"Election opens up a gaping divide; Demise of moderates as power shifts right" by Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | November 6, 2010
WASHINGTON — This year’s tumultuous midterm election cycle cut deeply into the ranks of moderates on Capitol Hill, helping usher in a Congress that scholars say could produce the most partisan voting pattern since the Civil War era. The lack of moderate voices has led to fears that lawmakers will be deadlocked over an array of issues, even though a large swath of voters tell pollsters they want compromise — and progress.
No, we don't. We want and END to the WARS and EMPIRE, a DECENT SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH PLAN, and NO MORE TAX LOOT for BANKS!
“It will be increasingly difficult because of the divided nature of Congress and the extreme polarization that exists between the two parties,’’ said Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, a leading moderate Democrat who did not seek reelection. “There is also a complete lack of tolerance for any deviation from party orthodoxy on both sides.’’
Ever see the votes cast in favor of Israel and its interests? Near unanimity.
Bayh hopes that some areas of common ground can still be salvaged, but the fate of his own seat demonstrates the challenges ahead. Bayh is retiring because of the bitter partisan atmosphere and will be replaced by Dan Coats, a Republican who promised voters he would not “sing ‘Kumbaya’ across the aisle.’’
Researchers who track American elections say Tuesday’s was notable not because the country swung radically to the right, but rather because it accelerated a 30-year trend in American politics: the widening ideological gulf between Democrats and Republicans....
What POLITICAL GARBAGE the Globe is serving up!
Related: The Two-Headed War Party
Yeah, the SAME INTERESTS will be FUNDED!
Nolan McCarty, professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University, has examined the voting records of every member of Congress since the 1800s. He says one reason for the change is rising income inequality. During times of relative equality — the 1940s through the 1960s — politicians played to the middle class, regardless of their party, and had significant overlap in their ideas. But starting in the 1970s, the nation began to divide much more starkly into rich and poor.
That is when the destruction of the middle class began.
The Democratic Party catered more to lower-income people and minorities who wanted more government services, even if that meant higher taxes. Meanwhile, the Republican Party catered more to wealthier people, including a newly emerging class of entrepreneurs and business owners, who wanted less government intervention and lower taxes, even if it meant fewer services, he said.
Now they are both beholden to corporate campaign cash.
But others see different reasons for the rift and are more optimistic about overcoming it.
Senator Ron Wyden, a liberal Democrat from Oregon who won reelection Tuesday after touting his bipartisan efforts, blamed special interests for pushing lawmakers into extreme positions that average Americans don’t want.
Isn't it YOUR JOB as an ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE to RESIST THAT?
“There is no question that there are much more powerful forces that get up every single morning and say to themselves, ‘We want to deep-six these efforts to find common ground,’ ’’ he said. “But I think the hand of those who want to find common ground is potentially stronger now, because it is not going to be possible for either side to go to voters and say, ‘We achieved our objective by stopping everything.’ ’’
When is the AIPAC rep visiting the office?
Wyden sees fruitful areas of cooperation, citing a tax-reform bill that he has worked on with Judd Gregg, the retiring New Hampshire Republican senator, that would reduce the corporate tax rate but also take away incentives for sending jobs overseas....
Why were they getting an INCENTIVE for THAT in the FIRST PLACE?
Some studies suggest that, as the two parties pull farther apart, more Americans are identifying as independents, feeling that neither party truly represents them....
Hello, dear readers!!!
Mark Baldassare, research director of the Public Policy Institute of California, said the shifting preferences of those swing voters help explain why Democrats won in 2008 but Republicans won Tuesday....
Many see the partisan tilt in this election as bad news for Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, two moderate Republicans from Maine, a state that elected a more conservative governor and Legislature.
Related:
"Paul LePage, backed by the Tea Party, won the gubernatorial race in Maine, giving Republicans control of the governorship and both houses of the Legislature for the first time in 50 years."
Way to go Maine!!
FLASHBACK:
"Independent Eliot Cutler was leading Republican Paul LePage as results were being tallied.... LePage has led the field in poll numbers since his surprise primary win in June"
Looks like there WAS ONE HONEST ELECTION in Amerika after all!
In a statement to the Globe, Snowe, who is up for reelection in 2012, said that “Congress must focus like a laser’’ on tax and regulatory policies that would foster economic growth and spur job creation, starting with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, which will raise taxes across the board in January....
Oh, THAT IS WHY the LAME-DUCKS must ACT on the TAX CUTS!
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Yup, STILL SERVING the RICH no matter which party is in control!
