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Political Hay
The Three Not So ‘Wise Men’ of Washington, D.C.
These politicians are cooking the books.
Washington politicians are scaremongering that if no deal is reached between President Obama and congressional Republicans, taxes will go up on all of us January 1, when Bush tax rates expire. Nonsense. Most people have their taxes withheld gradually during the year. The president has the authority to instruct the U.S. Treasury to freeze withholding rates while the sides continue to negotiate. The Congressional Budget Office confirms it. So, don’t be a scrooge, Mr. President.
Obama is not the only one who deserves a lump of coal. So far, neither the president, his Democratic ally Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, nor Republican adversary Speaker of the House John Boehner has shown resolve to slow the nation’s out-of-control spending on borrowed money. All are willing to raise the debt ceiling again (the negotiation is only about how much and for how long), continue the borrowing, and stuff the IOUs in our children’s Christmas stockings.
To make matters worse, these politicians are cooking the books, claiming to offset their borrowing with cuts in future spending, knowing full well that those cuts are unlikely to ever happen. Here’s how their creative book keeping got us to this fiscal cliff.
In August 2011, when the federal debt hit the $14.3 trillion legal limit, President Obama asked Congress to hike the limit by an astounding $2.1 trillion, the largest increase in history. The President wanted enough borrowing leeway to carry him through the election. Sadly, Boehner and congressional Republicans relented. They defended this capitulation by boasting that they got a dollar of spending cuts for every dollar of debt ceiling hike. That was a whopper.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 — the deal they struck with the president — provided for only $21 billion in immediate cuts — about a penny for every dollar of debt hike — plus about $900 billion in specified future cuts to occur mostly after 2016. That’s so far in the future as to be meaningless because any future Congress can undo them. History proves that is what almost always happens.
Here’s the bigger outrage. To offset the rest of the debt hike, the law provided for $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over ten years starting in fiscal 2013, unless Congress came up with a better plan for reducing spending or borrowing in the meantime. To incentivize Congress to work seriously on a plan, the automatic spending cuts included some bitter medicine, such as a drastic 9.8% cut in defense spending. Nevertheless, Congress did nothing, the borrowed money is long gone, and the automatic spending cuts (called “sequestration in Washington lingo) are scheduled to start.
So, predictably, the politicians are backtracking. As the Yuletide negotiations began, Obama offered only $400 billion in net future spending cuts, now upped to $1.2 billion. But to cook the books still more, he wants these spending reductions counted to offset the next debt ceiling hike, not the one long past.
Sadly, Boehner has already indicated he is willing to raise tax rates on millionaires, accede to another debt hike, and continue the charade that spending reductions scheduled way out in future years are really going to happen.
Obama, Boehner, and Reid — not exactly the three wise men needed to put the nation on a firm fiscal path. No wonder credit experts are pessimistic. Days after the August 2011 debt hike agreement that led to our current fiscal cliff dilemma, Standard & Poors rating agency stripped the U.S. of its AAA credit rating for the first time in history. Now S&P’s top analyst, John Chalmers, remains gloomy. “We think the events of the last eighteen months validate our decision to lower the rating.” These are not glad tidings for the U.S.
About the Author
Betsy McCaughey is a former Lt. Governor of New York and author of Beating Obamacare.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (45) | Leave a comment
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Moe Blotz| 12.20.12 @ 6:24AM
No "cuts" in spending have ever been put into effect as Ms.McCaughey alluded to, only reduction of growth. Boner, Barry, & Harry=Moe, Larry, & Curly, but not as smart.
Aristocat| 12.20.12 @ 7:13AM
Boehner should not be negotiating with Obama. The House has already passed the extension of the Bush tax cuts. Now the Senate needs to act. They will probably pass an extension for those earning under $400,000.00. Then the House and Senate meet in conference to compromise. That's how our system works. Whatever the Senate decides will prevail in this case, because it requires legislation. On the other hand, in regard to spending, the House has the upper hand, because whatever they decide to spend will be spent, and not a dollar more, if they have the courage to stand by their budget. (Which they have not had for the past two years.)
