A MoveOn protest formed Downtown yesterday, and I was there for it. People were angry about what just happened, and they had questions for Dean Heller. Unfortunately, Heller's office in Las Vegas didn't really do anything but provide a printed statement on his vote yesterday.
Most of the group stayed downstairs as Heller's office agreed to only "two at a time", then directed security to politely guide everyone holding signs down to the "free speech zone" below the stairs. So the rest of us stayed downstairs as passersby along Las Vegas Boulevard were honking in support. A local attorney walked by, and he was flabbergasted as soon as he realized what happened. A local homeless person also came over and tried to argue with the group, but I just felt sorry for him.
And then, things got far more interesting. A staffer from Harry Reid's office came down to join us, and he proceeded to explain what's actually in the debt bill and how to move forward. He discussed Reid's disappointment in the lack of new revenues in the final bill, how he worked to build a firewall around Social Security, Medicare, & Medicaid benefits in the final bill, and what to do now to prepare for the fight ahead on the "Super Congress" commission.
So what can we do now? Well, start by encouraging Reid to stay strong and ensure his appointees to the commission do the right thing on it. And looking further ahead, we need to make sure we no longer have to worry about Dean Heller and Joe Heck encouraging the teabaggers to continue with their irresponsible and dangerous behavior. We're already seeing Heller's poll numbers drop. If we want to avoid this kind of preventable drama in 2013, we can start by changing Congress.
But really, this budget is filled with worrisome cuts. Deep cuts to higher education that will force higher taxes tuition for students. Delays to K12 funding that will challenge our teachers and hurt our next generation. And, as noted already, some very real cuts to law enforcement. As Sen. [ ] has pointed out several times in the press, we are now at one of the most austere budgets in a generation or more.
But even with this austerity, we have not arrived at anything representing stability. There are a plethora of reasons for that, but the biggest of all of these is clearly [ ] insistence on a preference for income and sales taxes over the more stable property tax. Sure, this budget includes the [ ] tax provisions championed by [ ] and [ ], but these revenue sources are hardly sufficient to overcome the loss of the taxes at the end of the month.
As the dominoes fall from this budget, expect instability to continue to raise its head. Already several counties have discussed applying a local tax to recover some of the cuts from the loss of the [ ] tax. Expect such a measure to appear to show up as soon as the November ballot in [ ], and perhaps elsewhere next year.
These funding levels themselves are unsustainable for the long haul. Eventually things fall apart. Infrastructure crumbles, the mentally ill are exposed through homelessness and crime, and the state becomes a less welcoming place for rich and poor alike. And when you talk about business friendly climates, stability is always at the top of the list. For so long we have been able to balance the act through super glue, chewing gum and duct tape. And so it goes this year, with the "triggers" being this year's duct tape.
I could be talking about the federal debt hostage debacle that's still playing out today, or I could be talking about the state budget madness that ended in yet another insufficient, kick-the-can-down-the-road-again compromise. Guess what? This was actually California's budget, and in far too many ways what has happened in California in the last 30 years refused to stay in The Golden State. Rather, the radical right has used its successful implementation of constant paralysis and "austerity" as a blueprint for infecting other states... And now, the federal government as well!
Trust me, I lived through it. It's a very familiar feeling to me. The radical right strongarms Republicans into silly "no tax pledges" that lead to not-so-silly political "hostage crises" that lead to government shutdown, and ultimately disgusting "bargains" that throw seniors and disabled onto the streets, make the working poor even poorer (and perhaps out of work, too), bleed public education dry, and ultimately make lousy economies even worse. Time after time, this is what a crazed minority causes in California. And now, it's going national.
When anyone asks why California politics is so dysfunctional, remember to provide the real answer. Oh, and make sure to let one know that this is what will happen to Nevada and the nation as well if we allow the "tea party" extremists to amass any more power.
Am I disappointed with this debt deal? You betcha. Do I wish for more and better progressive Democrats to fight harder against this nonsense? Of course. However, I refuse to ignore the real cause of this crisis. I lived in California far too long to miss the real culprits behind this garbage, and I know the only way to stop it is to stop allowing these reactionary radicals to become any more powerful.
