++Mark Kirk tweeted that Neville Chamberlain got a better deal from Hitler.
++Mark Halperin actually tweeted positive things twice. The Last was that" we got a better deal than I thought."
++Marco Rubio said the details look shaky.
++John Boehner said that the House had to vote on the agreement before the sanctions are lifted. Note: he couldn't comment on it.
++I expect full throttle backlash by the evening.
++Do you ever get the impression that America now suffers from anhedonia--the inability to feel joy.
++Obama's remarks were carried live on Iranian State Television.
++The Iranian Man in the Street was joyous at the news.
++It was a nice touch that it occurred the last day of Nowruz and on Passover and with Good Friday tomorrow so the GOP is out of town.
Showing posts with label Mark Halperin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Halperin. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Obamacare News
++The richest man in congress, Darryl Issa hit North Carolina today in his Obamacare hearings and refused to hear from citizens who actually benefited from Obamacare because they had been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
++Mark Halperin tried to back away from his "death panels" statement this morning via Twitter. Howard Dean caught him at it by pointing to the part of Obamcare that had a review board on appropriate treatments. Halperin stammered on.
++Thank you ,Ted Cruz ads will be on football games this Thanksgiving.
++President Obama urged everyone this afternoon to get back on healthcare.gov because it was working better.
++Newsmax decided not to print Pope Francis attack on capitalism but instead focused on his re-affirmation of the Catholic positions on abortion.
++Mark Halperin tried to back away from his "death panels" statement this morning via Twitter. Howard Dean caught him at it by pointing to the part of Obamcare that had a review board on appropriate treatments. Halperin stammered on.
++Thank you ,Ted Cruz ads will be on football games this Thanksgiving.
++President Obama urged everyone this afternoon to get back on healthcare.gov because it was working better.
++Newsmax decided not to print Pope Francis attack on capitalism but instead focused on his re-affirmation of the Catholic positions on abortion.
MunichKatrinaObamacareBenghazi
++Mark Halperin really did raise the issue of rationing care at the end of life and believes this will be a big issue about Obamacare.
++Paul Krugman thinks Obamacare will soon become another Benghazi as enrollments soar. Krugman and Ezra Klein both report smooth sailing on healthcare.gov. Klein now says the Administration will conduct their outreach.
++Politico reports that Obama has asked his team not to seek better national news coverage about Obamacare but focus on local stories that are positive.
++The Amazon Post actually wrote a positive story about the Kentucky exchanges after it had been covered for weeks by television stations.
++The Post now raises the question about how the IRS will be able to handle the deluge now that the website can handle 800,000 a day.
++Paul Krugman in another article wrote about how Californiacovered is doing quite well and that if Obamacare works in the largest state it can work anywhere.
++Republican governors are now faced with a dilemma of how to avoid expanding Medicaid. Apparently,Florida is in secret negotiations with the Administration to expand Medicaid.
++The Supreme Court is actually entertaining the Hobbyland Case, where the owner pretends his business is a religious organization and should not offer birth control in his insurance plans.
++NPR did a weirdly positive story about California's efforts on Obamacare. Weird because they had that nasty interview with Jerry Brown last week.
++The corporate television still repeats the strange meme that Obamacare is like Katrina, which left thousands dead.
++Ed Schultz to his credit is the only one on television who keeps pounding away on the positive news from Obamacare.
++Polls suggest that Obama and the Democrats have taken a pasting on this news coverage and the GOP now leads the generic congressional polls. This is incredible after the Democrats were posting "wave election" numbers during the shutdown.
++Patty Murray (D.-Wash) says that the budget conference will have a small budget deal, where the Democrats and GOP split the difference. It is still dubious whether the House GOP will go along.
++Bibi Netanyahu threatened President Obama in the phone call on Sunday after the Iranian deal saying that Obama should be concerned whether he will remain the most powerful person in the world after this.
++Think Progress wrote a piece showing how the world now looks according to Bibi's Bomb Cartoon, namely a helluva safer and Iran further away from a nuclear weapon.
++The GOP howling over the Iran deal continues, likening it to Munich, which is a reference always used on negotiated settlements.
++Rachel Maddow last night showed how deft the diplomacy was. Not only did the Iran deal get done but also it was agreed that the Syrian peace conference will be convened. The Syrian opposition has accepted.
