Giving Ground And Giving Ground


Recovery for the economy looks bleak when Democrats start agreeing with the Speaker of the House. The Hill reports

"I think the vice president would better spend his time if he sat down with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and come up with a Democrat position," Boehner told Fox News. "It'd be a far better use of his time."

If reporter Michael O'Brien is right, Democrats are listening:

Democrats turned Wednesday to Biden to reprise his role from the lame-duck Congress when he worked with GOP leaders in Congress, particularly Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to reach a deal on extending the expiring Bush tax cuts.

The administration and congressional Democrats hope Biden will enjoy similar success in these negotiations, especially with such a wide chasm between the GOP-controlled House and the Democratic Senate over how much needs to be cut in the remainder of this fiscal year. The government will be funded through March 18, and the absence of congressional action would mean a shutdown.

Top-ranking Democrats apparently "hope Biden will enjoy similar success" in negotiating a cut in spending and in the deficit similar to, it is suggested, he experienced in the tax-cut negotiations of late 2010.

How did that work out, now that the attention of Washington, in a time of high unemployment and little consumer confidence, is turned toward reducing spending rather than increasing jobs?

Extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for incomes above $200,000/$250,000 will cost the Treasury approximately $42 billion in fiscal year 2012, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the amount congressional Republicans are urging. But increasing taxes on the wealthy is very popular popular, as are "taxing wealthy estates, taxing corporations, taxing alcohol, taxing soft drinks, taxing hedge fund managers’ income, and by charging a crisis fee to large banks." The chart (below, from Larry Miller's blog; statistics from various sources) indicates the tax break on the upper brackets alone would have paid for approximately 95% of the spending which the GOP proposes to cut. Instead, down would go job training, early childhood programs, housing, and nutrition for poor people, as would Title IX family planning, a critical element in the GOP effort to destroy women's health and increase abortions nationwide.








The Republicans have not lost sight of their goal, to drown government in a bathtub. (Here is how it's done.) It would seem, meanwhile, that the Obama administration, less hostile toward government, wants to be seen as serious by addressing the debt and bipartisan by willing to compromise. And compromise. And compromise.

Notwithstanding the harm the cuts will do to job creation, the GOP longs to follow the example of conservatives in Europe, who recently have been ascendant, much to the joyful gloat of Republicans here. In early May, Conservative David Cameron was elected Prime Minister of Great Britain and he promptly undertook austerity measures the GOP has suggested should be a model for the U.S.A.


The Republicans have not lost sight of their goal, to drown government in a bathtub. It would seem, meanwhile, that the Obama administration, less hostile toward government, wants to be seen as serious by addressing the debt and bipartisan by willing to compromise. And compromise. And compromise some more.

Notwithstanding the harm the cuts will do to job creation, the GOP longs to follow the example of conservatives in Europe, who recently have been ascendant, much to the joyful gloat of Republicans here. In early May, Conservative David Cameron was appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain and the austerity measures he implemented apparently have begun having an effect (graph from http://static.bdo.uk.com):

The latest trends report by consultants BDO said the optimism index fell to 92 from 94.8 in December, signalling trouble in late Spring. "There remains a real risk that the UK could enter a technical recession," it said.

The service sector index accounting for 55pc of output saw the second largest fall on record, dropping to 88.4. "This could spell danger. Any rise in interest rates would derail the UK economy in its current fragile state. It may be that the Bank of England has to consider putting QE [money printing] back on the table as we go through the year," it said.

"The marked decline in optimism is attributed to elevated inflation, weak earnings growth and the erosion of households' real disposable income. This is set against the backdrop of public sector cutbacks," it said.






Cut spending for law enforcement, clean water, low-income pregnant women- as a starter. But secure (part of) the cultural base by choosing not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. This is, evidently, how it's done these days by the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

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