@hg47's Blog: The Tweet & The TakeAway - Posts Tagged "fiscal-cliff"

Cliff-diving at the Car Lot. Obama: “I’ll offer you $2000 for that new Ford in the window.” GOP: “I’m flabbergasted! It’s $43,619,808.05!”

No, I am not worried about the fiscal cliff. I'm more worried about the trend in American politics where Republicans and Democrats have fewer and fewer incentives to compromise on anything. Ever. Congress has become Nongress. Without compromise, without meeting "the enemy" part way near the middle, U.S. government stalls: Republican NOs kill any Democratic bill; Democratic Nos kill any Republican bill.

My areas of of expertise are Plastics Extrusion and Writing Novels, in that order. But this blog post is no sillier than a professional tennis player expounding on global warming or a Hollywood actress pleading for an end to starving children in Africa.

President Obama & House Speaker Boehner have each proposed starting points that absolutely NEVER would pass through the Senate and the House of Representatives. All I see are "talking points" and "political maneuvering" (or "political womaneuvering" in my SF novel) and sound-bites. This whole fiscal cliff is just another can that was kicked down the road, because a year ago an agreement could not be reached. It wouldn't surprise me if Nongress finds another way to kick it down the road another year. I'm already reading analysis that Congress—excuse me, Nongress—can retroactively use tax credits and other tools to mitigate during 2013 whatever disaster most people are imagining. You and I won't fall off a cliff and die, we will just both slip down a few yards, getting our skirts and suits all muddy. Don't worry: Nongress will pay for your Dry Cleaning!

It also worries me that in Washington who gets the credit for it is about ten times more important than the essential facts of whatever "it" is. Case in point is ObamaCare. Now, both the Republicans and the Democrats have been trying to get some kind of "mostly universal" Federal Health Care Plan up and running for decades. The first President Bush proposed a Health Care plan very similar to the current iteration of ObamaCare, but the Democrats killed it. "We'll do it right!" Can you say, "First Lady Clinton Boo-Boo?" Many conservatives trash-talk President Barack Obama, but it is clear that he prefers compromise, that he isn't out to kick ass and take names, but that he genuinely wants to achieve a consensus, "where we all get along" so that government actually governs.

What a pipe dream!

Right now, fresh from re-election victory, he's trying to play hard-ball, but I bet he blows it. The GOP has been perfecting their "NO! Ain't Gonna Happen! We Won't Give An Inch!" game for 4 years.

The surviving parts of ObamaCare (circa December 8, 2012; 9:40pm) are essentially conservative ideas initially proposed by the GOP think tank Heritage Foundation. Barack Obama didn't propose a radical left wing health care plan; essentially, he took the Right's ideas. Probably he thought that he could get support from across the aisle for this puppy. WRONG! He only got half-hearted support from Democrats who wanted a more Big Government Makes All The Decisions Plan; and ALL Republicans conformed to vote "NO, No, Hell no, and the horse you rode in on!" Remember that guy who just ran for President? Mitt something? Mitt Romney! You can bitch about the details, but ObamaCare is basically just RomnayCare gone Federal. President Obama went with "free market principles" and "business competition" for his plan.

It always amused me to see, what's that guy's name again, right, Romney, trash-talking ObamaCare because his name wasn't on it. Now that the Tea Party is pulling all Republican's over to the ultra RIGHT, the GOP (Gold Over People?) can almost claim with a straight face that ObamaCare is not their own free market health plan ideas, but some radical socialist agenda that will kill jobs and . . .

Oh, please. @hg47