++The one agreement that looks strangely in doubt is the Afghan security arrangement. Susan Rice met with President Karzai and he made more demands after having agreed to the last agreement negotiated with John Kerry. The United States now threatens to leave without one.
++President Obama has established parole boards for the remaining 167 prisoners in Gitmo. Today,the Amazon Post published a story that the CIA has operation "Penny Lane", which turned Gitmo prisoners into double agents and then released them. The sooner we close the base the better.
++China declared an air defense zone over the contested islands with Japan. Naturally, the US military flew through it without notifying the Chinese. There will be more bluffing as we pivot toward the Pacific.
++President Obama lobbied again in California on the immigration bill and challenged John Boehner to pass it even in a piecemeal fashion.
++Andrew Sullivan at The Dish had a fascinating article after the Iran deal on President Obama as the Liberal Reagan. I don't know about the liberal since the President said in California he doesn't have a strong ideology.
++Paul Krugman thinks Obamacare will soon become another Benghazi as enrollments soar. Krugman and Ezra Klein both report smooth sailing on healthcare.gov. Klein now says the Administration will conduct their outreach.
++Politico reports that Obama has asked his team not to seek better national news coverage about Obamacare but focus on local stories that are positive.
++The Amazon Post actually wrote a positive story about the Kentucky exchanges after it had been covered for weeks by television stations.
++The Post now raises the question about how the IRS will be able to handle the deluge now that the website can handle 800,000 a day.
++Paul Krugman in another article wrote about how Californiacovered is doing quite well and that if Obamacare works in the largest state it can work anywhere.
++Republican governors are now faced with a dilemma of how to avoid expanding Medicaid. Apparently,Florida is in secret negotiations with the Administration to expand Medicaid.
++The Supreme Court is actually entertaining the Hobbyland Case, where the owner pretends his business is a religious organization and should not offer birth control in his insurance plans.
++NPR did a weirdly positive story about California's efforts on Obamacare. Weird because they had that nasty interview with Jerry Brown last week.
++The corporate television still repeats the strange meme that Obamacare is like Katrina, which left thousands dead.
++Ed Schultz to his credit is the only one on television who keeps pounding away on the positive news from Obamacare.
++Polls suggest that Obama and the Democrats have taken a pasting on this news coverage and the GOP now leads the generic congressional polls. This is incredible after the Democrats were posting "wave election" numbers during the shutdown.
++Patty Murray (D.-Wash) says that the budget conference will have a small budget deal, where the Democrats and GOP split the difference. It is still dubious whether the House GOP will go along.
++Bibi Netanyahu threatened President Obama in the phone call on Sunday after the Iranian deal saying that Obama should be concerned whether he will remain the most powerful person in the world after this.
++Think Progress wrote a piece showing how the world now looks according to Bibi's Bomb Cartoon, namely a helluva safer and Iran further away from a nuclear weapon.
++The GOP howling over the Iran deal continues, likening it to Munich, which is a reference always used on negotiated settlements.
++Rachel Maddow last night showed how deft the diplomacy was. Not only did the Iran deal get done but also it was agreed that the Syrian peace conference will be convened. The Syrian opposition has accepted.
++The one agreement that looks strangely in doubt is the Afghan security arrangement. Susan Rice met with President Karzai and he made more demands after having agreed to the last agreement negotiated with John Kerry. The United States now threatens to leave without one.
++President Obama has established parole boards for the remaining 167 prisoners in Gitmo. Today,the Amazon Post published a story that the CIA has operation "Penny Lane", which turned Gitmo prisoners into double agents and then released them. The sooner we close the base the better.
++China declared an air defense zone over the contested islands with Japan. Naturally, the US military flew through it without notifying the Chinese. There will be more bluffing as we pivot toward the Pacific.
++President Obama lobbied again in California on the immigration bill and challenged John Boehner to pass it even in a piecemeal fashion.
++Andrew Sullivan at The Dish had a fascinating article after the Iran deal on President Obama as the Liberal Reagan. I don't know about the liberal since the President said in California he doesn't have a strong ideology.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Good News For Someone
++Bloomberg reported the U.S. public and private debt is the lowest in 6 years.
++Reuters reported that unemployment claims are now the lowest in four years.
++the Foreclosure rate, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, is the lowest in five years.
++The Gallup tracking ticked down 1 point to Romney-48% and Obama 47%.
++Mark Halperin of Times magazine reports that the Romney team is trying to figure out a plan to win the election without O-H-I-O. This would mean we would see a transfer of staff and funds to other Swing States soon.
