Committees come and then they go

[Long Run]

Not a peep here about the "Super" committee that was going to find $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. Not much in the news, and doesn't seem to have impacted people's perceptions of the economy's prospects. Makes you think the whole thing was a sham (most obvious statement of the day). The built-in reductions will not happen (1/2 defense and 1/2 domestic), no matter what happens in the election next year (and no matter what Obama says now). Was the committee ever anything more than a face-saving tool to get the deficit hawk Rs out of the bind they put themselves (and the country) in when they used the debt ceiling limit as leverage to get reductions in future proposed spending? I guess it also gave Ds cover as caring about the deficit despite their record of the last several years. So, two wins for Congress and a loss for the country.

[quaddriver]

proof that no one in office, or in the pipe to be in office knows squat.

the dems may have bloated the budget to scary proportions, but the reps are ok with that apparently.

[Crackpot]

What can you say about a legislative branch that is less popular than communism that hasn't already been said?

[BoSoxGal]

Apparently polls are indicating that the American people are blaming Republicans for the failure of the SuperCommittee.

I agree that it is unlikely the automatic cuts will go into effect. Still, I think (and hope) that Republicans will be the ones who take the heat for the failure to compromise on cuts/taxes. I think the majority of Americans are sick of tax cuts for the wealthy.

[Long Run]

Apparently polls are indicating that the American people are blaming Republicans for the failure of the SuperCommittee.

I guess my point is that it was never meant to succeed. If it was, the failure to reach a deal would be a big story, but it is a relative footnote during a slow news period (hey, even the endless R debate schedule gets more bandwidth), and the markets would have reacted strongly negative. None of that happened, so there was no failure -- the committee did what people expected it to do (which is put the budget debate off to the election).

[Lord Jim]

Obama should have embraced Simpson-Bowles...

If he had done so, he wouldn't be facing the situation he's facing today...

A committee made up of sitting politicians in an election year are going to reach an agreement?

You're kidding, right?

[Crackpot]

LR

It's not that it wasn't meant to succeed but after the debt ceiling clusterfuck earlier this year WE're nit stuid enough to get our hopes up.

[rubato]

Any party stupid enough to sign a pledge to turn the knob only one way when they were elected to govern are too stupid to be trusted with any real responsibility.

It's like saying that your family can turn the thermostat down but never up, no matter how cold it gets; a party of morons.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

I haven't opened rube's post, but I do see that he's followed up...

And I have a comment I'd like to make....

In general, I do not miss reading rube's posts...

It was more than a decade of reading SSDD, over and over and over again....

He's like a Chatty Cathy Doll who pulls his own string, and the response that comes out is constantly stuck on the same place on the tape....he really gives meaning to the expression "one trick pony"....

But there is one thing I do miss about reading his posts...

His drivel always served to remind me that no matter how frustrated, irritated and disappointed I might become with some of the horse's patoots in my own party....

That there are folks every bit as misanthropic, brain-dead, bigoted, ignorant, and flat out round-peg-round-hole square-peg-square-hole stupid, in the party opposite....

There are a number of intelligent, articulate, knowledgeable, (albeit misguided ) Democrats and Liberals who frequent this board...

Rube is not one of them....

He's sort of the Democrat version of "Captain Ray" ...(except that for all his knee-jerk behavior, Captain Ray was clearly a much nicer and more likable person than rube)

[Crackpot]

that's square peg round hole Jim

[Lord Jim]

that's square peg round hole Jim

Well, if that's what you've been trying to do, CP, I think I may have found the source of your frustration...

You know, I used to rag on rube for never expressing an original thought, (the man once actually bragged about being predictable....I have to say that on that score, he never disappointed) but I realize that was a unfair criticism...

"Catholics don't value education"

"Alan Turing is better known than George C. Marshall"

"The expansion of federal power began with Ronald Reagan"

"The Sandinistas established a democracy"

"There was no genocide before Christianity"

"No black musicians were widely accepted by white people before Michael Jackson"


Those are all completely original thoughts.....

There's no way anybody else could possibly have come up with them besides rube....

[rubato]

Not reading what I have written now allows him to lie about it with even greater freedom than before.



yrs,
rubato

[Crackpot]

getting it right doesn't quite define stupid now does it?

[Lord Jim]

I'm not sure I'm following you CP....

Which one of those things I listed that rube has said would you define as "right"? (they may not be exact quotes, but they're very close)

[rubato]

"...

"Catholics don't value education"

I said that immigrants from Catholic countries are generally less educated and value education less when they get here. Like Mexico vs China, Japan, Denmark, India. Italian and Pilipino immigrants are not the most highly educated either ...

"Alan Turing is better known than George C. Marshall"

Someone (scooter?) had said that Alan Turing's accomplishment was unknown because of his persecution for being a homosexual. I said that his most important accomplishments (in the area of mathematics and computer science) were better known than George Marshall's as general of the army during the preparation for and conduct of WWII. Most people recognise the word "Marshall Plan" but no historian would say that winning the peace was as central as winning the war, and Marshall is called "the one indispensible man" for that. Thus Marshall is less well known for his greatest accomplishment than Turing was for his.

"The expansion of federal power began with Ronald Reagan"

I have said that Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan have expanded the federal government by the greatest amount in 40 years. Which is true. You can look it up.

"The Sandinistas established a democracy"

The Sandinistas overthrew a 2nd generation dictator whose family kleptocracy had stolen about 1/4 of the land in his country, established a democracy, and when they were voted out of office, they left.

"There was no genocide before Christianity"

I said that Christendom invented and spread genocide based on what people thought. And that is true. The Cathars were utterly exterminated for their religious beliefs.

"No black musicians were widely accepted by white people before Michael Jackson"

I never said anything like that. That is a pure invention and unintelligent even for a lie. Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, BB King, Thomas Waller, Duke Ellington, and far too many more to list.


Those are all completely original thoughts.....

There's no way anybody else could possibly have come up with them besides rube....

Lying is a great tactic for someone who knows little and wants to learn nothing. He does it so naturally.


yrs,
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[rubato]

LJ just needed to dissipate some irritation. He read my post and it pissed him off so he had to post something insulting in return.

Some people believe that lying is degrading and won't resort to it. Not everyone.

yrs,
rubato

[dgs49]

No committee is going to resolve anything, as long as the Dems continue demanding tax hikes today for spending "cuts" in the future.

Been there. Done that. At some point you are forced to understand that Lucy will not hold the football still for the kick.

Actually, I agree with the poster above who mentioned Simpson-Bowles. I think most knowledgeable voters of all parties would agree that that document was a decent starting place, and it provides political cover for those who need it. Who knows, maybe someone will have the balls to go there.

[rubato]

"Committees come and then they go"

Talking of Michelangelo ...

yrs,
rubato