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" Guys, I gotta say, I think Dark Brandon & team absolutely nailed this."
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/27/2171833/-Guys-I-gotta-say-I-think-Dark-Brandon-team-absolutely-nailed-thisGuys, I gotta say, I think Dark Brandon & team absolutely nailed this.
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Sunday May 28, 2023 · 1:42 AM EDT
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Morning update: Nice to see this discussion happen while I was asleep. The morning after, I find myself thinking more and more about Kevin McCarthy. Why on Earth did he accept such a weak deal? I think, as noted quickly below, that the GOP’s oligarch puppet masters must have told him enough is enough.
Just a few quick thoughts.
Truth is, I’m stunned at how well Biden did. That assessment has to start with the caveat that the entire Democratic leadership screwed up not killing the debt ceiling when we had a real shot during past moments of united governance.
That said. Two weeks ago, I believed McCarthy and the Vandals absolutely were willing to push the US in to default. Tonight I certainly believe the Vandals still are. Ronna McDaniel sure seemed to suggest as much with her Kinsley Gaffe the other day. But clearly, tonight, it seems that Kevin McCarthy is not. I’m inclined to think that’s because the oligarchs who run the GOP (not to mention SCOTUS) actually do think they have more to lose from a global economic crash than they have to gain from the resulting Shock Doctrine moment. Lucky for the rest of us.
But let’s get real. Biden got a TWO-YEAR debt ceiling reprieve (which might be more than enough to kill it forever in court), and all we lost was work rules for SNAP benefits for childless people under 55, which won’t even change the total amount of money spent on SNAP benefits. Changes to environmental permitting regulations which I won’t pretend I know very much about yet, but doubt I will like them. But absolutely no change to the historic IRA bill’s climate provisions. No change to Medicaid provisions at all? (I’m not quite clear on these details yet.)
And two years of flat government spending, which obviously isn’t ideal at all but, as Matt Yglesias pointed out in his email tonight, is precisely what the GOP could get anyway just by forcing through two years of continuing resolutions through the election.
That’s it? That’s what Kevin McCarthy got?
The debt ceiling is defanged through 2025 (and hopefully forever). The market will pop Monday morning because Joe Biden protected the global economy by pushing through a bipartisan deal that almost all of us, just a week ago, would have thought impossible. And which the extremes of both parties are going to scream against and maybe vote against.
And let’s talk about those extremes.
Starting with the Vandals. I think (and hope) that what we’re now about to witness is the defanging of the Freedom Caucus’ supposed hold over the GOP and American politics. They’re going to try and tank this deal. McCarthy’s going to get most of the GOP and, I believe, plenty of the Democrats as well. Maybe then they’ll try to depose him as Speaker. Who will win that vote? Will any Democrats support him in exchange for what he’s doing now? All pure speculation.
What I do know is that if the Republican candidate wins in 2024 we might expect that the GOP will also keep the House and take the Senate, and lord only knows how our free republic survives that scenario. And I believe that by cutting this deal Biden is going a long way toward winning in 2024. Because for sure this deal goes a long way to stabilize the economy — I have wanted to see Biden invoke the 14th all along, I’ve been an absolutist who believed he shouldn’t give the Vandals anything. Not a crumb.
Dark Brandon is much smarter than that. While we’re nursing our grievances over the cruel and stupid concessions that we shouldn’t have had to make to the opposition, let’s please remember what we’re protecting. Joe Biden, who I never supported for the 2020 nomination and did not believe was the person for the moment, and whom I still find woefully deficient as keeper of the bully pulpit, nonetheless continues to amass a record of effective progressive governance that hasn’t been equalled by any Democratic president since LBJ and FDR before him. I’m still stunned to read and reread the collected legislation that this administration has passed over the past two years through razor-thin majorities at the perpetual mercy of the likes of Manchin and Sinema. None of that was touched today. Not even close. And as noted: the budgets agreed to are the same flat-line budgets the Republicans could have and surely would have had through CRs anyway. It’s a deal for two years, removing one huge risk for Biden in 2024. And Biden is going to be the great conciliator, presiding over bipartisan governance, just like he always promised America he could be.
And there won’t be an economic crisis over this. And the likes of MTG, Gaetz, and the rest of them are going to get stuffed.
I forgot to talk about our side’s extremes. if that’s us I just don’t think we have a lot to complain about and I think we have a lot to be grateful for. I think the awesome Joan McCarter got it really wrong yesterday. I think the provisions Biden had to surrender in order to close this deal are nowhere near the level of what we all gained. Nor anywhere near the level of what would have been at risk if Biden (and, it must be said, McCarthy) allowed it to through to the deadline, the 14th, who knows what.