++The Last I looked and I dread looking again. Nate Silver had Obama at 293.5 EV and Princeton has him at 290.
++Monmouth University or Monmouth College of my youth has a national poll showing that Obama is trailing Romney by a point. Obama 46 to Romney 47.
++To counter the gloom, the Obama campaign has released the figures on new Democratic registrations in the major Swing states. Over 900,000 new Democrats were registered in North Carolina. Rasmussen even concedes that Obama is doing surprisingly well in North Carolina,trailing Romney by three-Romney 51 to Obama 48.
++Tonight is Joe Biden versus Paul Ryan. One major theme ,believe it or not,Romney is gaining in the polls on is a perception that he is more bipartisan than Obama. Yesterday, he basically endorsed a bipartisan Senate healthcare plan that would also have demanded an individual mandate. Today, he suggested a one time amnesty for pre-existing conditions patients so they can get health insurance, although they now can under Obamacare. He has also criticized the stimulus because it wasn't bipartisan enough. Biden and Obama have to make it clear to the American people that the stimulus package accepted hundreds of Republican amendments and Obamacare contains over 200 Republican suggestions and the whole idea was originally thought up by the Heritage Foundation. Biden has to go after Ryan's budget and its effects on Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.
++Reuters reported that unemployment claims are now the lowest in four years.
++the Foreclosure rate, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, is the lowest in five years.
++The Gallup tracking ticked down 1 point to Romney-48% and Obama 47%.
++Mark Halperin of Times magazine reports that the Romney team is trying to figure out a plan to win the election without O-H-I-O. This would mean we would see a transfer of staff and funds to other Swing States soon.
++The Last I looked and I dread looking again. Nate Silver had Obama at 293.5 EV and Princeton has him at 290.
++Monmouth University or Monmouth College of my youth has a national poll showing that Obama is trailing Romney by a point. Obama 46 to Romney 47.
++To counter the gloom, the Obama campaign has released the figures on new Democratic registrations in the major Swing states. Over 900,000 new Democrats were registered in North Carolina. Rasmussen even concedes that Obama is doing surprisingly well in North Carolina,trailing Romney by three-Romney 51 to Obama 48.
++Tonight is Joe Biden versus Paul Ryan. One major theme ,believe it or not,Romney is gaining in the polls on is a perception that he is more bipartisan than Obama. Yesterday, he basically endorsed a bipartisan Senate healthcare plan that would also have demanded an individual mandate. Today, he suggested a one time amnesty for pre-existing conditions patients so they can get health insurance, although they now can under Obamacare. He has also criticized the stimulus because it wasn't bipartisan enough. Biden and Obama have to make it clear to the American people that the stimulus package accepted hundreds of Republican amendments and Obamacare contains over 200 Republican suggestions and the whole idea was originally thought up by the Heritage Foundation. Biden has to go after Ryan's budget and its effects on Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Romney Tries To Fight Back--Sort of
++Just for balance ,since the Romney campaign may announce their vice president to change the topic, here are the top three on the short list--Senator Robert Portman from Ohio, Former Governor Tim Pawlenty and Governor Bobby Jindal.
++John Sununu of New Hampshire , a Romney surrogate, charged that Obama was a pot-smoking socialist from Hawaii who never learned how Americans did business and he should learn how to be an American.
++This echoed Rush Limbaugh who yesterday said that Obama hates America.
++Yesterday, Mitt Romney told Fox News that President Obama could use his tax returns against him and that's why he didn't release them. Romney now says that John Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz didn't release her tax returns in 2004, prompting one wag to quip that "Is Romney running for First Lady?" In fact after much persuasion, Mrs. Kerry did release two years of her tax returns and John Kerry had already disclosed twenty years.
++Chris Matthews on Hardball yesterday asked whether Romney was a tax cheat.
++Abby Huntsman , Jon's daughter, penned an op-ed for Huffington Post that said Romney would rather bow out of the race than release his taxes. A little rivalry here with Jon, who always seemed to be about to unleash a bomb on Romney for his overseas investments.
++Romney had to pull his ad with Barack Obama singing the Al Green tune because of copyright infringement. The ad was his counter to the Obama ad "Firms", which won acclaim. The difference was that Romney did not introduce the ad "I approve this ad" and it went after Obama for "crony capitalism", only opening Romney to charges that he had not revealed the identity of his bundlers for the campaign.
