Government leaders reach shutdown, debt deal
By Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON – The top Senate leaders jointly announced an agreement Wednesday on a bipartisan proposal to raise the nation’s debt limit and re-open government that Congress is expected to approve to prevent an economically dangerous default.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., revealed the agreement shortly after the Senate session began.
“The eyes of the world have been in Washington all this week,” Reid said. “Today, they will also see Congress reaching a historic bipartisan agreement to reopen the government and avert a default on the nation’s bills. The compromise we reached will provide our economy with the stability it desperately needs.”
McConnell said he was “confident” both those goals would be reached Wednesday.
Yes boys, give yourselves a nice pat on the back. (Sarcasm intended.) The posturing of the House and Senate members at the expense of the U.S. and global populace is inexcusable. Makes one want to vote against every incumbent in the 2014 elections.
I agree, they should not be paid during this child-like behavior. But raising the debt….yes, the same debt it’s going to take 200yrs to repay already, and increasing our libility makes zero sense. It’s 5th grade math!! Yeah, keep blaming it on Republicans.
And the simple fact that this govt. shutdown has had terrible effects on those near the bottom does not seem to faze the lawmakers in DC. I saw a young lady crying yesterday because her workplace was shut down, her job no longer exists (after 24 years) and she does not know if she will even have a job when the dust settles. Just how is this benefitting the public? I wish these so-called representatives of ours would grow a set and make something good happen.
And, yes, 4-mer, your idea to not vote for ANY incumbents is a great idea. It is one I have tried to adhere to for many years. Nobody else seems to get it.
It’s all political theater. The people who run Washington DC, BOTH sides, do not care about the American people. They have no clue how we live, and they don’t care to. Their only interest is in keeping their own power and money. And they will do whatever it takes to do so. Thinking that either side has your best interests at heart is dangerously foolish.
Look out for yourselves and your neighbors, because the Federal govt. will not. Just the fact that so many park rangers and other ‘civil servants’ were so willing to use thug tactics against their neighbors to keep them away from their parks ought to make you think long and hard about what’s going on in this country.
1+1= your lack of any understanding of macro economics is astounding. Governments are not households and do not, nor should they act like households. There is never any intention to pay back the debt. We racked up a sizable debt after WWII but because of economic growth, that debt became trivial. This is why economist in general (and Warren Buffett recently made a similar argument) running a debt of 3% of GDP is fine and reasonable. As he (and others argued) increase revenue to be about 19% of GDP, decrease spending to be about 22% of GDP (numbers that we ran during the most prosperous times in our history) and we will do just fine. In the short term, running higher debt to stimulate the economy is what gov do best. The World Bank completed a study last year and provided additional evidence – in general countries that pushed an austerity program, failed to recover, yet those that provided a stimulus showed some recovery.
The deficit since 2009 has declined faster then anytime in the last 50 or so years, though you would never know listening to the conservatives. Many economists believe the deficit has fallen too quickly and as such has slowed the recovery (which is coming on strong in some areas like the Bay Area in California).
As John McCain predicted, the Republicans would get nothing of substance, and would pay the price for its stupidity. Add on top of that, the serious damage that Republicans have caused the economy – there very people they claim to help. The retail industry will apparently be reeling from the shutdown as some 4 million containers are sitting in ports all around the country because they cannot be properly inspected. So guess what, quite a few items will not get to the shelves until after the holidays – wow, Republicans sure held out for important reasons didn’t they.
Make no bones about it this is a serious self inflicted wound by the Republicans. The Senate passed a budget (a Sequester levels mind you, 70 billion less than the progressives of the Dems wanted) in May, and have on 18 occasions requested that Boener appoint a conference committed to reconcile the House and Senate budgets – what did Boener do – oh that is right nothing, because he knew he could not get his party in the House (due to a small number of tea partiers) to hammer out a budget, which would require both sides to compromise. Something that has happened pretty regularly in the past. So yes, the Republicans will take it in the shorts as they should. Bad behavior should not be rewarded.
Rick
Watching the lunatic fringe Tea Party, led by snake-oil dominionist preacher Ted Cruz, end times/Pres. Obama is the anti-christ believer Michele Bachmann, the ever confused Louis Gohmert and serial grifters Sarah Palin, Rush Limpaugh and Glenn Beck among others, destroy the republican party would have been fine entertainment except for the $billion$ damage to the economy and personal suffering of millions of citizens they caused.
The GOP leader of the House, John Boehner, will bring a bill to the floor today that would have passed before the shutdown but the House republicans foolishly let the teabagger tail wag the elephant. We could have avoided all this nonsense by refusing to pander to this 40 or so extremist members of the 435 member House of Reps.
The majority of Americans are outside of the right-wing loonybin media echo chamber and know exactly who the guilty parties are in this political stunt turned harmful and embarrassing fiasco.
Everyone needs to remember who led us into this mess. Yes both parties are bad, but it was the House Republicans who did this, it was all for nothing, and it hurt a lot of people. They need to take responsibility for their mistake. Party of personal responsibility, right?
Who was it that REFUSED to negotiate? I believe it was Harry Reid and BH Obama
.
Or was it that rascally GW Bush again?
