"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[Mupepe]

Anybody watching Obama's news conference?  The GAF thread is already unreadable and I'd like to know what they've come up with, if anything.

[Himu]

Hilary

[Human Snorenado]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/breaking-house-wont-vote-on-fiscal-cliff-deal?ref=fpa

Going over the cliff regardless- House has no plans to vote on anything passed by the Senate tonight, which means at midnight the Bush tax cuts come off the book and anything negotiated at that point is a pound of cure rather than an ounce of prevention, so to speak.

[Joe Molotov]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/breaking-house-wont-vote-on-fiscal-cliff-deal?ref=fpa

Going over the cliff regardless- House has no plans to vote on anything passed by the Senate tonight, which means at midnight the Bush tax cuts come off the book and anything negotiated at that point is a pound of cure rather than an ounce of prevention, so to speak.

It's cuz Nobama hurt their feelings.  :'( :'( :'(

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/31/16270289-obama-a-deal-is-in-sight-but-its-not-done

[Mupepe]

Jesus. How anyone can defend the house at this point is beyond me. Pure obstruction.

[Great Rumbler]

The sad thing is that Democrats won more votes [1.4 million, to be exact] in the House than Republicans, but we still get at least two more years of Boehner and the TeaTard Jamboree.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

The big problem is that this deal involves talking and working with Democrats instead of trying to shove their Fox News by way of chain e-mail list of demands down their throats.  So they just want to show that they're willing to stand up for the little guy (ie, the Koch brothers) and not buy into the Socialist-Terrorist-Fascist-Communist line.  That and like what ToxicAdam says, trying to embarrass Boehner so he can step down and be replaced by Cantor.  Yes, I believe the House Republicans would be willing to throw the country under the bus to embarrass someone they don't like.  They've been doing it for over four years.

[Great Rumbler]

The big problem is that this deal involves talking and working with Democrats instead of trying to shove their Fox News by way of chain e-mail list of demands down their throats.  So they just want to show that they're willing to stand up for the little guy (ie, the Koch brothers) and not buy into the Socialist-Terrorist-Fascist-Communist line.  That and like what ToxicAdam says, trying to embarrass Boehner so he can step down and be replaced by Cantor.  Yes, I believe the House Republicans would be willing to throw the country under the bus to embarrass someone they don't like.  They've been doing it for over four years.

Four years? Nah, they just took an 8 year break because someone they liked happen to hold the Presidency.

[Phoenix Dark]

Can't say I'm optimistic, given Obama's behavior. While I want to go over the cliff, I'm also worried about the House - what if they simply pass a tax cut on all income under 1mil, which past Jan 1st will be considered a tax cut? Meanwhile the senate passes the $250k threshold again, but Boehner refuses to adopt it on the floor and thus demands and higher rate - say, they settle on $500k. A firm president could probably get republicans to pass something, especially considering there will be fewer of them in the House starting tomorrow...but I now have little faith in Obama pulling that off.

[TakingBackSunday]

barf, they're going with this deal

[brawndolicious]

Isn't there some rule against voting on budgets and things during a lame duck interval?

[Human Snorenado]

The deal isn't really that bad.  No chained cpi?  Pretty nice.

I'm still not confident the House will pass anything, though.  Those people are functionally distinguished mentally-challenged.

[Human Snorenado]

Shit is DOA in the House

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/boehner-offers-no-commitment-on-white-house-senate?ref=fpb

WOLVERINES!  FIGHT DAT TYRANNY!

[Phoenix Dark]

Passed the senate 89-8
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/01/wonkbook-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-fiscal-cliff-deal/

some of the main stuff

— Tax rates will permanently rise to Clinton-era levels for families with income above $450,000 and individuals above $400,000. All income below the threshold will permanently be taxed at Bush-era rates.

— The tax on capital gains and dividends will be permanently set at 20 percent for those with income above the $450,000/$400,000 threshold. It will remain at 15 percent for everyone else. (Clinton-era rates were 20 percent for capital gains and taxed dividends as ordinary income, with a top rate of 39.6 percent.)

— The estate tax will be set at 40 percent for those at the $450,000/$400,000 threshold, with a $5 million exemption. That threshold will be indexed to inflation, as a concession to Republicans and some Democrats in rural areas like Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mt.).

