President Obama, grow a spine

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Only in US politics would 'compromise' be considered a bad word.
Only in the U.S. could this deal be considered a 'compromise'.[/QUOTE]

Honestly, the only part 'liberals' don't like is the extension of the Bush tax cuts.

Meanwhile ignoring:

The Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit were all pumped up in the stimulus, but set to expire this year. All of them will be extended. Price tag? $40 billion or so.
Unemployment insurance gets extended for 13 months
A 2 percent cut in the payroll taxes paid by employees
Business expensing investments

But I guess because Obama didn't stick it to the fatcats, we can ignore all the rest of the great stuff.
 
Only in US politics would 'compromise' be considered a bad word.
Only in the U.S. could this deal be considered a 'compromise'.[/QUOTE]

Honestly, the only part 'liberals' don't like is the extension of the Bush tax cuts.

Meanwhile ignoring:

The Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit were all pumped up in the stimulus, but set to expire this year. All of them will be extended. Price tag? $40 billion or so.
Unemployment insurance gets extended for 13 months
A 2 percent cut in the payroll taxes paid by employees
Business expensing investments

But I guess because Obama didn't stick it to the fatcats, we can ignore all the rest of the great stuff.[/QUOTE]
EITC- Republicans wanted this
Child Tax Credit- Republicans wanted this
Tax cuts for Businesses- Republicans wanted this
Cut in payroll tax- Republicans wanted this

So again, how was this a compromise? That was all shit put into the 'stimulus' bill to attract Republican votes. It does the least to stimulate the economy, and now we're spending more.

As I was saying, this is a pretty shit deal.
 
Only in US politics would 'compromise' be considered a bad word.
Only in the U.S. could this deal be considered a 'compromise'.[/QUOTE]

Honestly, the only part 'liberals' don't like is the extension of the Bush tax cuts.

Meanwhile ignoring:

The Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit were all pumped up in the stimulus, but set to expire this year. All of them will be extended. Price tag? $40 billion or so.
Unemployment insurance gets extended for 13 months
A 2 percent cut in the payroll taxes paid by employees
Business expensing investments

But I guess because Obama didn't stick it to the fatcats, we can ignore all the rest of the great stuff.[/QUOTE]
EITC- Republicans wanted this
Child Tax Credit- Republicans wanted this
Tax cuts for Businesses- Republicans wanted this
Cut in payroll tax- Republicans wanted this

So again, how was this a compromise? That was all shit put into the 'stimulus' bill to attract Republican votes. It does the least to stimulate the economy, and now we're spending more.

As I was saying, this is a pretty shit deal.[/QUOTE]

Why would Republicans want extensions for the EITC and Child Tax Credits when it was in Obama's stimulus plan that they originally voted AGAINST? (Remember, only 3 GOP moderates in the Senate voted for it, and all House Republicans voted against it)

You cleverly left out the UI extension, clever!

Apparently your idea to increase taxes to stimulate the economy was ignored, go figure.
 
No need to get snarky.

They voted against it because Democrats are stupid and believed giving them stuff they asked for would get votes. I remember well that time.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
You mean, they believed putting whipped frosting on rat poison would get the republicans to swallow it. Well, 3 RINOs did, so it wasn't a totally bad idea I guess.


But compromise IS a bad thing. The only times in living memory in which spending did not outpace growth in GDP were when the government was locked in loggerheads. When actual cuts are precluded, gridlock is preferable to further malignant growth. That's really what the 2010 election results were about.
 
I love that narrative. It is always amusing when huge majorities being lost by the political party in power is treated like it is an anomaly.
 
Compromise only fails in a two party system because in order to win, your opponent has to lose. Parliamentary systems thrive on compromise. I mean, Canada is just booming because of its austerity measures, tax cuts, spending decreases, etc. all because the parties have to reach a compromise on their priorities.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I love that narrative. It is always amusing when huge majorities being lost by the political party in power is treated like it is an anomaly.
It's not an anomaly, it's WHY large majorities are lost by those in power. When neither side can run roughshod over the other, and over the budget, that's when the least damage is done. Compromise blows a hole in that.
 
Only in US politics would 'compromise' be considered a bad word.
Given that the president, and nearly the whole party, ran on the concept of "change", had 2/3 of the national gov't on their side, accomplished so little compared to what they should have been able to do, and now are caving in to the GOP... yeah.

Keep in mind that they aren't compromising.

They chose to put the tax cut extension off until after the election. Then they called it a "major emergency" and pretended that they could not "fix it in time" and that they'd have to bow at the alter of tax cuts for the rich because, they claim, the GOP are holding the middle class hostage.

It's a bunch of BS. If they truly wanted to change the tax cuts, they would have.

They are not compromising. They were trying to hold onto their seats by the skin of their teeth.

