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BREAKING: Senate to vote on Cut Cap and Balance on Saturday

…according to Senator Sessions, appearing on “The Mark Levin Show” just now. [update: ABC has it now]

Now, here’s the thing: Reid is going to keep the Democrats in line (though ironically, he himself promised to vote for a balanced budget); but the fact is, a number of Democratic senators campaigned on support for a balanced budget and a balanced budget amendment. (Jim DeMint says the tally is 22 Democrats and 1 independent)

We need to target them with phone calls and emails, reminding them that they now have an opportunity to honor their promises.

Here’s DeMint’s list:

U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-Montana), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), Tom Carper (D-Delaware), Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania), Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota), Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut), Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Harry Reid (D-Nevada), Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), John Tester (D-Montana), and Mark Udall (D-Colorado).

I’ll work on putting together a list of phone numbers and email addresses, and you all can send the link along to anyone and everyone on your contact lists. It’s that serious.

****
Sen Baucus (202) 224-2651
Web Form: baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue

Sen Begitch (202) 224-3004
Web Form: begich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=EmailSenator

Sen Bennet (202) 224-5852
Web Form: bennet.senate.gov/contact/

Sen Brown (202) 224-2315
Web Form: brown.senate.gov/contact/

Sen Carper (202) 224-2441
Web Form: carper.senate.gov/contact/

Sen Casey (202) 224-6324
Web Form: casey.senate.gov/contact/

Sen Conrad (202) 224-2043
Web Form: conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

Sen Durbin (202) 224-2152
Web Form: durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

Sen Feinstein (202) 224-3841
Web Form: feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactU…

Sen Gillibrand (202) 224-4451
Web Form: gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/

Sen Harkin (202) 224-3254
Web Form: harkin.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Sen Tim Johnson (202) 224-5842
Web Form: johnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Contact

Sen Kohl (202) 224-5653
Web Form: kohl.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Sen Landrieu (202) 224-5824
Web Form: landrieu.senate.gov/about/contact.cfm

Sen Lieberman (202) 224-4041
Web Form: lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/contact/email-me-about-an-…

Sen Manchin (202) 224-3954
Web Form: manchin.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm

Sen McCaskill (202) 224-6154
Web Form: mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=contact

Sen Ben Nelson (202) 224-6551
Web Form: bennelson.senate.gov/contact-me.cfm

Sen Bill Nelson (202) 224-5274
Web Form: billnelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Sen Reid (202) 224-2752
Web Form: risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email

Sen Stabenow (202) 224-4822
Web Form: stabenow.senate.gov/?p=contact

Sen Tester (202) 224-2644
Web Form: tester.senate.gov/Contact/index.cfm

Sen Mark Udall (202) 224-5941
Web Form: markudall.senate.gov/?p=contact

100 Replies to “BREAKING: Senate to vote on Cut Cap and Balance on Saturday”

  1. JHoward says:

    From Bill Nelson’s website, a poll:

    In deficit talks, if you could help avoid cuts to Social Security and Medicare by closing tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, should that be an option?

    Despite the misleading language, the results (7:15 Eastern, July 20): Yes 39%, No 60.2%.

    The pressure must be intense. What are these politicians being motivated with? And by whom?!

  2. sdferr says:

    Besides urging support of the Cut, Cap and Balance bill, throw in opposition to the Gang of Six hornswoggle as well.

  3. cranky-d says:

    I’m sure Al Franken would love to hear from me on this. Yup.

  4. cranky-d says:

    And the other commie Senator, whatever her name is, I’m sure she’d listen to reason.

    If my work wasn’t here, and my best friend wasn’t here… .

  5. Bob Reed says:

    I’ll be writing Gillibrand directly, and following it up with calls over the next few days. Same for Schumer, even though he didn’t make any promises, and probably doesn’t want to hear me “kvetch”…again :)

    I’ll be linking to this later.

  6. geoffb says:

    Hatch Sees ‘Real Problems’ with ‘Gang’ Plan
    […]
    Hatch has specific reservations about how the plan targets the Pentagon. “I am not sure that you can count on the $3.7 trillion in cuts,” he says. “But I know you can count on one thing: that it will take about $900 billion out of the Department of Defense.