So are they correct? Well, it's complicated. Pimco CEO Mohamed el-Erian and Former Biden Staff Economist Jared Bernstein point out the obvious that the last thing we need right now is divestment in our economy. And yes, federal budget cuts amount to divestment, since these mean less money for research and development, less funding for at least some parts of the social safety net, and less funding for infrastructure repairs and development.
So yes, this deal sucks. However, it may not actually lead to hell on earth. Ezra Klein notes all the problems just waiting to rise to the surface with this deal, which pretty much is in agreement with what el-Erian, Bernstein, and other economic policy wonks have noted. However he also notes some hidden gems, such as keeping the Bush tax deals on the table and preserving the fundamentals of Medicaid & Social Security. (Medicare beneficiaries shouldn't see cuts any time soon, but there may be problems in the future over negotiations on possible provider cuts.)
So what does this mean? Basically, expect an even tougher climb to economic recovery for now... But do continue to hope for recovery, as debt default would have meant a total end to that. Do feel disappointed over what's happening, but don't set your hair on fire and call President Obama a ruthless Republican (and expect me or anyone else reality based to take you seriously).
The events of the past 24 hours have been beyond bizarre. We have, in effect, been conducting a legislative thought experiment around the question, “What is the least conservative debt-ceiling bill that can pass without Democratic votes in the House?” A few minutes ago, we learned the answer. But the answer doesn’t matter.
There is exactly one question worth asking now: What is the debt-ceiling compromise that can win the support of the House, Senate and the White House? That means winning the support of Democrats as well as Republicans. That’s what every effort in every chamber should be oriented toward. Instead, Boehner has spent the past two days wasting his political capital assembling an irrelevant coalition of conservatives. [...]
To govern is to compromise. And when you’re in charge, you have to govern. [Emphasis mine.] [...]
Lately, Boehner has not been governing. After he failed to pass a conservative resolution to the debt crisis without Democratic votes, he should have begun cutting the deals and making the concessions necessary to gain Democratic votes. That, after all, is what he will ultimately have to do. It’s what all this is supposed to be leading up to.
But Boehner went in the opposite direction. He made his bill more conservative. He indulged his members in the fantasy that they wouldn’t have to make compromises. It’s as if Pelosi, facing criticism for dropping the public option, had tried to shore up her support by bringing a single-payer health-care bill to the floor. Even if that would have pleased her left wing, what good would it have done her? Her job was to prepare her members to take a vote that could lead to a successful outcome.
So what are we supposed to do? Throw ourselves into a likely ConstitutionalCrisis? Play with platinum coins? How on earth can the supposedly greatest nation on earth conduct its official business like this? Now wonder why the rest of the world is either laughing at us and looking at us with total disgust and disdain.
So why didn't teabaggers object to George Bush's reckless spending on billionaire (tax cut) bailouts, bank bailouts, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and pharmaceutical industry bailouts (Medicare Part D as passed in 2003)? And why didn't teabaggers object to Ronald Reagan raising the debt ceiling twice as fast as Barack Obama has? And why didn't teabaggers demand an illogical and irrational "Balanced Budget Amendment" (that never accounts for recessions, natural disasters, wars, etc.) during any Republican Presidency?
So get ready for it. I'll have to repeat myself again. This is madness!
These Republicans need to stop flip-flopping on their own fiscal policy and stop letting crazed teabaggers hold America hostage. They need to raise the debt ceiling and do so without threatening Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and/or any other cuts to the vulnerable who can least afford it.
While our other Senator is working hard to avoid a disastrous debt default and the government shutdown, deeper recession, and global financial catastrophe that would follow, Heller would rather play Russian Roulette with the full faith and credit of the USA.
In case you missed it in the video, here's some of the text of Harry Reid's speech this morning.
A Band-Aid approach to a world crisis is an embarrassment to Congress, to this country and to the world.
United Senate Democrats – all 53 of us – have informed the Speaker that his legislation was doomed in the Senate, because we would not vote for a short-term extension of the debt ceiling. It would put our great nation on the path to another default extravaganza in a few weeks.
Virtually every expert – every economist, every rating agency, every market analyst – has said the kind of short-term plan the Speaker proposed was no answer to the crisis Republicans have created. If we are trying to avert the kind of financial calamity default would bring, the Republicans’ plan is not was not a solution.
As the experts say, all too soon we would be back in the midst of partisan wrangling, with our economy once again held prisoner by extremist Tea Party Republicans.