++President Obama's ad hit over 1,000,000 on the internet and he led off today with "Makes You Wonder", attacking Romney on what he is hiding by not releasing his taxes.
++A poll this morning showed that 56% of Americans want Romney to release his taxes for the past 12 years.
++Even David Gergen, who it turns out had been paid by Bain, urged Romney to release his taxes.
++Mark Halperin writing in Time said that "Republicans would be even more nervous if they knew what Chicago (Obama's headquarters) was still, patiently , sitting on."
++Bloomberg followed up their article on 35 questions Romney must answer to put the Bain story to rest with a piece by William Cohen who raises the issue of the mysterious IRA Romney has that amassed between $21 million and $102 million during 15 years at Bain.
++The Dallas Morning News today blasted Romney of "foolishly swimming upstream against public opinion and common sense. Extensive disclosure of tax information is a rite of passage all candidates accept the moment they declare for the presidency."
++Both US News and Business Week said that Romney's responses to the questions about Bain were not good enough and US News said that Romney's asking for an apology just doesn't' work in our politics.
++People raised the issue of how can Romney hold up if confronted by a real crisis and the business press raised the "Wimp Factor."
++The flap has generated days of cartoons about Romney and even John Stewart and Steve Colbert devoted major segments on skewering the Republican.
++While they was a fuss over Ralph Lauren outsourcing the Olympic uniforms, Romney surrogates said Romney wouldn't comment because he was a patriot. But only hours later, the story broke that he outsourced the Olympic uniforms in 2002 to Burma, where the they were made by slave labor and women claimed they were raped.
++Hitting the campaign trail in Ohio yesterday, President Obama hit Romney on his tax plan and got off a good line that Romney's plan would create 800,000 .. but overseas. The campaign put out a graphic showing what countries would get the most jobs from Romney's plan to give tax benefits to companies who outsourced jobs.
++Steven Schmidt, who was John McCain's campaign manager, tried to stop the rumor that Romney's tax returns led to Sarah Palin being chosen Vice President. Schmidt admitted he had not seen the returns but the McCain campaign at that point was sensitive to Cindy McCain having 15 homes and such wealth that Romney was ruled out. However, people are demanding that Culverhouse who vetted the vice presidents talk about the tax returns he saw.
++On the web there has been a big document dump as people are again releasing all the opposition research the McCain people did on Romney.
++GOP operatives are trying to put a unique spin on recent events saying that President Obama is spending so much money now he will be in a hole come the fall. That this attack on Romney now will basically exhaust his ammunition. However, the Obama campaign says not. In fact, there are a serious of hits they are planning. The main effect is to portray Romney as the personification of everything that was wrong with our economy when it collapsed in 2008.
++John Sununu of New Hampshire , a Romney surrogate, charged that Obama was a pot-smoking socialist from Hawaii who never learned how Americans did business and he should learn how to be an American.
++This echoed Rush Limbaugh who yesterday said that Obama hates America.
++Yesterday, Mitt Romney told Fox News that President Obama could use his tax returns against him and that's why he didn't release them. Romney now says that John Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz didn't release her tax returns in 2004, prompting one wag to quip that "Is Romney running for First Lady?" In fact after much persuasion, Mrs. Kerry did release two years of her tax returns and John Kerry had already disclosed twenty years.
++Chris Matthews on Hardball yesterday asked whether Romney was a tax cheat.
++Abby Huntsman , Jon's daughter, penned an op-ed for Huffington Post that said Romney would rather bow out of the race than release his taxes. A little rivalry here with Jon, who always seemed to be about to unleash a bomb on Romney for his overseas investments.
++Romney had to pull his ad with Barack Obama singing the Al Green tune because of copyright infringement. The ad was his counter to the Obama ad "Firms", which won acclaim. The difference was that Romney did not introduce the ad "I approve this ad" and it went after Obama for "crony capitalism", only opening Romney to charges that he had not revealed the identity of his bundlers for the campaign.
++President Obama's ad hit over 1,000,000 on the internet and he led off today with "Makes You Wonder", attacking Romney on what he is hiding by not releasing his taxes.
++A poll this morning showed that 56% of Americans want Romney to release his taxes for the past 12 years.
++Even David Gergen, who it turns out had been paid by Bain, urged Romney to release his taxes.
++Mark Halperin writing in Time said that "Republicans would be even more nervous if they knew what Chicago (Obama's headquarters) was still, patiently , sitting on."
