A Tea Party Triumph

[formerlurker]

A Tea Party Triumph
The debt deal is a rare bipartisan victory for the forces of smaller government.

 
If a good political compromise is one that has something for everyone to hate, then last night's bipartisan debt-ceiling deal is a triumph. The bargain is nonetheless better than what seemed achievable in recent days, especially given the revolt of some GOP conservatives that gave the White House and Democrats more political leverage.

***
The big picture is that the deal is a victory for the cause of smaller government, arguably the biggest since welfare reform in 1996. Most bipartisan budget deals trade tax increases that are immediate for spending cuts that turn out to be fictional. This one includes no immediate tax increases, despite President Obama's demand as recently as last Monday. The immediate spending cuts are real, if smaller than we'd prefer, and the longer-term cuts could be real if Republicans hold Congress and continue to enforce the deal's spending caps.

The framework (we haven't seen all the details) calls for an initial step of some $900 billion in domestic discretionary cuts over 10 years from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline puffed up by recent spending. If the cuts hold, this would go some way to erasing the fiscal damage from the Obama-Nancy Pelosi stimulus. This is no small achievement considering that Republicans control neither the Senate nor the White House, and it underscores how much the GOP victory in November has reshaped the U.S. fiscal debate.

No wonder liberals are howling. They have come to believe in the upward spending ratchet, under which all spending increases are permanent. Not any more.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903341404576480653492061150.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


I probably should have placed this in Election section, because this deal (which I disagree with the WSJ as I think it sucks -- the DoD should never be held hostage over domestic spending, are you freakin kidding me?) is the precursor for the 2012 elections.   It's all about small government stupid, which eliminates Obama from the equation.

The GOP candidate who will be left standing will be the one America believes can lead us out of this -- tea party? or businessman or governor with a proven track record of budget management.

Very interesting, because the social issues you normally see in these cycles mean nothing, so stop selling them candidates.  

It's the economy or nothing.   Let the party begin.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Yeah, I wouldn't call it a ringing TEA Party victory either, but at the same time it's definitely not an Obama one.  Though his shills are out pushing the meme about how he 'was the adult in the room'  already (I don't think even the MSM is buying that one, the ineptitude and leadership void was glaringly apparent even to them).

TEA Party probably came out of it as good or better than most of the other players.  Boehner is probably the biggest winner, but the real test is going to come down the road when the commission makes its probably-unpalatable-to-almost-everyone recommendations, raising the spectre of intolerable Medicare and defense cuts.

[5412]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903341404576480653492061150.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


I probably should have placed this in Election section, because this deal (which I disagree with the WSJ as I think it sucks -- the DoD should never be held hostage over domestic spending, are you freakin kidding me?) is the precursor for the 2012 elections.   It's all about small government stupid, which eliminates Obama from the equation.

The GOP candidate who will be left standing will be the one America believes can lead us out of this -- tea party? or businessman or governor with a proven track record of budget management.

Very interesting, because the social issues you normally see in these cycles mean nothing, so stop selling them candidates.  

It's the economy or nothing.   Let the party begin.

Hi,

I agree with you.  I am really suspicious when I see these type of articles because it reeks of propaganda to try to tell those in the tea party how to think, like they are selling snake oil or something.

I honestly think that a balanced budget amendment with some teeth must happen.  Then the next biggie is they must stop incentivizing out of wedlock birth.  New Jersey and Wisconsin years ago said that after your second child, no more money and the out of wedlock births came to a screeching halt.  We cannot continue to let the welfare society be incentivized to grow.  When that issue comes up the doo-doo will really hit the fan.

Have a good week,
5412

[5412]

Yeah, I wouldn't call it a ringing TEA Party victory either, but at the same time it's definitely not an Obama one.  Though his shills are out pushing the meme about how he 'was the adult in the room'  already (I don't think even the MSM is buying that one, the ineptitude and leadership void was glaringly apparent even to them).

TEA Party probably came out of it as good or better than most of the other players.  Boehner is probably the biggest winner, but the real test is going to come down the road when the commission makes its probably-unpalatable-to-almost-everyone recommendations, raising the spectre of intolerable Medicare and defense cuts.

Hi Tanker,

I really want the vote in the house to be close.  Would not bother me if they could not pass it in the house and the conservatives squeeze some more blood out of the turnip.  The dems can keep their folks in line, they did it with Obamacare, if they have to give up a little more to protect lord zero they will make it happen.

Regards,
5412

[DumbAss Tanker]

If it fails in the House it will likely do the TEA Party more harm than good, I think.  I don't think they will get any more from the Dems, and queering the deal now will force the rest of the GOP to cut them loose and then try to cut a deal with Skeletor, in which situation Skeletor and her minions will somewhat have the upper hand.  Only the hard-core TEA Party reps are buying that there is really any time left for grandstanding on this.