Our economy cannot bear this kind of uncertainty any longer.
Congress and the White House are on lockdown, and the business of the country is not being conducted.
I say no, not again will we fight another battled like the one in which we are now engaged.
But default is not an option, either. And we cannot wait for the House any longer.
It is time for Republicans to stop the political games and embrace compromise.
No matter how long Republicans delay, the deadline will not move. We have hours – I repeat, hours – to act.
Guess what? None of these plans is "good enough" for me, or even for the American economy. But if we don't see a deal emerge this weekend, the devastation that will soon emerge is sure to sink our economy, along with the rest of the world.
Even Republican Senators are now decrying the extremist, hostage-taking insanity that's crippling The House and threatening all the rest of us. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) explained this morning how forcing another hostage crisis over the winter would hurt us.
[...] I do agree with the, fact that, you know, having these debates in the middle of an economic downturn that we’re having right now is not healthy, and there’s no question that business people, those people that hire employees all across our country watch this and become uncertain.
So, in a perfect world — and I know we’re not in a perfect world — but if we can get worked out over the next several days something that actually achieves all those on the front end and extends the debt limit beyond this next election, to me that would be a perfect solution and I hope we can do that.
And another Republican Senator, John Kyl from next door (Arizona), is asking the House TEA-nuts to drop the "BBA hostage taking".
Of course, neither one of them wants to admit the full truth. Conservative Republican economic policy adviser Bruce Bartlett (who served Presidents Reagan & GHW Bush) called out the obvious on MSNBC yesterday.
This is reality. George W. Bush's billionaire bailouts (the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts for the super-rich), wars of profit (for private military contractors), pharmaceutical industry bailouts (the Medicare Part D plan that passed in 2003), and TARP bank bailouts all led to the federal budget deficit we face now. And last winter, President Obama agreed to keep Bush's billionaire bailouts going. And this summer, Obama has agreed to cut domestic spending instead of undoing Bush's bailouts/tax cuts. We've already seen intense compromises from Democrats... In fact, many progressives are getting sick and tired of it.
(And for the record, their rally in DC yesterday was much better attended than the teabagger rally on Wednesday.)
But instead of doing the obvious and going to the bargaining table, Dean Heller instead wants to cheer on the hostage taking extremists and threaten not to vote for anything that's "not good enough" for him? Well, that's not good enough for Nevada! We deserve better.
Call Heller, along with fellow Nevada's House Republican, Joe Heck, and tell them to stop this madness and work with fellow Nevadan Harry Reid to stop a ridiculously preventable debt default.
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller hasn’t finished reading through the fine print of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s and House Speaker John Boehner’s competing proposals to raise the debt limit. But already, he seems to be trying to carve out a space for himself to vote “no.”
“Nothing good is going to come out of these speeches and nothing is going to come out good for Nevada if interest rates go up and we don’t pass something by August 2nd,” Heller said Tuesday afternoon.
“I do believe it’s a critical date,” he said. “But that’s not to say that I’ll vote for any of these plans if they’re not good enough.”
So is Heller that eager to wage war against fellow Nevadan Harry Reid? And for that matter, is Heller also that eager to wage war against his fellow Republicans?
Maybe if the consequences of debt default weren't so dire, I'd be sitting back, munching on popcorn, and enjoying yet another round of Republicans eating their own. But right now, this is getting dangerous. We're perilously close to wrecking our own economy, and it's all because some crazed teabaggers refuse to agree to ANYTHING reasonable and responsible.
The tea party is so hell-bent on [supposedly] getting America's finances in order, they're willing to suffer the personal consequences of a government default. That's according to leaders of the Tea Party Patriots, who spoke with reporters in Washington this morning as the city remains gripped in debt ceiling stalemate.
Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots (the grassrootsier wing of the movement) agreed that default -- and the requisite end in government payments for the programs that go with it -- could hurt the thousands of tea party voters she represents. But she said her members are willing to take the hit. [...]
"As somebody who has gone through bankruptcy, I don't want to see our country into trouble that my family went through." she said. "I understand that means that you've got to sit there and look at: 'What can you do different? Can we sell anything? How can we get out of this mess?' And that's what our government needs to be looking at."