++Bloomberg followed up their article on 35 questions Romney must answer to put the Bain story to rest with a piece by William Cohen who raises the issue of the mysterious IRA Romney has that amassed between $21 million and $102 million during 15 years at Bain.
++The Dallas Morning News today blasted Romney of "foolishly swimming upstream against public opinion and common sense. Extensive disclosure of tax information is a rite of passage all candidates accept the moment they declare for the presidency."
++Both US News and Business Week said that Romney's responses to the questions about Bain were not good enough and US News said that Romney's asking for an apology just doesn't' work in our politics.
++People raised the issue of how can Romney hold up if confronted by a real crisis and the business press raised the "Wimp Factor."
++The flap has generated days of cartoons about Romney and even John Stewart and Steve Colbert devoted major segments on skewering the Republican.
++While they was a fuss over Ralph Lauren outsourcing the Olympic uniforms, Romney surrogates said Romney wouldn't comment because he was a patriot. But only hours later, the story broke that he outsourced the Olympic uniforms in 2002 to Burma, where the they were made by slave labor and women claimed they were raped.
++Hitting the campaign trail in Ohio yesterday, President Obama hit Romney on his tax plan and got off a good line that Romney's plan would create 800,000 .. but overseas. The campaign put out a graphic showing what countries would get the most jobs from Romney's plan to give tax benefits to companies who outsourced jobs.
++Steven Schmidt, who was John McCain's campaign manager, tried to stop the rumor that Romney's tax returns led to Sarah Palin being chosen Vice President. Schmidt admitted he had not seen the returns but the McCain campaign at that point was sensitive to Cindy McCain having 15 homes and such wealth that Romney was ruled out. However, people are demanding that Culverhouse who vetted the vice presidents talk about the tax returns he saw.
++On the web there has been a big document dump as people are again releasing all the opposition research the McCain people did on Romney.
++GOP operatives are trying to put a unique spin on recent events saying that President Obama is spending so much money now he will be in a hole come the fall. That this attack on Romney now will basically exhaust his ammunition. However, the Obama campaign says not. In fact, there are a serious of hits they are planning. The main effect is to portray Romney as the personification of everything that was wrong with our economy when it collapsed in 2008.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Polls As Shiny Objects
Charles Cook says that we should ignore all the tracking polls and just watch the President's approval rating, and the jobs reports to see whether President Obama will be re-elected. He says if this were a foreign policy election, President Obama would win hands down.
The CBS/New York Times poll has it Obama and Romney tied at 46.
The Democracy Corps poll has it 48-47 Obama. In December, the President had trailed by 7 points. The President's approval rate is 46 and Romney's is 32. This type of discrepancy shows up all the time and it makes you wonder whether Cook is right about it all being the economy.
Public Policy Polling for the Daily Kos and SEIU has introduced their weekly tracking poll. President Obama leads 50 to Romney's 44 with only 6 undecided.
The 538 blog posted the list of all the Obama offices that have opened up in the Swing States and the budgets allocated to each. A Fascinating look at the ground game offensive planned by the Obama campaign.
Democracy Corps poll also indicated a big 8 pt bump in Democrats for congress and a shift of key demographics in the congressional races--women, suburban voters, senior citizens and moderates are flocking to Democrats in key districts.
Maybe it is no accident that the DCC released their list of ad buys for 26 districts that they are targeting. Again these are in swing states and ad buys are done now not to interfere with the presidential race.
The actual quantifiable undecideds are in the presidential race are 7%. This means the couple of billion spent on the presidential races will be aimed at persuading this small number of people.
I happen to agree for once with Mark Halperin, who appeared on the Morning Joe show, and said that despite the evening in the polls the Romney campaign has still at a disadvantage in the electoral college. Halperin said that Romney had to put away Ohio and Florida in order to go on the offense against Obama. So far he is trailing beyond the margin of error in these states.
The CBS/New York Times poll has it Obama and Romney tied at 46.
The Democracy Corps poll has it 48-47 Obama. In December, the President had trailed by 7 points. The President's approval rate is 46 and Romney's is 32. This type of discrepancy shows up all the time and it makes you wonder whether Cook is right about it all being the economy.
Public Policy Polling for the Daily Kos and SEIU has introduced their weekly tracking poll. President Obama leads 50 to Romney's 44 with only 6 undecided.