And maybe most of all, I think what Biden pulled off here — remember that Dolt 45 was out there urging the GOP to push to default — is going to help us win next year. Which we absolutely absolutely absolutely must.
99 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Well said
History will look kindly a Joe. Airports, Post Offices and Highways will carry his name.
Manchin ET AL. Joe does just fine. He used the bully pulpit in 22...abortion of course, but also our Republic was endangered... the media fell all over themselves laughing...but that was the second most important issue that was polled in exit polls. He has gotten more legislation through than any president since Johnson and Maybe Roosevelt...I consider Pres. Biden and Obama are the best presidents in my lifetime in terms of legislation. President Obama got us healthcare after 100 years of trying.
And of course, President Biden has gotten much legislation through and hopefully, the debt ceiling is included and will pass. For those who never liked Biden and post every negative poll they see, I say to them we are damned lucky to have Biden who is going to win the General in 24. I hear Biden is pushing a 50-state election strategy and he is right...don't what will happen but we must reach out to all states. The last time, we had a 60-state majority was when Howard Dean used his 50-state strategy.
Also, I have no doubt President Biden presented this agreement to Kevin McCarthy as a way to save his speakership and the country...with Democrats helping him retain the position of speaker, the MAGA wing is pretty much declawed. And Kevin owes us and depends upon us.
For starters, we women have not stopped being pissed over abortion rights. Add to that the sheer indifference to the well being of everyone WORLDWIDE, if the US defaulted on its debt. Maybe the rich oligarchs could weather the loss of a few millions, but corporate CEOs were having none of it.
I still can't get over that the GOP doesn't give a hoot about how much pain their stupidity inflicts on others. They think they are just hurting libs, but they hurt their own base as well.
Vote these assholes OUT! 
... if it isn't already somewhere.
===========
Well the most "immediate" is that the GOP "policy agenda" bill that passed in the House that I posted about here - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17951590
The GOP in the House passed -
H.R.2811 - Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023
which included items that were repeals of Democratic policies as well as taking control over Executive Branch regulatory authority, that they were NOT going to bargain away.
Yet they just did.
The irony here is that we have done a pendulum swing from a period where the "Unitary Executive" theory was promoted under Shrub, to one where both congressional GOPers AND a conservative SCOTUS, have moved to knee-cap the Executive Branch.
H.R.2811 - Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023
which included items that were repeals of Democratic policies as well as taking control over Executive Branch regulatory authority, that they were NOT going to bargain away.
Yet they just did.
The irony here is that we have done a pendulum swing from a period where the "Unitary Executive" theory was promoted under Shrub, to one where both congressional GOPers AND a conservative SCOTUS, have moved to knee-cap the Executive Branch.
goes nowhere...
I.e., this agreement, should it make it to Biden's desk (in whatever form as there might be attempts to amend it) moots that draconian piece of garbage that would have been DOA in the Senate anyway.
For example, what was in that package was this -
TITLE IV—Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection
SEC. 251. Rescission of certain balances made available to the Internal Revenue Service.
The unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for activities of the Internal Revenue Service by paragraphs (1)(A)(ii), (1)(A)(iii), (1)(B), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of section 10301 of Public Law 117–169 (commonly known as the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022”) as of the date of the enactment of this Act are rescinded.
SEC. 251. Rescission of certain balances made available to the Internal Revenue Service.
The unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for activities of the Internal Revenue Service by paragraphs (1)(A)(ii), (1)(A)(iii), (1)(B), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of section 10301 of Public Law 117–169 (commonly known as the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022”) as of the date of the enactment of this Act are rescinded.
The above was in reference to provisions enacted in this - H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
Public Law No: 117-169 (08/16/2022)
TITLE I--COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
Subtitle A--Deficit Reduction
(snip)
Part 3--Funding the Internal Revenue Service and Improving Taxpayer Compliance
(Sec. 10301) The act provides additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service for taxpayer services and enforcement, including for operations support, business systems modernization, and the development of a free direct e-file tax return system. It also provides additional funding for the Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Office of Tax Policy, the Tax Court, and Treasury departmental offices.
(snip)
TITLE I--COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
Subtitle A--Deficit Reduction
(snip)
Part 3--Funding the Internal Revenue Service and Improving Taxpayer Compliance
(Sec. 10301) The act provides additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service for taxpayer services and enforcement, including for operations support, business systems modernization, and the development of a free direct e-file tax return system. It also provides additional funding for the Department of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Office of Tax Policy, the Tax Court, and Treasury departmental offices.