    “There is no question we need to get huge savings, but do we need to take almost a trillion out of defense over ten years? I am not one for doing that, nor am I one for increasing taxes,” Hatch says. “I am a big supporter of ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance.’ I really think that is the way to go.”

  7. geoffb says:

    And:

    <i>Lights Out for McConnell-Reid?
    […]
    A letter being circulated by freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R., Ill.) could effectively take the contingency plan being crafted by Senate leaders Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) — it’s being referred to as “McConnell-Reid” — completely off the table in debt-ceiling negotiations.

    Walsh tells National Review Online that he has received close to 90 signatures on his letter, which is addressed to House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) and urges them to publicly denounce the McConnell plan (or some version thereof) and ensure that it never comes up for a vote.
    […]
    Walsh suggests that the success of his effort could have prompted the Gang of Six to unveil their proposal when they did as “a last-ditch effort to delay,” once it became clear that McConnell-Reid could not possibly pass the House. Beyond that, he says of the Gang’s plan, “I don’t think there’s anything there.”

    “The rank and file, through the letter, is making that clear that it’s not going anywhere in the House,” he says. “I think the grand plan was, if I had to guess, everybody in leadership wanted to fall back on the McConnell plan. So pretty quickly the Gang of Six reappeared.”

    Walsh is still collecting signatures, and plans to deliver the letter to leaders sometime tomorrow. By then he hopes to have at least 100.

  8. Bob Reed says:

    If Hatch is talking it down, then it’s probably not passable as written talked about over Martinis at the Senate club…

  9. sdferr says:

    Hatch only got the message from Bob Bennett’s rejection that most of the Establishment types have yet to figure out. Ol’ Orin may be aged, but he’s not stupid.

  10. Pablo says:

    Hatch Sees ‘Real Problems’ with ‘Gang’ Plan

    Well, look who wants to keep his job! Where are the rest of the RINO’s? Anyone know? I seem to remember Snowe getting the vapors a while back.

  11. sdferr says:

    Jeff Sessions carves up the Gang of X plan. Plus:

    Senate Democrats and the White House have fiercely resisted formulating an actual debt plan at every step of the way. Instead, the president has pushed for secret meetings—avoiding the public accountability of putting a plan to paper—followed by press conferences at which he asserts his support for broad deficit reduction even when no such plan has been written. The real bluff from the president is the idea that a White House deficit reduction plan exists. It’s time for the White House to lay its cards on the table.

  12. Pablo says:

    Orrin’s also been watching that Chaffetz kid (who’s been kicking ass and taking names lately) in his rearview and gaining.

    See, this is how you win. My hope is that I’m not gonna care whether that old dog can learn a new trick because we’ll retire him. But in the meantime, he’s seeing the light! And it’s not because he’s had an epiphany.

    I was watching a bit of CNN today, and they were breaking down the DC debate, and one of the talking heads was saying that while there are always these Washington dramas they always get resolved in the nick of time, this one is different because of these freshmen that really don’t care if they get reelected. They were sent to do a job (that they certainly want to do) and they’re going to do it. I can almost see Ben Franklin smiling.

  13. Pablo says:

    What is up with Coburn? How did he come to be pimping that thing?

  14. sdferr says:

    these freshmen that really don’t care if they get reelected

    What would be really nifty Pablo is, should their constituents decide that some of the Freshman class haven’t been up to the job they were sent to do, those Rep’s voters, while retiring them, will turn right around and send someone like the Frosh retired but better, just as conservative fiscally, yet tougher, and hopefully more successful. Well, that, added to another surge in numbers neat, of course, taking a greater hold on the House and a majority in the Senate.

  15. JD says:

    CC&B – am I crazy in thinking that it will be a close vote in the Senate? I mean really close.

  16. Sarah Rolph says:

    Pablo (12), that is *highly* encouraging. Thanks!

  17. sdferr says:

    What is up with Coburn?

    I suspect he’s a romantic, envisioning himself bringing back a Cold-War bipartisanship somehow or other. Others of us just think he’s a nutter.

