Maddow Blog "don't call it a counter-offer

[Heather MC]

Last week, the Obama administration
presented congressional Republicans with
a formal offer in their ongoing fiscal talks,
and challenged GOP leaders to come up
with a plan of their own. Today, House
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the
House Republican leadership sent a letter
to the White House that's been described
as a " counteroffer ," but that's not quite
correct.

House Speaker John
Boehner on Monday sent a
counter offer to President
Obama to avoid the looming
fiscal cliff that raises $800
billion without increasing tax
raise tax rates on top
earners and makes $1.4
trillion in cuts and reforms
to entitlement and
discretionary spending
programs.

Boehner's offer does not
outline how to deal with a
country fast approaching its
debt limit and
sequestrations' across-the-
board spending cuts.

So, what's the pitch? Under this proposal,
Republicans would keep all of the Bush-
era tax rates, but accept $800 billion in
new revenue. How? Through "through
pro-growth tax reform that closes special-
interest loopholes and deductions while
lowering rates."

From there, the GOP leaders want to cut
$600 billion from Medicare and Medicaid;
cut $300 billion from mandatory
programs; cut $200 billion by changing
the consumer price index; and then cut
another $300 billion in further
discretionary spending.

To call this a "counteroffer" is to strip the
word of meaning. Under the GOP plan,
Republicans get the more than $1 trillion
in spending cuts Obama already gave
them; Republicans get the entitlement
cuts they want; Republicans get hundreds
of billions of dollars in additional cuts to
programs they haven't identified; and
Republicans get all of the Bush-era tax
rates they've prioritized.

This isn't a "counteroffer"; it's a Christmas
wish list written by kids without access to
calculators.

maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/03/15649952-dont-call-it-a-counteroffer?lite

[Make7]

1. "...promising to raise $18 gajillion by selling unicorns to Bigfoot..."

 
[div class="excerpt" style="border: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.4615em; box-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #999999; margin-left: 1em;"]What's more, notice that the Republicans' letter doesn't actually include real details. Sure, some numbers are thrown around, but I can just as easily write a letter to the Speaker promising to raise $18 gajillion by selling unicorns to Bigfoot -- the numbers don't mean anything unless they're backed up by substantive policies.[font style="font-size:0.77em;"]


http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/03/15649952-dont-call-it-a-counteroffer[/font]
LOL! Gotta love Steve Benen!

[SunSeeker]

2. Why isn't that fact that Boner's plan raises the age for Medicare to 67 the headline?!

Hell, only 30% of Americans approve of raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Close to 70% oppose.

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. The CPI has ALREADY been FRAUDULENTLY rigged to underestimate inflation.

[bvar22]

4. The scary part is that this IS....

... the same kind of "sensible compromise" that the Democrats have jumped at in the past.

"Can't let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good."

"We had to do SOMETHING!"

"This is a step in the right direction."

"We'll Fix-It-Later !"

"We might not have had 60 votes."

"The Republican obstructed us."

"It was ALL Joe Lieberman's fault.
He is a Superman & a Bully."

"What did you expect....a pony?"

"Yes, we sold the cow, but these beans we got might be magic!"



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
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[Uncle Joe]

5. That wasn't a counteroffer, it's only an insult.

Thanks for the thread, Heather.