The 538 blog posted the list of all the Obama offices that have opened up in the Swing States and the budgets allocated to each. A Fascinating look at the ground game offensive planned by the Obama campaign.
Democracy Corps poll also indicated a big 8 pt bump in Democrats for congress and a shift of key demographics in the congressional races--women, suburban voters, senior citizens and moderates are flocking to Democrats in key districts.
Maybe it is no accident that the DCC released their list of ad buys for 26 districts that they are targeting. Again these are in swing states and ad buys are done now not to interfere with the presidential race.
The actual quantifiable undecideds are in the presidential race are 7%. This means the couple of billion spent on the presidential races will be aimed at persuading this small number of people.
I happen to agree for once with Mark Halperin, who appeared on the Morning Joe show, and said that despite the evening in the polls the Romney campaign has still at a disadvantage in the electoral college. Halperin said that Romney had to put away Ohio and Florida in order to go on the offense against Obama. So far he is trailing beyond the margin of error in these states.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Paul Ryan's Magical Mystery Tour--The Call For National Suicide
The economists--those pointy-headed liberals--have all weighed in on the 2012 GOP budget and --well--they politely point out that none of the assumptions are realistic and the numbers don't work, even if you agree that the federal government should be eviscerated.
The Washington Post gave the Ryan's plan two pinocchios on the fact-checking its accuracy. Paul Krugman, who initially got deflected by the stunning abolition of Medicare, recovers today to say that Paul Ryan's visions depends an awful lot on unicorn sightings--a belief in the impossible. Contrary to fellow new York Times' op-ed writer, David Brooks, Krugman writes, "This is not a serious proposal! It's a strange combination of cruelty and insanely wishful thinking."
Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, discovered another nugget to contemplate. Ryan's healthcare plan would mean that seniors would end up paying most of their income for healthcare. Incredible. On the United States eventually having a 2.1% unemployment rate, Dean Baker believes that the authors of the Ryan plan "just misprogrammed it." He points that the unemployment rate drops to this level in the outyears, even though the budgets says they will have created only 900,000 extra jobs.
Since the unemployment figures are all based on the Heritage Foundation's analysis, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber says,"the Heritage numbers are insane." For the full array of disbelief, check out Benjy Sarlan's piece in www.talkingpointsmemo.com .
I haven't even looked at the Republican war against infrastructure funding and education yet. But the glimpses of the America, Ryan wants is pathetic. With the new GOP 2012 budget,$89 billion will be privately invested in residential real estate. Over the next decade,nearly $1 trillion would be invested and this will be where the majority of the new jobs will be created. Not only is all that b.s. but it tells you that the Repubicans are committed to a FIRE economy--Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. This is precisely the reason the country is losing its competitive edge and the quality of its life style. What you see is doubling down on a commitment to an economy that can not be sustained and nor should it.
But let's face it, the primary funders of the New Republicans are these industries. The health insurance industry gets a guaranteed permanent livelihood. The finance industry with their lobbyists writing the laws get their piece of the pie. And the real estate interests are encouraged to be the engine of the economy. Remember the arsenal of democracy and the industrial power that generated the recovery from the Great Depression, now we will be powered by Groucho Marx selling real estate in Florida. If you want an ideological plan that was developed by intellectual pygmies, this is it.
Oh yes, no alternative energy sources and no high-speed rail. Now that is the preference of the oilies but think about it. Ryan's economy envisions an immediate boom through 2050. So it's natural to think that oil consumption would rise enormously. And we do have other competitors with real economies eating the same oil. So where does the energy come from?
More nonsense:
Interest rates in the Ryan plan will fall from the CBO baseline by roughly .35%--even though interest rates are at historic lows now. By 2021, the percentage of GDP spent on discretionary domestic budget items, excluding non-health items and social security, will fall from the current 12% to 6%. By 2050, this will be down to 3%. Of course, Paul Ryan will not tell you what programs are being cut.
Mark Halperin weighs in that at least the GOP have a plan but where's Obama's. beam me up, Scottie. I distinctly remember President Obama releasing a 2012 budget with cuts, a freeze on government salaries, and investments in alternative energy and education. And it seems to me a more rational point of departure for the debate then to debate whether we should have a government in this time of economic uncertainty.
More political types have analyzed the Ryan Plan and observed that it guts Medicare, which is one of the programs President Obama expanded to cover health care costs for children and the underprivileged. What this means is that the Republicans want to prevent any implementation of health reform.