  18. happyfeet says:

    when will they ever get around to voting on it I wonder

  19. happyfeet says:

    Coburn went from a 9 trillion dollar cut to I’m a be your sleazy whore so fast he must have lots of practice

  20. Pablo says:

    But he doesn’t have lots of practice. He’s Doctor No. He’s very staunch. But now he’s not. I don’t get it. Somethings weird here, and it’s bugging me. What happened? Does someone have pictures? WTF?

  21. happyfeet says:

    I think it’s possible he got genuinely confuzzled that the deal was better than it is

  22. sdferr says:

    I though he was Dr. Pull-from-your-twat, oh lookit the tiny baby! All the babies are so cute! Life is grand and la-dee-da, etc.

  23. Pablo says:

    Oh, yeah. Crazy lifedoodle. Staunch, even. But, with math skills very uncommon in the Senate.

  24. JD says:

    Why is Reid allowing this to be voted on in the first place?

  25. geoffb says:

    JD, maybe that talk by Steve Wynn got to him?

  26. Bob Reed says:

    My opinion Pablo?

    I think Coburn is seeing this as being analogous to the constitutional convention slavery issue, like I articulated poorly last week.

    He’s hearing Moody’s, S&P, and such, and talking to folks we don’t even know of behind the scenes and thinking; shit’s about to get real

    So maybe he’s seeing this as an existential threat, a pivotal moment when he must strike a Faustian bargain with the Democrats on this, just like the Northerners struck a deal with the Southerners over the issue of slavery and intergration of it into the American political system.

    Maybe just like the anti-slavery types thought they’d deal with it in the near future, so too might he see the Rethugs! taking back the Senate and WH and being able to put through serious tax, spending, and entitlement reform through in the near future.

    I can’t otherwise explain why he’d accept the whole, “we’ll cut the spending later”, charade since he has to have lived throught the spending promise double crosses of 1986 and 1990.

  27. Bob Reed says:

    #26 being why I’m not done! with Coburn, since there must be more than appears to us going on; something behind the scenes has influenced his decision.

    I mean, in his plan from Monday he was willing to cut 1 trillion from DoD over the next 10 to make a deal; a concession that I find wildly ill-advised and reckless.

    There’s more to this than appears. Coburns no RINO, no comity-monger, and certainly not a squish. He’s Staunch…

  28. happyfeet says:

    oh. I missed this. Dr. okietard is preaching hell and brimstone against teh eeeevil tax expenditures.

    No one tells me anything.

    “Tax expenditures are not tax cuts. Tax expenditures are socialism and corporate welfarism. Tax expenditures are increases on anyone who does not receive the benefit or can’t hire a lobbyist or special interest group to manipulate the code for their favor. Politicians love to play the tax code because it benefits the politicians. No conservative should support Washington picking winners and losers through the tax code. Who do we want deciding that? Markets or politicians?”

    he’s been a whorish and complacent piece of shit American senator long enough that it’s kinda hard to buy the idea he just woke his okietard ass up one summer morning in 2011 and suddenly had an epiphany that the mortgage interest tax deduction was of the devil

  29. happyfeet says:

    i happen to mostly agree with him on the tax expenditure thing, but still.

  30. Stephanie says:

    Want to see the housing market fully crash? Pass the gang of sucks POS bargain… The rumors swirling are that the mortgage deduction would phase out on $400,000 homes (mortgages??) and higher. Sure screws the pooch on California and most blue hells. I’m seriously considering walking away from my (now) underwater house and moving to Orlando. NO state income tax and I’m finding 3/2/2s with a pool ON A GOLF COURSE

  31. JHoward says:

    He’s Staunch…

    Early on he defined it, as I recall. Makes this all the more perplexing.

  32. Pablo says:

    he’s been a whorish and complacent piece of shit American senator long enough

    So, you can point to a few of his votes and pronouncements that demonstrate this, yes?

  33. Pablo says:

    Early on he defined it, as I recall. Makes this all the more perplexing.

    Indeed. Perhaps we lack ‘feets vision, JHo.

