Robert Ariail for December 02, 2012

Budget cuts for tax increases were offered a long time ago by the administration and Democrats the 10/1 offer, and roundly rejected by Boehner, Cantor, and McConnell.

Republicans won’t propose spending cuts. They want someone else to take that responsibility. -Repubicans ‘promise’ to raise taxes? Grover Norquist has had NO pledges broken yet.-

Some Republicans have claimed that they might ‘for the good of the country’, but the bill to preserve tax cuts for the middle class, passed by the Senate, is being held up by Boehner for ‘leverage’. Leverage for what? Why to hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage for tax cuts for the rich.

He’s already cut spending significantly. You’ve got the characters reversed on this one.

Start another war, GOP. That kind of spending doesn’t count, does it.

The law was designed to expire, although nobody thought that congress could be so dysfunctional as to actually let it happen. This completely plays against the GOP game of holding up laws that need to be passed. They are now forced to have to pass a law or take the blame for the biggest tax “increase” in a generation. The sweet irony.

How exciting a new word. The urban dictionary defines “derpy:”“Clumsy or uncoordinated; prone to cause accidents likely due to some, often humourous, mental lapse.”

Whoever thinks this administration has made significant spending cuts isn’t looking at the big picture

Cutting waste to insurance companies in Medicare and cracking down on fraud: on Obama proposal to cut “spending”. Cutting “defense” projects the Pentagon doesn’t even want! Another few hundred billion, at LEAST, that Obama has proposed, that Republicans, and yes, Dems too, fight tooth and nail. Yes, Obama HAS proposed many cuts, that wouldn’t harm the middle class, but put the pinch on the wealthy, and grafters, can’t have that!

ansonia, this was an excellent comment. Thank you for making the effort. I respect facts and critical analysis. You and I are on opposite sides of the political bell curve, but we are both close to the center. That said, I believe the Federal gov’t needs to stimulate growth during a recession and pay back the debt during prosperous and “normal” times, so that we have the ability to get through the next recession. It also needs to pay for wars. The Bush tax cuts should have never been signed into law. We should have demanded reciprocal import/export duties with China 20+ years ago. Glass-Steagal should not have been repealed. Health insurance should not have been tied to employment. So now we have a big mess to clean up and it won’t be inexpensive to do so. Let’s hope that the extremists in both parties turn down the volume so that those in the center can make some painful choices.

they have that backwards. Lucy would be the GOP. Who talked compromise for 2 days and now act like they have never heard what Obama said in the last 2-4 years.