CNN: The GOP is tone-deaf on fiscal cliff

(CNN) -- Hyperbole among GOP lawmakers and the anguished pundit class reached epic proportions this week as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner presented the president's proposal to address the looming tax increases and spending cuts set to kick in, if a deal is not reached by January.

GOP Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, warned that the president's proposal takes us backward, moving us "significantly closer to the cliff." Anonymous Republican aides were immediately dispatched to trash the proposal of revenue increases and spending cuts as "a joke," "an insult" and "a complete break from reality."

These remarks, coming on the heels of a sound rejection of Mitt Romney's fidelity to America's 1%, indicate that the ones suffering from a break with reality are the Republicans deaf to the mandate of this election. Their delusional commitment to eviscerating social insurance programs -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- while allowing the rich to get richer shows a remarkable disconnect from the shared experience of most Americans.

Decades of underinvestment in our country by the wealthy class, two Bush wars paid for on credit, and an unrestrained culture on Wall Street that treated the economy like a poorly run casino has unarguably left America strapped for cash. The only question at hand is whether we'll finally be treated to genuine accountability and sound fiscal policy in this deal.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/01/opinion/hogue-fiscal-cliff/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

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8 replies	Author	Time	Post
CNN: The GOP is tone-deaf on fiscal cliff (Original post)	spanone	Dec 2012	OP
Can Senators and Congressmen be impeached? The GOP are endangering the country.	Lint Head	Dec 2012	#1
They need to be charged with "sedition".	oldbanjo	Dec 2012	#3
Great Opinion Piece from cnn.. they're not	Cha	Dec 2012	#2
thanks Cha	spanone	Dec 2012	#6
CNN needs	John2	Dec 2012	#4
Republicans Vs. America	Berlum	Dec 2012	#5
Great opinion piece	gollygee	Dec 2012	#7
let it happen	former-republican	Dec 2012	#8

Response to spanone (Original post)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 01:31 AM

Lint Head (10,434 posts)

1. Can Senators and Congressmen be impeached? The GOP are endangering the country.

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Response to Lint Head (Reply #1)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 04:06 AM

oldbanjo (676 posts)

3. They need to be charged with "sedition".

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Response to spanone (Original post)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 03:52 AM

Cha (124,416 posts)

2. Great Opinion Piece from cnn.. they're not

totally useless after all.

Note about the author..

Editor's note: Ilyse Hogue is co-director of Friends of Democracy, a super PAC aimed at electing candidates who champion campaign finance reform. She is the former director of political advocacy and communications for MoveOn.org and has been a senior strategist to Democratic and progressive groups, including Media Matters for America, Public Campaign and Rebuild the Dream. She is a regular contributor to The Nation magazine.

Thanks spanone

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Response to Cha (Reply #2)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 09:11 AM

spanone (72,061 posts)

6. thanks Cha

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Response to spanone (Original post)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 05:41 AM

John2 (1,714 posts)

4. CNN needs

more voices like this, which will make the program more balanced. I agree with her point of view 100 percent. I think she expressed it very well for most people to understand the issues.

There is also one other Blogger that I see goes by Gupte PHD. I guess the PHD gives him more weight but not in my ball park. His notion is that there should be more less regulation and lower wages, or American companies will seek that in other countries. America is not like other countries and don't want to be. Other people want to come to America because of a better standard way of life.

The United States is a country, that advocates fair standards of living, equality and more freedom, especially tolerance and freedom of religion unlike many other countries. The last major War in the United States ended in 1865 unlike those other countries he points to. His idea of society, which advocates a wealthy few, where others can't get ahead on low wages, sounds like a caste system which is prevalent in many countries like India. This is where the wealthy dominates all the resources of national wealth and those in lower classes live like peasants.

The United States invest in all her people. Our Educational system also produces opportunities, where the brightest minds are cultivated for future innovations or technological advancements and research. That is why the United States has been a World Power, for most of the last Century. Many in the top percent has forgotten those core values, by pitting Americans against each other with the idea of "You are on your own",and this me idea, for greed and profits. A lot of the ideas and technological advancements, which many have gotten wealthy on, came from shared ideas. We need to protect our standard way of living. This doesn't mean not sharing with other countries, but when shared, it should up lift everyone in society. That was the biggest mistake of NAFTA and the WFT. American companies have shipped technology and knowledge overseas, where wealth is not spreaded in society. I think it is time for America to reverse that course, and make it harder for companies to ship that know how over seas, unless the standards are comparable to our own society. This might sound like Protectionism but when you are dealing with a Country, where wealth is concentrated by the few, creates an imbalance. We shouldn't lower our standard of living, to become like that Society, Mitt Romney painted in China.

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Response to spanone (Original post)

Mon Dec 3, 2012, 06:02 AM

Berlum (3,680 posts)