tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post7433660473241365911..comments2024-01-28T22:16:50.852-06:00Comments on Mr. Dilettante’s Neighborhood: Same as it ever wasMr. Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13920907647566015611noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-80696998998344400432013-01-08T07:46:46.832-06:002013-01-08T07:46:46.832-06:00Rich,
As always, you're missing the point. Th...Rich,<br /><br />As always, you're missing the point. The reason Reid matters is that the Senate hasn't passed a budget in FOUR YEARS. That has meant that the government has essentially been running on continuing resolutions at a level that has produced a trillion dollar deficit each of the past four years. That is one of the reasons why things are so much worse now than they were since Obama took office. John Boehner has any number of faults, but he can't control the Senate.<br /><br />And the compromises you are talking about aren't going to come close to dealing with the problem. But you know that.Mr. Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920907647566015611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-58605821176676629242013-01-05T10:45:48.677-06:002013-01-05T10:45:48.677-06:00Ah yes, big, bad Harry Reid: The wheels fall off o...Ah yes, big, bad Harry Reid: The wheels fall off of the increasingly dysfunctional House GOP caucus, and Boehner can't get anything done. This happened after Obama had offered up raising the Medicare eligibility age and pinning Social Security raises to chained-CPI. Note, also, that Obama has also taken measures to squeeze Medicare payments to providers and insurers for a savings of $720 billion over the next decade (which he was attacked on the right and the left for doing), and has proposed another $350 billion in cuts in his 2013 budget. Even with all of that, Boehner and the House are paralyzed. So Boehner drops the whole thing in Reid's lap. Reid puts together a workable short-term solution in a week, that passes in the House and Senate, and you want to pretend that Harry Reid is the problem here! Good luck selling that.<br /><br />If the GOP caucus in the House wants to keep leading with there chins, without having any real plans to move forward short of taking their football and going home, I would anticipate more of the same. Hopefully, after doing this to themselves a couple of times, the GOP might be beaten into a state of reasonability and be ready to work on a bi-partisan solution that doesn't include derailing the world's economy if they don't get their way. Time will tell.<br /><br />We already no where Obama is opening for the next round: He wants to balance any subsequent spending cuts with revenue increases to reach the total of $1.2 to 1.6 trillion in new revenues and cuts over ten years. Can we find $600 to $800 Billion in revenues by restructuring the tax code? Can we find $600 to $800 Billion in cuts? I would think that would be pretty easy if our legislators would be willing to negotiate.<br /><br />Regards, <br />Rich<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-46304291537731905262013-01-05T10:05:13.944-06:002013-01-05T10:05:13.944-06:00Gino,
I am on board with states determining the l...Gino, <br />I am on board with states determining the legality of abortion. Put abortion on a ballot and I will vote against abortion every time. <br /><br />But the right is never content with that. They always want to push the boundaries with absurd laws like the personhood amendment, banning in-vitro procedures, or other add-ins, like banning abortion in the case of rape, or disallowing contraceptive measures. <br /><br />When the state of Illinois puts a law on the ballots or uses legislative means to pass a law that bans the vast majority of abortions, I will support it. But if there are no exceptions for rape or incest, or attempts to mess with birth-control or in-vitro fertilization, they will lose my support. <br /><br />Regards,<br />Rich Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-52141481187777335082013-01-03T17:26:57.363-06:002013-01-03T17:26:57.363-06:00Also, in re. Hope and Change, let's not forget...<i>Also, in re. Hope and Change, let's not forget Obama ending the torture regime of the last administration. That was big for me too.</i><br /><br />yet, you are still on board with the baby killing regime...Ginohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09606046924332159076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-25316563251997098292013-01-03T12:31:07.480-06:002013-01-03T12:31:07.480-06:00The Republicans, who are supposedly running things...<i>The Republicans, who are supposedly running things in the lower house, say that they want to cut spending and reform entitlements. But saying and doing are two very different things. They talk a lot, and are very good at threatening everyone with poison-pill proposals, but they never propose any actual, workable plans. They remind me of the Sheriff in Blazing Saddles holding himself hostage. Stop me before I spend again!</i><br /><br />Ever heard of Harry Reid, Rich? He's in the papers a lot, you know.Mr. Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920907647566015611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-10780242063560323962013-01-03T11:34:00.556-06:002013-01-03T11:34:00.556-06:00Also, in re. Hope and Change, let's not forget...Also, in re. Hope and Change, let's not forget Obama ending the torture regime of the last administration. That was big for me too.<br /><br />Regards, <br />Rich Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-5780964557769322272013-01-03T11:31:07.978-06:002013-01-03T11:31:07.978-06:00Mark,