  34. happyfeet says:

    yes I want to see the housing market fully crash

  35. pdbuttons says:

    thanks jeff/ u should do this more often[ in my humble opinion]
    i’m calling debby stabenow
    i got a sick twisted crush on her
    help me wanda

  36. Stephanie says:

    renting for $850/month. An extra $1300 a month cash flow sure looks good and why do I need 4 bedrooms with no kids at home starting in 30 days???? Screw the hit on the credit score as that extra $$ per month is more that the self imposed credit limit on my only credit card…

    /hit the wrong key and posted too soon, sorry.

  37. Pablo says:

    Why is Reid allowing this to be voted on in the first place?

    His phone is blowing up?

    /Yeah, I doubt it.

  38. JHoward says:

    Stephanie, SW FL was/is an epicenter, fighting Vegas for worst in the nation. New 3/2/2 condos (granite counters, tile floors, 9.5″ ceilings, etc) can run $100k. Add a pool and lanai and single family homes are still under $150k in quite decent places. They’ve been standing around for a few years, empty. ‘Course, it’s the N Ft Myers and Cape Coral area, so good luck making a living.

  39. happyfeet says:

    Coburn should have become a screechy spotlight whore long long before this I think

    all the poncey cowardly go along get along senators should have

    it’s time for a clean sweep

  40. Stephanie says:

    I know, I’ve got Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte real estate agents emailing me offers for older 2/2 condos in need of some updating for $35-50K. Add in $10k or so for the remodel and now you’re looking at some awesome retirement options. For cash.

    I’m seriously considering the rental route though as I have a feeling that squirreling money may be better than putting it into a sale that may have shady title provenance. There’s some serious MBS issues in Florida, too.

  41. JHoward says:

    yes I want to see the housing market fully crash

    I actually do. Clear the pipes, finally flush the crap out and reset values where they need to be. Tough love, but it’d get us realizing that we’ve been gaming the entire economy for decades and then we’d get real in DC and while we were at it, Wall St. This can’t go on and we are not at the bottom until we’re at the bottom, meaning fixing the system and not playing around with it like the Timmy and Ben show.

    One economic belch somewhere and the Jenga blocks tumble. Money isn’t supposed to work like that; why do we accept that it does?

  42. pdbuttons says:

    i live in a van
    i have a guitar-box
    i can play parts of that neil young song
    “down by the river”
    and knocking on heavens door

  43. happyfeet says:

    no I actually do too

    price discovery is not the easter bunny it’s a for real thing what happens

    or at least it used to

  44. JHoward says:

    PG is a nice little burg, Steph. Have them also look south as far as Cape Coral along the big bay. North Port is another huge value up above PC, but inland more.

  45. Stephanie says:

    Seriously, this house is gonna need a $7000 paint job in the next year or so, new gutters, the HVAC is 25 years old ($7000 at least when in goes poof) and new floors in the bedrooms. Not to mention the master bath is still circa 1986. That has been on indefinite hold since 08 and I’m a DIYer when it comes to most projects even major ones. Why would I want to sink another dime in a place that is already underwater and if the market really crashes who knows were it will settle out? I’m thinking I’d rather have someone else holding that bag of shit. Here or in Orlando, but the rental prices in Orlando (Vistiana area) are vastly superior to here. My son rents a POS apartment in a better area of town (Roswell) for $700 for a little over 800 sf.

    It’s getting the hubby on board that is keeping us here right now. He understands approximately zero of what is ‘really’ going on. Low info voter and thinks I’m exaggerating. :head smacks desk:

  46. Bob Reed says:

    Clear the pipes, finally flush the crap out and reset values where they need to be.

    Word…And have all of the banks write any left over trash off their books, instead of keeping it around desperately trying to use it against their asset requirements.

    If some have to go down? Well, they’re the Wizards of Smart™ who willingly took on that much expoure in the first place. Not to mention all of the dough the Feds have laid on them over the last couple of years-at Main street’s expense.

  47. Bob Reed says:

    There are some real good deals in Fla to be had Steph. I know you’re leaning towards renting, but considering the low tax rates and low prices, buying a good deal would be effectively the same thing.