(snip)
The CRS (Congressional Research Service) summarized this (text version here - & PDF is here)
Updated April 10, 2023
Internal Revenue Service Appropriations, FY2023
(snip)
P.L. 117-169 (Inflation Reduction Act)
In August 2022, President Biden signed into law P.L. 117-
169, commonly called the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA,
which included $78.9 billion in mandatory funding for the
IRS; the funds are available for obligation until September
30, 2031. The law specified how that amount should be
distributed among the IRS’s four appropriations accounts.
These funds are available regardless of the amounts
received by the IRS through annual appropriations. The
figures in Table 1 exclude IRA’s mandatory funding. This
is the first time that Congress has approved multiyear
funding for the IRS’s appropriations accounts.
(snip)
Internal Revenue Service Appropriations, FY2023
(snip)
P.L. 117-169 (Inflation Reduction Act)
In August 2022, President Biden signed into law P.L. 117-
169, commonly called the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA,
which included $78.9 billion in mandatory funding for the
IRS; the funds are available for obligation until September
30, 2031. The law specified how that amount should be
distributed among the IRS’s four appropriations accounts.
These funds are available regardless of the amounts
received by the IRS through annual appropriations. The
figures in Table 1 exclude IRA’s mandatory funding. This
is the first time that Congress has approved multiyear
funding for the IRS’s appropriations accounts.
(snip)
And rather than a complete "rescission of funds" (which were to be allocated over 10 years), there was a $10 billion reduction, which was a concession by McCarthy.
But as a note and something to keep in mind - look what ELSE was in Biden's "Inflation Reduction Act" (i.e., right at the very top of the "summary" page) - https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376
Public Law No: 117-169 (08/16/2022)
TITLE I--COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
Subtitle A--Deficit Reduction
Part 1--Corporate Tax Reform
(Sec. 10101) This act imposes an alternative minimum tax of 15% of the average annual adjusted financial statement income of domestic corporations (excluding Subchapter S corporations, regulated investment companies, and real estate investment trusts) that exceeds $1 billion over a specified 3-year period. The tax is effective in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022.
Part 2--Excise Tax on Repurchase of Corporate Stock
(Sec. 10201) The act imposes a non-deductible 1% excise tax on the fair market value of stock repurchased by a publicly traded domestic corporation after 2022, with certain exceptions, including for repurchases that are part of a reorganization, are less than $1 million, that are contributed to certain tax-exempt retirement plans, or that are treated as a dividend. The tax applies to purchases of corporate stock by certain corporate subsidiaries and foreign corporations.
TITLE I--COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
Subtitle A--Deficit Reduction
Part 1--Corporate Tax Reform
(Sec. 10101) This act imposes an alternative minimum tax of 15% of the average annual adjusted financial statement income of domestic corporations (excluding Subchapter S corporations, regulated investment companies, and real estate investment trusts) that exceeds $1 billion over a specified 3-year period. The tax is effective in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022.
Part 2--Excise Tax on Repurchase of Corporate Stock
(Sec. 10201) The act imposes a non-deductible 1% excise tax on the fair market value of stock repurchased by a publicly traded domestic corporation after 2022, with certain exceptions, including for repurchases that are part of a reorganization, are less than $1 million, that are contributed to certain tax-exempt retirement plans, or that are treated as a dividend. The tax applies to purchases of corporate stock by certain corporate subsidiaries and foreign corporations.
So there was already some "take back" of what was in - H.R.1 - An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018 (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017)
I.e., from the "summary" of the tax cuts for the wealthy (and corporations) bill - https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1
Public Law No: 115-97 (12/22/2017)
(This measure has not been amended since the House agreed to the Senate amendment without amendment on December 20, 2017. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to reduce tax rates and modify policies, credits, and deductions for individuals and businesses. It also establishes an oil and gas leasing program for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.
(Unless otherwise specified, provisions referred to in this summary as temporary or as a suspension of an existing provision apply for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026.)
(snip)
(This measure has not been amended since the House agreed to the Senate amendment without amendment on December 20, 2017. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to reduce tax rates and modify policies, credits, and deductions for individuals and businesses. It also establishes an oil and gas leasing program for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.
(Unless otherwise specified, provisions referred to in this summary as temporary or as a suspension of an existing provision apply for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026.)
TITLE I
(snip)
Subtitle B--Alternative Minimum Tax
(Sec. 12001) This section repeals the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT).