Jack in Wi| 12.20.12 @ 8:43AM
The picture above is of 3 of the worst human beings around.Before the world ends tommorrow, I am declaring my own pesonal truce. Merry Christmas and peace to the Christians. Happy Hanakah and peace to the Jews. Peace to the Muslims, and to the whole world. Blessed are the Peacemakers.
Occam's Tool| 12.20.12 @ 4:57PM
We offer you no peace, Jack. Calling us Racist Pimples continues to piss us off. And you are never sincere. A pox on your houses.
Jan.H| 12.20.12 @ 7:57PM
Peace to the muslims? are you kidding, read the ffing koran, they must kill the infidel wherever they find them. All under the name of that psychopath
mohammed.
TLP| 12.20.12 @ 9:02AM
I'm with cat.
Stop talking. Stop Negotiating with yourselves, and just Pass something. Pass your bill, and send it over to the Senate. If they refuse to Vote on it? Then, that's Harry Ried's problem, isn't it.
You have two Choices. You can listen to Me, and give this Leftist Scumbag all of the Tax Increases that he wants, and none of the Stimulu$ that he can't wait to pass out to his "Civilian Army" the way he did with the last Stimulus/Slush Fund he had. Or you can keep trying to Juggle Axes, while riding a Unicycle on a Highwire. You can't finesse your way around this.
This isn't The Study of Wave Radiation Fluctuation, and its effect on Microorganisms, at the Subatomic Level. We're trying to make a Deal. Okay?
He's offering nothing.
Give him his Tax the Rich taxes, and let the Hammer Fall right where it belongs.
Right on his Lying, Marxist, Muslim Knappy Head.
STOP THINKING!
Any other way than the one I just described, will result in Him, and his Media Monica Lewinski wannabes, bashing you over the head with each inevitable Economic Disaster.
Save Defence. Save Medicare.
Give him his Tax Increases. ALL OF THEM!
It's time that the Stupid Half of this Country got to experience The Total Effect of Obamamania, right between their stupid eyes.
The rest of us will Find a Way to get by, and then sit back and watch, as they Burn their Communities to the Ground.
Hor d'oevre?
Occam's Tool| 12.20.12 @ 4:59PM
What I want to know is how a supermodel got to be so smart, too. What is it withTAS and georgeous Conservative women all of a sudden.
Alan| 12.20.12 @ 9:18AM
Its hard not to be pessimistic about the future of mankind when the ignorati elect three pieces of shit like these three turds to leadership positions.
Slime, Shit, Snot, take your choice on who's who.
Al Brooks, BleedingHeartlib | 12.20.12 @ 5:45PM
It began with Bush:
HW Bush and his "read my lips..."
At that time you lost your credibility.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 12.20.12 @ 6:34AM
The political leaders are akin to card dealers who cheat with a smile on their face.
They will continue to spend and tax until the house of cards collapses. In my opinion that's an event not too far into the future.
Von Mises Jr| 12.20.12 @ 8:36AM
The fiscal cliff is a man-made disaster. It is the equivalent of Macy's Black Friday Super Sales.
No other country has a Debt Ceiling. It is a marketing ploy. The Bond Vigilantes decide if they will lend their money to the Treasury. Next option is to raise taxes and the last resort is Ben "the Bank" just prints it on his mad money machine.
Ben "the Bank" has the old money machine cranking our $85B per month with QE3 and now QE4 after expanding the M2 money Supply from $3T to $9T in five years. You are watching Obama destroy the monetary system from both sides just as he is with the financial system.
If you take more and more money out of private sector and accelerate spending, it is more like having the bucket brigade pour water into the sinking Titanic. By destroying the value of the dollar and confiscating wealth in taxes, he is bankrupting people from both sides just as he is bankrupting the nation.
