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SoCalDem

(103,856 posts)
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 08:39 AM Dec 2012

The "cliff" was never intended to be "solved"

Republicans plotted from hour-one of the Obama presidency for it to be over in 1 term.

They planned to stall and stall and stall some more..

It was always about denying him all the successes they could, and when the time came to actually address the deficit, when THEIR candidate won in '12, they would just slash all programs they did not like (like they have been trying to do since FDR), and make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

They would have never cared a whit about an increasing deficit..

The problem they have is that Romney LOST, and now they actually have to address the problems..


their plan was marvelous in formation, but lousy in final execution..

The formation of the fake grassrootsy "tea party" was all about stymieing the health care plan before it could be properly explained and nurtured . and the tea party gang was also necessary to ensure a house-take over in anticipation of the final 2 years'-worth of blocked legislation they needed so that when republicans swooped in in charge of all three branches in '12, they were home free..

They got part 1 accomplished & got rid of Pelosi, but from that point on, they never got their footing, and could only jam up everything they touched.

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The "cliff" was never intended to be "solved" (Original Post) SoCalDem Dec 2012 OP
The "fiscal cliff" was a bipartisan fabrication by corporatists. woo me with science Dec 2012 #1
+1 gollygee Dec 2012 #10
obama would have never been hired if he wasn't a corporatist datasuspect Dec 2012 #13
+1 and +2 nt tomp Dec 2012 #15
I think he was not the favored by the two options by a long shot gollygee Dec 2012 #17
Nailed it in one. Sick of posts like the OP that try to pretend away the past. Romulox Dec 2012 #16
Huh?? NewsCenter28 Dec 2012 #21
I'll read a history book if you read a civics book. The "Cliff" is a framework passed by Congress, Romulox Dec 2012 #22
Care to try one more re-edit? Third times the charm! Romulox Dec 2012 #23
Exactly right. There have been many keys to the corporate plethoro Dec 2012 #19
The cliff is the proverbial can intended to be kicked down the road to points Skidmore Dec 2012 #2
Correct, classic stalking horse, classic straw man, classic political IED. bemildred Dec 2012 #3
Why aren't the deficit hawks cheering the cliff since significantly reduces the deficit? LonePirate Dec 2012 #4
They are not cheering because their beloved defense budget will get the post war time cuts Heather MC Dec 2012 #5
It remains to be seen, whether those DOD cuts will happen.... MNBrewer Dec 2012 #8
They were pulling a Harold Washington strategy for sure...Obama happened to be much smarter than alcibiades_mystery Dec 2012 #6
The Shitpublicans never cared about the deficit rock Dec 2012 #7
And they still don't.. sendero Dec 2012 #12
"You know, Paul, sulphurdunn Dec 2012 #9
Perfectly and succinctly summed up the last 4 years Gman Dec 2012 #11
Each manufactured crisis is more boring than the last madville Dec 2012 #14
As the GOP sees it, all recipients of "entitlements" should do the right thing and die. lpbk2713 Dec 2012 #18
The final solution Left Turn Only Dec 2012 #20

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
1. The "fiscal cliff" was a bipartisan fabrication by corporatists.
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 08:46 AM
Dec 2012

Republicans and corporate Democrats, including Obama, colluded on this Shock Doctrine scam last spring. They deliberately orchestrated it to use Social Security as a hostage to pass an austerity deal and to garner praise for the participants when the contrived axe of SS benefits did not fall...this time.

The important point here is that they rigged the game to ensure that the country accepted a policy that they would never have voted for...austerity for the masses...and they made sure that it was in the package no matter the outcome.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
10. +1
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 10:32 AM
Dec 2012

100% right. Except I wouldn't place as much blame on Obama. The corporatists didn't want him, and he seems more into the Keynesian school of economics, which the Shock Doctrine fans hate.

gollygee

(22,336 posts)
17. I think he was not the favored by the two options by a long shot
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:33 AM
Dec 2012

I do think he was at least acceptable to them, but Rove and his friends wouldn't have put as much money into trying to get Romney elected if they were the same. He is not as friendly to their interests as the Republicans are at all. Though I agree he buys into this more than I'd like. I'd like someone who rejected the whole framework.

Romulox

(25,960 posts)
16. Nailed it in one. Sick of posts like the OP that try to pretend away the past.
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:31 AM
Dec 2012

The "Fiscal Cliff" framework was a bi-partisan deal.