Others observe that the Ryan Plan omits any discussion of increasing revenues for government, except the pie-in-the-sky thought that tax cuts generate revenue. Instead, the middle class, the poor and the elderly will absorb a greater tax burden and they get to see costs for health care ,etc. rise.
Still others observe the curious lack of any historical precedents or comparative examples. In other words,there is nothing in this plan that has ever been test-driven and proved successful. And the consequences for failure here is truly calamitous.
To get a sense of how the Ryan Plan would work,watch the experiments in state government in Florida and Michigan. These are the two states that have taken the radical measures advocated by Ryan and deserve watching closely.
The Washington Post gave the Ryan's plan two pinocchios on the fact-checking its accuracy. Paul Krugman, who initially got deflected by the stunning abolition of Medicare, recovers today to say that Paul Ryan's visions depends an awful lot on unicorn sightings--a belief in the impossible. Contrary to fellow new York Times' op-ed writer, David Brooks, Krugman writes, "This is not a serious proposal! It's a strange combination of cruelty and insanely wishful thinking."
Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, discovered another nugget to contemplate. Ryan's healthcare plan would mean that seniors would end up paying most of their income for healthcare. Incredible. On the United States eventually having a 2.1% unemployment rate, Dean Baker believes that the authors of the Ryan plan "just misprogrammed it." He points that the unemployment rate drops to this level in the outyears, even though the budgets says they will have created only 900,000 extra jobs.
Since the unemployment figures are all based on the Heritage Foundation's analysis, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber says,"the Heritage numbers are insane." For the full array of disbelief, check out Benjy Sarlan's piece in www.talkingpointsmemo.com .
I haven't even looked at the Republican war against infrastructure funding and education yet. But the glimpses of the America, Ryan wants is pathetic. With the new GOP 2012 budget,$89 billion will be privately invested in residential real estate. Over the next decade,nearly $1 trillion would be invested and this will be where the majority of the new jobs will be created. Not only is all that b.s. but it tells you that the Repubicans are committed to a FIRE economy--Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. This is precisely the reason the country is losing its competitive edge and the quality of its life style. What you see is doubling down on a commitment to an economy that can not be sustained and nor should it.
But let's face it, the primary funders of the New Republicans are these industries. The health insurance industry gets a guaranteed permanent livelihood. The finance industry with their lobbyists writing the laws get their piece of the pie. And the real estate interests are encouraged to be the engine of the economy. Remember the arsenal of democracy and the industrial power that generated the recovery from the Great Depression, now we will be powered by Groucho Marx selling real estate in Florida. If you want an ideological plan that was developed by intellectual pygmies, this is it.
Oh yes, no alternative energy sources and no high-speed rail. Now that is the preference of the oilies but think about it. Ryan's economy envisions an immediate boom through 2050. So it's natural to think that oil consumption would rise enormously. And we do have other competitors with real economies eating the same oil. So where does the energy come from?
More nonsense:
Interest rates in the Ryan plan will fall from the CBO baseline by roughly .35%--even though interest rates are at historic lows now. By 2021, the percentage of GDP spent on discretionary domestic budget items, excluding non-health items and social security, will fall from the current 12% to 6%. By 2050, this will be down to 3%. Of course, Paul Ryan will not tell you what programs are being cut.
Mark Halperin weighs in that at least the GOP have a plan but where's Obama's. beam me up, Scottie. I distinctly remember President Obama releasing a 2012 budget with cuts, a freeze on government salaries, and investments in alternative energy and education. And it seems to me a more rational point of departure for the debate then to debate whether we should have a government in this time of economic uncertainty.
More political types have analyzed the Ryan Plan and observed that it guts Medicare, which is one of the programs President Obama expanded to cover health care costs for children and the underprivileged. What this means is that the Republicans want to prevent any implementation of health reform.
Others observe that the Ryan Plan omits any discussion of increasing revenues for government, except the pie-in-the-sky thought that tax cuts generate revenue. Instead, the middle class, the poor and the elderly will absorb a greater tax burden and they get to see costs for health care ,etc. rise.
Still others observe the curious lack of any historical precedents or comparative examples. In other words,there is nothing in this plan that has ever been test-driven and proved successful. And the consequences for failure here is truly calamitous.
To get a sense of how the Ryan Plan would work,watch the experiments in state government in Florida and Michigan. These are the two states that have taken the radical measures advocated by Ryan and deserve watching closely.
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