Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug 2

Little-Acorn

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Senate Democrats, who have failed to come up with any bills to avoid the coming Aug. 2 default on the nation's paying its bills, voted to block any discussion on a bill passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The bill's provisions were:

1.) To cut Federal spending by $380 billion in 2012;
2.) To cap spending to a percentage of the nation's GDP (averaging slightly over 20% for the next 10 years);
3.) To raise the Debt Ceiling by $2.4 trillion dollars above where it is now.

The Debt Ceiling increase is contingent on the House and Senate passing a Balanced Budget Amendment with a 2/3 supermajority in each house (Constitutional requirement), though the Debt Ceiling will still be raised even if the Amendment is later rejected during ratification by the states.

There goes any chance of increasing the Debt Ceiling before August 2.


All Democrats voted to table the bill (which effectively kills it). All Republicans voted to continue discussion. Except for three people who did not vote.

The spending cut is in line with what the Democrats have said they would accept. So is the Debt Ceiling increase. Apparently Democrats don't like the idea of capping spending, even though the proposed caps are higher than any yearly revenues the government has ever collected. And they are vehemently opposed to balancing the budget, even though the amendment has exemptions for wars, etc.

A CNN poll released yesterday, said that the CCB/BBA approach wins majorities in every single demographic — including self-described liberals. Sixty-three percent of Democrats back the bill. The least supportive age demographic is 50-64YOs at 62/37; the least supportive regional demographic is the Midwest at 61/39. Even those who express opposition to the Tea Party supports it 53/47. In other words, it’s a clean sweep. Simply put, there is no political demographic at all where the CCB/BBA doesn’t get majority support. The BBA on its own does even better. It gets 3-1 support (74/24), and except for those Tea Party opponents (56%) and self-professed liberals (61/37), doesn’t get below 70% support in any demographic.

Democrats voted here, to forbid even discussing the bill.

Before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told his colleagues that Big Brother would definitely be watching: “This is a vote on this bill,” said Reid. “We on this side of the aisle are going to look at every vote cast.”

Here's the vote.

Every Democrat voted to not discuss it. Every Republicans voted to let discussion proceed. Except three people who did not vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/L...ote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00116


YEAs ---51 (voting to block discussion)

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Conrad (D-ND)
Coons (D-DE)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)


NAYs ---46 (voting to continue discussion)

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kirk (R-IL)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)


Not Voting - 3

Gillibrand (D-NY)
Kerry (D-MA)
McCain (R-AZ)
 
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Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

Right. Its all the Democrats fault. The Republicans are just doing whats right and protecting the already rich, and those nasty olde Democrats are digging in their heels and demanding the rules be fair. How dare they ask the rich to share some of the pain.
 
Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

Right. Its all the Democrats fault. The Republicans are just doing whats right and protecting the already rich, and those nasty olde Democrats are digging in their heels and demanding the rules be fair. How dare they ask the rich to share some of the pain.

(for the 47th time)

The highest 2% of earners in the country are already paying 50% of income taxes.

"The rich" are already "sharing" a LOT of the pain - pain they did not cause. In fact, they are "sharing" far more than anyone else.

And you insist they pay even more?

BTW, you have never explained why you feel they should have so much taken from them, after you acknowledged that there is nothing wrong with their earning as much as they do.

When were you going to get around to replying to that?
 
Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

(for the 47th time)

The highest 2% of earners in the country are already paying 50% of income taxes.

"The rich" are already "sharing" a LOT of the pain - pain they did not cause. In fact, they are "sharing" far more than anyone else.

And you insist they pay even more?

BTW, you have never explained why you feel they should have so much taken from them, after you acknowledged that there is nothing wrong with their earning as much as they do.

When were you going to get around to replying to that?

Why should they pay more? Because they can. And because they get their money's worth. Rupert Murdoch has choices on where to live and he chose the US. The argument that the wealthy deserve to take more and more of the country as their own is wrong headed, even from their own self-interests.

Sure. Let the wealthy earn all they can. Although I will admit that allowing speculators to drive gasoline up to $4/gallon just because they can get away with it does make me think they need a swift kick in the nuts. I really am in favor of free enterprise. However, enterprise in America is not free and unfettered. It is totally and completely controlled by big business. They get to do what ever they want to do, and other businesses and individuals just have to take it on the chin.
 
Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

so the Republicans pass a bill they know can't pass the senate, and would be vetoed.. turn down many other bills...but its all the Dems fault for not passing the bill they did only for symbolic meaning and propaganda.
 
Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

Right. Its all the Democrats fault. The Republicans are just doing whats right and protecting the already rich, and those nasty olde Democrats are digging in their heels and demanding the rules be fair. How dare they ask the rich to share some of the pain.

While I'm all for raising taxes as part of any deficit deal, the historical evidence suggests that we probably won't be able to raise much more than $700 billion (at an absolute maximum) that way. That still leaves a trillion or more in necessary cuts.

Realistically, $380 billion is nothing. It's less than a quarter of our deficit, not even 11% of total federal expenditures, and less than 3% of GDP. There's no reason why they could not agree to it; I don't think anyone sees it as anything like a final solution to the deficit problem, so there's still plenty of room to insist on tax hikes later.
 
Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

Why should they pay more? Because they can.

A famous bank robber was once asked why he kept robbing banks. He replied, "Because that's where the money is!"

The only differences I can find between that bank robber and these leftist fanatics who believe what Lefty here propounds, are:

1.) The bank robber acknowledges that what he is doing is theft, and

2.) The bank robber doesn't try to convince anyone that people owe him the money he is taking.

Otherwise, they are identical. As is their morality.
 
Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

A famous bank robber was once asked why he kept robbing banks. He replied, "Because that's where the money is!"

The only differences I can find between that bank robber and these leftist fanatics who believe what Lefty here propounds, are:

1.) The bank robber acknowledges that what he is doing is theft, and

2.) The bank robber doesn't try to convince anyone that people owe him the money he is taking.

Otherwise, they are identical. As is their morality.

That analogy presupposes that taxation is immoral, which is precisely what's at question here. If it isn't, then taxing the rich isn't an immoral choice at all; it's simply a logical one.
 
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Re: Senate Democrats kill last chance to cut spending, raise Debt Ceiling before Aug

That analogy presupposes that taxation is immoral, which is precisely what's at question here.

Not at all.

It presupposes that taxing one guy a whole lot more than the benefits he gets from government, while taxing another guy much less (often zero) than the benefits HE gets from government, is immoral. And we are justifying it solely by saying "Well, the first guy has more we can take, than the second guy does, so we'll take it".

I'm pointing out that the government saying that, is no different from the bank robber saying that... and that the morailty behind each, is identical.

So far, no one has shown otherwise.
 
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