    Y’all who like it can have Florida. I’ve been working on convincing my born-and-bred New Yawkah wife that we should consider moving to Texas in the next few years. She was buying it, but the whole new arrival soon-to-be-delivered has kind of put a damper on all that. Her whole family still lives here, and mine are in Maryland and North Carolina, and she’d rather stay on the east coast.

    Which, you know, I’m no New Yawkah by a mile, but I don’t mind living 250 meters from the shore here on Long Island.

  48. pdbuttons says:

    commune?
    c’mon u right wing hippies..
    go for it

  49. Pablo says:

    If some have to go down? Well, they’re the Wizards of Smart™ who willingly took on that much expoure in the first place. Not to mention all of the dough the Feds have laid on them over the last couple of years-at Main street’s expense.

    Well, that’s the fun part. To do that is to finally drive a stake through the hearts of Fannie and Freddie. While I love the concept, that comes with a really big bill we’re all going to pay. We need to do it anyway.

  50. newrouter says:

    “Her whole family still lives here, and mine are in Maryland and North Carolina, and she’d rather stay on the east coast.”

    2 words marcellus shale w. pa or oh (oh 4 utica shale underneath the other)

  51. Stephanie says:

    There are some real good deals in Fla to be had Steph. I know you’re leaning towards renting, but considering the low tax rates and low prices, buying a good deal would be effectively the same thing.

    Have you kept up with the foreclosure debacle? There’s a whole lot of a lot of phony paper in Florida. Plus, I’m not particularly disposed to buying into an area with HOA or Condo fees that suddenly have to go from $100-250 per month to $800 or more cause half the homeowner’s are MIA and the landscaping/pool maintenance/roof repair has got to be done.

  52. pdbuttons says:

    david koresch is online one
    “now is the time to re-load”
    so said the sarah\sarah maid of albion is a cool blog/ it’s about s africa

  53. JD says:

    Real estate going in the crapper can be a buying opportunity.

  54. Darleen says:

    The rumors swirling are that the mortgage deduction would phase out on $400,000 homes (mortgages??) and higher. Sure screws the pooch on California and most blue hells.

    Oh yeah, it wouldn’t just screw people with mortgages who arranged their financial plans with that deduction making for more cash in pocket each year, but it would immediately drop low home values lower, rob seniors who own their homes outright of even more equity, and the new housing market would never be the same.

    Say hello to an American middle class that, for renting or owning, would be doing it in homes a good 1000 square feet smaller … like the middle class in Europe or GI tract housing immediately after WWII.

    And if something like that passed, I’d walk away from my underwater home in a heartbeat.

  55. Darleen says:

    BTW, local tv ABC7’s reporter David Ono was invited to the White House to admire Obama’s crease and lick his ankles. I could only stomach a bit of the previews because there is something horribly wrong with Obama that he can engage in such egregious, bald-faced lies and it is even more horrifying that a member of “The Press” lets him get away with it.

    he issue of civility in government went front and center last week when ABC News’ Cokie Roberts eulogized former first lady Betty Ford in Palm Desert, saying “Mrs. Ford wanted me to remind everyone of the way things used to be in Washington.”

    “I think it was a great message to send,” Obama said. “I’ve always said we should be able to disagree without being disagreeable, that we shouldn’t be questioning each other’s motives, and most importantly, we should remind ourselves why we are in this town, which is to help the people who sent us here. I do think that this slash-and-burn, take-no-prisoners, no-compromise, no-matter-what approach to politics is one of the reasons why Congress has such a difficult time getting things done.”

    Obama said the language that’s used, the way campaigns are run and the demonization of the other side has broken down some of the trust in Washington.

    “The American people expect us to rebuild it and I think there are still some people here who want to do the right thing and aren’t just looking to score political points,” he said.

    I just have no words for such lying shit.

  56. sdferr says:

    Hennessey:

    In this respect, the Gang’s outline is traditional and fits within the normal confines of the regular budget process, albeit 4-5 months later than normal. If there were a broad consensus supporting the Gang’s plan, it would be normal process to turn it into a budget resolution and then a reconciliation bill.

    The thing is, to the extent that this is a modification of Conrad’s vision of a Democrat Budget plan anyhow, why didn’t he simply take a normal approach?