BTW, I saw Betsy speak at an AFP meeting on ObamaCare and she is amazing. This woman cited quotes and referenced sections off the top of her head. I told you then your “Awesome,” Betsy and I say it again.
Aristocat| 12.20.12 @ 7:19AM
When Boehner agreed to raise the debt limit by $2.1 Trillion in August, 2011, he assured Obama's re-election. Why can't House Republicans see that Boehner is a disaster ? Sure, they got re-elected, but only because they went along with Obama. What good is it to control the House if you are just yes-men or patsies for this monster?
Pecos Pete| 12.20.12 @ 7:21AM
These guys remind me of the carnival game of 3 cups and a pea where the cups are shuffled and we have to find the pea.
Taxes will be increased on everybody. Spending will be greater than revenue with a related dramatic increase in the national debt. Insanity.
benny havens| 12.20.12 @ 8:00AM
The news last night showed a group of female congresswomen at some news conference alongside the chief airhead from San Francisco.
One congresswoman spouted off, with puzzlement, “everyone is so angry, everyone we talk to is so angry”.
Is this woman serious? Does any one of them even have a clue as to what is going on? Fuel prices have doubled in the last four years. Food prices have jumped 25%. Utility rates have shot up. Unemployment is in double digits. Medicare and Medicaid are going broke. Social Security, that should have $2.5 trillion in the bank, has nothing but paper IOUs from these same congresswomen because they have used the money for their pet projects. These politicians of the government class have been stealing money from the working class for 70 years.
benny havens| 12.20.12 @ 8:01AM
They have created a forced healthcare system on the working class and insist it will be better and cheaper than what is presently available. What makes them think that this new forced government system will be any better then the two existing government systems that are about to collapse? Remember what Pelosi said, “we have to pass it first before we can see what’s in it’. What’s in it are more taxes for all of us, not just the rich.
This government class doesn’t worry about the cost of their healthcare nor the quality. They don’t worry about their company closing down and laying them off. They don’t worry about a bad economy that will effect their take home pay. They don’t worry about the Social Security system going under, because it doesn’t affect them.
The stable America that we all grew up in is about to collapse and these congresswomen are part of the reason. Are we angry? Your goddamn right we are.
TLP| 12.20.12 @ 9:07AM
What they can't understand, is why all of these people are so mad at them, when everyboby knows that all of this is Bush's fault.
Kwan| 12.20.12 @ 8:49AM
It's ironic that during the cold-war we spent trillions of dollars to defend our country against communist invaders, then in 2008 blind ignorance possessed a majority of the electorate to actually elect a communist infiltrator to be President. The nation's mortal enemy is no longer located thousands of miles away, it is now sitting in the oval office on Pennsylvania Avenue working 24/7 to bring about the collapse of the country.
Russel| 12.20.12 @ 9:00AM
Sadly , as of late I've taken to criticising , even cursing our Founders for not having the insight to read and understand the intelligence of the general populace , or their lack of . Mix that with greed and self -preservation and they'll vote for themselves and whatever else can follow if it wishes . One would have to assume the follies of Man existed even back then ; we haven't changed . Why in the world didn't they set in stone term limits ? . I mean welded in and cannot be co-opted . Politicians must have been hooked on power and money when Ben Franklin was warning us us . When Madison said our country would only survive if the people made it so . Well isn't that sheer foolishness to expect a dog to leave his bowl alone when ask to ? . Vote buying got us these crooks and bums . Vote buying got us what we have now ; a worthless lot who only care about themselves .
TLP| 12.20.12 @ 9:23AM
That's not entirely accurate.
The States used to Pick their Senators, and Blacks and Women weren't allowed to Vote.
You can argue the Rights and Wrongs concerning those old rules, but then, see how these two Groups vote every Election. See what they have put in the White House, again. See what the end results of their Right to Vote has done to every major City in this Country. To our Education System. To our Freedoms and Liberties.
