pacino wrote:

kimbatiste wrote:

wikipedia wrote:Secretary Geithner replied that Huelskamp had an “adolescent perspective on how to think about economic policy.”[

yeah. no matter what one thinks of it, we have the ability to literally create more of our own currency. greece no longer has this in its bag of tricks.

10:01 am Boehner: We didn't have the votes to pass it. Not the outcome I wanted. Unless President and Congress take action, taxes will go up on every American, and devastating defense cuts.

10:02 am Boehner: We proposed plans over and over again. But we only run the House, and the Democrats continue to run Washington.... The president won't deal honestly with entitlement reform.

10:02 am Majority Leader Eric Cantor: Last night we saw the lastest chapter in this drama to resolve the fiscal cliff ... we stand ready to continue in dialogue with this president to actually fix the problem.

10:04 am Taking questions. Boehner: Trying to bridge these differences has been difficult. If it was easy, this would have been done decades before.

10:05 am Boehner says President Obama has said he won't go further than last offer to avoid the cliff.

10:06 am By going on break for Christmas, are you quitting? Boehner: "Absolutely not... We're prepared to come back if need be."

10:08 am Boehner: "We had a number of our members who just didn't want to be perceived as raising taxes."

10:09 am Boehner says the House has already passed a bill to extend current tax rates and it's now up to the Senate to act.

10:10 am Future of your speakership? Boehner: "We can't cut our way to prosperity ..." Eric and I are committed to working both sides of the aisle." Doesn't answer question directly.

10:10 am Follow-up: Are you concerned about your speakership? "No."

10:11 am Boehner abruptly ends the new conference with a "Merry Christmas, everyone!"

10:11 am On the Republicans who didn't back his Plan B: "They were dealing with the perception that someone might accuse them of raising taxes."

TenuredVulture wrote:The only sane deal now is something the Democrats come up with that can get enough R votes in the House and Senate to pass. Boehner will have to fall on his sword. I don't see any way out of this for him either way.

By the way, those of you who are accusing the Republicans of putting party ahead of country couldn't be more wrong. Their actions are destroying their party. So, these people really believe this shit--it's the only possible explanation of their behavior.

TenuredVulture wrote:So Boehner really shit the bed. I think he's pretty much done as speaker. It's even possible that the Republican caucus goes into the speaker election splitting the vote, and Nancy Pelosi getting the gavel back. There's an increasing possibility of a real split in the Republican party. (I'll predict there's a 25% chance that by next year, you have 3 party caucuses in the House. Maybe the Mayans were predicting the end not of the world, but just of the Republican party.

All this may seem a bit hysterical, but who would have predicted a month ago, or heck, even a week ago, that a "Plan B" announced with much fanfare by Boehner would be killed by his own party?

The only sane deal now is something the Democrats come up with that can get enough R votes in the House and Senate to pass. Boehner will have to fall on his sword. I don't see any way out of this for him either way.

By the way, those of you who are accusing the Republicans of putting party ahead of country couldn't be more wrong. Their actions are destroying their party. So, these people really believe this shit--it's the only possible explanation of their behavior.

jerseyhoya wrote:One nice thing if we go over the cliff will be a belated recognition of how much Bush cut taxes for the average taxpayer.

jerseyhoya wrote:One nice thing if we go over the cliff will be a belated recognition of how much Bush cut taxes for the average taxpayer.

JFLNYC wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:One nice thing if we go over the cliff will be a belated recognition of how much Bush cut taxes for the average taxpayer.

It was recognized from the beginning. The issue was (and is) whether they're responsible, especially in light of the two wars Bush started.

jerseyhoya wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:One nice thing if we go over the cliff will be a belated recognition of how much Bush cut taxes for the average taxpayer.

It was recognized from the beginning. The issue was (and is) whether they're responsible, especially in light of the two wars Bush started.

I think a lot of folks who post here, especially people my age or younger who weren't in the workforce yet, would be surprised at how much more they'd be paying personally under the Clinton era rates.

drsmooth wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:One nice thing if we go over the cliff will be a belated recognition of how much Bush cut taxes for the average taxpayer.

It was recognized from the beginning. The issue was (and is) whether they're responsible, especially in light of the two wars Bush started.

I think a lot of folks who post here, especially people my age or younger who weren't in the workforce yet, would be surprised at how much more they'd be paying personally under the Clinton era rates.

please post those surprising numbers

thanks