"GOP faces hard choices to keep its promises; Plan to slash deficit collides with pledge to reduce taxes" by Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff / November 7, 2010
WASHINGTON — Newly empowered Republicans, energized by an antigovernment groundswell that helped them seize control of the House, are making pledges that thrill mainstream conservatives and Tea Partiers alike: They will slash deficits and cut government down to size.
“The cavalry is coming,’’ said Representative Jim Jordan, a leading House conservative from Ohio.
But there are obstacles aplenty that could confound the GOP’s charge to reduce spending.
So much for change.
The party’s top priorities include extending income tax cuts for the wealthy and repealing President Obama’s health insurance overhaul, two steps that would deepen future deficits....
The repeal attempt is all political show and will mean nothing. But the waste of time will be a good diversion for the paper!
A thorny spot for Republicans has been defense spending. Their proposals have not included significant defense reductions, although discretionary defense spending has now climbed to nearly $850 billion a year and is on track to reach $1 trillion a year by 2020....
Yup, NO DISCUSSION AT ALL of ENDING the EMPIRE that is BANKRUPTING US!
A TRILLION DOLLAR "DEFENSE" BUDGET?!!
Politically, without a majority in the Senate, their leverage to win spending reductions will be limited to things like threatening government shutdowns, and refusing to raise the nation’s debt limit. Such moves backfired on Republicans 16 years ago during the Newt Ging rich revolution....
Will the WARS be SHUT DOWN?
Some analysts see the House’s options as limited to symbolic votes for spending cuts that will not be adopted by Democrats.
“You have to distinguish between the political theater of things and the things that have impact,’’ said Donald Marron, director of the tax policy center at the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.
I'm TIRED of BULLSHIT!
There also is an economic case being made against quick spending cuts. Many analysts argue that reductions would damage the fragile recovery by stemming the flow of federal dollars into the economy. They urge adoption of budget cuts now, while delaying their start for one or two years, when the US economy would be in better condition to withstand the spending reduction.
These the same liars that created the mess? Yeah, okay.
“There is no question that we need to get our deficit under control, but this is not the time to do it,’’ said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, a research firm with headquarters in Lexington.
On another front, like the Democrats, the incoming GOP leadership has not yet endorsed any plan to rein in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — the most expensive entitlement programs and the budget sections that most specialists believe pose the greatest deficit dangers.
Yeah, the WARS, WALL STREET and AID to ISRAEL have nothing to do with it!
Americans elect change and get SCREWED AGAIN!
Political will to curb those programs has been lacking in both parties, even though there appears to be growing consensus that benefits may have to be scaled back in some fashion....
Many analysts and elected leaders have worried that as the debt-to-GDP ratio climbs higher, the costs of financing the debt could increase and global credit markets could begin losing faith in America’s ability to pay for it. Greece’s recent credit crisis was brought on by debt-to GDP ratios....
And BANKERS must ALWAYS BE SERVICED FIRST!
Conservative Republicans today are haunted by the size of deficits run up during the administration of George W. Bush....
Critics say the Bush administration’s approach to fiscal policy was summed up in a statement attributed by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill to former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney said, according to O’Neill, that “deficits don’t matter.’’
All of a sudden Paul O'Neill and his book are dug up after he was banished for saying these guys were talking Iraq invasion at the first meeting!
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The Republican Study Committee produced a proposed budget in May 2010 that would dramatically cut discretionary spending and balance the budget by 2019, while including a permanent extension of all income tax cuts. A sampling from the document provides clues as to where conservatives see room for cuts:
The Republican Study Committee produced a proposed budget in May 2010 that would dramatically cut discretionary spending and balance the budget by 2019, while including a permanent extension of all income tax cuts. A sampling from the document provides clues as to where conservatives see room for cuts:
Repeal unspent portions of the stimulus (savings, $289 billion over 10 years), repeal the expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (savings, $74 billion over 10 years), eliminate subsidies for graduate student loans (savings, $18.8 billion over 10 years), and eliminate high-speed rail grants and Amtrak subsidies ($4 billion savings, annually). It also would eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, tighten rules for distributing food stamps, and cut the federal travel budget in half....
Yup, it's ALL POLITICS!
"GOP sets goals with eye on victories in 2012; Republicans say there will be no help for Obama" by Philip Elliot, Associated Press / November 8, 2010
WASHINGTON — Resurgent Republicans rallied yesterday behind an agenda based on unwavering opposition to President Obama and federal spending, laying the groundwork for gridlock until their 2012 goal: a new president, a “better Senate,’’ and ridding the country of the new health care law....