    Because, I’d suggest, he can’t even reach a consensus within his own damn party, that’s why. For all their pretense, the Democrats are less unified than they’d have us believe.

  57. serr8d says:

    Here’s the #BalancedBudgetAmendment Twitter hashtag, populated mostly be me, using the contact information provided by Jeff. And, adding the Twitter @ddresses for those Senators with that capability.

    RT’s welcomed.

  58. pdbuttons says:

    we all live in a yellow submarine
    cheese and onions

  59. newrouter says:

    buy w. pa, se oh, north wva, housing. boom towns til the the baracky epa kills it.

  60. happyfeet says:

    chipotle sauce

  61. sdferr says:

    http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/07/20/dissatisfaction-with-obama-will-affect-democratic-lawmakers/

    That’s how it’s going to go. That and people like Steve Wynn accidentally causing a cascade of others who think like he does but who’ve been silent to suddenly realize they are not alone, but outnumber the fascists. Bubble pops and Barry’s gone.

  62. Pablo says:

    sdferr, Buffet is getting loose lips as well.

  63. Jeff G. says:

    The TEA Party isn’t losing focus. If anything, it’s just trying to get a second wind.

  64. happyfeet says:

    bubble pops!

  65. Pablo says:

    Jim’s just trying to help, I think. Again, Bat Signal.

  66. sdferr says:

    Bubble pop blue, Bubble pop green, Bubble pop yellow and Bubble pop red.

  67. JD says:

    I cannot figure the upside for the Dems to voting on this.

  68. happyfeet says:

    face it wif a grin

    smilers never lose

    and frowners never win!

  69. Stephanie says:

    JD: Walking around money? Typical lib figures if they throw enough money at a problem, the problem is solved.

    I think they may find that all the money in the world won’t buy them enough votes for what they are selling this time around. The electoral mood of the silent majority feels to me to be decidedly Klingon. Revenge, dishes, some assembly required.

  70. sdferr says:

    Insty links a USNews&WR piece, written by a guy who can say this:

    He’s getting a lot of help from Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Eric Cantor, who are starting to seem like petulant narcissists who crave a crisis because it keeps their names in the news. Foes like them make it easy to seem statesmanlike.

    so clearly not a fan of the R’s. But look at what he says about Obama.

  71. Pablo says:

    You can fool some people sometimes
    but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.*

  72. happyfeet says:

    I read that I wondered but that didn’t we used to sorta know that the president’s job was to act presidential whereas not-presidents maybe not so much?

    even when bumblefuck is just striking a pose similar to what acting presidential might reasonably look like it’s like his obamawhore media thinks he should get extra credit

  73. Pablo says:

    I still mourn for Betty. But for a while there, she was back!

    I live among insane people and I like it that way. I might be one of them.

  74. Pablo says:

    Sriracha!

    This morning, on hard boiled eggs. Yummy.

  75. JD says:

    The Vietnamese word for Sriracha is pronounced uck. We call it Vietnamese ketchup.

  76. motionview says:

    A quick look at the possibility of getting to these 23. Best shots: Nelson, Begich, Tester, Manchin, McCaskill, Baucus, Lieberman, Conrad.

  77. Pablo says:

    Lieberman has nothing to lose, so he seems easy. And speaking of teh Jooos, where do you suppose this Beck thing is going?

    This could get weird.

  78. geoffb says:

    I wrote my Senator, Stabenow, but have little hope there.

  79. geoffb says:

    There is a new PPP poll out which is interesting but I’m focused on this at the end of it.

    If there’s a silver lining for Obama it’s this- he trailed Romney in our poll last July and then led him for each of the next 11 months. For whatever reason summer and particularly the month of July has not been friendly to Obama in the polls ever since he hit the national stage.

    I have an answer. Call it the 4th of July effect.

  80. geoffb says:

    And in a Fox News poll:

    Fox News Poll: Majority Against Raising Debt Ceiling
    […]
    Voters were asked to imagine being a lawmaker in Congress who had to cast an up-or-down vote on raising the debt ceiling. The poll found 35 percent would vote in favor of increasing the limit, while 60 percent would vote against it.
    […]
    Nearly three-quarters of voters favor the idea of a three percent across-the-board cut to all government departments and spending to reduce the budget deficit immediately.

