No more hostage taking. No more playing a Republican game that causes so many people pain. The so called "Fiscal Cliff" is drama speak, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Those two words do make a handy drama drum beating phrase that serves Main Stream Media's need for selling Network air time and anti-math, anti-government, Republicans well, but then there is reality. That reality is one of Republican's blowing up the economy under George W. Bush and then taking the economy and our people hostage under President Obama.
Given how Congressional Republicans have shown no qualms in taking America hostage, time and again, I'm more than willing to have us go off the so called Fiscal Cliff in order to set the captives free.
I'm tired of Republicans inflicting harm on our people in order to further their own ideological ambitions.
Whether it's the American Jobs Act, the Veteran's Job Corps Bill, the Bring American Jobs Home Act, taking the Debt Ceiling hostage or renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, it's all part of the whole - taking the American people and the economy prisoner.
So is the over hyped drama of the Fiscal Cliff. It's past time we called them out loudly and consistently by refusing to play their dangerous game.
That reality is that there simply is NO fiscal cliff. What there is a plenty is fear mongering used to manipulate us into an ill considered, hasty decision that does not serve the American people well, only the wealthy and connected few.
The Center for Budget and Political Policy stated in their September 12 paper -
MISGUIDED “FISCAL CLIFF” FEARS POSE CHALLENGES
TO PRODUCTIVE BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS
Failure to Extend Tax Cuts Before January Will Not Plunge Economy
into Immediate Recession
By Chad Stone
To be sure, no one should aspire to a debate that extends into January or early February. That will not engender confidence in our political system, and the onset of tax increases and spending cuts whose duration appears uncertain will cause confusion on the part of many taxpayers, businesses, and beneficiaries of federal benefits and services.......
......Nevertheless, a relatively brief implementation of the tax and spending changes required by current law should cause little short-term damage to the economy as a whole, since policymakers would surely make whatever tax and other agreements they worked out in January or early February retroactive to January 1. Thus, the delay would withdraw little aggregate demand from the economy.
The greater danger is that misguided fears about the economy going over a “fiscal cliff” into another Great Recession will lead policymakers to believe they have to take some action, no matter how ill-conceived and damaging to long-term deficit reduction, before the end of the year, rather than craft a balanced plan that supports the economic recovery in the short term and promotes fiscal stabilization in the intermediate and longer run
[I strongly recommend reading the entire paper. ]
We can't afford to forget that the reality being ignored is the reality that the American people spend their lives inhabiting.
Those are the lives at risk in this true Kabuki Fiscal Cliff shadow play that MSM and Republicans are so determined to ignore.
Republicans once again are holding the unemployed hostage, our disabled and elderly hostage, our children and veterans hostage, our real small businesses and our crumbling infrastructure hostage. It is what they've been doing for years.
And now House Republicans are taking those harmed by Super Storm Sandy hostage.
As predicted last week, when the Obama administration announced it was ready to submit its Sandy relief request, House Republicans are demanding spending cuts in return. The White House request was higher than originally reported, $60.4 billion, which is $22 billion below what the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said the need from the federal government. Never mind that this request is lean, it's more than some Republicans can stand.
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), who sits on the Appropriations Committee said she will need to see offsets on Wednesday as did Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho). “We have these emergencies every year and we should prepare for that in our budget,” Labrador said. [...]
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said he will be looking for offsets for at least some of the spending and indicated he is not comfortable with the White House request that state and local governments contribute less than 25 percent of the cost of repairs.
They will not stop unless we are willing to call them out, unless we are willing to jump off the over hyped and distractionary "fiscal cliff."
Life will go on after the leap. Perhaps a shred of sanity may return to Congressional Republicans. I doubt it, but who knows?
What I do know is that we cannot continue to negotiate with hostage takers who are more than willing to blow us all up.
Lets jump!