For what people want; the special interests that control the place will continue to be served.
But the reality remains that Republicans do not have enough seats to marshal through a full repeal if Democrats remain steadfast in their support. Even if Republicans were able to sway enough Democrats to support their effort, it would face a certain veto from Obama....
How much of the media coverage will be taken up with this waste of time?
Republicans said they were willing to work with President Obama but also signaled it would be only on their terms. With control of the White House and the Senate, Democrats showed no sign they were conceding the final two years of Obama’s term to Republican lawmakers who claimed the majority in the House.
Since when?
“I think this week’s election was a historic rejection of American liberalism and the Obama and Pelosi agenda,’’ said Representative Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican who is stepping down from his post in GOP leadership.
“The American people are tired of the borrowing, the spending, the bailouts, the takeovers,’’ Pence said on ABC’s “This Week.’’
The WARS!
Voters on Tuesday punished Democrats from New Hampshire to California, giving Republicans at least 60 new seats in the House. Republicans picked up 10 governorships; the GOP also gained control of 19 state legislative chambers and holds the highest level of state legislative seats since 1928.
“It was a very rough week; there’s no sugarcoating that,’’ said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Democrats who controlled the House, Senate, and White House for two years now must work with Republicans, who have not shied from pushing their agenda....
Republican Rand Paul, the Tea Party-backed winner in Kentucky’s Senate race, said cuts to military spending and programs such as Social Security should be considered, a break from Republican positions that both are sacrosanct....
I'm not a huge fan of the guy, but he is RIGHT on THAT ONE -- one of the FEW TIMES the TOPIC is BROACHED in the WAR PRESS of AmeriKa!
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And speaking of the Pauls:
"House Democrats split on direction; Two vying to be Pelosi’s No. 2" by Mark Arsenault and Matt Viser, Globe Staff / November 9, 2010
WASHINGTON —Republicans, however, are facing their own fight over leadership posts.
While John Boehner of Ohio is expected to be elected House speaker next week without opposition, Tea Party movement-backed candidates are clamoring for major supporting roles. Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a well-known face from political talk shows, wants a leadership slot as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, a post also sought by Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas. Hensarling has the backing of Eric Cantor, who is expected to become House majority leader....
How about RON PAUL for SPEAKER?!!
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And how is the public feeling about their new Congress?
"Public backs GOP on taxes, not health, poll says; Data suggest election was not mandate" by Alan Fram, Associated Press / November 12, 2010
WASHINGTON — People back Republican tax cut plans but not the GOP campaign to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul, according to a poll suggesting that the Republicans’ big Election Day win was not a mandate for the party’s legislative wish list....
One wonders what would qualify as such after such a historic rejection.
Two-thirds want the Senate to ratify Obama’s nuclear arms-reduction treaty with Russia, including most Democrats, about 6 in 10 Republicans, and independents — and even about half of conservative Tea Party movement supporters.
Related: Tea Party Refuses to Take the Pledge
Also see: Russia's Cheat and Retreat
More wheel-spinning wastes of time.
Some Republican senators oppose the treaty. The Obama administration hopes to win Senate approval in the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress and will need GOP support to garner the 67 votes required....
Oh, THAT is coming up in the LAME-DUCK SESSION, huh?
Paper has KEPT the WRAPS on it!
Amazing coincidence how the polls were ahead of the agenda, huh?
During this fall’s campaign, a leading Republican theme was a promise to curb a government they said had become too big and intrusive under Obama. This included proposals to extend tax cuts for even the wealthiest Americans and to pull back Obama’s health care law.
Further fueling support for their agenda were unyieldingly bad job and housing markets that polls suggest left many voters disenchanted with Democrats. The election ended with the GOP gaining a majority of seats in the House and adding to its Senate minority.
Because they failed.
“I think everybody wants change,’’ said Steven Lamb, 60, a Tennessee state government worker in Nashville who voted Republican last week despite opposing the party’s stance on tax cuts and health care. “I’m tired of what’s going on, and the only way to do it is to make a change.’’
Related: MSM Monitor Left Feeling Blue About Massachusetts
I feel left out.
The preference for cutting everyone’s taxes was a turnabout from September, when most of those surveyed in an AP-GfK poll favored omitting the wealthy from the reductions, 54 percent to 44 percent.
That means AP stands for AGENDA-PUSHING POLLS!
