“This isn’t what we had in mind.”
A conspiracy theorist might suggest that the debt ceiling crisis was created simply to implement this dictatorship-smelling thing. One can only wonder at how big-business/special-interests will salivate over such a system given how easy it is to influence politicians now with bribes… er, um… campaign contributions.
Debt ceiling negotiators think they’ve hit on a solution to address the debt ceiling impasse and the public’s unwillingness to let go of benefits such as Medicare and Social Security that have been earned over a lifetime of work: Create a new Congress.
This “Super Congress,” composed of members of both chambers and both parties, isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but would be granted extraordinary new powers. Under a plan put forth by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his counterpart Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), legislation to lift the debt ceiling would be accompanied by the creation of a 12-member panel made up of 12 lawmakers — six from each chamber and six from each party.
Legislation approved by the Super Congress — which some on Capitol Hill are calling the “super committee” — would then be fast-tracked through both chambers, where it couldn’t be amended by simple, regular lawmakers, who’d have the ability only to cast an up or down vote. With the weight of both leaderships behind it, a product originated by the Super Congress would have a strong chance of moving through the little Congress and quickly becoming law. A Super Congress would be less accountable than the system that exists today, and would find it easier to strip the public of popular benefits. Negotiators are currently considering cutting the mortgage deduction and tax credits for retirement savings, for instance, extremely popular policies that would be difficult to slice up using the traditional legislative process.
Get big money out of politics. That’s the only real fix.
We can fire all the incumbents. We can create new parties. But if we don’t get the hundreds of millions of dollars out of politics, it will never improve.
But, it will probably require constitutional amendment because the current activist Supreme Court thinks there should be MORE money in politics, not less.
SuperCitzens will crush SuperPresident and SuperCongress.
It is our country.
The US can’t pass obvious, pragmatic legislation to fix problems anymore. It’s gaming theory taken to the max.
Goddamn committees, I’d really like my congressman to have an effect sooner rather than later.
Dallas, you crack me up. The exec. office doesn’t have special interests? hahhahaha…what are you smoking? So, you didn’t elect your Senator or Congressman to get things done? Hmmm, that explains a lot about you.
A partial quote form one of the Jurassic Park movies. This idea “..is the worst idea in the long, sad history of bad ideas.” Would the Republican Leader support it if not in the minority in the Senate? Probably not. Odd that the Democratic leader does when in the majority.
More Dog an pony show creating the illusion that we have a 2 party system. It’s just like building 7 sheeple won’t look at the facts because of the implications.
Rahm Emanuel said never let a crisis go to waste. Barack Obama was elected due to crisis. His political mentors were all; about fomenting crisis. It’s why he is willing to default on the debt.
Not sure if he’s thought this through. Does he really think more economic turmoil is going to get him reelected, just by blaming it on the Republicans?
Mickey–you got your head so far up your ass, its time to parse.
Rahm Emanuel said never let a crisis go to waste. /// Yes. He also said the Pukes are trying to destroy America. Prescient eh wot?
Barack Obama was elected due to crisis. /// No. He was voted in the normal course of affairs to CHANGE how our government works.
His political mentors were all; about fomenting crisis. /// Yes, the Cheney/Rove Presidency marked the outright takeover of our government by the SuperRich.
It’s why he is willing to default on the debt. /// You mean debt ceiling. Push come to shove, he might enforce the Constitution rather than the stupidity of Congress, but it is a close call. The PUKES are willing to default to continue the shift of wealth in our country to the SuperRich. Why shouldn’t this effort be opposed?
Not sure if he’s thought this through. /// You two are of like minds on that. When is the last time you thought anything through Mickey? Or are you a billionaire doing your Bilderberg duty to pollute the market place of ideas one blog at a time?
Does he really think more economic turmoil is going to get him reelected, just by blaming it on the Republicans? /// I was going to vote against Obama until he started showing some spine finally. Portends well for his second term. One can only hope Obama’s fake christianity finally gives out and he sees the PUKES for what they are. Doubtful. He thinks compromising with the evil that you champion is what America needs. Evil turns you around like that.
VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE.
I think it’s a great idea except it should be 12 random people from the phone book. Better yet how about a reality show to select them.
#24–JB==a parse for you too:
#10 Bobbo, actually I was not just thinking of Obama. Reid and Pelosi are equally culprit in the disaster we are living through right now. They’ve had their hands in the cookie jar even longer than Obama. /// You want to push the idea its all the Dumbo’s fault huh? Very “two party” of you. YOU are what’s wrong with America JB. If you want to be anti-tax and spend, thats defensible. Spinning the issue as PUKES vs Dumbo’s is not.