— The sequester will be delayed for two months. Half of the delay will be offset by discretionary cuts, split between defense and non-defense. The other half will be offset by revenue raised by the voluntary transfer of traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, which would tax retirement savings when they’re moved over.

— Federal unemployment insurance will be extended for another year, benefiting those unemployed for longer than 26 weeks. This $30 billion provision won’t be offset.

The tax changes net around 600B in tax revenue over 10 years. Time for the House to shitcan it and I ain't even mad

[Human Snorenado]

It's not really a bad deal, but the House is probably going to look like Lord of the Flies by the end of 2013.  I wonder if Boehner or Cantor will have the conch.

[Oblivion]

Isn't the permanent rates on the capital gains/dividends a HUGE concession from the Dems?

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

So are we off the cliff or what?

[Human Snorenado]

So are we off the cliff or what?

Technically yes.  The Bush tax cuts expired at midnight last night. 

Also! 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/01/house_gop_balking_on_fiscal_cliff_deal.php?ref=fpblg

A mass of wingnuts appears!  They use shove their heads up their own asses!  It's wildly effective!

Nothing will happen until the markets crash. 

[Dickie Dee]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/breaking-house-wont-vote-on-fiscal-cliff-deal?ref=fpa

Going over the cliff regardless- House has no plans to vote on anything passed by the Senate tonight, which means at midnight the Bush tax cuts come off the book and anything negotiated at that point is a pound of cure rather than an ounce of prevention, so to speak.

It's cuz Nobama hurt their feelings.  :'( :'( :'(

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/31/16270289-obama-a-deal-is-in-sight-but-its-not-done

[Phoenix Dark]

House is killing the deal

time to introduce the Obama Tax Cuts For America.

[Phoenix Dark]

Drudge front page 

[Barry Egan]

So, looks like its actually passing.  That's cool I guess.  Another feather in Obama's cap.

[Phoenix Dark]

[TakingBackSunday]

jesus, how does drudge get away with the absolute BULLSHIT LIES he's spewing at the top of his page?

[Joe Molotov]

 

jesus, how does drudge get away with the absolute BULLSHIT LIES he's spewing at the top of his page?

 

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Has Drudge come out of the closet yet?

[TakingBackSunday]

lol PD, did you think it wasn't going to pass?  it passed EASILY

wrong since 2007

[Joe Molotov]

Does everyone hate it yet?

[TakingBackSunday]

I would have rather gone over the "cliff" but this isn't bad.  capital gains shit though is turrible

[Human Snorenado]

I honestly thought there would have to be a day or two of markets tanking and the Chamber of Commerce screaming at the house GOP to get it passed. 

@ Boehner voting for it and Cantor against, though.  DRAMA.

[Phoenix Dark]

Meanwhile the House is refusing to pass Sandy relief tonight lmao. These fucking idiots

[TakingBackSunday]

nuke the house

[Yeti]

I honestly thought there would have to be a day or two of markets tanking and the Chamber of Commerce screaming at the house GOP to get it passed. 

@ Boehner voting for it and Cantor against, though.  DRAMA.

Someone's sleeping on the couch tonight!

[Brehvolution]

According to Hannity and his 2 black conservatives tonight, Obama is the real racist and racism comes from the top down.

[Oblivion]

Holy shit

It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a “dictatorship” in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal.

“Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present.

Reid, a bit startled, replied: “What are you talking about?”

Boehner repeated: “Go f— yourself.”

The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bragged about to fellow Republicans — was only one episode in nearly two months of high-stakes negotiations laced with distrust, miscommunication, false starts and yelling matches as Washington struggled to ward off $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/the-fiscal-cliff-deal-that-almost-wasnt-85663.html#ixzz2GnQrwylz

[Phoenix Dark]

By early December, with talks barely moving, Obama was using his bully pulpit to win the public opinion fight, holding campaign-style events in key states and aggravating Republicans. Privately, he began calling moderate Republican senators he kept on a list in an effort aimed at raising pressure on their leaders.

Republicans began to fret about losing the P.R. fight. In a closed-door meeting, some GOP House lawmakers suggested that each member kick in $5,000 to hire a big Madison Avenue advertising firm to craft a communications strategy for them. But Boehner and other party leaders quickly shot down the idea.