[JohnnyReb]

If it fails in the House it will likely do the TEA Party more harm than good, I think.  I don't think they will get any more from the Dems, and queering the deal now will force the rest of the GOP to cut them loose and then try to cut a deal with Skeletor, in which situation Skeletor and her minions will somewhat have the upper hand.  Only the hard-core TEA Party reps are buying that there is really any time left for grandstanding on this.

Well, let him grandstand because I certainly didn't help him get elected to keep doing what JOHN DAMN SPRATT was doing.

[5412]

If it fails in the House it will likely do the TEA Party more harm than good, I think.  I don't think they will get any more from the Dems, and queering the deal now will force the rest of the GOP to cut them loose and then try to cut a deal with Skeletor, in which situation Skeletor and her minions will somewhat have the upper hand.  Only the hard-core TEA Party reps are buying that there is really any time left for grandstanding on this.

Hi,

Question for you.  I just saw a black lady interviewed on Fox and she basically said the compromise bill is a doo-doo sandwich.  My question to you is this.  Do you see the bill not passing the house without democrats also voting against it?

My suspicion is if the democrats suspect it will not pass they will not want to be on the record as supporting it; particularly if they are from the untra liberal districts.  On one hand they want to vote for it so they can blame the republicans; but on the other hand they do not want to be on record as supporting it.

regards,
5412

[TVDOC]

The shoe that I'm waiting for to drop is what are S & P and Moody's going to do about our bond rating.......

There has been absolutely no discussion in the media reports of the upside of a downgrade.......interest rates have been kept artificially at nearly zero for three years.  If a downgrade occurs, T-bills will probably jump to 3.5% or higher (which is where they have historically been for a century).

1.)  Citizens with money to invest in CD's and money market instruments will see a return on their investment.

2.)  Government debt service as a percentage of the budget will skyrocket, leaving far less for congress to squander on pet projects.

3.)  Interest rates on mortgages will rise, which doesn't matter because nobody is buying houses anyway, and those that do will be required to have the resources to afford them.

4.)  People stupid enough to live off credit cards deserve to pay more for their folly, being dumb should have consequences.

I firmly believe that a good part of the runaway spending and commensurate increase in the national debt is due to the fact that since the debt is financed at a rate of 0.5%, it appears to congress that financing their spending is, for all practical purposes, so inexpensive that it's worth it to continue to escalate the debt........the borrowed money is almost free.

Note to Moody's:  You established a 4T cut minimum to avoid a downgrade.......you didn't get it, so pull the trigger!!


doc

[DumbAss Tanker]

I think there's a certain amount of grandstanding by Moody's and S&P involved here as well, doc. 

And 5412, the House Dems are kind of an unknown quantity, both in terms of what Lady Skeletor is planning as well as their current caucus discipline.  Like the TEA Party, some will want or need to vote against it on their own ideological grounds, but if Skeletor doesn't actually work against it, it should end up with enough Dems who have had enough already to put it over the top. 

Thing is, my sense is that she's been dealt out of the bargaining process due to her own hard-line Leftist BS in the terminal stages of making the deal, so out of either spite or a sense that Boehner and the GOP would be more harmed by failure than she would be, she could queer the deal in the House, IF she still has the party discipline to make all the Dems vote against it.  If she thinks that any resultant economic turmoil this causes won't stick to the Dems, she's sadly out of touch with reality, but then since we already know she really is sadly out of touch with reality, the possibility cannot be entirely discounted.  While Boehner would certainly be left in a very awkward position should she do that, it would really make Reid and Obama look like the Prince of Putzes and King of Schmucks, respectively. 

[5412]

I think there's a certain amount of grandstanding by Moody's and S&P involved here as well, doc. 

And 5412, the House Dems are kind of an unknown quantity, both in terms of what Lady Skeletor is planning as well as their current caucus discipline.  Like the TEA Party, some will want or need to vote against it on their own ideological grounds, but if Skeletor doesn't actually work against it, it should end up with enough Dems who have had enough already to put it over the top. 

Thing is, my sense is that she's been dealt out of the bargaining process due to her own hard-line Leftist BS in the terminal stages of making the deal, so out of either spite or a sense that Boehner and the GOP would be more harmed by failure than she would be, she could queer the deal in the House, IF she still has the party discipline to make all the Dems vote against it.  If she thinks that any resultant economic turmoil this causes won't stick to the Dems, she's sadly out of touch with reality, but then since we already know she really is sadly out of touch with reality, the possibility cannot be entirely discounted.  While Boehner would certainly be left in a very awkward position should she do that, it would really make Reid and Obama look like the Prince of Putzes and King of Schmucks, respectively. 

Hi,

Good, well thought out analysis, makes sense.  Thanks.

I have already written our freshman GOP representative in the house.  I had met him a couple of times as he is from our area and knows my next door neighbor from business connections.  Basically I cut to the quick and told him to stick to his guns an vote NO and that Boehner does not represent the majority of the people in the US.  If the House of Representatives is supposed to be the "peoples house" as the esteemed judge said, then Boehner is sure not representing the majority of the people very well. 

