Sunday morning and the GOP still leaves us in limbo

To the note below I wish to add the following.

If the President must speak to the nation and suggest a course, having met with a failure of Congress to overcome the petulant and unpatriotic actions of the House Republicans, he can wave the one page bill that simply raises the limit and play clips of all leaders saying they intend to raise the limit, and state as Commander in Chief that this is an immediate matter of national security. Pass the sucker now.

If they fail we have a list of traitorous Republicans for 2012 and we have the 14th Amendment. And we have a President vindicated in demanding that people elect legislators who will redeem the center and eschew the extremes.

Short Form Content at Blogger: The Tea Party in Congress is a Subversive force and Dangerous to All Americans: "The Tea Party in Congress is a Subversive force and Dangerous to All Americans"



Global Online Privacy

The ball is still with the House Republicans

The subtext of all the nice talk from Boehner and McConnell about an agreement is that they will be subject to the President and that the agreement they take back will still require over half the Republicans in the House. Don't count on it. There are three options. They agree on a huge plan of the sort Obama has proposed. They agree to just raise the ceiling and leave all the posturing for another day. Of they try to ace it with what they have and risk a no win. There is no logical conclusion than the one in the headline above. Global Online Privacy

The Bard would call them ignoramus slaughterers

The Bard would call them ignoramus slaughterersThat name he'd give our bilious GOPAnd he would give some glad rags to the clownOr anyone who thought that he could leadYou cannot lead an ignoramus slaughtererWho cannot even see the death he wreaksYou must  restrain him with some chains that bind him wellOr otherwise he'll ope' gates of hell  
Global Online Privacy

Boehner Could Not Get The Votes Most Likely

Daily Kos: BREAKING: No House vote tonight: "House Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) just announced there will be no vote tonight on the Boehner debt bill."

That is the best explanation. I still think it will come down to a simple debt ceiling approval. With the outcome uncertain but the likelihood that the Tea Party in the house will be on the losing end of an affirmative vote. If the whole thing moves toward default it is the 14th Amendment solution. Let Roberts and his cohorts default if they want.


Global Online Privacy

Apposite Obama Quote

Debt Ceiling: Obama, Boehner, Democrats & Republicans’ Dueling Plans - The Daily Beast: "As he laid out the consequences of failure, Obama also explained his preference for getting a deal with a “balanced approach” to cut the deficit using both spending cuts and tax increases. He also denounced the GOP’s threats to let the government default if a debt-reduction package deal includes any tax increases at all. “That is no way to run the greatest country on earth,” Obama said. “It is a dangerous game we’ve never played before, and we can’t afford to play it now.”"

The tail has been wagging the dog. In the next days the dog (that would be us) will wag back. By the end, the Tea Party spoiled brats, ignorant of or oblivious to, the reality we face, will have either been muzzled or cut off, to maintain the image. Or we will have given governance over to the tail and begun to suffer the consequences. It will come down to the actual vote and the names attached on both sides. If the worst case happens, the names on the majority side in the House will be cashiered in 2012.


Global Online Privacy

A bit past midday the Dow merely wavers

US Stocks Pare Losses; Techs Gain, Banks Slump - CNBC

I was all set to send Eric a love letter. But maybe Harry has trumped with his GOP friendly proposal. I also have the feeling that they'll want to finish this before the "work week" is done. The eleventh hour would ruin their precious weekend after all.


Global Online Privacy

Why three or four trillion the ignored fact

The ignored fact is that the rating agencies (Moody's, etc.) will accept nothing less. We won't pass muster with a puny deal and everyone knows it. Even the Teeps who will blow hard as the two parties provide them with a bit of cover and shake their heads. 
Global Online Privacy

Should we believe McConnell?

The Associated Press: McConnell: Congress committed to prevent default

You know the man is being told to calm the waters but so far nothing has stopped the House GOP from acting like spoiled children, lying and otherwise proving their incapacity to lead. Eventually this is going to come down to we and they. That's sad but true. This is why at the final hour I believe the we will in fact be all those who by their vote are willing to tell the spoiled wingnuts that they can go to hell in a hand basket. And why we may end up with a better deal than anyone believes at the moment. If you are saying this is what the President wants, you are right. This whole thing is because the GOP has been unwilling to accept the legitimacy of the person who is in the White House. When this is over the press will mull over the alliance between all who voted for the resolution and the perfidy of those who did not.

Global Online Privacy

Understanding the role of Democratic ire

Democrats Fume on Sidelines as Obama Goes Solo on Debt Deal With Boehner - The Daily Beast: "House Democrats are shocked and outraged that Obama is pursuing a debt deal with Boehner that sidelines them and won’t hike taxes—though some are resigned to it. By Patricia Murphy." The only way we are going to function as a Democracy is compromise. The only way we move a democracy left or right is by majorities functioning at the polls. The only way to understand Democratic ire is to see it as a theatrical permit enabling wingnuts to relent and go with the program. As for justice, get out there and change the composition of the Congress. Here's a spate of additional posts on the debt deal.



Global Online Privacy

Just in case you want to sound educated about the debt stuff

Debt debate cheat sheet - CNN.com All the options are here. I still believe it will be a larger deal than the least but that the enacting of it will be an incremental process. The solution will leave 2012 in abeyance with no clear victors. The sky will not fall.


Global Online Privacy

Wheel of Misfortune Teaser

If you like it go to YouTube and watch the entire ten minutes or so.

Global Online Privacy

Is Wall Street the ostrich in this debt business?

Default Risk: Wall Street’s Shocking Debt Denial - The Daily Beast: "Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan began laying markers in the sand that they would countenance no new taxes, would demand drastic spending cuts, and would use the debt ceiling as leverage." I spoke to a biggie awhile back and he said there would be a debt deal, with the assurance that comes from one in the know. But I recall that in the Bush era all you had to do was choose the worst possible option and it would come to pass like clockwork. As if these guys had an instinct for evil. We are still in the shadow of  the Bush era and only Obama has the potential to dispel it. No wait a minute. Wall Street also has the power to bring DC to heel. But this article says that is not necessarily going to happen.


Global Online Privacy

What we actually know about this debt ceiling business

That everyone has raised the debt ceiling forever. That the GOP decided to make it Waterloo. That Lindsay Graham said they were stupid to do it. That every adult in he room knows we need to get the deficit down. That anyone with any sense knows that that can only be done by being fair to everyone. That politics does not proceed on these awarenesses but in one of two ways. There is the adult way accepted by seasoned sorts like Obama and Boehner, hardly peas in a pod. And there is the delinquent's way - essentially nihilistic - of those who seek to gain power by essentially zapping a vulnerable democracy until it is totally confused, somnambulant  and literally 1984-bound. This is the world of the "truthsayers" Cantor, DeMint and Bachmann. 80 percent lean the other way. So, in the words of someone, let's make a deal and have done with this.  
Global Online Privacy

Deal Coming

The Web is alive with speculation about the effects of debt default. You heard it here. The job will get done at the final minute and the resolution will be better than expected. Why? Because we cannot afford not to do more than a mini deal and pass muster with the credit ratings folk. And the GOP cannot afford to give the baton to the utter wingnuts who want to drive us over a cliff. Ultimately wiser heads will prevail and the solution will emerge from the White House with a calm and cool Obama announcing that an historic compromise has occurred. If I am wrong my advice is to sell everything and hang on to your Bible.