(snip)
Subtitle B--Alternative Minimum Tax
(Sec. 12001) This section repeals the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT).
(snip)
And from the "tax cuts" law text - https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1/text
(snip)
Subtitle B--Alternative Minimum Tax
SEC. 12001. REPEAL OF TAX FOR CORPORATIONS.
Subtitle B--Alternative Minimum Tax
SEC. 12001. REPEAL OF TAX FOR CORPORATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 55(a) is amended by striking ``There'' and
inserting ``In the case of a taxpayer other than a corporation, there''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Section 38(c)(6) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
``(E) Corporations.--In the case of a corporation,
this subsection shall be applied by treating the
corporation as having a tentative minimum tax of
zero.''.
(2) Section 53(d)(2) is amended by inserting ``, except that
in the case of a corporation, the tentative minimum tax shall be
treated as zero'' before the period at the end.
(snip)
Overall though, since the tax cuts for the wealthy was passed by the GOP via "reconciliation", that means it automatically sunsets after 10 years (which would mean, around 2027/2028) unless it is extended by legislation.
The 725 page "Inflation Reduction Act" has other stuff that was snuck in there and I know some other stuff was mentioned but I haven't had chance to delve into it.
I say this because while these things were being negotiated and making their way through Congress, complete with reality show-type drama of getting the 51 votes for reconciliation that the Inflation Reduction Act needed (like the that tax cuts for the wealthy bill), there were already claw-backs and other provisions that happened in that bill that became law and that were Democratic policy items (many of which were spearheaded by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and others).
Joe rocks not killing the debt ceiling when we had a real shot during past moments of united governance."
This has increasingly become an idiotic "talking point" that not only buys into and magnifies the asinine "Democrats in Disarray®" sentiment, but also exposes a lack of knowledge about how the reconciliation process is done, what options were available for it, and what priorities were being rearranged in a literal 50-50 split Senate, to get some form of a final piece of a fractured BBB (Build Back Better) initiative, enacted.
This was all then cloaked in a "damning with faint praise" dissertation to try to give the piece some kind of legitimacy.
Then you have this click-bait nonsense -
The market will pop Monday morning because Joe Biden protected the global economy
Unless this DKos author is talking about overseas (or perhaps some futures markets that might have opened with abbreviated hours), "the market (sic) " is closed today because guess what?
And then this reveals more -
Joe Biden, who I never supported for the 2020 nomination and did not believe was the person for the moment, and whom I still find woefully deficient as keeper of the bully pulpit
Joe Biden has been in office as President of the United States since January 20, 2021, just after noon, yet the insults continue, despite more "damning with faint praise" nonsense.
I'm sorry, but despite its attempt at having an "appearance" of "wow look what we did!!11!!1!!", the whole thing just falls flat.
I know people might disagree with me but I increasingly get frustrated with people who come off like this who apparently haven't been paying attention the past couple years.
And they also forget that Joe Biden WAS a Senator for 35 years and if he were still there, he would literally be the most senior (not in terms of age as there is this stupid fixation on that), but in terms of when he was first elected to that body, and as the euphemism goes, "he knows where the bodies are buried". He was also VP for 8 years (which also made him the official "President of the Senate" ). When you have a guy who goes back to this -
no other, save for maybe Nixon (who had a few years in the U.S. House, a few years in the U.S. Senate, and then 8 years as a VP before becoming a President), with a couple others like Buchanan (with extensive House/Senate experience but never a VP) or Tyler (with similar to Buchanan but only a month as VP), comes close.
Did all the negotiating…I mean begging!
And yes…once again DARK BRANDON knew exactly what to do
...Republican candidates. The new crop of MAGA chud candidates like Boebert and MTG (and the Freedom Caucus in general) tend to be funded by resource extraction interests, particularly those in the fracking business. That's also true for their latest "think" tanks and right-wing groups, like the execrable Turning Point USA. But those interests, especially the fracking companies, are much smaller and less deep-pocketed than old Wall Street interest groups tend to be. They are certainly influential, and they often "punch above their weight", but they can't sustain attacks--either on offense or defense--the way that Wall Street can. And it looks like Wall Street won this time, which isn't all that surprising since they had so much to lose from an economic crash.
Now the question is, will Wall Street try to take its pound of flesh from the MAGA chuds? After all, the chuds proved themselves willing to throw a temper tantrum like a bunch of toddlers and crash the world economy, all because they couldn't get their way in the routine give-and-take of the official budgetary process. 