And now they're pretending that the democrats somehow came out even, or even on top, through the idea that they are compromising.

It's political spin, same as ever.

They promised change - not compromise. They had the house and the senate, and while they prtended that they would work with republicans, they were too busy wrangling their own party's infighting to pay any attention to the GOP.

So yes, true compromise would have been nice, but this is nothing like compromise, and those that are saying it's compromise - well, the reality is that they are compromising their own values by choice.
 
I'd have a hard time saying "The Democrats". It's The White House all the way on this. Reports are saying Biden was sent to try to gin up support with the House, and they got some stiff opposition. Make no mistake, here, Democrats are NOT happy with this.
 

Necronic

Staff member
Its much better than having the unemployment expire. That would be terrible. All in all, I don't mind, although I vehemently disagree with the temporary repeal of the estate tax. Although I guess it would increase the number of republicans that murder their parents...
 
C

Chibibar

That and the dream act. It is going to be a tough sell. I presume the democrats compromise to get this bill passed? (doesn't look good)
 
That and the dream act. It is going to be a tough sell. I presume the democrats compromise to get this bill passed? (doesn't look good)
I'm going to laugh if the liberal Democrats join with conservative republicans and vote against this.

Obama comes out looking like the good guy for trying to get the two nutbar ends of the spectrum to work together for the public that elected them.
 
C

Chibibar

That and the dream act. It is going to be a tough sell. I presume the democrats compromise to get this bill passed? (doesn't look good)
I'm going to laugh if the liberal Democrats join with conservative republicans and vote against this.

Obama comes out looking like the good guy for trying to get the two nutbar ends of the spectrum to work together for the public that elected them.[/QUOTE]

heh.
Democrats face long odds on immigration measure - Yahoo! News

Basically (from the article) kids who came to the U.S. under age of 16 (legal or illegal) that has NOW obtain high school diploma or GED + served in the military OR attend college. (I thought in the past that serving in the military help you get your citizenship. That is how my friend got his citizenship)

Now this part
Those afforded legal status under the bill would, however, have to undergo the same background check as any immigrant seeking legal residency.
"These are not the individuals that are threats to our public safety or to our security," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

so basically, these people will qualify for citizenship, but still have to go through the process like everyone else.
 
I used to hate when Bush would demand support for something and equated it to national security, no matter how unrelated to terrorism it actually was. This is the same basic thing. It's fear mongering, plain and simple.
 
I'll tell you from my work, every illegal thinks the Dream Act is going to make them a citizen, regardless of their age, nationality, education, situation in the home country, criminal offenses, etc.

Quite literally, a dream.
 
I used to hate when Bush would demand support for something and equated it to national security, no matter how unrelated to terrorism it actually was. This is the same basic thing. It's fear mongering, plain and simple.
Damn you for making me defend Obama BUT from that same damn article:

"Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, told reporters that if the measure isn't passed soon, it will "materially increase the risk the economy would stall out and we would have a double-dip" recession. That put the White House in the unusual position of warning its own party's lawmakers they could be to blame for calamitous consequences if they go against the president."

"Summers' remarks contrasted with Obama's comments at a news conference Tuesday. "We don't have the danger of a double-dip recession," the president said then, noting the impact of the 2009 stimulus bill and other measures meant to steady the economy."
 
I used to hate when Bush would demand support for something and equated it to national security, no matter how unrelated to terrorism it actually was. This is the same basic thing. It's fear mongering, plain and simple.
Damn you for making me defend Obama BUT from that same damn article:

"Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, told reporters that if the measure isn't passed soon, it will "materially increase the risk the economy would stall out and we would have a double-dip" recession. That put the White House in the unusual position of warning its own party's lawmakers they could be to blame for calamitous consequences if they go against the president."

"Summers' remarks contrasted with Obama's comments at a news conference Tuesday. "We don't have the danger of a double-dip recession," the president said then, noting the impact of the 2009 stimulus bill and other measures meant to steady the economy."[/QUOTE]

In light of this, let me amend what I've said. I would hate to see anyone in the administration try to use the vague threat of the recession to get a bill passed. I've always hated that tactic.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I'll tell you from my work, every illegal thinks the Dream Act is going to make them a citizen, regardless of their age, nationality, education, situation in the home country, criminal offenses, etc.

Quite literally, a dream.
Kinda like how after Obamacare passed, lots of doctors got calls from people wanting to know how they sign up for free health care, right?
 
Yes. Typically the White House provides a suggested plan, but congress is ultimately responsible for hammering out the real budget and voting on it.

This is one of those checks and balance areas - the President can make all the executive orders he wants, but if they aren't funded by congress they amount to nil.
 
That's what I was kind of asking. I wanted to know if that was the plan put forth by the White House and it still needed to go through the House and the Senate yet.
 
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