Oh, great. So now we're supposed to take macroeconomic advice from a bunch of fringe looney tunes who can't even keep their own checkbooks balanced?! Frankly, I've never bought the "treat government like personal finances" analogies, but the hypocrisy here simply can't be avoided.
So what do Dean Heller and his new teabagger BFFs actually want to do to our country? Force us into default? Cut off Social Security and Medicare benefits to Nevada seniors? Shut down the national parks? Give Moody's and S&P reason to downgrade our treasury bonds, which would likely forever reduce global confidence in the US economy?
According to the Washington Post, the House GOP leadership played a short clip from the Ben Affleck movie “The Town” to rally their caucus around Boehner’s debt plan [...]
In the movie, the characters then put on hockey masks and bludgeon two men with sticks, then shoot one man in the leg.
In real life, Boehner has since decided to rewrite his plan and delayed a vote until “Thursday or Friday,” after failing to secure enough support for the current version. [Emphasis mine.]
This madness has gotten way too out of hand. It needs to stop, and Dean Heller and Joe Heck need to tell their Republican colleagues that this must stop.
Do they really want to be part of the blame if America is forced into debt default and a "Second Great Depression"?
And call Harry Reid's office at 1(866) 736-7343, and email him here, to thank him for being responsible and encourage him not to cave into these extremists' irrational demands.
Below is the message I wrote to Joe Heck. Please write to him as well, and call his office at (702) 387-4941 or (202) 225-3252.
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Our fellow Nevadan and our Senator, Harry Reid, has proposed a plan to raise the debt ceiling while cutting $2.7 trillion from the federal budget. This plan includes $1.2 trillion in discretionary cuts, which is actually a larger amount than what House Speaker John Boehner has been proposing. This plan seriously tackles the budget deficit while helping America avoid the catastrophic consequences of defaulting on our national debt.
Please support Senator Reid's balanced approach to avoiding debt default, and please urge your fellow Republicans to allow for a fair up or down vote on Reid's plan, and to support Reid's plan as well. This is our last chance to avoid disaster, and I hope you will vote to prevent Nevadans from suffering the consequences of this preventable disaster.
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Also call Dean Heller's office at (202) 224-6244, (702) 388-6605, or (775) 686-5770, and email him here to let him know Nevadans demand an end to this political hostage taking. Oh, and make sure to thank Harry Reid and Shelley Berkley when you have time today for doing the right thing. Now it's up to "We the People" to stop the madness on Capitol Hill!
UPDATE 10:00 AM: I just called Heck and Heller. Heck's office says he hasn't made a decision yet, other than he doesn't support debt default. Meanwhile, Heller's office says his position is whatever the most recent press releases and statements posted on his Senate web site say. Neither would commit to either the Boehner plan (which is looking less likely to pass) or the Reid plan (which can pass, and makes sure not to touch Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid), so keep the calls going. Also call 1(866) 736-7343, thank Senator Reid for all the work he is doing on this, and urge him not to give up on passing his plan (which IMHO is the best of this whole sorry bunch).
Speaking from the East Room of the White House, President Obama gave his official endorsement to Sen. Harry Reid’s debt limit plan, channeling his signature compassionate academic style in a speech that was much a helpful primer to the nation on debt ceilings, financial markets and congressional budgets as it was a chance for him to frame the debate as a battle between right and wrong.
“The debate right now isn’t about whether we need to make tough choices ... the debate is about how it should be done,” Obama said. “Most Americans, regardless of political party, don’t understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask a corporate jet owner or the oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don’t get.
Tick tock. With a week to go until Uncle Sam runs out of cash, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that enough was enough yesterday, calling on politicians to stop bickering and act urgently to stave off global financial meltdown by raising their country's debt ceiling.
The government of the United States will move more than $14.3 trillion (£8.7trn) into the red next Tuesday, surpassing an upper limit on the national debt and therefore preventing the Treasury from being able to pay its bills. That would leave the US unable to service its debt, leading to economic chaos.
The IMF published a harshly worded review of the US economy yesterday, calling for an immediate increase in borrowing limits followed by a "comprehensive solution" which will allow the US to reduce its public borrowing in the medium term by cutting spending and increasing the government's revenues.