NewsCenter28

(1,835 posts)
21. Huh??
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:55 AM
Dec 2012

Read your history better, buddy. President Obama only agreed to the fiscal cliff in the first place because the Republicans held a gun to his head over the debt ceiling in July 2011 remember? Sequestration was what they came up as a way to give Boehner his ransom that wasn't totally horrific. President Obama's re-election must have been so painful to you...

Romulox

(25,960 posts)
22. I'll read a history book if you read a civics book. The "Cliff" is a framework passed by Congress,
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 12:08 PM
Dec 2012

and signed into law by the President. It wasn't handed to us by Gort the alien--it was passed in the usual way.

To say that the President was limited by political reality isn't saying anything at all, since that is always true. So what exactly are you disagreeing with? Not a damn thing, except how to spin this.

 

plethoro

(594 posts)
19. Exactly right. There have been many keys to the corporate
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:34 AM
Dec 2012

plan. But now on the day before the "fiscal cliff", did we win anything with or without a deal? Without a deal we get defense cuts, tax inceases for the wealthy, etc. With a deal, we get approximately nothing, even less than nothing. Who is to blame in this rigged game, where Social Security was spent by Bush and crew on needless wars and tax cuts for the wealthy so that the corporatists can say, hey, the money is gone, so we have to cut Social Security? That blame is on the corporatists, whom you have mentioned. And they are not done. They will continue to move stealthily until the guns and the ability to get them are gone. Then the real cuts? And who will stop them? Our Maginot Line? What Maginot Line?

Skidmore

(37,364 posts)
2. The cliff is the proverbial can intended to be kicked down the road to points
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 08:55 AM
Dec 2012

just beyond elections. Now is the time to insist that actual problems be addressed on all sides.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
3. Correct, classic stalking horse, classic straw man, classic political IED.
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 08:57 AM
Dec 2012

So they are "hoist by their own petard" now, metaphorically speaking.

This is totally their strategy: "They planned to stall and stall and stall some more." until they could get their hands on the reins again.

LonePirate

(13,379 posts)
4. Why aren't the deficit hawks cheering the cliff since significantly reduces the deficit?
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 09:00 AM
Dec 2012

They are hypocrites, every single one of them.

 

Heather MC

(8,084 posts)
5. They are not cheering because their beloved defense budget will get the post war time cuts
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 09:50 AM
Dec 2012

it should get. I really hope they don't make some last minute rushed deal just to be the clock

MNBrewer

(8,462 posts)
8. It remains to be seen, whether those DOD cuts will happen....
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 10:14 AM
Dec 2012

I'm still expecting that a bipartisan bill exempting the military from sequestration will be put together in the next couple months.

 

alcibiades_mystery

(36,437 posts)
6. They were pulling a Harold Washington strategy for sure...Obama happened to be much smarter than
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 09:53 AM
Dec 2012

their racist little minds imagined.

rock

(13,218 posts)
7. The Shitpublicans never cared about the deficit
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 10:01 AM
Dec 2012

you see, because it's always someone in the future that will have to clean it up.

sendero

(28,552 posts)
12. And they still don't..
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 10:39 AM
Dec 2012

... and neither do the Tea Party liars, or they would address the most blatantly wasteful area of the Federal budget, that of course being defense spending.

 

sulphurdunn

(6,891 posts)
9. "You know, Paul,
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 10:31 AM
Dec 2012

Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due." Attributed to Dick Cheney

madville

(7,397 posts)
14. Each manufactured crisis is more boring than the last
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:14 AM
Dec 2012

Next up on deck is raising the debt limit in a few weeks.

lpbk2713

(42,674 posts)
18. As the GOP sees it, all recipients of "entitlements" should do the right thing and die.
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:33 AM
Dec 2012






They think that would tidy things up nicely. They always say government
should be run like a business, this would reduce the overhead as they see it.





Left Turn Only

(74 posts)
20. The final solution
Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:51 AM
Dec 2012

The Great Recession of which the fiscal cliff was born appears to be an attempt at a "check mate" after decades of tearing down Progressive gains bit by bit. How do you get rid of unions? Create a global economy based on the cheapest wages. How do you get more money into the military-industrial complex without printing more and more money (which would create a diminishing returns scenario in wealth)? Repeal all the financial laws created by FDR and milk the capitalist system of all it has until it snaps, creating a global recession. At the same time, cut everyone's taxes and spend even more money on the military and war until there's a fiscal crisis that can't be ignored. The Recession is supposed to be the coup d'etat because that would wipe up the last of union power, ending collective bargaining on a state level, and scare the population into expecting less when they retire or get sick. Low wages, lousy benefits, diminished Social Security and more wealth and power for the status quo -- mission accomplished.

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