blaming George Bush isn't going to cut i...Mark,<br />blaming George Bush isn't going to cut it. He certainly deserves part of the blame, especially on the military buildup and his part in staging two wars off the books. But every President is limited in what they can do with the purse. And there is a whole other branch of government whose main job is supposed to be controlling the purse. That Congress can't seem to perform this task seems to be the heart of the matter. <br /><br />The Republicans, who are supposedly running things in the lower house, say that they want to cut spending and reform entitlements. But saying and doing are two very different things. They talk a lot, and are very good at threatening everyone with poison-pill proposals, but they never propose any actual, workable plans. They remind me of the Sheriff in Blazing Saddles holding himself hostage. Stop me before I spend again!<br /><br />If Congress is going to make any progress on fiscal issues, they are going to have to do some politically unpopular things. Those things shouldn't include threatening to default on our debt payments: that would be both moronic and catastrophic. They are going to have to learn to compromise. Breaking the Hastert Rule was a pretty good start, and I commend the Speaker for doing that. <br /><br />Gino, <br />one of my most fervent wishes for the last 20 years was for Universal Health Care coverage for all Americans. While ObamaCare doesn't quite get us all the way there, it is a massive step forward. I would definitely classify that as fulfilling my biggest expectations of Hope and Change. Also, getting out of Iraq and ending the war in Afghanistan were high on my list. Lot's of progress there too. So, yah...Hope and Change! Now let's hope that the Executive and Legislative branches can get together and actually make more bipartisan progress on fiscal issues. That would be some real change.<br /><br />Regards, <br />RichAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-44621977593218130012013-01-03T00:07:04.337-06:002013-01-03T00:07:04.337-06:00Rich combines the First and Second Amendments to p...Rich combines the First and Second Amendments to preserve his right to go off half-cocked.3john2https://www.blogger.com/profile/05359114327414576258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-41034656158487209492013-01-02T19:58:38.557-06:002013-01-02T19:58:38.557-06:00I am curious: Why aren't you railing against t...<i>I am curious: Why aren't you railing against that as well?</i><br /><br />How do you know what I'm "railing" about, Rich? You've been reading this blog for years now and I've written multiple times about the costs of maintaining an empire and my uneasiness about it.<br /><br />We're going to have to look at everything, because this is unsustainable. But don't worry -- I blame George W. Bush.Mr. Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920907647566015611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-14537797297507153012013-01-02T18:15:21.003-06:002013-01-02T18:15:21.003-06:00"Yep. Same as it ever was. "
so much fo..."Yep. Same as it ever was. "<br /><br />so much for that hope and change, right Rich?Ginohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09606046924332159076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-60697800851253564182013-01-02T17:53:06.928-06:002013-01-02T17:53:06.928-06:00Mark,
you would gain some credibility if you woul...Mark, <br />you would gain some credibility if you would write a single sentence about curtailing military spending, which is, by far, our largest chunk of non-entitlement spending. Almost 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet block, and the DOD is spending more, in inflation adjusted dollars, than it did when Reagan was burying the Soviets in military spending. More, too, than at the peak of the Vietnam conflict. I am curious: Why aren't you railing against that as well? It is one of the biggest drivers of the deficit. Over 700 Billion a year going to the Pentagon; More than the next 9 or 10 countries combined, and we are told that cutting 50 Billion a year would 'gut' Defense. As long as no one wants their ox gored, the country's fiscal health will remain precarious. <br /><br />Yep. Same as it ever was. <br /><br />Regards, <br />RichAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-290916919242148022013-01-02T11:53:21.747-06:002013-01-02T11:53:21.747-06:00I thought you were referring to the Rose Bowl.
At...<i>I thought you were referring to the Rose Bowl.</i><br /><br />At least my team gets to the Rose Bowl. ;)Mr. Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920907647566015611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19838051.post-29164097838898221732013-01-02T09:38:50.007-06:002013-01-02T09:38:50.007-06:00Oh, economic issues. When I saw the headline I tho...Oh, economic issues. When I saw the headline I thought you were referring to the Rose Bowl.Night Writernoreply@blogger.com