Dingy Reid Admits Democrats Inept On Fiscal Cliff Talks As Deadline Nears, “At This Stage We’re Not Able To Make A Counteroffer”… Too busy reading cowboy poetry? SEN. HARRY REID (D-NEVADA): We have been negotiating now for 36 hours or thereabouts. We did have conversations last night that ended late in the evening between staffs. This morning, we have been trying to come up with some counteroffer to my friend’s [Mitch McConnell] proposal. We have been unable to do that. I have had a number of conversations with the president, and at this stage we’re not able to make a counteroffer. The Republican leader has told me that — and he’s just said here — that he’s working with the vice president, and he and the vice president, I wish them well. In the meantime, I will continue to try to come up with something. But at this stage, I don’t have a counteroffer to make. Perhaps as the day wears on, I will be able to. I will say this, I think that the Republican leader has shown absolutely good faith. It’s just that we are apart on some pretty big issues. Reid was responding to this statement by McConnell: SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KENTUCKY): My office submitted our latest offer to the Majority Leader last night at 7:10 p.m. and offered to work through the night to find common ground. The Majority Leader’s staff informed us they would be getting back to us this morning at 10:00 a.m., despite the obvious time crunch we all have. It’s now 2:00 p.m., and we have yet to receive a response to our good-faith offer.
So let me get this straight: Obama and the Democrats are blaming the Republicans for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and believe it will adversely effect our economy. WHO OPPOSED THE TAX CUTS INITIALLY? WHO CLAIMED THAT THEY WOULDN'T HELP THE ECONOMY? WHY ARE THEY EXPIRING? WHY WEREN'T THEY PERMANENT? WTF???
As bad as 2012 was in most instances, it will pale in comparison to 2013. Obama has had two years to address this particular issue and waited until Dec. 28 to act like a leader. And when he finally decided to act like a leader, he realized that he didn't know how.
Obama is a weak leader because he doesn't lead by consensus -building. He leads by finger-pointing and blaming the opposition party when the going gets rough. That's not strength. That's weakness. I know I'm stating the obvious to my conservative friends here, but I've been thinking it for some time now, and I just wanted to say it.
Pentagon To Notify 800,000 Civilian Employees They Will Have To Take Unpaid Leave If Fiscal Cliff Spending Cuts Are Enacted… (BTW- looking at that picture reminds me... Forty-five years ago, at this time of the year, I was working in a retirement center as a busboy. I wore a bow tie that said "Merry Christmas" and I served coffee. One of our residents, Dr. Floyd Watson, celebrated his 100th birthday, having been born in 1868. He was the guy who designed all of the acoustics for the Pentagon...) Via WSJ: Mandatory federal spending cuts designed to be prohibitively drastic will become a reality on Wednesday if negotiators remain unable to reach an agreement to avert the reductions. The cuts would hit a broad array of departments and programs, from the military’s purchase of mine-resistant vehicles to government food inspections. They would slash funding for Secret Service details and cut rental housing subsidies in rural areas. Illustrating the gravity of the cuts, the Pentagon plans to notify 800,000 civilian employees that they could be forced to take several weeks of unpaid leave in 2013 if a deal isn’t struck, and other agencies are likely to follow suit. The cuts, which members of both parties have referred to as a “meat ax,” are the product of a hastily designed 2011 law that required $110 billion in annual spending reductions over nine years to reduce the deficit. Their severity, representing close to 10% of annually appropriated spending, was intended to force Democrats and Republicans to come together on a broader package of deficit-reduction measures, which would replace the cuts. That effort failed, raising the prospect of the cuts’ taking place. Complicating matters, the White House hasn’t informed federal agencies or contractors of precisely how the cuts might be administered, leading to confusion about the potential impact. Several federal agencies referred questions about the cuts to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. OMB didn’t respond to questions.