The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Shutdown=GOP 1% Cabal for 'Grand Bargain' Cuts

    By NCD on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 1:34pm |

    The Grand Bargain, the plan that would cut entitlements for the middle and lower class, 'chained CPI' to cut Social Security, cuts to Medicare for the aged and cuts to Medicaid for the poor.

    It would mean, for the 1%, the $3+ trillion SS Trust Fund, the biggest bait and switch scam in history, skimmed and used as general revenue for decades to make up for income tax cuts for the rich under Ronnie, would never have to be paid off by raising income taxes to pay back the Trust Fund.

    Boehner came out and said as much about 'what the GOP wants' today.

    NYT today, Boehner:

    ...Describing the dialogue he wanted with the president, Mr. Boehner seemed to shift from demands that Mr. Obama agree to negotiations about defunding or delaying his signature health insurance law — a nonnegotiable condition, as the White House sees it — to calling once again for deficit-reduction talks aimed at reducing spending for fast-growing entitlement programs, chiefly Medicare and Medicaid...

    AFL-CIO Blog, Damon Silvers:

    ...President Obama......seems to have told the Wall Street crowd that he is most definitely not negotiating with hostage-takers. And the bankers and stockbrokers emerged looking a bit more worried than when they came in......(Obama) “you’re talking to the wrong people—I’m not the person who’s threatening default—you need to go down the street.”

    .....Wall Street (believes) that in the end President Obama will cave. Both the House Republican extremists and the Wall Street scam artists believe that they can run this dangerous, destructive game with no risk because the president will in the end give the House Republicans some version of what both the House Republicans and the Wall Street crowd want....

    And what do they want? Silvers concludes:

    ......the Grand Bargain......cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid...

    Comments

    And you will see a 2014 fruit basket turn over in the House if that happens. I think Obama will hold firm.  Wall street don't have support among the voters. 


    by trkingmomoe on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 3:02pm

    The AFL guy apparently wrote his piece before Boehner, as reported by the NYT above, just today on TV, said the Greedy Old Party could substitute Medicare/Medicaid cuts for their previous 'Übergoal' of ending Obamacare.

    It's morphing into a scam to 'cut cut cut social programs' with no increased taxes on the 1% (see Boehner NYT piece) or else. I expect Obama to not go willingly on that path.


    by NCD on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 3:57pm

    I still think that 'Wall Street' is going to cave and that will be the end of it!

    Wall Street cares about its own money and that is that.

    They all hate Obama, naturally.

    But not enough to lose money.


    by Richard Day on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 4:28pm

    Stocks rose under Clinton and Obama and fell under Bush I and Bush II.My financial adviser is a Democrat. I would never trust a Republican with my money. Wall Street should relax and enjoy the better markets associated with Democrats.


    by rmrd0000 on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 5:14pm

    Well put!

    I believe your assertion.

    There is rationality there.


    by Richard Day on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 5:22pm

    Wall Street should back Dems but the Street thrives on market volatility. Stablity and predictability are their enemy. They can make more money when the market is moving a lot, going up or down, and less when it moves in a predictable fashion - in stable markets it is harder to shuck the small investors.

    The fat cats are not like the small investor in that respect. For instance, the market goes up 20% and the Hedge Funds leverage it and get gains of up to 50%, then it drops 20% and they short the market and make another 50%. The market wound up where it started but the Street made out huge, on trading fees and capital gains.

    If the bets fail, they know the Fed is always there to bail them out.

    They have a scheme for every situation and their number one concern is to never, ever be regulated, which is why they gravitate to the Republican Party, the organized crime syndicate in US politics.

    They also know, as in 2008, if they crash the economy, they will be rescued and will be allowed to keep their ill gotten gains. They are already planning on how to trade defaulted US bonds, just as they right now are gaming the system by betting money on sinking Greek banks.


    by NCD on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 7:42pm

    Interesting take on Wall Street strategy.


    by rmrd0000 on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 8:09pm

    If the dollar loses it's value. their money isn't worth as much. They have a lot to lose too. The big banks fail this time they may not get bailed out by the Feds.  The government can do what it did in the 30's.  Start a new banking system like the savings and loans from the big bank's ashes.  


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 10/07/2013 - 1:29am

    I agree completely with your description of the reason behind the so called "Grand Bargain" but you seem to infer that it is only a Republican proposition. Obama has claimed this as his "legacy legislation" and has been lobbying for it since the Simpson-Boles commission in 2010. I know the Kabuki in DC can be confusing but it's impossible for Obama to "cave" on an issue he has promoted  publicly for three years.


    by Peter (not verified) on Mon, 10/07/2013 - 12:03pm

    True but Obama insisted on some 'revenue enhancement' (tax increases) to go along with stiffing Social Security recipients, and Republicans refused any tax increases.