The Republicans are trying to pull the plug on the Democrat orchestrated out-of-control spending. //// It more the effect of out of control tax cuts for the SuperRich.
We don’t have the money to pay for all the stuff the libs are pushing for. /// Exactly so. Raise the taxes to cover the programs the MAJORITY of people in America want and need. PUKE not to. Remove the pork, fraud, abuse, for profit skimming and a fair and moderate tax system could be easily achieved. Paying the long term debt off would only take time after that.
Great satisfaction for the strong hands in Wisconsin – public unions got their clocks cleaned, education budgets falling line already and employment generation is best in the country. /// “First, they came for the Unions……” Employment generation is up in Wisconsin huh? Is that like saying there were no attack on American Soil during the Cheney/Rove Presidency? Ha, ha. The Big Lie. Always incredibly stupid if you just look. Just LOOK!!
JB–Teabagger/SuperRich shill. On full display.
VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE.
They have things backwards. The current Congress is getting things done. It is the President who is failing. The US debt was downgraded by a credit ratings agency. It has gone mostly unnoticed, since it is a smaller one, Egan-Jones that did the downgrading. They didn’t cite Boehner’s failure to make a deal with the President, but rather that the debt to GDP ratio is over 100%, and having difficulty solving the problem. Obama’s solution is to raise taxes,which does not solve the problem that this credit rating gave.
Mickey–Obama’s solution is to raise taxes,which does not solve the problem that this credit rating gave. /// Of course it does. We already have near the lowest tax structure there is compared to other like countries and the lowest revenue from taxes compared to GDP in our modern History and the greatest wealth disparity even including the Bananna Republics. You can’t be proud of this can you Mickey? Mickey are you a Billionaire just trolling the blogs with your FUD? Mickey??? Mickey??????????
VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE.
http://slate.com/id/2299460/
Short simple article going to the fact that its not “default” on the bonds that will cause turmoil in the market, but rather the consequential effects of the loss of faith in the full faith and credit of the USA. Millions of “unrelated” obligations floating up and down based on the value of the Treasury Bonds.
Psychotic children playing with nuclear weapons==but what can any sane person do when their powers are limited? Ultimately, the NO NEW TAXES destruction of America from the inside would have the same effect a few years later? Is Obama really focusing the causation on where it is? Thinking 2 years out? Hard to believe but he is supposed to be “intellectual” and all.
How much pain do you absorb to stand on principle? The PUKES aren’t doing that===just to head you retards off before the pass===No the Pukes impose pain on OTHERS, not on themselves except for the unrecognized blowback that will result.
Sad Pukes==cant even see what is in their own self interest, but that is what a puke is.
VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE.
Bohner sees the opportunity for 2012.
Plunge the US and world economy into a nuclear winter and then run in 2012 on the oldie bug goodie, “it’s the economy stupid”. It’s brilliant!
TN has to balance the budget. Most states have this in their constitutions. I think this ought to be in our constitution. If it had been we would not be in the mess we are today.
Our creditors are losing faith and raising the debt limit is not going to fix that because anyone with an IQ higher than a gerbil can see that it is rapidly becoming absolutely physically impossible for the Fed Gov not to do massive defaults. If you have money you don’t want a part of that action.
There’s a petition to quash the “Super Congress” plan. If you oppose this plan, please sign and share: http://change.org/petitions/tell-congress-and-the-president-to-reject-the-idea-of-a-soviet-style-super-congress-now
“In his 2010 financial disclosure forms, for instance, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor listed a small investment in a fund that bets against U.S. Treasury securities and would benefit if the U.S. government defaulted or something else happened that devalued Treasuries.”
It’s betting time ladies and gentleman. The republicans are going to profit destroying this great America shredding it along with the Constitution.
http://mykeystrokes.com/2011/07/24/personal-parachutes-how-elites-could-profit-from-a-u-s-debt-crisis/
Bobbo, raising taxes won’t get the national debt under 100% of GDP. Only ways to do that are to get a surplus, or increase the economy. Raising taxes in a recession is a bad idea, as even Obama admitted.
No, we don’t.
Lyin’ Mike–BS. Obama should have let the Cheney/Rove Tax Cut expire on everyone two years ago and deal with the pieces thereafter. Solutions require long term honest thinking==all three of which are markedly absent in our current leadership and their idiot bases, shills, and stooges.
VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE.
#53, If taxes were raised (and lets be honest that’s what it is, none of this “increasing revenue” B.S., if you are going to screw the american people Obama at least have the balls to call it what it is), what do you think will happen? Do you really believe that the Democrats and the president are actually going to cut spending? They never have in the past, why would they do it now? You and I both know, these “10 year spending decreases” are complete hogwash, and will never happen.