As an afterthought, Limbaugh went on about Boehner trying to buy their votes with chairmanships and commitment of re-election dollars.  That is good news but also one that needs to be exploited.  .  Most of the Tea Party folks I know have given up donating to the Republican Party and their money goes directly to their candidates.  It should almost work in reverse.  Boehner if you want to get re-elected, and even survive a primary, you need to get you ass in line.

regards,
5412

[thundley4]

3.)  Interest rates on mortgages will rise, which doesn't matter because nobody is buying houses anyway, and those that do will be required to have the resources to afford them.

Not if Eric Holder and the DOiJ get their way.  Banks will be forced to loan to people that can't afford the loans.  http://www.conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,62633.0.html

[Erasmus]

I agree.  I've seen article after article with titles like:

Republican Win
Obama Shifts to the Right

etc. etc...

This wasn't a win.  There was no balanced budget amendment, no cuts in spending that will ever materialize, no enforcement if the cuts don't happen, the cuts were postponed to attempt to make it a non-issue for Obama's re-election attempt, and the amount of cuts needs to be much much larger to have any meaningful effect.

Basically, Obama got a $2.4 trillion blank check.  Where exactly was the Republican or Tea Party victory here?  The closest I can come was the fact that they pressured Boehner to add the balanced budget amendment to his version of the bill, which of course had no chance of passing the Senate or Obama's desk.  It's a start, but the deal that actually passed was no victory.  This is liberal propaganda.  They get their way and somehow they still have to badmouth conservatives about something, even if it's a lie.

[Rugnuts]

instead of saying "they won the war" i look at it like this:

this debate is metaphorically the same as the night over 200 years ago when they dumped all the TEA in Boston. those actions led to the real war (revolutionary). this fight lead us to the real war (size of government, spending, debt, taxes)

They didnt win by wasting the TEA, we didnt win by changing the debt battle. The loss of tea didnt end over taxation, this debt bill does not balance the budget or shrink govt.

[debk]

I had the TV on ABC when they broke in for a "Special Report" about 12:30.

George Stephanopolis and both the White House reporters said this was a win for the GOP, particularly the Tea Party. While it wasn't exactly what they wanted, for every "line in the sand" that Obama drew, they forced him to walk over it.

One of them said that the Dems had plenty of chances to get their own budget through before last January and didn't and they have no one to blame but themselves.

They also said this will affect Obama's chances of winning in 2012.

I had to double check what channel I was watching!

[wasp69]

I had the TV on ABC when they broke in for a "Special Report" about 12:30.

George Stephanopolis and both the White House reporters said this was a win for the GOP, particularly the Tea Party. While it wasn't exactly what they wanted, for every "line in the sand" that Obama drew, they forced him to walk over it.

One of them said that the Dems had plenty of chances to get their own budget through before last January and didn't and they have no one to blame but themselves.

They also said this will affect Obama's chances of winning in 2012.

I had to double check what channel I was watching!

The media made him, they can unmake him.

[debk]

The media made him, they can unmake him.

I think there are more and more of his supporters that are coming to realize that he doesn't have a clue what he is doing.

Obama looked like an ineffectual leader through all of this(more so than usual)....and a petulant child. It was going to be his way or the highway. Guess he's out on the highway...

[wasp69]

I think there are more and more of his supporters that are coming to realize that he doesn't have a clue what he is doing.

Obama looked like an ineffectual leader through all of this(more so than usual)....and a petulant child. It was going to be his way or the highway. Guess he's out on the highway...

I've always maintained that it would be the left that would eventually take him down.  If they do, I fully believe it will start in the media.  That is if they can't hold their noses over the smell of their own BS any longer.

[Erasmus]

It's obvious that their pet Marxist president is not moving the country to their desired level of Marxism at a fast enough pace.  But hell, he's working as fast as he can!

[Lacarnut]

I agree.  I've seen article after article with titles like:

Republican Win
Obama Shifts to the Right

etc. etc...

This wasn't a win.  There was no balanced budget amendment, no cuts in spending that will ever materialize, no enforcement if the cuts don't happen, the cuts were postponed to attempt to make it a non-issue for Obama's re-election attempt, and the amount of cuts needs to be much much larger to have any meaningful effect.

Basically, Obama got a $2.4 trillion blank check.  Where exactly was the Republican or Tea Party victory here?  The closest I can come was the fact that they pressured Boehner to add the balanced budget amendment to his version of the bill, which of course had no chance of passing the Senate or Obama's desk.  It's a start, but the deal that actually passed was no victory.  This is liberal propaganda.  They get their way and somehow they still have to badmouth conservatives about something, even if it's a lie.

This was an enormous victory for Obama. He got the money he wanted and the Repubs allowed the debt to not become an issue before the election. Yep, we got cuts alright but they are mostly in defense and medicare. Like Donald Trump stated, this is a bad bill. Palin and Trump also assailed Romney about not being out front on the debt crisis. Not exactly what you would expect from the front runner. He is a typical mealy mouth RINO politician who is the father of Romney care.