I'm just telling it like it is. I'm just the Messenger. The bearer of Bad News, all of it True.
Don't blame it on the Framers.
As Shakespeare once wrote: "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our Stars, but in Ourselves."
Ya got that right, Billy boy.
Russel| 12.20.12 @ 9:53AM
this site is really acting up today . To re-write in short , think the 17th amm. . Reason why I said " weld it in " so it can't be screwed with . Wilson started it all .
Tony G.| 12.20.12 @ 9:09AM
I agee. These three men are the worst of the worst. It is hard to believe this is the best this country can put forward to represent the people. I'm horrified how low we have gone.
LarryK| 12.20.12 @ 9:28AM
When I look at that picture, all I can think of is Larry, Curly and Moe. nyuk, nyuk, nyuk
Peppermint Tea | 12.20.12 @ 9:51AM
The Three.
One is merely a party hack.
One is in over his head.
And one wants to take America down a few notches.
Peppermint Tea | 12.20.12 @ 9:52AM
Thus, how could this possibly turn out well?
John Navratil| 12.20.12 @ 10:02AM
Any deal extending past this session of Congress is CRAP. If this Congress could bind a future Congress Gramm-Rudman would have had us with balanced budgets years ago.
No, let's hypnotize ourselves looking at that bright shiny new penny we'll get after the mid-terms. It's just like the sign above the bar - "Free beer tomorrow" - except even the most tipsy tippler knows it's a joke.
Louis Jenkins| 12.20.12 @ 10:59AM
Actually, Curly, Larry, and Moe are respectable people when compared to the Three Amigos.
Occam's Tool| 12.20.12 @ 5:02PM
Might I suggest that you folks actually look up the real Moe Howard. Immensely talented, frugal about his own needs, generous and caring with friends and family, he took care of those around him, including his co-stars. He played a Stooge on stage; he was a MENSCH in real life.
Occam's Tool| 12.20.12 @ 5:03PM
Whereas these three schmucks are vermin wherever they go.
Warrior| 12.20.12 @ 5:53PM
Agreed. I hope you and your family enjoyed a safe, healthy and happy Channukah season. Would you be able to diagnose my need for an extreme sedative so that I can discuss politics with my liberal relatives over the next few days and not have the almost uncontrollable urge to beat the shit out of them?
KennesawJack| 12.20.12 @ 9:37PM
Warrior, take 6 Yuenglings and 2 Jaegers and call me in the morning. I have the same type of relatives as you and the above prescription ALWAYS works for me.
chuck| 12.20.12 @ 11:35PM
Have to disagree.......stay sober, kick the shit out of them, throw them the Hell out of your house, THEN hit the Yuenglings and Jaegers to celebrate!
Occam's Tool| 12.26.12 @ 11:42PM
Sure, but unless you live in MN I can't help you out, pal. (Try benadryl for sedation. That can work, you know. :-))
George HW Bush is in the ICU. I didn't think much of him, but at least he was an adult with a reasonably sized ego for a POTUS. My prayers for his recovery.
Occam's Tool| 12.26.12 @ 11:43PM
And better than anyone currently holding similar power to the three douchebags.
Stan Redmond| 12.20.12 @ 2:45PM
If any of us attempt these rediculous schemes in our financial lives we are felons and thrown in jail because it is pure fraud. Buying an $80,000 car instead of a $160,000 only counts as a 50% cut in government. This country exisits for something as simple as a small tax on paper and tea.
cicero| 12.20.12 @ 3:11PM
They know that the only way to get to the real money is to fleece the middle class. They are counting on no deal being struck, so that the old rates go into effet, and the 20% that were removed from the tax roles will be put back. The spending cuts are just for show. Once all that money starts rolling in, they can shovel it back out to their supporters, so that they stay where they are. If it gets shovelled out to any more shovel alternative energy investments, they may all be able to retire as multi-millianaires (insider trading is okay if you in the right class). Besides, who cares about all those silly taaxpayers. Of course, those who will be the most shocked will be those who voted for our fearless leader in November.