I think you know exactly what would happen. They would get more money, and they would just continue to spend it, at ever increasing rates. You don’t give a body who has never shown that they can control their spending more money. If you do they will just continue to spend it!
What do you think is going to happen when other counties stop loaning us money? What do you think will happen when our children have to pay the bill that ours and the previous generations have racked up in their name?
We are already deeply screwed, and its already going to be hard to get out of this mess. The sad fact is, if you took 100% of the income of every “millionaire and billionaire” in the country one time (because lets be honest it will only work one time), you would only have enough money to fund the federal government for 6 months!! After that you would be in even worse shape, their is just not enough money to keep up with your cradle to grave social engineering.
The solution is to cut spending, and I mean cut spending allot. After the feds prove they can manage what they have then we can talk about increasing taxes. Like any out of control spender, the last thing you ever do is give them more money to spend!!
More power in the hands of fewer.
What an ingenious idea.
Let’s also raise the President to full dictator status.
Then we will finally kill off this pesky and messy democracy thing.
Bravo! Bravo!
#54–Bob==long post to be essentially arguing off topic with yourself.
What part of “VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE do you not understand?
How does no new taxes equate to increased tax revenues in your mind? Arguing with yourself.
I agree the pukes will spend on all occasions. As soon as the no new taxes crowd is out, we go to work on the deficit spenders. As easily mislead as people are who argue with themselves, I purposely avoided multi-tasking you types.
No pork, no hidden agenda, no secret meetings, no money/phone calls from money sources.
Let the sunlight in.
The answer to your question though is the same as it ever has been: inflation. All debts paid off or carried forward with devalued money. Best deal going right now.
Yea, verily.
VOTE ALL “NO NEW TAXES” POLITICIANS OUT OF OFFICE.
Bobbo – I would support your desire to pay higher taxes only under one condition: that every penny taised be used to pay off the debt. Do you realize that at CURRENT levels, JUST the interest on the debt will be somewhere between 5 and 8 TRILLION dollars over the next decade? (I just noticed I wrote “taised” instead of “raised.” I should correct the typo but it seems maybe prophetic!) Just think how happy any administration would be if our budget showed a couple of trillion dollars SURPLUS in the next decade.
As for the Super Congress – uh uh. The Constitution is very clear about the way the government works and it does not include any ChiCom-style Gang of 12 leadership. The institution of this third house could easily trigger a Constitutional crisis as every law it passed would be immediately referred to the SCOTUS. If they want to do this, they should do it right by making it an amendment to the C. Send it on to the states and see if 3/4 would ratify. I’d be willing to bet TWO cups of coffee it couldn’t pass.
Animby–sounds good but I don’t think you’ve got the proper phrasing. You can’t pay down the debt if you are in yearly deficit spending, so what you are actually saying is a mandatory balanced budget.
Do the math.
Sometimes, people’s stupidity is overwhelming. There is no “new SUPERCONGRESS” being proposed. There is a proposal that a committee of twelve Senators and Congressmen sit down and resolve the budget issues. That doesn’t mean their result is automatically law. It would still have to be passed by Congress and signed by the President to become law.
Fuck, no wonder stories like space aliens and the birthers get such traction. Ijits will believe anything they’re told and never bother to read more than the headline. Effen morans!!!
#58 Bobbo – Do NOT put words in my mouth. I said absolutely nothing about a balanced budget. I specifically said I would be willing ti support higher taxes IF they were dedicated to paying down the debt. I slipped when I said pay “off” the debt. There is a case to be made that a successful economy MUST carry some debt. Not as much as O’Bama wants, though. As for the balanced budget thing? I’m not necessarily for it. That does not mean I am agin it, either. I waiver, I waffle, I bob for apples, the sweet fruit of success and come up with chestnuts – bitter and not very palatable.
In any case, that’s my opinion and worth what you paid for it.
NO ! We just need the Repukes and Baggers OUT OF THE CONGRESS !!! We need to EJECT REPUKES AND BAGGERS FROM ANY PUBLIC OFFICE – FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL – IN THE COUNTRY – from Florida to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii !!! Then we can get down to serious governance !!!
Get the Democrats out of the way and this country might still survive. STOP SPENDING!!!!!!
I would support tax increases if there were a requirement that any tax increase approved required the random execution of at least 1 of the congress critters (or POTUS) who voted for it. Then we’d find out if they really believe there’s nothing that can be cut. Our elected officials should be risking their lives.
So, to solve a problem that should be an automatic procedural step we… restructure our form of government?
This looks like a coup d’etat. Could someone please start thinking straight!