I guess they wanted to call the Mad Men geniuses that created Romney's ads. What a fucking joke 

In a phone call Dec. 21, Boehner told Obama that his game plan all along was to pass the bill setting the $1 million threshold, send it to the Senate to drop it down to $500,000 or so, and ship it back to the House for approval.

Obama, perplexed by the secret strategy, asked Boehner if he had shared it with Reid or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), suggesting that they might have helped him. Boehner said he had not.

We often talk about Boehner having to pretend to be insane to appease his caucus, but I honestly thought he was being serious with the 1mil demand; instead he was using it to get a deal similar to what passed tonight.

[ToxicAdam]

I can't even stomach any of these fiscal cliff stories. It's just like the NFL contract negotiations, you know they are going to reach a deal, but they have to put on this distinguished mentally-challenged show until they reach the final hour. So they can feel like they are doing 'important work' and suck up as much prime time television as possible in the process.

Boy, what a 'shocking' conclusion. Who didn't see this coming?

Huh. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we got to January 1st without a deal in place.

Oh.

[Mandark]

Erm, we did get to Jan 1st without a deal in place.

[AdmiralViscen]

annihilated

[Joe Molotov]

Yeah, but you didn't know what hour the vote would take place.

[ToxicAdam]

Technicalities.

[Mandark]

The Gregorian calendar has a known liberal bias.

Though if you really want to zing me for a bad prediction (and isn't this something you get all huffy about when I do it), I was dead wrong on another aspect of the negotiations.  Which aspect?  I leave this as an exercise for the reader.

[tiesto]

Isn't payroll tax going up for everybody? That... sucks.

[ToxicAdam]

It isn't going up, it's returning to where it should've been the whole time. 

If you make 50k/yr it means an extra 20 bucks a week.

[Brehvolution]

Any thoughts on how soon fox news will slam Obama's tax cuts for driving up the deficit?

[Steve Contra]

Like 2 hours ago?  Look at the front page.

Christie is fisting the house republicans right now.  They're in big trouble.

[Brehvolution]

  I'm not going over to their site. Every time I  go to that site, republican jesus kills an entitlement.

[Human Snorenado]

Like 2 hours ago?  Look at the front page.

Christie is fisting the house republicans right now.  They're in big trouble.

Peter King was on Fox News going apeshit earlier also.

[ToxicAdam]

Evidently, Andrew Sullivan is moving his blog behind a $20/yr paywall. Strange for a person that doesn't really provide much original content (aside from his own opinion).

[Phoenix Dark]

Rumors swirling that Boehner may resign tonight at the GOP caucus meeting

[Brehvolution]

That would be huge. I hope he throws the tea party under the bus on the way out.

[Steve Contra]

The Republicans did some great soul searching these past few months.

[Eric P]

Evidently, Andrew Sullivan is moving his blog behind a $20/yr paywall. Strange for a person that doesn't really provide much original content (aside from his own opinion).

honestly, good riddance at this point

his histrionics have been really unbearable recently

[Phoenix Dark]

$20/yr for Trigg Palin birtherism?

[Stoney Mason]

Rumors swirling that Boehner may resign tonight at the GOP caucus meeting

Oh boy. That means an even more crazy and hardline nut in charge. 

[Joe Molotov]

The Republicans did some great soul searching these past few months.

They searched and searched, but they didn't find anything.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Evidently, Andrew Sullivan is moving his blog behind a $20/yr paywall. Strange for a person that doesn't really provide much original content (aside from his own opinion).

honestly, good riddance at this point

his histrionics have been really unbearable recently

co

signed

[Mr. Gundam]

Rumors swirling that Boehner may resign tonight at the GOP caucus meeting

Did those rumors have any semblance of credibility, or was it just random liberal hopes and dreams?

[Phoenix Dark]

Rumors swirling that Boehner may resign tonight at the GOP caucus meeting

Did those rumors have any semblance of credibility, or was it just random liberal hopes and dreams?

Well he didn't resign tonight. The voting is tomorrow so we'll see who wins. Between the fiscal deal farce and him blowing up Sandy relief last night out of spite, it seems like he's doing a good job of pissing his caucus off

[pickle]

The Republicans did some great soul searching these past few months.

They searched and searched, but they didn't find anything.