But first, they must avoid what would be an unnecessary default. "Directors [of the IMF] highlighted the urgency of raising the federal debt ceiling and agreeing on the specifics of a comprehensive medium-term consolidation programme," said
Again, why are we even here? What is the point of this? This is nothing more than a political crisis. If Congress were to just raise the debt ceiling now and take care of progressive tax reform soon, we wouldn't have this problem. But since that is anathema to teabaggers, we're at this zenith of stupid.
So why can't Congress just raise the debt ceiling already? This hostage crisis may be fun and games to them, but everyone else is sick and tired of it.
On Saturday night, aided by "a nice pinot noir," the tech and business-of-news writer Jeff Jarvis started to tweet.
"Hey, Washington assholes," he wrote, "it's our country, our economy, our money. Stop fucking with it."
He started rolling. Inspiration struck. "Can we start a Twitter chant: FUCK YOU, WASHINGTON! Pass it on." He willed the chant into existence.
Eventually, another tweeter set Jarvis straight and crafted this into a hashtag. We could see where this was going. Jarvis, one of the smartest promoters and meme-catchers out there, cultivated and curated a wave of angry tweets, retweeting the best ones, eventually harshing on the censorship that stopped his Howard Beale hashtag from trending. Most of the tweets came from liberals angry at the debt impasse. A small sample:
@mcullen546: #FuckYouWashington for calling programs that we pay for entitlements
@mwynn: We see through your public pension theft conspiracy so #fuckyouwashington
@Mr_Pettapucci #fuckyouwashington or letting corporations steal our natural resources and sell them back to the people for profit.
@rogldr5 #fuckyouwashington for all this posturing to assure your reelection.
@bguthro: #FuckYouWashington for playing russian roulette with the world's economic stability
The [British] business secretary, Vince Cable, broke the unwritten rule of non-intervention in other countries' domestic disputes on Sunday by describing diehard Republicans as "nutters".
Cable, appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, said: "The irony of the situation at the moment, with markets opening tomorrow morning, is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few rightwing nutters in the American Congress rather than the eurozone."
Until now, market traders had appeared confident that agreement would eventually be reached but US legislators fear that, following the collapse of talks on Friday, there could be the first signs of panic when Wall Street opens on Monday as well as other markets round the world.
And why are Congressional Republicans refusing to Harry Reid's most recent offer that gives them exactly the amount of cuts they've been demanding?
What Harry Reid did yesterday was essentially call the GOP’s bluff by outlining a plan that raises the debt ceiling by $2.7 trillion and includes $2.7 trillion in spending cuts, a healthy share of which comes from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Second, while Reid’s plan doesn’t raise taxes, it also doesn’t take tax increases off the table. Currently, the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire in 2012. If Reid’s all-cuts plan passes, that still leaves the door open to significant revenue increases. Now that doesn’t mean this is brilliant 11-dimensional chess. The Reid Plan is consistent with substantial revenues coming online in 2012, but that will only happen if President Obama and Senate Democrats stand firm and play hardball on the tax issue. Back in December 2010, they utterly failed to do so.
Oh, that's right. This would cut military spending and withdraw our troops from wars we need not fight. We just couldn't possibly do that, not when we can instead threaten Granny's Social Security and Medicare, cut my student financial aid, and really do little, if anything at all, about the deficit. Damn that Harry Reid and his fiscal smarts!
So why are we even here? Why are we edging closer and closer toward complete economic ruin? Why are Republican leaders so willing to flirt with committing the ultimate economic murder-suicide on the entire world (Note: linked article is in French)?
Why are we here? Why are we on the brink of economic collapse? Why are we on the verge of crashing the global economy along with our own? And why can't we agree on any sort of sensible solution to this uniquely political problem?
This is the unfortunate reality. Common sense macroeconomics would lead us to recognize we need more public sector investment to stimulate economic growth and job creation. However House Republican leaders refuse to recognize common sense macroeconomics, and House & Senate Democratic leaders worry over the effects of a protracted debt fight that would lead to debt default. So how do we want our pain? Do we want a little hurt or a lot? Do we want to counteract past stimulus efforts, or do we just want to blow up the entire world economy?
This is the madness our federal government has descended into. So what can we do about it? Well, maybe we need to think twice about just "throwing the bums out", and think more about why we really need people in Congress who are willing to look at "the big picture" and pass smart policy.
