imagine anybody would visit Frankenmuth from out of state…then again, anything is possible.
Cain, in response to your message yesterday, the cabbies are telling me that convention business is better, but still not back to where it was before. I think it’s hard to tell though, because I believe certain conventions bring better players. For example, I think ICSC brings in “good gamblers” whereas some dinky IT conference isn’t going to generate the same play. With all that said, I will check the boards at a handful of places and see how it compares.
No, don’t live in blighted Michigan, but we cover that state.
It’s absolutely unbelievable how much different the two halves of the state are. It’s like East Germany and West Germany, literally.
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Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw get to be East Germany.
Actually, it’s just the cities, everything outside of them is beautiful, and well kept. We just keep it hush hush so property prices don’t go up. Best kept secret in America…
say what?
“During a time when most people are suffering, including the most wealthy?”
Stop by a few country clubs and tell me how their enrollments are looking.
Nobody really has excess cash right now.
I agree with what you have written. However the ideas that the republicans have about not raising taxes is equally retarded. If GE can not pay any taxes despite having billions in profits then the American companies need to pay more taxes, period. You cannot solve a deficit issue by simply cutting, there has to be taxes as well.
I am well aware that even the mention of the word, taxes, sends most republicans into some form of retard induced frenzy over how it is the bane of society, and government should stay out of the private sector…. unless they bail out GM under Bush… etc.
Furthermore, by simply allowing the government to sell health insurance, you could likely massively reduce the cost of it for businesses because they would no long be getting gouged. This of course also requires legislative reform to prevent every retard and their brother from suing doctors. That way they might stop ordering so many unnecessary procedures to cover themselves from lawsuits. I know, from reading your blog, that this is an area that hits close to home for you, so I hope I haven’t embarrassed myself with my basic understanding, and if I have, be kind good sir.
Great post.
I agree with the tax increase statement. However, this isn’t about what makes sense. The Republican’s are going to get their way.
I’d love to see tort reform as it would free up massive reserves on corporate balance sheets. However, the biggest driver of healthcare costs is increasing medical costs and expanding services.
Tort reform helps cut down on the costs issue a little as well freeing reserves, but the fact that insurance keeps covering a more diverse range of services can’t be helped.