The inmates have taken over the asylum.

[Big RR]

wes--in an authoritarian system, a leader could choose to not pay some debt that is due, be it for the mortgage or the vacation in Tahoe. However, in a system where the opinion of more than one man matters, we have a budget duly passed by both houses of congress and signed by the president, so any cut in spending would have to be done the same way; the budget can not be unilaterally amended by a single person or group. Refusing to pay for authorized expenditures is ridiculous; do your cutting at the budgetary table, not by this silliness.

[Guinevere]

Exactly, BigRR. The full faith and credit of the US -- not a small thing -- is at risk. This is nothing more than pathetic whining and foot-stamping because the FreeDum caucus either doesn't approve of what was done in the past, or didn't get their way. It's childish and completely undignified.

[rubato]

Even an autocrat cannot unilaterally refuse to honor external debt without consequence.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

Obama Saves America From Republican Failure
By Bringing Deficit Below 50 Year Average

Okay, well that's also a lot of crap, because the largest reasons for that are The Sequestor (that Obama fought against tooth and nail) low interest Fed policies, and the fundamental underlying strength of the US economy...

Obama cut the deficit by shrinking the federal government.. Clinton eliminated the deficit and left a surplus by holding it flat but Bush I had only lefts things screwed up not totally fucked like Bush II did.

Both Reagan and Bush II created huge deficits by expanding the federal government and cutting taxes on the rich. (for budgeting purposes a tax cut is equal to a spending increase)




And that's the facts.


yrs,
rubato

[wesw]

please point out where I advocated not raising the debt ceiling

I believe chaffetz would find a compromise

you stake out a position and then bargain toward a middle ground

perhaps if our congress would pass a real budget we would be able to solve this problem and quit kicking the can down the road

throw out the leadership and try someone new, what we are doing is not working, it would be insane to continue

[Guinevere]

THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND on the debt ceiling. It's not even a "yes" or "no." It's simply yes, we are obligated. Oy.

I agree with LJ, I don't know why this is even a question, since the appropriations have already been authorized.


And yes, we need a budget, not more foot stomping and delaying tactics.

[Big RR]

I have to agree wes, there is no middle ground. And FWIW, congress always passes a real budget that becomes the law of the land when the president signs it; it is then up to the government to fund it. You do not, as an individual or a group amend he budget by refusing to pay for approved items; you amend it by passing an amended budget the same way you passed the initial budget; democracy is hard.

[MajGenl.Meade]

wesw is carson! Be afraid - very afraid

[Big RR]

Of course this is the guy who would have rushed the gunman in Oregon and risked his life to save others, even though he didn't do so when actually facing a real gun. A real legend in his own mind.

[Scooter]

He was on The View the other day blaming Holocaust victims for allowing themselves to be slaughtered because they weren't armed.

I just heard a Republican pundit speaking, I missed her name, who said that what bothers her about Carson is not that he doesn't sound like a president, but that he doesn't even sound like a doctor even though he is one, because whatever comes out of his mouth sounds like he hasn't spent more than 15 seconds thinking about the issue before spouting off.

[Guinevere]

I was going to post something last night about Carson's blaming the holocaust victim comments, but I just couldn't bring myself to even repeat that crazy.

[rubato]

As I have said before he is like a lot of physicians and academics who assume that success in their field qualifies them for everything else; hence the poor leadership often found in universities and medical institutions.


Carson is like a lot of my SDA family and their extended and very insular community, singularly ignorant of most of the world and unaware of that shortcoming.


He was interviewed yesterday and blathered idiotically about how he would get rid of mythical government waste with an across the board 3% spending cut.


yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

Colour me completely unsurprised:

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday that the GOP's investigation into Planned Parenthood's use of federal funds hasn't turned up anything.

"Did I look at the finances and have a hearing specifically as to the revenue portion and how they spend? Yes. Was there any wrongdoing? I didn't find any," he said during a Judiciary Committee hearing on the family planning provider.

