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Paul Krugman: Obamas Hostage Deal
Obama needs to understand that "concerns about the tax deal reflect realism, not purism": Obama’s Hostage Deal, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to make my peace with the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal. President Obama did, after all, extract more concessions than most of us expected. Yet I remain deeply uneasy... Obama has bought the release of some hostages only by providing the G.O.P. with new hostages. About the deal: Republicans ...

Wierd Tax Myths #2 -" Recessions, Depressens & Tax Policy
The crash came in 1929. When Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981, the top marginal rate was, once again, 70%. Reagan started cutting in 1982, down to 50%, then to 38.5% in 1987, and 28% in 1988. There was a boom in the fiscal sector. In the mid-eighties the collapse began, and over 1,600 banks failed. There was a huge Bailout. It was followed by the Recession of 1990. Taxes went up slightly under George H.W. Bush, then again under Bill Clinton. The Economy recovered. However, in 1997, th...

Dems play fiscal chicken
The behavior of Liberal Democrats in the U.S. House is, well, nothing short of astonishing. Yesterday they were in full-throated revolt against the Tax Cut Compromise crafted by a Democratic president. Barack Obama, whose political survival instincts seem to be intact, agreed to a two-year extension of all the Bush era tax cuts, a reasonable extension of the Estate Tax that exempts estates under the $5 million mark, getting in return a 13-month extension on Unemployment Benefits and a cut i...

House Dems bribed to silence on tax bill?
Allahpundit calls House Democrats “a gang of cheap losers” for folding like this, and it’s hard to disagree: apparently, all that Rhetoric about Tax Cuts for the rich can easily be trumped with an additional Ethanol subsidy.  To which I say, drink deep: because in a world where Al Cubslayer Gore is talking about ending that kind of pork, the odds that it’s going to get renewed by the House next year is dropping precipitously. Also, out of curiosity: is there anything t...

Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama
President Obama is getting along better than ever with Capitol Hill Republicans. But his relationship with Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer has hit a rough patch. This Story House Democrats vow to block tax measure Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama Max Baucus, the Democrats' dud Poll: What's the greatest benefit for Obama's in supporting the extension of Bush Tax Cuts? Graphic: What the tax extension means for you Summers Says Economy Worse Off Without Tax Compromise View All Items ...

John Thune: Better Tax Cut Deal For Republicans 'Not Likely To Happen' (VIDEO)
South Dakota Senator and potential Presidential Candidate John Thune suggested Wednesday that his fellow conservative heavyweights Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sarah Palin shouldn't expect to be able to craft better Tax Cut bargain for the GOP considering the current Makeup of Congress and the White House. DeMint and Palin have both announced their opposition to the current deal as drawn out by Obama this week, because they believe the minimal increases to the death tax and the two-year extens...

Senate reworks tax bill; House defies president
WASHINGTON — The Senate opened debate late Thursday on a reworked tax package that would add incentives for Renewable Energy, which many Democrats have demanded, but leave intact the core elements of a deal negotiated by the Obama Administration and Republicans. As the Senate steamed toward a Monday vote on the package, House Democrats were in open revolt. Amid chants of "Just say no," they agreed overwhelmingly during a private meeting Thursday to block the measure from going to the Hou...

President Obama blinked
Are we being led by a brilliant incompetent? …or is our President being advised by foxes in the hen house.  President Obama has  a solid record of drawing a line in the sand only to scuff it away before the opposition can make him blink. It is a record of political weakness that continuously undermines the Democratic Base. Most recently, President Obama started out speaking strongly in favor of economic stimulus and finished by freezing the wages and benefits of federal workers, ...

Tea Party and 9-12 Groups still going strong in PA.
Since the Town Hall Debates of the summer of 2009, the Left Wing and lame-stream media have been painting Tea Partiers and 9-12ers alike as “dangerous”, “crazy”, and best of all, “Racist.” The media has predicted on numerous occasions that in time, these Conservative Grassroots groups would simply fade away into the night without having any impact whatsoever. Well my friends, in the time since those historic Town Hall Debates, Democrats and Progressives have b...

Democrat Lawmaker Says " f--- the president As Anger Spills Over in House Democrat Caucus Meeting
Profanity, Anger Spill Over in House Democratic Caucus Meeting By Anna Palmer Roll Call Staff The frustration with President Barack Obama over his Tax Cut Compromise was palpable and even profane at Thursday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting. One unidentified lawmaker went so far as to mutter “f--- the president” while Rep. Shelley Berkley was defending the package the president negotiated with Republicans. Berkley confirmed the incident, although she declined to name the specific lawma

Charles Krauthammer - Swindle of the year
Barack Obama won the great tax-cut showdown of 2010 - and House Democrats don't have a clue that he did. In the deal struck this week, the president negotiated the biggest stimulus in American history, larger than his $814 billion 2009 stimulus package. It will pump a Trillion borrowed Chinese dollars into the U.S. economy over the next two years - which just happen to be the two years of the run-up to the next Presidential Election. This is a defeat? This Story Swindle of the year Democrats ...

Economic reality hits White House
Reality strikes. Barack Obama agreed with Republicans to extend the current Income Tax rates - the so-called Bush Tax Cuts - for another two years. He got a few things in return, primarily extended jobless benefits for another 13 months, and agreed as well to a 2 percent cut in the Social Security Payroll Tax. But he recognized the reality that in order to prevent a Tax Increase on those with incomes under $250,000 he had to prevent a Tax Increase on those over that line, as well. This has ...