    As might be expected, voters doubt some of the current talking points being used in the debt ceiling debate. For example, over half of voters think those who predict a financial catastrophe if the limit isn’t raised are exaggerating (55 percent), and most think those who suggest Social Security checks might not be sent are just trying to scare people (63 percent).

    Poll is of registered voters.

  81. Ernst Schreiber says:

    If you’re not thinking about buying a farm, you’re just not serious about what’s coming.

    Either that, or you’ve decided that the Supreme Court is okay with The Man coming after Carin’s chickens because it impacts Tyson somehow, and so there’s no point in planning for anything anymore.

  82. pdbuttons says:

    i ain’t gonna work on
    maggies
    farm no more

  83. JHoward says:

    it would immediately drop low home values lower, rob seniors who own their homes outright of even more equity, and the new housing market would never be the same.

    Mine way deeper, Darleen. I’ve been preaching that the entire system is an artificial one. It’s true. We’ve jacked ourselves up and over a vast chasm on the backs of greenbacks, which are monopoly money. We aren’t even close to the bottom of that black hole of debt.

    You’re damn right that seniors get robbed. We all do. I see no way but to reform the entire monetary system and sadly, those most exposed to its current vagaries get hurt. We got it all horribly wrong in 1913, thanks to Wilson and the proggs.

  84. happyfeet says:

    The bipartisan deficit-reduction plan gaining momentum in the U.S. Senate would likely require lawmakers to curtail or end the preferential tax treatment of capital gains and dividends.*

    you tax what you want less of

    USA! USA!

    lol

  85. dicentra says:

    Sorry.

    It doesn’t matter what they pass, even a balanced-budget amendment: they’ll just ignore it. What are we gonna do about it? Sue?

  86. geoffb says:

    The other “Mark”, Steyn on the mainstreaming of “The T word

    And the “Morning Jolt” seems to have a clue as to the anonymous source of the Bachmann migraine story.

  87. sdferr says:

    Paul Ryan hammers it home.

  88. […] our old pal Jeff Goldstein at Protein wisdom comes the news that the Senate will hold a vote on the Cut, Cap, and Balance legislation that was passed in the House of…: Now, here’s the thing: Reid is going to keep the Democrats in line (though ironically, he […]

  89. […] our old pal Jeff Goldstein at Protein wisdom comes the news that the Senate will hold a vote on the Cut, Cap, and Balance legislation that was passed in the House of…: Now, here’s the thing: Reid is going to keep the Democrats in line (though ironically, he […]

  90. serr8d says:

    Jeff, if instead of ellipses you’d used dashes in those phone numbers, we could directly dial from these smartphones.

  91. Jeff G. says:

    Sorry. I suck.

  92. […] it looks like the House Cut-Cap-Balance Bill will come up for a vote on closure this Saturday.  Protein Wisdom (h/t Pasadena Phil) has a list of Senatorial contact information.  Most of them are lost causes, […]

  93. cranky-d says:

    Those smartphones are kind of dumb, then. Dumbphones.

  94. sdferr says:

    So I just read that Harry Reid is going to press a vote to table the CC&B, requiring only 51 votes to do so. Therefore, if there’s to be a vote, the Democrat Senators need to be overwhelmed by a tidal wave of public insistence on CC&B, in opposition to Reid’s move.

    Either way, the Senate won’t even be voting on the passage of “Cut, Cap and Balance,” but rather on motion to “table” the legislation, which would require only 51 votes. Reid said he didn’t want to “waste the Senate’s time” by debating the bill any further.

  95. Jeff G. says:

    If the Senate doesn’t vote on CCB, I’d walk away from any further negotiation.

    And if they don’t, fuck them all.

  96. […] Don’t let them get away with it. Boehner and McConnell, it should be obvious by now, were never serious about CCB; it was merely a symbolic vote to them, a sop to the conservative base. Meanwhile, they’ve been working on “backup plans” that, by their very existence, undercut the pressure CCB could have leveled on the Democrat Senators who ran on supporting a balanced budget. […]

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