tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post8391238163539248191..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: But I'm Clean!Jonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-23806237333939014742011-06-03T02:21:25.003-05:002011-06-03T02:21:25.003-05:00Republican candidates are proposing estate tax cut...Republican candidates are proposing estate tax cuts, income tax cuts, capital gains tax cuts, at a time when taxes are already lower than they've been in 100 years, and we're paying half a trillion dollars a year in interest payments on the existing debt.Photography Experthttp://www.digital-product-creators.com/?hop=maximdelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-14314940755339543612011-06-02T06:49:52.668-05:002011-06-02T06:49:52.668-05:00Organizing & mobilizing is critical. Restore t...Organizing & mobilizing is critical. Restore the Democratic-Republic from corporate & despotic-oligarchs that are oppressing citizens by suppressing their rights, severing just representation, access to government, & your health. For how long & to what extent would a movement require that would resolve a lifetime of indentured servitude, restore freedom, restore your rights, & end socio-economic disparity? Think of it like weathering a natural disaster but it must happen now.Save My Marriagehttp://savemymarriage.fastprofitpages.com/?id=jdmnet30noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-77661405595579789442011-06-02T04:23:10.907-05:002011-06-02T04:23:10.907-05:00We are not broke. Get rid of the Oil and Gas Indus...We are not broke. Get rid of the Oil and Gas Industry welfare, roll back the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 1% to Clinton era rates, and cut the Military Money Laundering Operation and we'll be just fine.Online Home Inspectorhttp://homeinspectionmarketingcenter.com/get-more-business-directly-from-the-public-by-engaging-in-online-local-domination/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-11002791904128457822011-06-01T01:08:16.448-05:002011-06-01T01:08:16.448-05:00Professor,
Yeah, I was referring more to Josh Mar...Professor,<br /><br />Yeah, I was referring more to Josh Marshall, who seems to thinks this is a big collapse for Dems. Or maybe I'm misreading him. I agree the best unified-party move would have been to vote yes, but that simply wasn't going to happen. Score a point to the GOP for demonstrating that they'll ultimately have the levergae to extract cuts, but Obama was working on a pretty thin pretense that wasn't the case already.<br /><br />But yeah, I didn't take you to arguing this was a big political event. You don't stray in tone here from your usual view that Washington machinations with big political implications are the exception not the rule.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10559337725063627254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-71597912622528215262011-06-01T00:52:01.781-05:002011-06-01T00:52:01.781-05:00Michael,
I certainly agree that anything can be d...Michael,<br /><br />I certainly agree that anything can be demagogued, and that's a good point; I also agree it's not a big deal. On the whole, I think the party collectively would have been better off voting yes, but I definitely didn't mean to say that it was a vote that was likely to make much difference down the road -- it just struck me as the sort of vote worth puzzling out.<br /><br />I think the story on the Senate Dem vote against the Obama budget was that it was the original budget, now replaced by Budget II (which, I believe, is more of a general guideline than a real budget). So there was no real reason to vote for it.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-47524011815047313512011-05-31T23:28:17.222-05:002011-05-31T23:28:17.222-05:00I'm not sure a split caucus here provides Repu...I'm not sure a split caucus here provides Republicans with the clear contrast they want. In other words, I'm not sure it's the worst outcome for Dems. It seems to me it hedges: no party is expected to be perfectly uniform (despite Republicans' recent, slightly disturbing behavior), and the party can reasonably claim to have a significant portion of its caucus willing to stand on the principle of paying our debts no matter what, while another bloc recognizes the need to deal with the majority. Either of these positions can be demagogued (anything can be demagogued), but at the same time, they both can be defended. And as you say, this seems like an outside shot to be salient in seventeen months. I'm just not sure it's such a big deal. I agree if there's a debt crisis, it'd be better to be on record supporting avoiding that. But I don't think that upside is as big as some are suggesting it is. Perhaps I'm missing something.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10559337725063627254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-47053147355256478222011-05-31T21:59:39.525-05:002011-05-31T21:59:39.525-05:00Prof. Bernstein,
Why did all the Senate Democrats...Prof. Bernstein,<br /><br />Why did all the Senate Democrats vote against the Obama budget? Similar reasoning? And why haven't the House leadership forced House Democrats to cast a vote as well?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-49484282321849983322011-05-31T20:48:28.727-05:002011-05-31T20:48:28.727-05:00Well the Democrats split on the vote. With every R...<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/31/house-debt-ceiling-vote-budget-cuts_n_869395.html" rel="nofollow">Well the Democrats split on the vote.</a> With every Republican present voting against the bill, it lost 97-318, with eightyish Democrats joining with the Republicans.UserGoogolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07451696693372858067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-6622248116919960602011-05-31T19:28:26.305-05:002011-05-31T19:28:26.305-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.UserGoogolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07451696693372858067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-7499299671536638652011-05-31T14:30:15.325-05:002011-05-31T14:30:15.325-05:00Polling on something as abstract as the debt ceili...Polling on something as abstract as the debt ceiling is pretty meaningless.<br /><br />Try polling "Should the US honor its debts and obligations?"<br /><br />Vote for the debt increase, and during the election state forcefully that the US must pay its debts; that missing payments is not a choice a great and honorable nations can make. Say the Republicans are playing with fire.tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13145639900234999261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-51728483589313555492011-05-31T14:13:31.461-05:002011-05-31T14:13:31.461-05:00If they know it's going to fail anyway the eas...If they know it's going to fail anyway the easier thing to do would be to vote against it. Before he ran for President, Obama did the same thing. Although now he says that vote was a mistake. <br /><br />But if the GOP is really concerned about spending, Boehner would make them stop the go around on pork.roseonpoliticshttp://roseonpolitics.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com