I will NEVER BELIEVE an AGENDA-PUSHING CORPORATE MEDIA POLL ever again!
Always SKEWED!
In further evidence that last week’s decisive GOP win was not an embrace of Republicans, the poll indicated that the GOP is no better liked than the Democratic Party....
Yeah, they WON by DEFAULT because WE DON'T LIKE ANY of 'em!!
The poll also indicated support, though modest, for a divided government. More than 4 in 10 said the country will benefit from a GOP-controlled House while Democrats run the Senate and White House, almost twice the number who say that will be bad. A third said it doesn’t matter.
That would be YOURS TRULY, readers!
“Lately, we’re not prospering and one party has been in control,’’ said Suzanne Fairchild, 33, of Pahrump, Nev., who recently lost her job and likes a divided government in Washington.
Yup, one party with two heads.
“When they’re busy bickering with themselves, the rest of us can get along with our lives.’’
That is the way I see it now.
The poll underscored deep partisan divides on taxes and health care....
No divide on the wars, Wall Street, and aid to Israel.
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And about those dug-in Democrats:
"Obama, GOP hint at tax-cut compromise; Extension may put off debate" by Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press / November 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — The White House and Republican lawmakers set the terms for a looming tax debate yesterday, coalescing around a possible temporary extension of existing income tax rates that would protect middle-class and wealthy Americans from sharp tax increases next year.
They COULD HAVE DONE THAT ANYTIME!
Related: Primary Party: Tax Trap
Democrats Tax Trap Left Empty
How did you like the SHOW, America?
President Obama reiterated his opposition yesterday to a permanent extension of current tax rates for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and married couples making more than $250,000.
So they can kick around this false issue for a few more years with the cuts are extended.
“It won’t significantly boost the economy, and it’s hugely expensive,’’ he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from an Asia trip. “So we can’t afford it.’’
We can't afford the wars and aid to Israel but somehow that flies on through!
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A compromise would put off fundamental questions about taxes for the time being, virtually guaranteeing their prominence as campaign issues heading into the 2012 presidential election.
Sick of the GAME YET, 'murka?
That debate would also dovetail with a more profound discussion over how to rein in deficits and reduce the nation’s escalating debt.
Yes, HOW AMAZING that it ALL DOVETAILS with the AGENDA, huh?
Congress returns this week with Democrats in control of the House and Senate for a lame-duck session that is expected to stretch into December. But Republican votes are essential, and the GOP has additional leverage because it will begin the new year with Republicans in charge of the House and with more members in the Senate....
Two prominent Republicans conceded yesterday that the best Congress might be able to accomplish in the coming weeks is a short term-continuation of the current tax rates, set in 2001 and 2003 under President Bush.
“If the president wants to compromise on a two- or three-year extension . . . if that’s all we can get out of the president, and he is the president, so we’ll work with him on that,’’ said Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican and a leader of his party’s conservative wing.
Likewise, Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential contender in 2008, said he could fathom a short-term extension of all the tax cuts. McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts, saying they disproportionately benefited wealthy Americans and did not rein in spending.
“They should be extended until we are out of this recession,’’ McCain said on “Meet the Press.’’
I used to watch those shows religiously. Now I never get near them.
So we are STILL IN ONE, Johnny?
“At such time we can look at other tax increases,’’ he said. “But when we’re in a serious recession I cannot believe that raising taxes is a good thing on anybody.’’
In fact, the recession officially ended in June 2009, but the recovery has been markedly slow....
This is the SAME MEDIA that HID the START for 10 MONTHS, right?
The same lying media that got us into Iraq talking about facts?
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-!!
Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman, said he expects that Obama will agree to extend the tax cuts.
Reading it straight from the horse's mouth.
“That’s the easiest thing to do politically at this time,’’ Greenspan said on “Meet the Press.’’
I'm glad I missed the program.
The lame-duck Congress returning today will face a lengthy to-do list, but postelection sessions are typically unproductive. In addition to the tax-cut issue, lawmakers must act before year’s end on a spending measure.
Lawmakers failed to pass an annual spending bill this year, and funds are needed to keep federal agencies financed and avoid a government shutdown....
Isn't that KIND of IMPORTANT? More so than the TAX CUTS!
And yet it is BEING MINIMIZED by the PRESS!!
What else are they NOT TELLING US, readers?
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Update: Eric Cantor tells Israeli Prime Minister that the Republican party will be a "check" on the Obama administration when it comes to Israel
Not rally a surprise: The Israel Lobby: Targeting Democrats for Election Day Defeat