Guest Post: The Blame Game: The White House vs. House Democrats
Today's guest post comes from none other than Big Brother All-My-Tee himself, Rippa, who blogs at The Intersection of Madness & Reality. Rippa's known around the blogosphere for stirring up a good debate so drop your 2 cents in the comments below as we discuss the latest debacle between the White House and the Democrats: So now everyone has taken lead from Obama's recent Press Conference chastisement of his fellow republi... oops, I mean democrats, Liberals, and or Progressives alike. Yes, w...

How the World Works: The economics of tax-cut fear-mongering
Despite a full-court press from the White House warning that the U.S. might slip into a "double-dip" Recession if congressional Democrats reject Obama's tax-cut deal, the House Democratic Caucus voted against bringing the package up for a vote on Thursday morning. Judging the significance of the vote is tricky. According to ABC's Rick Klein, the mastermind of the maneuver, Rep. Peter Defazio, D.-Ore., the vote rejecting the deal "was nearly unanimous." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared ...

HuffPost TV: Howard Fineman On The Tax-Cut Revolt Among House Dems (VIDEO)
HuffPost's Howard Fineman appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" Thursday night to discuss the revolt among House Democrats against the White House over President Barack Obama's tax-cut Compromise with Republicans. "They're angry. They feel ignored, which they were," Fineman told host Keith Olbermann. "I just think the White House has been focused for the last two years primarily on the Senate ... and they took their eye off the ball, in the case of the House." WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for breaking ne...

Ted Turner on Obama
Dec. 10, 2010 Wikileaks Protests start in Australia and kicking off in Melbourne is just the beginning of a world wide support new network of people since the last release of documents. Wikileaks the whistle blower website has been cyber attacked, its’ payment system for donations stripped, its hosting service cancelled, and its founder thrown [...] Related […] Dec. 10, 2010 Ted Turner speaks on Obama, green energy, Health Care, and being penniless. The great Billionaire who started...

Dem Rep. Dan Boren Blames Speaker Pelosi For Holding Tax Cuts Hostage
Democratic Representative Dan Boren (D-OK) blamed Democrats, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi by name, for holding the Tax Cuts hostage and not bringing the Bipartisan package to the House floor for a vote. Greta Van Susteren: Why isn’t it being brought to the floor? Who’s not bringing it to the floor? Rep. Boren : The Speaker. The Speaker agreed. There was a motion by one of the members of the Caucus today to say let’s put this off. Let’s not do this package that the White House and Sena

Senate fails to pass 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal, Dream Act, 9/11 responders' health bill
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans blocked a major year-end push by Democrats to lift the Military's ban on Openly Gay Troops on Thursday, dealing a huge blow to Gay Rights groups' hopes for Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" any time soon. In other action, a politically charged showdown vote on Legislation carving out a path to legal status for foreign-born youngsters brought to this country illegally was delayed; and Republicans derailed a bill to aid responders who were sickened after exposure ...

Berkley a lonely voice on tax cut bill
WASHINGTON -- When House Democrats met behind closed doors on Thursday and took a voice vote on President Barack Obama's tax deal, it was decidedly lopsided against the agreement. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said one person voted to support Obama, "and I was the vote." ...

House Democrats vow to block tax measure
The Senate opened debate late Thursday on a reworked tax package that would add incentives for Renewable Energy, which many Democrats have demanded, but leave intact the core elements of a deal negotiated by the White House and Republicans, including a revived inheritance tax that has outraged liberal lawmakers. This Story House Democrats vow to block tax measure Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama Max Baucus, the Democrats' dud Poll: What's the greatest benefit for Obama's in supportin...

Tester Thursday
Don't panic. There is no intention of making this a weekly feature. ;-) It would appear that our junior Senator has been on mind of the Montana online a whole lot here of late. For myself, it began with Pogie's post showing Jon favorably positioned heading into the 2012 election cycle. It seems the man is somewhat popular. Tester posts a 50-40 job performance mark, putting him in the top ten among the senators PPP has measured this year. That is particularly impressive, considering tha...

Wow: House Democrats say, Thanks, But No thanks to Tax and Unemployment Bill
Shocking, but not entirely surprising really. (CNN) - Defying President Obama, House Democrats voted Thursday not to bring up the tax package that he negotiated with Republicans in its current form. “This message today is very simple: That in the form that it was negotiated, it is not acceptable to the House Democratic Caucus. It’s as simple as that,” said Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen. “We will continue to try and work with the White House and our Repu...

Let's discuss the "failed economicy policies of President George W. Bush
Are you better off today under the leadership of President Barack Hussein Obama than you were during the two terms of President George W. Bush? Let's not even go near the issue of feeling safer from the acts of Jihadists and the embarassment the current President showed during his international bowing tour appologizing to the world for America's greatness. Polls released today by Bloomberg indicate more than 50% of Americans say they are worse off now than they were two years ago when Presiden...

Let the tax cuts go and you actually stick it to the top for real.
By: Daniel Becker (DOLB) On Countdown (12/9/10), Keith had on Thomas Buffenbarger, president of the International Machinist Union. It was a chance for an “I told you so moment”in that Mr. Buffenbarger noted while campaigning for Secretary Clinton that President Obama would not be a fighter. Go watch the episode. I made my position on of Obama clear after the 60 Minutes interview. Mr. Buffenbarger's comments only reinforces my position as to understanding President Obama as does Oba...

Tax Bill to add $857 Billion to Debt
by CalculatedRisk on 12/09/2010 11:10:00 PM From Bloomberg: Senate Tax-Cut Extension Plan Would Add $857 Billion to Debt The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, which estimates the revenue effects of tax Legislation, said the provisions would cost the government $801.3 billion in forgone revenue over 10 years. Extending Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, another feature of the package, would cost $56 billion, the Obama Administration has said.It is important to remember the Joint Com...