Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Superfail: Why D.C.’s Fiscal Clown Show May Still Yield Results

..Superfail: Why D.C.’s Fiscal Clown Show May Still Yield Results
By Daniel Gross | The Ticket – Mon, Nov 21, 2011....
Share0EmailPrint.....Cross-posted from Yahoo! Finance




To the surprise of nobody, the Congressional Supercommittee tasked with coming up with $1.2 trillion in deficit-cutting measures has completely failed.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then Washington is officially bonkers. The entirely predictable face-plant of the Supercommittee came on the heels of the highly predictable failure of the Simpson-Bowles Commission and the Obama-Boehner grand bargain talks.

You don't have to have a Ph.d. in political science to grasp the dynamic at work. The White House has a set of preferences, which it has laid out here. But it doesn't spend a lot of time campaigning for them, and it doesn't believe that getting intensely involved in the negotiations will help move the ball. Democrats aren't entirely sure what they want, though they insist any large deficit reduction deal must include significant tax increases, preferably on higher-income earners and companies. Otherwise, they won't consider significant changes in entitlements that their forebears created, like Social Security and Medicare. As for Republicans, there are two things they aren't interested in: (1) raising taxes; and (2) doing a large deal with President Obama that will give him an achievement going into the next election.

Oh, and the overwhelming majority of people who parade around Washington posing as fiscal hawks are frauds. They're the ones who created a tax system that collects revenues that can't fully fund the spending system they also voted to create. And when push comes to shove, those who cry most loudly about the deficit shy away from doing what's necessary. When the Republican presidential candidates all indicated that they'd reject a deficit plan that included 10 dollars of spending cuts for every dollar of tax increases, it was an extremely clear signal that the Republican party as currently constituted isn't interested in a grand deal. Democrats, for their part, figure there's no point in making massive concessions on entitlements if there's no reciprocation on taxes. And for both parties, these postures make complete political sense.

As the Supercommittee met, there simply wasn't any space for a deal. And the Supercommittee's secret weapon turned out to be a dud. In theory, if the Supercommittee failed to come to an agreement, the default position would be automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion split between social spending and defense. The theory was that such reductions would be so odious to both sides that they'd simply have to come to terms. Here, too, the design was flawed. The cuts aren't set to take place until 2013, which lessens the urgency. And this thing called the Constitution allows Congress to change laws through a process called legislation. Even before the Supercommittee failed, there was talk of simply ignoring or overturning the proposed defense cuts.

While the Supercommittee drama played out, Washington continued to stage a theater of the absurd. The House, led by its Republican majority, last week voted on a Balanced Budget Amendment, a change to the Constitution that could finally force fiscal discipline. But Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republicans' lead voice on budget issues, didn't vote for it. Why? He realized that the budget plan he has proposed, the one which his colleagues have adopted as their own and that creates trillions of dollars of new debt, would be unconstitutional under the amendment. Never mind. Almost all the Congressmen who voted for the balanced budget amendment also voted for the Ryan plan.

The silver lining is that this failure is not likely to matter much to the bond and stock markets over the long-term. And it's quite possible our salvation may come from the same set of conditions that has inhibited action, as The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget and I discuss in the accompanying video.

While the Supercommittee tried to set up a fake trigger for deficit reduction, there are some real triggers out there that have the potential to take a bite out of deficits. If Congress and the White House simply argue, grandstand, and refuse to come to an agreement over the coming year, some $7.1 trillion in deficit reduction could be on the way. This is what Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne dubbed the do-nothing option. The full details are here. There's $3.3 trillion from letting the Bush-era tax cuts on income, capital gains, and dividends expire at the end of 2012. The alternative minimum tax isn't indexed for inflation. And so each year, it catches more people up in its maw, unless Congress enacts a temporary patch. Simply doing nothing on the AMT would raise $700 billion over the next several years. A law passed in the 1990s cut the reimbursement rate for Medicare providers. But Congress has enacted a series of temporary fixes to forestall the cuts. If Washington locks grids over the issue, Congress would effectively cut $300 billion in spending. And don't forget the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts that stem from the Supercommittee's failure.

The best chance for doing something about the deficit, in other words, may be to do nothing. And if there's one thing this divided Congress has proven it can do, it's nothing.

Daniel Gross is economics editor at Yahoo! Finance.

Follow him on Twitter @grossdm; email him at grossdaniel11@yahoo.com.



His most recent book is Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Reoccupy Main Street

Reoccupy Main Street
‎68% of every dollar spent locally is reinvested in the community, versus 43% of every dollar spent at a big box store. Make a measurable daily dent in big box receipts this holiday season, and you will not only make the daily news, you will make your communities more diverse, vibrant and healthy. Print this high resolution poster and invite your favorite Mom and Pop shop to display it. We are the 99%.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Marines of Montford Point





Hagan on the Montford Point Marines' Congressional Gold Medal

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Genetic engineering: The world's greatest scam?



Genetically Modified Food - The Right To Know

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tim Wise: On White Privilege (Clip)



Tim Wise - The Pathology of White Privilege

Saturday, November 12, 2011

9 11 Experts Speak Out

RADIOVISION - Prof. Molefi Asante on Libya & Cote D'Ivoire



Take time to learn the background of the irrational decision of the President to invade and attack Libya and the Continent of Africa. Dr. Molefi Asante, Professor of Temple University, astutely lectures on the historical motivation has been festering many years for imperialistic intervention on the African Continent -- especially in places that have oil. Do not depend upon the American Media to offer anything but disguised misinformation. You will never get a true examination of the incidents except through an African-American scholar who has the courage to reveal the reality of the day. It is Long but it is Strong! Take time to LISTEN AND LEARN!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Greediest Generation

Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of the deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million 'teats'.
Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana ... I think she is a little ticked off!  She also tells it like it is! 

"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud..

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you 
miserable son of a bitch.
If you like the way things are in America delete this. If you agree with what a fellow Montana citizen Patty Myers says,PASS IT ON!!!!

Cops turn Violent, NYPD drag girl across the street. #OccupyWallStreet

[Orignal full version] 1 Marine vs. 30 Cops (By. J. handy)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

How to explain Occupy Wall Street to a six year old?

Occupy Oakland Calls For City-Wide General Strike, Nov 2



Last night hundreds marched through the streets of NYC, chanting "New York is Oakland, Oakland is New York." We circled City Hall, ran in the streets, refused to be kettled or have our voices silenced, marched up broadway, North on 6th Ave, circled around on Bleecker, and marched south against traffic on 6th ave, running past police barricades, running past our fear, running in solidarity with each other and #occupyoakland.