By: Jeffrey Klein
Political Buzz Examiner
It appears as though there is little, if any, real voracity to President Barack Obama‘s [on camera] stated intent of not allowing the country to careen over the ‘Fiscal Cliff,’ as even The Washington Post admitted in its’ article yesterday that … “The offer lacks any concessions to Republicans.”
Briefly, the proposal delivered to Republican leaders yesterday at the Capitol, by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, ‘calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, $50 billion in fresh spending on the economy and an effective end to congressional control over the size of the national debt.’
This includes immediate Republican capitulation on allowing the Bush-era tax rates to expire on the top two percent of taxpayers [job creators]–who already pay 50 percent of all federal income tax revenue–so that they can [finally] pay ‘their fair share.’
Obama’s plan also provides for extending the payroll tax cut [‘holiday’ since 2009], which is choking off the only source of revenue for the increasingly over-burdened Social Security Trust Fund; or, adopting yet another tax break for working families–the definition of which was not reported.
He also requires additional benefits for unemployed workers whose 100 weeks vs. 26 weeks of benefits have been exhausted–due to the chronically high unemployment rate since Obama was first elected.
But, on the side of the ‘ledger,’ Obama wants to delay $400 billion of entitlement [Medicare and Medicaid] program savings and federal agency budget cuts until next year, essentially ‘kicking the can’ of congressional reforms to the tax code and retirement programs ‘down the road’ again–while immediately funding Democratic priorities such as $50 billion for a new ‘infrastructure bank.’
This ‘deal’ prompted Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to ‘laugh out loud,’ and Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-OH) to call the White House on Wednesday evening to request to speak with the president.
Republicans in the Capitol who were familiar with the 28-minute call, said … ‘Obama dominated the conversation and was forceful in demanding that Boehner pass legislation to maintain tax rates for the middle class and let them rise on income over $250,000 a year.’
In a public statement, the speaker had this to say, according to a FOXNews article today:
First, despite the claims that the president supports a balanced approach, Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts. And secondly, no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks.
The severity of the financial, employment and related economic consequences of the country falling off the ‘cliff’ were best depicted in an excellent timeline graphic within the Washington Post article.
Another Republican insider familiar with these talks shared this:
Even as an opening bid, this offer would be ludicrous. The spending cuts they are offering [which come later] are wiped out by all the new goodies [Obama] is also requesting.
Polls have suggested that if the country goes over the ‘cliff,’ a majority of Americans will lay the blame on the GOP, which is only being amplified by President Obama, who has been using his campaign-style pitch to portray Republicans as willing to let everyone’s taxes go up in a bid to protect the rich.
Regardless, there are three very important reasons for Republicans to ignore these polls and finally take a stand, by telling Barack Obama to ‘take his offer and shove it;’ then, walk away from this obviously Socialist plan to trash the American way of life.
First, Republicans will never lose control of the House of Representatives, which controls spending, as the vast majority of Congressional districts in the U.S. are solidly ‘Red,’ as is indicated by the Freedom Lighthouse 2012 election map by county.
Second, in what could only be described as genuine justice, the greatest brunt of the suffering from these tax increases, and resulting job losses, will be borne by the voters in the Blue and ‘swing states,’ who are actually responsible for re-electing Barack Obama president.
Perhaps after 2 years of being ‘strangled’ by the Democrat’s intransigent, insane and reckless approach to fiscal sanity, which will tank the economy and cause absolute havoc in urban areas—enough of these ‘swing states’ will sober up and transform into Red states by the 2014 mid-term elections, giving Republicans control of the Senate and thereby be able to finally terminate this Democrat ‘nightmare.’
The few remaining Liberal states on the Left coast and New England, who don’t yet get it, will be left to choke on their own taxation and entitlement largesse over the final two years of Obama’s unforgettable presidency, which will cause a majority of their factors of production to flee–along with their jobs and income tax revenue–to more business and less entitlement friendly states.
By that time the brutal financial academics will have had their affect–al la President Jimmy Carter–that will set up a ‘Reaganesque’ landslide victory for any solid, capable ‘Conservative’ presidential candidate committed to delivering a ‘sea-change’ retreat back to the values upon which America was founded and built.
And finally, the 2012 election exit polls indicated that a vast number of American voters have short memories anyway, as 42% of them said President Obama’s ‘handling’ of Hurricane Sandy factored into their [last minute] decision to vote for him.
In the end, the very small, troublesome minority of people who don’t like the ‘American Way,’ can be given a free map to the nearest exit point—from our country.
