Here we go. GOP is pushing the bandaid solution.
Credit markets are poised to downgrade us and
demand higher interest rates because of our inability
to make a decent long term commitment.

Plays right into Dems and Obama's hands.

Just like the last time! GOP will be blamed
for playing politics with our future and there
will be a huge backlash in the next election.

It will serve them right too.

This budget fiasco could have been avoided completely
by addressing the debt ceiling a couple months ago
and we all know it.

How would you respond if someone who owed you a great
deal of money said - we are going to just borrow a
little bit more and will not make any real commitment
to any solution for more than 6 months?!

That's not going to fly Wilbur.

As opposed to Obama wanting to put it off until after the 2012 election?

Kind of like the missing budget that the democrats didn't want to produce before the last election.

Adding another 2 plus trillion to the debt without any changes to spending would really reassure the markets.

The short term solution is simply unacceptable and you are right
the long term systemic issues have to be addressed but they have
already screwed it up for no reason whatsoever and now the markets
are not gonna be kind.

And the GOP will be blamed.

And we will all suffer on account of our ineffective legislators.

It is just like the shutdown in 95-96.

I thought the earlier plan by the GOP with the balanced budget amendment was a good plan. It had no chance of passing.

I agree that the GOP will be blamed for what is only partially their fault but I don't think the need to "go past the election" exists.

Obama is a master spin doctor. He sounds good even when he is not telling the truth.

We need a different form of democracy where the elected officials are more concerned about the good of the country than getting reelected.

The house passed Cut, Cap, and Balance. Harry Reid refused to bring it to the senate floor for debate and amendment. And Obama said he would veto it. Now if you ask me the senate democrats should be more at fault because they haven't brought a budget in over 2 years and refuse to debate Cut,Cap, and balance.

Cnn posted a poll that said 51 % of Americans would blame republicans if the debt ceiling was not raised. Only 3 in 10 would blame Obama.


(Gallup Poll)
the people also came out and said in a majority they want equal tax increases and equal spending cuts.(32%) A plan that a majority of Demorcats agree with on the same gallup poll. The plan the majority of republicans want was mostly spending cuts which was the 2nd most favorable by the people (30%)


Oh it was the most popular independent idea to be equal with tax increase and spending cuts.

Republicans just dont want to do it

Yeah - I think you're wrong about going past the election though.
The credit markets don't give a rats *** about our election cycle
but they DO care about having a reasonable debt control and
spending plan in place over a period of years not months.

If we pass a short-term plan we are gonna get hammered and it will
be all self-inflicted.



The polls are right in this instance and the GOP is scoring an
own goal. Didn't they learn a damn thing from the 9596 debacle?

The Cut, Cap and Balance bill was a non-starter and was done for
partisan window dressing - in other words a big waste of time.
They have to fix it. Now. And show that we can manage our own money
over a period of time longer than 6 months.

can not argue that point

So instead of 6 months we do it for a year and half. Just past the election and ha e votes o er the next 10 years on what to cut like in Harry Reids plan? All that says to me is there won't be any cuts. The CCB was passed in the house what 2 weeks ago now? They could ha e been debating and amending that on the senate floor and if they really cared about this country compromised on it. They all just care about how good they sound and politi al posturing to get reelected. And that goes for both sides of the isle.

Yeah - I'm sick of the whole lot of them. It is ridiculous that this
is not taken care of already. A year and a half is inadequate also but
it is 3 times better than 6 months from the point of view of the
market and it is probably as long as anyone wants to go lest they
hamstring the next administration.



I say go ahead and make a reasonable deal for 4 or 5 years.
Got to do it sometime anyway.

I don't see that a one and one half year program thrown together at the last minute is any prettier than a six month program designed to give enough time to do a better job. The election might actually provide enough spotlight to get some good done.

Yes but how many of the people polled are educated? How many of them would want more taxes if it is in their brackets? Just saying you are pro tax raises doesn't mean you are pro raising taxes for your bracket. Lots of people just want to raise taxes for people that make more than them.

Anyway, the answer to owing money on a dept should never be borrow more money to pay off the money you borrowed. Does anyone not see the problem in that idea? If you constantly spend more than you make what should you do? Spend less right? GOP is playing ball and willing to raise the ceiling enough and cut spending. Isn't that the best solution? If you can't come to an agreement now for the long term do something that solves the problem for now and continue trying to find a compromise?

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our governments reckless fiscal policies."
Barack Obama, March 2006

Truer words were never spoken.

It is a crisis "made" by Republicans as a method of pressuring the
current administration over budget priorities, spending cuts and
taxation.

People are furious over it and justifiably so and they are gonna
remember their frustration and anger and it will all fly right back
on the Republicans who even now are idiotically and pointlessly
pushing the Boehner plan which is as we all know already cannot be
passed in the Senate.

SO WHY IS BOEHNER PUSHING IT?

If they had just taken the deal with Obama and the ~$4 trillion
in cuts from that proposal they could have declared victory and
walked away with large Dem concessions several weeks ago.

But NOOOOOO...

Instead they want to engineer this ridiculous and masochistic
charade. Well they will suffer the consequences - it's way too
late now. Honestly they have failed the intelligence test.





Unbelievable.

They are all to blame. This problem did not occur overnight. The reckless spending recently is mostly Democratic but the previous administration contributed as well, but not as much.

They are all to blame but mark my words the Republicans are going to
bear the brunt of it just like in '95-'96!

They used the debt ceiling as budget leverage and boy are people
hacked off!

They have pretty much guaranteed Obama a win in 2012 and the turn from Repub to Dem will happen again in Congress.

It is going to hurt the average American more than anyone when they start raising the interest rates and stuff.

I think that is very likely now, Yes.
Remarkably stupid politically. Astounding even.

Of course Obama was a near lock before this as they have failed to
find a single attractive candidate and the Teapartiers have torn
the base in half. But yep this latest self-wounding is the coup de
grace. Now we have headlines like:

Small debt deal will rattle markets

Debt fiasco risks double-dip recession

and

Debt ceiling: Will I get my Social Security check?

Stock Markets Tremble As Debt Ceiling Debate Rages In Washington

People ask "Why is this happening?" And they find the most plausible
answer to be "Because the Republicans forced a link between the
debt ceiling and their budget demands and turned down the Obama
offer of multi-trillion tax cuts and spending curbs..."

WOW. The GOP had already won the main battle. Yet they just couldn't resist...And just why couldn't the GOP leadership have foreseen this?



I mean like OMG this is not exactly a surprising revelation!!