    And you can't pay off the multi-trillion SS Trust Fund with anything but income tax increases. SS taxes (in excess) just make the Trust Fund bigger.

    SS receipts coming mainly from working class people (as % of income) are, of course, nearly equal to total federal individual income tax receipts, around 38-40%, and both are spent immediately.

    It's why W took the GOP position that: there is no Trust Fund. The GOP wants to pretend it doesn't exist. Obama has never taken that position.


    by NCD on Mon, 10/07/2013 - 1:58pm

    Obama will get his "Grand Bargain" even if he has to " cave" on the euphemisms which I doubt he really cares about since he is aligned with Wall Street just like the other players in this farce.


    by Peter (not verified) on Mon, 10/07/2013 - 7:44pm

    If Obama was so much like Republicans, why have the GOP and their well heeled backers fought his every move for 5 years?


    by NCD on Mon, 10/07/2013 - 8:45pm

    You mistake rhetoric and posturing for actual opposition, Republicans are quite satisfied. in private. with much of what Obama has done especially in foreign affairs. tax reduction, for the wealthy and bailouts for their mutual bankster friends. He will never do enough to make them like him but he tries.  He even passed a Republican designed health care plan.


    by Peter (not verified) on Mon, 10/07/2013 - 10:09pm

    Republicans are not a monolithic group of like minded people any more than democrats are. Your argument is simplistic and demonstrably wrong. You might be able to make the case that the small group of "Wall Street republicans" like Obama, though you haven't even begun to do that. You might be able to make the case that the small group of wealthy elite republicans are manipulating the other groups. You also haven't begun to make that case and personally I don't think they are except around the margins by exacerbating their pre-existing fears. You also might be able to make the case that republicans in congress are bought off by the wealthy republican elite. You could try to make a similar case about democrats in congress. I think there's some truth to that though it also is simplistic. A case could be attempted on any of those points.

    But to claim republicans like Obama is ridiculous.  You sound like one of those leftist rants one might hear from a smart high school kid or college freshman.

    The largest block of republicans are evangelicals. Their  hatred of Obama and democrats comes from a fear of the changing social order, with gay marriage and "out" homosexuality topping the list. The second largest group of republicans are the tea party republicans. They're mainly concerned with the deficit  and high taxes. They didn't like the stimulus package, the bank bailouts, and Obamacare.

    I recently came across this report on focus groups with evangelicals, tea party, and moderate republicans. I found it interesting and definitely worth the time spent reading it.

    http://www.democracycorps.com/attachments/article/954/dcor%20rpp%20fg%20...

     


    by ocean-kat on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 1:13am

    Did you read the next to last sentence in my comment?  Some possibly many Republicans despise Obama but that does not mean they don't agree with much of what he has done, they even occasionally admit it. I'll leave it to you to analyze the the Republican psyche I am more concerned with what the Liberal Democrats have in store for us, austerity, war and panopticon surveillance. Since you obviously have more than a high school education you can excuse my generalizations and admit your error in claiming I stated that Republicans "like" Obama.


    by Peter (not verified) on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 2:39am

    The Republicans are mounting an open revolution by trying to extort shutting down the Affordable Care Act and you worry more about the Liberals. Republicans gerrymander themselves into districts so secure that they win even though more a Democrats vote in a given state than Republicans. Republicans openly suppress minority votes, Republicans want to probe women's bodies. Republicans oppose even simple background checks for guns and target those who support background checks. Your take home message is to be more worried about the Liberal Democrats? Really?

    Surveillance will be solved in the courts. There is also the obvious fact that the shear numbers of people required to monitor all the data that the NSA collects means that important things get missed like the Boston a Bombers, etc. The NSA couldn't even detect that Snowden was robbing them. They still don't know how much he stole. 

    Look at the budget the President proposed and what was in the Ryan budget. Now compare the Ryan budget to the sequester budget.the numbers are very close.Austerity thy name is GOP.

    Everyone is concerned about surveillance.Nobody believes the solution lies in Congress. People are fighting a daily battle against the GOP while not ignoring the surveillance issue. The GOP is the current Clear and Present Danger.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 9:30am

    Again the republicans are not some monolithic group. As I pointed out the tea party republicans didn't like the stimulus or the bail outs for bankers. Might be some wall street republicans will say they like it in private but not the majority of republicans.

    A majority of republicans think Obama's foreign policy is a failure. It may not be fair but they do blame him for the deaths in Benghazi as well as what they see as a cover up after and the failure of the Arab spring. They see his stumbling over his red line in Syria as incompetence.

    Any tax reductions during Obama's first term is credited to republicans winning the fight, not that Obama did what they wanted. The tax increases are blamed on Obama and republicans don't like them.

