The “Deal”
P. Schultz
January 2, 2013
Once again,
little more needs to be said in addition to this NY Times article on the
“deal.” And, once again, some of the quotes are worth highlighting.
“Not
a single leader among House Republicans came to the floor to speak in favor of
the bill, though Speaker John A. Boehner, who rarely takes part in roll calls,
voted in favor. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader,
and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the No. 3 Republican, voted
no. Representative Paul D. Ryan, the budget chairman who was the Republican
vice-presidential candidate, supported the bill.”
Well,
Paul Ryan knew “the fix” was in, even if Eric Cantor did not. But then Cantor
and Boehner have been sparring since the election and it would appear that
Boehner is ahead on points, to say the least.
“After
more than a decade of criticizing these tax cuts,” said Representative Dave
Camp of Michigan, “Democrats are finally joining Republicans in making them
permanent. Republicans and the American people are getting something really
important, permanent tax relief.”
Yes,
and Obama has finally managed to make the Bush tax cuts permanent! “Hope and
Change”? Not so much. More like: Hope for change but don’t expect any. And once
again, only this time in the Democratic Party, those who opposed “the deal”
were made to look like “obstructionists” rather than reformers. And, of course,
when these same Democrats object to the cuts in spending that will be
forthcoming, they will also appear to be “obstructionists.”
“An
up-or-down House vote on the Senate measure presented many Republicans with a
nearly impossible choice: to prolong the standoff that most Americans wished to
see cease, or to vote to allow taxes to go up on wealthy Americans without any
of the changes to spending and benefit programs they had fought for vigorously
for the better part of two years.”
And
Richard Cohen wrote an article recently saying that no one in Washington knows
“how to play this game.” Amazing how dense some pundits can be. These guys know
“how to play the game,” Mr. Cohen, only you have to know which game they are
playing. The game they are playing is “preserve the status quo” in the midst of
an economy that sucks and popular anger and frustration only occasionally seen
in this nation. And the powers-that-be are prevailing. No wonder Jim DeMint
left for Heritage! He too did not need a weatherman to know which way the wind
was blowing. And maybe he just got tired of playing a game he knew was rigged!
No comments:
Post a Comment