Lord, I’m setting this up at 130 in the am, and I’m tired of all the negativity out there against the POTUS. What the hell was he supposed to do? You want a different outcome? ELECT PROGRESSIVES TO CONGRESS. Get the F out there and pound the sidewalks like the teabaggers do and get us a congress that reflects our values. Not a damn thing in the “debt ceiling” bill is written in stone, it can all be overturned by the NEXT FREAKING CONGRESS. Ahem. If we took all the energy directed at whining about how POTUS f’d up, and how HRC would have been soooo much better and just plowed that into a door to door campaign, we’d be golden. But we’re classic Democrats, We lick our wounds and cry not fair. Not me, and not anymore.
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President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reached agreement Sunday on a legislative package that would extend the federal debt ceiling while cutting spending and guaranteeing further deficit-reduction steps, Senate leaders announced.
Two days before the deadline for a possible U.S. government default, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reached agreement Sunday on a legislative package that would extend the federal debt ceiling while cutting spending and guaranteeing further deficit-reduction steps.
The proposed $3 trillion deal, which still requires congressional approval, brought some immediate relief to global markets closely watching the situation play out and a nation filled with anger and frustration over partisan political wrangling that threatened further economic harm to an already struggling recovery.
However, there was no guarantee the plan will win enough support to pass both chambers of Congress.
Democratic and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate were briefing their caucuses about the agreement on Sunday night or Monday.
NY Times alert:
The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate announced Sunday night that they had reached a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avert a default. President Obama spoke moments later at the White House, telling reporters that “the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid a default.”
“My message to the world tonight is that this nation and this Congress are moving forward and we are moving forward together,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada said from the floor of the Senate.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said, “There is now a framework to review that will ensure significant cuts in Washington’s spending.” The announcement came even as House Speaker John A. Boehner was holding a conference call with his Republican members.
… Republicans — in perhaps the most remarkable example of political up-is-downism in recent memory — cast their willingness to dangle the threat of national crisis as a brave and heroic effort they’d undertaken on behalf of the national interest. Only the threat of national crisis could force the immediate spending cuts supposedly necessary to prevent a far more epic crisis later. [...]
Again and again, Dems drew lines in the sand that they promptly erased as the threat of default grew. A clean debt ceiling hike? Dropped. Cuts to Medicare benefits? They’ll likely be in that committee’s crosshairs. The insistence on revenue hikes? Withdrawn. [...]
Dems weren’t prepared to allow default — no matter what. Republicans, by contrast, treated the debt ceiling hike as a necessity, but one that had to happen on their terms. In a remarkable act of political cynicism, they recast the debt ceiling hike itself as a GOP concession — even though they had already agreed it had to happen to avert an epic national crisis. And Dems made this possible by accepting the dynamics of the situation as Republicans defined it.
I can tell you this much: After monitoring Twitter day after day, I’ve observed a growing divide between not only Dems v. Republicans, but also between die-hard Obama defenders and those who criticize him. It’s worrisome that people can’t express differing opinions without being either attacked, ridiculed, or shunned… including by fellow Democrats. And to me, that is as disappointing and disturbing as this so-called “deal”.
Ruh-roh, despite what he may think, Religious Rick may not have the tea bagger vote wrapped up. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Michele Bachmann, who chairs the Congressional Tea Party Caucus, Ron Paul, Herman Cain and even Sarah Palin are giving him a run for his corporate money.
Although Perry’s poll numbers have been rising, ”the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll still places Perry fifth among tea party Republicans nationwide with 12 percent support, about half the level of Bachmann, who was the favorite of 23 percent.”
On MSNBC just now, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) said he “doubts” he’ll vote for the debt ceiling bill… “We’re gonna get a bad deal here no matter what happens.”
I missed this, but was told he called the GOPers “teabaggers”, and for that alone he earns this:
Rep. Raul Grijalva’s and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ statements here.
(CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain won the Western Conservative Summit 2011 Denver Presidential Straw Poll Sunday, 35 points ahead of second-place finisher Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has yet to announce a bid for the White House.
He got 48 percent of the vote. Forty. Eight. Percent.
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