    Its just silly to claim that republicans like what Obama has done. They may not understand the whole story, they may be confused or manipulated, but most republicans are clear about what they think. Unless you're claiming that every republican  constantly lies when they are polled.

     


    by ocean-kat on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 1:15pm

    Did you even look at the link oceankat gave? It's answering your comment, it just contradicts what you're saying. Among the" key findings" is stuff like They think they are losing ground and Obama has won his socialist agenda and Obama is big government--but much bigger--they believe he is building dependent minorities that will give Democrats a governing majority.


    by artappraiser on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 1:27pm

    Of course he didn't, because hey, he believes it, so to him that makes it factual! LOL... He is just like every extremist out there, he believes it so it must be true, facts don't matter at all, the only thing that matters is what he believes. 


    by tmccarthy0 on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 6:59pm

    Thank you, ocean-kat, for that link. It's a very accurate representation of the community I live in.

     


    by EmmaZahn on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 12:03pm

    Many Republicans are also aware of the fact that us white folk aren't reproducing as fast as other minorities and that really scares them.


    by Verified Atheist on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 12:24pm

    Yeah, but it shouldn't. Whites have never been the majority of the world's population and yet....


    by EmmaZahn on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 1:00pm

    Naturally, if you haven't always followed the love your neighbor as yourself thingie, it's very frightening to think about the possibility that what your tribe did to dominate other tribes may start turning back on you.


    by artappraiser on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 1:36pm

    Well, my tribes married one another so I guess they loved each other at some point. But that was sometime in the 17th or 18th century when whites were a definite minority and were massacred fairly regularly by the natives. I am really quite proud of them, survivors all, but especially so of those who survived the tempest. 


    by EmmaZahn on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 2:18pm

    Republicans are quite satisfied. in private. with much of what Obama has done especially in foreign affairs. tax reduction, for the wealthy and bailouts for their mutual bankster friends.

    I have to believe that Republicans are no more playing eight-dimensional chess than Obama is. I also highly doubt that you know what Republicans are thinking in private. Your last sentence might lead one to believe that, if one also believed that Republicans were logical entities. I, for one, do not have that belief.


    by Verified Atheist on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 12:20pm

    The GOP will be surprised, when the system collapses and no one will be able to put this genie back in the bottle.

    Which horseman is now at the gate?  Everyone for themselves. 

    Reckless jerks, forcing everyone to play chicken. and hence killing the goose that laid their golden eggs....IDIOTS 

    Now more than ever since the Great Depression; will the people need the safety net, as the GOP brings the Slave Nation to it's knees.

    Misery loves company and their riches won't save them either..... Many of the future sufferers, will find they weren't rich enough to be Republican in the first place  and they were too stupid to realize, they were supporting a group who never had their best  interest in mind .     IDIOTS

    Guess who benefits the most, if interest rates go up?  Proving once again, a man with a pen can steal more than a man with a gun.      Don't ban guns .... ban Republicans.  


    by Resistance on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 5:23am

    All readers might find this information about Section 4 of the 14th amendment useful.   

    http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/07/why-the-14th-amendment-matters-in-the-debt-ceiling-crisis/?hpt=hp_t1


    by Resistance on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 1:45pm

    Since we have gotten off topic here I'll state once more that the "Grand Bargain" is Obama's plan for our future and his Legacy. Would anyone care to refute that claim? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. The renewed interest in this old story about the Fundies of the Right  is just more Liberal hysteria to stir up the base for the coming election season IMHO. The Conservative elite use and manipulate the Christian Right to further their own agendas, does anyone remember the Abramov , David Duke scandal?


    by Peter (not verified) on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 6:32pm

    You say in your opinion this is Obama's Grand Bargain for his legacy, but since it is your opinion it is simple as  hell to refute as you have presented 0, zero evidence to this so called fact, but which is only your opinion. There is a difference, proof must include actual evidence, you have presented zero evidence,  and the other, which includes no evidence, is just you making shit up.

    I'll be back later, after work to refute you point by point.. oh wait, you have no point at all except that you believe this, so in that case, I dont have to come back. You refuted yourself by offering no actual evidence. 


    by tmccarthy0 on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 6:57pm

    Hint: Don't chase after every barking DOG.

    Even today, Obama again stated "EVERYTHING"  is on the table for discussion. Why is SS and Medicare on the table?

    SS and Medicare is everything to us and it should never be on the table, as a bargaining chip. We don't need to open any doors of opportunities, to diminish the good it does.  

    It is an entitlement, because we are entitled to it, because WE paid for it

    These Congress critters need to keep their greedy hands off of it.

    END OF DISCUSSION. 

    As for your opinion or observations, If It walks like a duck and quacks like a duck who could blame you, if in your opinion you believe it is a duck.


    by Resistance on Tue, 10/08/2013 - 7:58pm