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Will Boehner's Speakership Survive Until Plan C? by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | December 21, 2012
Has there been a House speaker in modern American history with less control over his members than John Boehner? A significant number of Boehner’s members clearly don’t trust his strategic instincts, they don’t feel personally bound to support him, they clearly disagree with his belief that tax rates must rise as part of a deal, and they, along with many other Republicans, must be humiliated after the shenanigans on the House floor this evening. Worse, they know that Boehner knows he’ll need Democratic support to get a budget deal done. That means “a cave,” at least from the perspective of the conservative bloc, is certain. That, too, will make a change of leadership appealing. If a conservative spoiler runs, he or she could very possibly deny Boehner the 218 votes he needs to become speaker. It’s hard to say exactly how likely that is. But it’s likelier than it was, say, this morning. read more »Fiscal Cliff Vote Fails Due to Republican Theology on Taxes by Daniel Gross, thedailybeast.com | December 21, 2012
People in our world too frequently fail to take professionals at their words. The modern Republican Party doesn’t believe in raising taxes. Full stop. In fact, as a rule, its members believes that taxes are too high. When they get in power, Republicans try to cut taxes, regardless of the economic or fiscal situation. George W. Bush may have had a failed presidency in many ways, but you can’t deny his success at reducing taxes on income, capital gains, dividends, and estates. When they are out of power Republicans agitate to cut taxes and oppose tax increases. When they run for office, they promise to cut taxes and oppose tax increases. And when confronted with the prospect of massive tax increases that will result from mere inaction, they have proven, thus far, unwilling to take evasive action if it means raising taxes on anybody. read more »Republicans Crush Boehner’s Plan B by Brian Beutler, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com | December 21, 2012
So what happens now? Boehner has two problems: one with President Obama and another with his conference. And to the extent that he meliorates one he exacerbates the other. He can return to fiscal cliff negotiations with an empowered Obama, and try to eke out the sort of deal he just rejected, then pass it through the House next week, on a bipartisan basis at but a huge risk to his Speakership. That’s the course he told members he’d pursue in the conference meeting Thursday night. And the White House is open to it. It sets up a scenario where Boehner’s old nemesis Nancy Pelosi is suddenly back in the driver’s seat, controlling the votes necessary to pass a deal. But if a last ditch effort fails, or he chooses to rebuff Obama, he’ll set one of two unpredictable chains of events into motion. read more »Boehner’s Failure and the GOP’s Disgrace by Robert b. Reich, robertreich.org | December 21, 2012
Remarkably, John Boehner couldn’t get enough House Republicans to vote in favor of his proposal to keep the Bush tax cuts in place on the first million dollars of everyone’s income and apply the old Clinton rates only to dollars over and above a million. What? Even Grover Norquist blessed Boehner’s proposal, saying it wasn’t really a tax increase. Even Paul Ryan supported it. What does Boehner’s failure tell us about the modern Republican party? That it has become a party of hypocrisy masquerading as principled ideology. The GOP talks endlessly about the importance of reducing the budget deficit. But it isn’t even willing to raise revenues from the richest three-tenths of one percent of Americans to help with the task. We’re talking about 400,000 people, for crying out loud read more »Cliff Hanger: The President’s Unnecessary and Unwise Concessions by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | December 20, 2012
Why is the President back to making premature and unnecessary concessions to Republicans? Two central issues in the 2012 presidential election were whether the Bush tax cuts should be ended for people earning over $250,000, and whether Social Security and Medicare should be protected from future budget cuts. The President said yes to both. Republicans said no. Obama won. It defies logic and fairness to give more tax cuts to the wealthy while cutting benefits for the near-poor. Hands off Social Security. If the Republicans are willing to raise tax rates on high earners but demand more spending cuts in return, the President should offer larger cuts in defense spending and corporate welfare. read more »Make Boehner Own The Horrible Stuff by Markos Moulitsas, dailykos.com | December 20, 2012
We're stuck with a GOP-led House, and not just any GOP, but the worst of the teabaggers. So any deal on the fiscal cliff would have to include at least some things unpalatable to the left. We shouldn't be under any illusions about that. We can argue that we shouldn't have to meet in the "middle," that Democrats won big this past election, and as such have the popular mandate (as well as popular support on the specifics) to drive a hard bargain. But even the most optimistic scenario requires some give. And given that President Barack Obama has already admitted to going past the middle and into GOP territory in his desperate gambit for a deal, so much for that theory. The victor doesn't get the spoils with our current president and opposition. But here's the thing—if you have to make concessions, at least make the other side own them. Here's what you do. read more »What If All the World’s Debt Just Went Away by Joe Brewer, cognitivepolicyworks.com | December 20, 2012
Just for fun, imagine if all debt were wiped away when the Mayan Calendar ends this Friday… How would the world be different? What would become possible for you personally in your life? How would nations and corporations invest our newfound wealth differently if we all started from a clean slate? Problems like global warming and extreme poverty would instantly become financial drops in the bucket—easily tackled with fair contracts and forward-looking investments. The structural debts of entrenched subsidies, invested capital, tax havens, and trade agreements that keep them from being addressed would simply no longer exist. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? What you may not know is that debt arose recently on the human stage. Throughout more than 99% of our history we have not even had a concept for debt. read more »Why The Powers That Be Hate Social Security by Matthew Yglesias, slate.com | December 20, 2012
It's important to understand, if you want to understand the budget debate, that Important People absolutely despise Social Security. Social Security is special and especially despised because lots of important people care a lot about The Economy. The Economy consists of adding up all the economically valuable stuff that happens. All the goods and services and labor that are bought and sold. And with most government spending, you can make some kind of case that the spending boosts The Economy. It boosts The Economy because we need infrastructure or educated workers or healthy ones. Even something like Medicare does something for The Economy because it subsidizes medical training and research. The Economy wants you to spend money on things that can be plausibly described as "investments" that drive future prosperity. And mailing a check to your grandma doesn't fit the bill. read more »Today in Poverty: An Education Wish List by Greg Kaufmann and Elaine Weiss, The Nation | December 20, 2012
10. A Roof Over Every Student’s Head. 9. School Breakfast and Lunch for All Eligible Students. 8. Expanded Access to Quality Pre-kindergarten. 7. Elimination of Waiting Lists for Child Care Subsidies. 6. Affordable physical, mental and dental medical care. 5. Expanded learning time that delivers enriching after-school experiences. 4. Experienced, qualified teachers in appropriately sized classes. 3. Fully-resourced schools. 2. An enriching, holistic curriculum. 1. National policies that enable parents, families, and communities to provide children with what they need to thrive educationally. read more »'Right to Work' for Less Laws Have Racist Origins by Kenneth Quinnell, aflcio.org | December 20, 2012
Last week, after Michigan became the latest state to pass "right to work" for less legislation, many began to dig into the history of such laws and discovered that one of the earliest pushes for "right to work" came from an extreme right-wing activist Vance Muse, who was staunchly anti-communist, anti-integration and anti-union. Muse was the leader of the Christian American Association, an organization that fought to pass "right to work" in more than a dozen states in the 1940s. Working with conservative business leaders and segregationist groups, the Christian American Association first pushed for so-called "anti-violence" laws that were designed to clamp down on picketing by unions. After they successfully passed that law in Texas and in other Southern states, they moved on to "right to work" in 1945, passing the first such law in Texas in 1947. In Florida and Arkansas, the Christian American Association used messaging that compared union growth to race-mixing and communism. read more »
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