Fiscal Cliff Watching Thread (There may be spoilers) (Page 3)

The true problem is the American people.  Yeah - I said it!  Obviously the Congress is willing to try and give everything for nothing.  Even a "fiscal cliff" isn't enough to scare them into action.  So why is it the America peoples' fault?  Because they keep re-electing the same people into office year after year after year.  90%+ reelection of incumbants!

I understand the mentality behind the "Tea Party", but their approach IMHO is simply wrong.  "Say no.  Hold the one-sided line at all costs.  Abandon pragmatism."

Congress makes their own rules, so of course they're unwilling to change anything that would threaten their current power and jobs.  But I guess the big question is how we seperate the political desire to appease (voters, lobbyists, financial backers) to continually get reelected from the willingness to do what is right for the country?

I think the first big step is trying to get money out of politics. You could public fund elections.  Try to take out the paybacks and do what is right.

I was going to say, isn't that the point of the $85 Billion per month Bernanke is printing?  To minimize that debt as much as possible.  To inflate us out of this pickle?  Additionally isn't the fed buying it's own bonds in large quantity?  I suppose that's the drain you're referring to.

gr33n - 2013-01-02 8:53 AM

Exactly. Its an accelerating downward spiral. The more he prints the more uneasy foreigners become. The more uneasy foregin bond buyers become the less they buy. This has already been showing up in the monthly TIC data. The less they buy the more the Fed has to step in and buy to keep rates from rising. The more the Fed buys the more they have to print. And the cycle repeats. They can't keep prinitng forever though with the risk of inflation/hyperinflation out there. Thats where taxes come in. This move from 35 to 39.6 is a drop in ocean. Be ready.

First of all, the number of foreign holdings is down closer to 30% if you include our intragovernmental holdings in our debt calculation (which you should).

Foreign bond holders are not uneasy.  China has actually been picking up more U.S. Bonds, as have Japan, Brazil and the next few on the list.  China wants to maintain their big export surplus and dumping U.S. bonds would hurt that goal.

Eventually I think there will be austerity measures in the U.S. but for the moment, the Fed has no reason to change what they are doing.

So from another left-leaning perspective... I don't think they were cowards.  But I seem to recall the last time we went through this fiscal cliff nonsense, that the Rs turned down something like $8 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax increases.  WTF?  The "no-tax" crusade became this totally irrational thing. . .

The true problem is the American people.  Yeah - I said it!  Obviously the Congress is willing to try and give everything for nothing.  Even a "fiscal cliff" isn't enough to scare them into action.  So why is it the America peoples' fault?  Because they keep re-electing the same people into office year after year after year.  90%+ reelection of incumbants!

I understand the mentality behind the "Tea Party", but their approach IMHO is simply wrong.  "Say no.  Hold the one-sided line at all costs.  Abandon pragmatism."

Congress makes their own rules, so of course they're unwilling to change anything that would threaten their current power and jobs.  But I guess the big question is how we seperate the political desire to appease (voters, lobbyists, financial backers) to continually get reelected from the willingness to do what is right for the country?

Term limits.  I have decided that I am basing my voting on 2 key factors.

1.  If you are an incumbent I'm voting you out (until we get term limits)

2.  If you do not support term limits I'm not voting you in

That fact that someone like Charlie Rangel can win a 22nd term in Congress with 90% of the vote AFTER being essentially convicted of tax evasion and 13 counts of ethics violations is disgusting.  And it shows that the American people, for the most part are indeed morons.

How does term limits really help though? To me the problem is that idiots like Rangel can get voted in so it is not the votee but the voter that I have a problem with. I like the guys we send from Idaho and they have been in for a while. Crapo was in the gang of 8, not that it went anywhere but I was glad he was there. 

I don't think the guys from Idaho do much better than anyone else. Who can forget Bill Sali lobbying to repeal the law of gravity? Mike Crapo just got arrested for a DUI and then of course there's the infamous Larry Craig.

All of this becomes the issue. "My guy" isn't so bad so I'll keep voting him in, but "your guy" sucks, he's gotta go.

I don't think the guys from Idaho do much better than anyone else. Who can forget Bill Sali lobbying to repeal the law of gravity? Mike Crapo just got arrested for a DUI and then of course there's the infamous Larry Craig.

All of this becomes the issue. "My guy" isn't so bad so I'll keep voting him in, but "your guy" sucks, he's gotta go.

How does term limits really help though? To me the problem is that idiots like Rangel can get voted in so it is not the votee but the voter that I have a problem with. I like the guys we send from Idaho and they have been in for a while. Crapo was in the gang of 8, not that it went anywhere but I was glad he was there. 

It is not limited to black society.

A dead republican was elected in November.  He was dead at election time.  Actually, a few weeks before election time, I believe. 

It is not limited to black society.

A dead republican was elected in November.  He was dead at election time.  Actually, a few weeks before election time, I believe. 

It is not limited to black society.

A dead republican was elected in November.  He was dead at election time.  Actually, a few weeks before election time, I believe. 

which forces a special election so that a living candidate representing that party could run, rather than hand the victory to the other guy by default.

It limits the amount of damage they can do.  If they are only there for 4-8 years then cannot get as entrenched as they currently do.

The true problem is the American people.  Yeah - I said it!  Obviously the Congress is willing to try and give everything for nothing.  Even a "fiscal cliff" isn't enough to scare them into action.  So why is it the America peoples' fault?  Because they keep re-electing the same people into office year after year after year.  90%+ reelection of incumbants!

I understand the mentality behind the "Tea Party", but their approach IMHO is simply wrong.  "Say no.  Hold the one-sided line at all costs.  Abandon pragmatism."

Congress makes their own rules, so of course they're unwilling to change anything that would threaten their current power and jobs.  But I guess the big question is how we seperate the political desire to appease (voters, lobbyists, financial backers) to continually get reelected from the willingness to do what is right for the country?