Chaffetz, a candidate for House speaker, grilled Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards during a five-hour hearing last week. He questioned her salary, asked about the organization's expenses and revenues, and pressed Richards on why the group had revenue of $127 million last year if it's a nonprofit. (Nonprofits put their revenues back into their programs.)

But after all that, he concluded that Planned Parenthood isn't doing anything sketchy with its money. "Did we find any wrongdoing? The answer was no," Chaffetz said.

But of course, admitting that this propaganda campaign against PP isn't going to stop the misogynist wing of the GOP from trying:

Chaffetz said Thursday that he still supports digging into Planned Parenthood's activities, even if they're using their money appropriately.

"I think there will continue to be investigations," he said.

[wesw]

(Hillary s cadre of Canadian political assassins quietly enters the campaign...)

(the GQ set says "fuck ben carson")

(the professor, hiding behind her tenure, quietly calls him a "coon")

(the mainstream media quietly begins to squirm in Hillary s tightening death grip)

[Scooter]

I can't possibly defend any of the nonsense that Republicans are engaging in this days, so I'll try shouting, "Look over there, a squirrel," instead.

FTFY

[Lord Jim]

I just heard a Republican pundit speaking, I missed her name, who said that what bothers her about Carson is not that he doesn't sound like a president, but that he doesn't even sound like a doctor even though he is one, because whatever comes out of his mouth sounds like he hasn't spent more than 15 seconds thinking about the issue before spouting off.

I would guess that was probably SE Cupps, who (aside from the fact that she's smokin' hot):



Is one of my favorite Republican commentators...

I saw her on a panel on CNN a couple of days ago where she was asked to respond to a clip of one of Carson's latest bits of idiocy and she said:

"Well that's complete gibberish. It makes absolutely no sense. What Dr. Carson is good at, is speaking complete gibberish in a calm way that a lot of people are mistaking for thoughtfulness...but it's still complete gibberish... the man has no facts and absolutely no idea what he's talking about..."

Hard to improve on that, SE...



ETA:

BTW, Miss Cupps has expressed a similar view of Donald Trump, which no doubt makes her almost as big a loser as Megyn Kelly...

[Lord Jim]

As I suspected would be the case:

Pressure builds on Paul Ryan to run for House speaker

WASHINGTON (AP) — The pressure is on Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2012, to run for House speaker in the chaotic aftermath of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's sudden decision to abandon his campaign for the post.

"I've talked with Paul Ryan. He's talking to people. I think he'd make a great speaker," McCarthy, R-Calif., said Friday morning as he entered a closed-door Republican meeting. "It's a big decision. He's got to talk to his wife and everybody else, and it's got to be his decision."

Ryan has insisted he's not interested in the post, preferring to focus on his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. In addition, any presidential aspirations the 45-year-old Wisconsin lawmaker might have could be undercut by holding the chamber's top job and managing its unruly caucus.

Being speaker also calls for frequent travel to raise money for the GOP, a challenge for a lawmaker like Ryan with a young family back home.

Republicans met Friday morning to discuss their next move, and even before that session several potential candidates for the top post surfaced. But lawmakers said nothing was decided at Friday's gathering.

"The consensus is to give it a little time," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.

http://news.yahoo.com/gop-tumult-mccart ... itics.html#

[Guinevere]

The Post has a good story on this in their morning 202 report. He is no longer saying "no" he's just saying nothing.

Kind of between a rock and a hard place -- this is not a Congress one wants to lead or to be associated with. It could be a millstone around his neck if/when he runs for President/VP in the future (which I assume is why he has said no).

[Scooter]

I would guess that was probably SE Cupps

Bingo, that was her. I had never seen her before, but I would listening to her more if I knew where to look for her.

[Guinevere]

Cupp, not Cupps. But I can see how you got distracted


ETA: Cornell class of 2000