Marc Jeric| 12.20.12 @ 4:57PM
Printing money is an incurable desease bringing dissolution of all past empires in the history. That desease put an end to the Roman Empire, to the Weimar Republic, to the British Empire, to the French and Spanish empires,... and has already determine the coming fall of the American Empire.
1ConservativeUSA| 12.20.12 @ 5:05PM
"As the Yuletide negotiations began, Obama offered only $400 billion in net future spending cuts, now upped to $1.2 billion."
1.2 Trillion?
Regardless, it's all a false promise if coming from Obama.
Warrior| 12.20.12 @ 5:57PM
He could promise to end spending all together for 2017 and the lemmings would cheering his wisdom and vision. Then he could move on to embracing his white heritage. He'll also be drafted into the NBA in 2016. He'll be able to throw a baseball from the pitchers mound all the way to home plate. He'll be able to look at his dog and not have rolls and condiments invading his thoughts...
howard lohmuller| 12.20.12 @ 6:28PM
It is the habit of many whom criticize Speaker Boehner to offer their own plan for dealing with the Obama Administration based on Conservative principles and in the vacuum of a written page. Boehner has been dealt a weak hand, a President and Senate controlled by Democrats and a voting majority whom elected and side with Democrats.
Instead of blaming Boehner for having the wrong strategy or just not upholding Conservatism, we should support him at every turn. The 2014 congressional elections are just around the corner. We must find a way to bring 5 or 6 million more voters whom don't vote to the polls to pull the Republican lever. Who might these voters be? Probably young people maybe relatives or co-workers or friends. We must instruct them about why Conservatism is in their interest. The instruction should be co-ordinated by a think tank. If 10% of voting Conservatives find one non-voting convert and get them to the polls, Conservatives will hold the House and possibly elect 6 more Conservatives to the Senate gaining control of the Congress. Then Obama can be reigned in. So quit whining that our political strategy is to blame. It is us, conservative voters, whom bear responsibility for getting America back on track.
topcat52| 12.20.12 @ 10:28PM
When you were Lt. Governor under that imbecile Pataki, I thought you were worthless. Since then, my opinion has changed - I've read many well written columns of yours. This piece, however, is simply nonsense. Freezing withholding rates assumes the result - that tax rates will be reduced to the current rates, since if they do not, everyone will be under-withheld and either have a problem at year end, or have to compensate with higher withholding rates once the ultimate rates are determined. And what of the payroll tax, which, if nothing is done, will increase by 2% of wages (an almost 48% increase) for all taxpayers? Combine that with the tax increases inherent in the ACA and if nothing is done, and it apparently wont be, taxes are rising on January 1. That is likely to throw us right back into recession. In addition, the rather indiscriminate spending cuts will cause thousands to lose their jobs. There is no lack of blame to go around - neither party is doing much of anything. The Democrats feel that they won the election and should get what they want. The Republicans want to stand on the principal of no tax increases, no way, not ever, a really useful position. though maybe we should tax millionaires a bit to make Obama happy (which will do nothing for the economy, unless it is to make matters worse, and will not raise any revenue to speak of). And we voted for these goons.
sdfhlk | 12.20.12 @ 10:59PM
Merry Christmas to you 2012.
Big Bob| 12.21.12 @ 9:48AM
Thank you for your comments. It's strange to hear the word "wisdom" in connection with anything coming out of Washington. How ironic.
Marc Jeric| 12.21.12 @ 6:26PM
There has never in history been a cure for the money printing press; so do not expect such a cure now. By the end of Mullah Obama's second term our national debt will be $22 trillion; unemployment rate (the real one) will at best stay at 16%; and the inflation rate (the real one which does include food and energy costs) will be 15%.
Occam's Tool| 12.26.12 @ 11:45PM
This is a picture of this woman at age 60. Born 1948. Some people just have superior genes.