Tie-breaking Cheney vote saves deficit cuts

[Judi Lynn]

Dec. 21, 2005, 11:21PM
Tie-breaking Cheney vote saves deficit cuts
Senate returns to the House $39.7 billion plan limiting growth of benefit programs


By DAVID ESPO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - In the final clashes of a year of partisan conflict, Senate Republicans salvaged a $39.7 billion package of deficit cuts on Vice President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote.

Even Cheney's presence and the 51-50 vote it meant in favor of deficit cuts left the White House and GOP leadership short of final victory on the measure.

Democrats forced a few minor changes in the moments before it passed, enough to require the House to vote again before the measure can go to President Bush for his signature.
(snip)

Democrats said that however it was described, it would fall too harshly on lower-income Americans.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the GOP legislation "ideologically driven," and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said it was prelude to $70 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy that Republicans plan to pass next year, a combination he said would increase red ink.
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3541437.html

[AtomicKitten]

1. The Repubs were gloating claiming this is deficit-reducing.

It is truly repulsive that the richie tax cuts come at the expense of the poor.
Shameful.

[Erika]

2. Redistribution of the wealth from the poor to the rich

An encouraging note is that regular people also see it.

[saigon68]

13. "The poor are lazy" shouted President Cheney

"Screw them " he continued

[0007]

14. Cheney hates the poor, the black, and children

[OneBlueSky]

3. how can anyone in good conscience justify this travesty . . .

taking from the poor while giving twice as much in tax breaks for the rich . . . and having the gall to call it "deficit reduction" . . . these people are not leaders, they are corporate tools, fully bought and paid for . . . every damned one of them should be voted out of office (if we could ever have a fair election, that it) . . .

[MidwestTransplant]

4. Get with the program. If Bush wants it, it's obviously because G-d told

him to do it.

[Hardrada]

5. Dr. Evil strikes again!!

[nofurylike]

6. puke.

but thank you for posting this, Judi Lynn.


peace!

[Judi Lynn]

8. Seems it has been decades since we didn't have rotten news like this

ALMOST EVERY DAY!

Who on earth could be blind enough and stupid enough to support these people? Sheesh.

[Mika]

16. In a word..

'Who on earth could be blind enough and stupid enough to support these people? Sheesh."



Corporations.


:hi:


Every DUer should check out this film..



http://www.thecorporation.com/

[rodeodance]

7. another sad day in America --

[tvfipp]

17. Like every day, makes you want to scream, cry or both!

[expatriot]

9. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Or in this case, robbing the poor to pay the rich. Tax cuts do not help the economy since for every dollar the government does not collect is a dollar they have to either reduce in spending unless they borrow it. Now, deficit spending can give a temporary boost to the economy much like racking up credit card bills can give the "appearance" that a household's finances are prosperous.

But deficit spending aside, it is a zero sum game. That x amount of dollars is going to be spent on or invested in something no matter who has it. If Bush cuts my taxes by $1,000 I can purchase a nice computer and that $1,000 leaves my hands and enters into the economy via the computer company but that is $1,000 less the government has to spend on a computer for some kid in some federal education program . It has the same direct economic impact but instead of leaivng my hands and entering the economy through the computer company, it would go from the governmetn and into the economy through the computer company. The only difference is who benefits. IF I buy the computer for me, I benefit. If the government buys the computer the disadvantaged kid benefits and therefore the longterm economic benefit to society is greatly expounded.

I am going to bed.

[caligirl]

12. "disadvantaged kid benefits" we can't let that happen can we.

:shrug: :sarcasm:

[burrowowl]

10. May be

the times they are changing. Cheney had to decide!
A few Dims are assholes but some moderate repubicans have come aboard!
Vote in decent Democrats in 2006!

[flordehinojos]

11. i saw that press conference with sen. reid, and senator conrad on c-span 2

yesterday. they were awsome, especially senator conrad!

[OzarkDem]

15. Cuts will affect cancer patients

Many of whom will be kicked off of Social Security Disability and Medicaid.

How can we win the war against cancer when patients are squeezed between high cost of new lifesaving treatments and no health care coverage?

One of the newer breast cancer drugs, Herceptin, which reduces risk of recurrence by half for over one third of breast cancer patients costs $100,000 a year, on top of surgery and other treatments. How the hell are uninsured women supposed to pay for that out of pocket?

The very poorest and the insured are covered. Its low to middle income uninsured working women who are left to die.

[savemefromdumbya]

18. Senate approves cuts (the evil Grinch Cheney cast tie breaker vote)

Someone has to take this man on. Flyers should go out in all districts telling people that this evil man has cut services to the poor. How come no one is complaining?

Vice President Cheney took his seat as president of the Senate just past 10:30 a.m. to cast the tie-breaking vote on a hard-fought budget bill that would allow states to impose new fees on Medicaid recipients, cut federal child-support enforcement funds, impose new work requirements on state welfare programs and squeeze student lenders -- all for the purpose of slowing the growth of federal entitlement programs.

Senate Approves Cuts, but Not Drilling
Cheney Breaks Tie on Budget Measure; Democrats Block Arctic Oil Provision

By Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A01:

mad: