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President Obama has dropped the push for a grand bargain
The problem with the so-called “fiscal cliff” is that it would impose too much austerity on a weak economy. If there is one thing that people should have learned from this global economic downturn, it is that austerity is devastating for weak economies. This issue, though, is incredibly easy to solve.
Congress can just simply eliminate the fiscal cliff.
That is what Congress has traditionally done when faced with artificial deadlines in the past. It just passes “temporary fixes” or continuing resolutions that keep the status quo from being disturbed. Congress can just extend the tax rates for most Americans, eliminate the idiotic sequestrations and keep most current policies as they currently are.
The only reason the “fiscal cliff” has become a potentially serious problem is that our political leaders have been allowed to hold the entire country hostage. They have made fixing this immediate problem conditional on getting an agreement on the completely unrelated issue of the long-term debt, which has proven to be a much more difficult issue. They needlessly turned what was an easily fixable short term problem into a nearly unsolvable situation.
That is why the best news in this entire fight has been President Obama dropping the push for some grand bargain. He is now just trying to eliminate the fiscal cliff. This should have been the position of the administration from the very beginning.
The big news story during this entire fight shouldn’t have been how the negotiations were going but what a shocking dereliction of duty both President Obama and Speaker John Boehner were committing. They should be fixing real problems instead of threatening to hurt the economy to trick their caucuses/bases into agreeing to an unnecessary deficit package
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Or ignore it, and let it “happen” and then come back next year and pass some tax cuts (if they must) or, better yet, direct government spending, to stimulate the economy.
Yeah, I wish they’d just ignore it. If I were a believer, I guess that would be my XMas wish.
uh, Jon, you’re falling into belief that the kabuki is real. neither of these guys has any concern for the economy or their duties outlined by the Constitution to which they swore an oath; their fealty is to the corps.
Well, that would demand real, hard work and having to stand for things (see gun control for example). Not what these bozos are about.
Kabuki for all!!
Thanks for this nice summary. It seems to me that the fiscal cliff showdown has been created to instill fear in democrats so that we will be receptive to cuts to the social safety net. We are used to watching the right wing using fear of people of color, illegal immigrants and gays, to control their voting base. Now the Obama administration (with the complete cooperation of the media) is using fear of economic meltdown to try convince us to abandon our principles concerning Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
“Our problems are manmade–therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable–and we believe they can do it again.” President John F. Kennedy, June 10, 1963
He was speaking of peace, but his words could be applied to any of the problems facing us today. Human problems have human solutions, and this one is not even all that difficult.
Makes ya think these idiotic morons couldn’t find their asshole with both hands, a flashligh and GPS satellite link.
You and karen are right. It IS just kabuki. Sometime I forget.
Wish we could get that cheesy popcorn with the theatre.
May be the two best sentences you’ve written all month. It’s so disgusting to watch those two. Disheartening too.
I believe the problem is worse:
They cannot pee straight using two hands. They are too crooked.
Sorry, but Obama’s reported offer is NOT to eliminate the so-called cliff. Instead he wants to use the current kabuki to set up yet another staged situation that will again “force” him to do what he wants to do anyway: cripple SS.
lol.
On another note, it is snowing, and has been snowing, here (northern Virginia) like a sumbitch here. About 3 or 4 inches so far, and still coming down. Everything is covered in white.
What the date today??? lol
Fascinating how the “media” avowed. “This WILL be resolved. “They” will not let the country plunge ‘off the cliff’ ..or…..Re:Debt limit…..downgraded.Keep in mind. The Teaparty members are akin to Kamikaze pilots when you might try to predict their actions.
Don’t be deceived, Jon. The chained CPI would never have been on the table if Obama had not wanted to offer it. Also, the jack-lew-raise-the Medicare age offer would never have been there if obama had not wanted to offer it. Same for the payroll tax holiday and other technocratic, tone deaf responses to the Depression of 2008. The Obama administration spouts the same terror of the retiring Boomers, as if we were radioactive, the FiftyFootWoman! We have already paid for our retirement, 2.6 trillion in advance payments, and now we are here to collect it, and they do not want to pay. Those are not the words they use, but that is what they are doing. If they don’t succeed now they will be back to attack SS again in the debt ceiling kabuki.
Jon ,you are making an incredibly naive assumption that austerity is a problem for both Wall St . and main street .To the contrary ,austerity is a requisite key for depressing the economy to lower wages ,destroy unions ,hobble the funding of safety net programs as a means of enervation to eliminate or privatize them ,and create a climate of capital dispossession for monopoly predators who can then pay pennies on the dollar as they steal hard and positional assets .
Maybe Fatster can reference the eurozone and austerity so help you better understand the global pillage .If you solicit my help ,I would be glad to share my narrative ,and then you can build your own world view .On You Tube ,I would recommend Paul Craig Roberts,a Reagan and W S J guy ,and the great Michael Hudson,a trained Marxist who was an accounting savant at Chase .
happy holidays ,and thanks for your great work on dank legalization .
Jon, thanks.
It would be nice if the reality-based communities could use the momentum the elites have built up against them, unmask the “trickle-down,” lie. Chuck Todd, David Gregory,….. get to preach “lower taxes,” because most Americans still believe that lower taxes on the 1% means that some of their wealth will “trickle-down.”
Top Marginal Tax rates 1916 – 2011
I’ve been inclined to just go over the Gentle Fiscal Incline, too, but I keep thinking about the extension to unemployment insurance. If that gets trashed on January 1 I don’t think they’re going to rush to reinstate it in the first week, or the first month, and maybe not even in the first three months. And that’s a serious hurt on people who’ve been hurting too much for too long already. I’m fine with the defense cuts. I’m retired military and I have a good idea of how much waste there is in R&D and procurement. But that UI, that’s a bummer.
I would imagine the ext. will be a political football regardless of the cliff jive .If the usual demopublican theatre is in play ,the dems will agree to SS chain cuts under the guise of having their backs against the wall and the ext. meant lives were in the balance .Neither party actually wants to run against ads with homeless and suicide-related testimonials .Interim payments will be assured , yet to put people through a holiday anxiety wringer is cruel.
Speaking of the media, Rachel Maddow’s favorite fill-in, Ezra Klein, always gets these anti-Social Security DLC types as guests on the show, to further push his own centrist agenda. A few weeks back it was Peter CitiGroup Orszag, tonight it was Brookings Institute hack Alice Rivlin… both of whom are on record as supporting cuts to Social Security. Depressing… aside from Bill Moyers once or twice a month, there’s nobody on national television espousing sane economic policy.