They didn’t start with a reasonable position or stand. They didn’t leave anything (in a common sense world) to negotiate. The House Reubs tacked on amendments that had little to do with the issue at hand.
And it backfired on them and the entire country.
In the end, the Dems were right not to negotiate.
Doguls, you and many others keep saying that Obama wouldn’t negotiate. But wasn’t this a legislative issue? Other than having the power to either sign or veto legislation, what exactly are you saying he had the power to do? And have you just refused to acknowledge the rule gerrymandering done by John Boehner?
You’re right O. The Dems were right not to negotiate. They got it all. What comes down next is all on your party. You won. The American people lost.
No one won Dog. This never should have happened in the first place. Shame on the House R’s.
Dogula: Reagan refused to negotiate on the debt ceiling and he was considered a hero for it. In fact, he wrote a rather famous letter to Howard Baker noted how foolish it would be to do battle on the “full faith and credit of the US. Baker accepted his argument and we never even got close. No president (Republican or Democrat) should ever negotiate on the debt ceiling – it is a crazy notion. John McCain (hardly the icon of liberalism, but someone who is known to be pragmatic) stated before this started, it was nutty to go to war over the Affordable Health Care Act, it was settled law (Obama won re-election on the point); no one Dem or Rep has ever attempted something so suicidal before.
Boener had since May to set up a conference committee to negotiate with the Senate over the budget, but because of the absolutely maniacal Tea Partiers, he knew he could never get an agreement so he didn’t even bother. He spent to much time trying to stay speaker then lead.
So Republicans undertook a battle the smarter Republicans knew was doomed to fail and in the process damaged their brand, possibly beyond repair (at least for the next 2 to 3 election cycles). As one Republican quietly noted there party was hijacked by a group that had no pilot and they all went down in horrible flames. The pragmatic Republicans are not at all happy and they frankly are scared to death that severe damage has been done to the country (at least in the short term – many businesses, particularly small businesses are already hurting from the shut down – but hey the Tea Party are their friends remember – maybe Cruz or Paul will given them a loan) and the Republican brand has been wounded, by self-infliction.
So here is a hint, first rule in negotiations, when you have a very weak hand (as the Republicans did) either do not bluff or fold quickly to minimize your pain. Let’s face it, the Tea Party doesn’t give a rats ass about the Republican Party, or the Country from what I can see, they care only about raising money and getting re-elected, IMHO.
Rick
hahahahaha! You guys sound like good little serfs. Yes, everything that has gone wrong in the world is the Republicans’ fault, and if we only let wise mr. Obama have his way on everything, all will be right with the world. (note to rick: I’m not a Reagan fan either. That argument won’t work with me.)
Read a history book.
Time to go underground.
Washington DC will never solve America’s problems. Washington DC IS America’s problem.
Dogula: You need to learn to read. McCain a well known Republican publicly (and other non-Tea Partiers) predicted what would happen. The business Republicans are pissed because McCain (and others) were correct and they knew he and others were correct. This was an unnecessary self-inflicted wound. A very small group of nutcases hijacked the party, and killed their effectiveness to negotiate. This is what those Republicans that have been at this for a long time say, I am merely quoting them. It is true, this is not a condition unique to Republicans, Democrats have been self-destructive in the past (remember George McGovern and Dukais), and if parties are smart they learn, brush themselves off and try not to repeat the same mistakes. So either the Republicans will learn, or sink further into irrelevance. The Tea Party is really the enemy of the Republican Party and really only represents an extremely small part of the country. It is time leadership took them out to the woodshed. If that were to happen, the Republicans might become relevant again.
Rick
Oh, I can’t wait for November 2014! Gonna be nice to see the US House of Representatives back in responsible hands again.
Do not patronize me, Ricki. I know how to read. McCain is no friend of mine. Many of us knew this would happen. Doesn’t make it any more pleasant when it actually does.
Yep, I’m ticked. Can you tell? I’m not surprised. You are not smarter than I am, much as you like to think you are.
This is still not a Republican/Democrat issue. This is about the American people being shafted by Washington DC. Again. We are not worthy of the sacrifice our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers made for us, ensuring our liberty. We have spit on it.
McCain was a member of the Keating 5. What’s that tell ya about the guy? Give me a break.
No conservative has trusted him since, and for good reason.
Dogula and CJ: Well you can dislike McCain, but his predictions were spot on. So do you want to keep deluding your self that the Tea Party has a plan (because this last 3 weeks they showed you they had no game plan and no idea how to extract themselves from the mess they created; or form a strategy that has a reasonable chance of achieving your agenda. just admit it, you belong to the torch it all because who cares. I and thank gawd, most Americans believe in compromise and move things positively forward. Some laws I like and some I do not, but I do not and never will advocate burn it all – that is simply crazy talk. The extreme conservatives represent a very small part of the country and I suspect after the last three weeks that will likely shrink even more – they showed they are clueless. But I am sure you will advocate double down. I would sure love to run into you two at the gaming table.
Rick
“You are not smarter than I am, much as you like to think you are.”
OK dawg, no reason to insult Rick like that. I am sure Rick was above the 50th percentile on the GRE/GMAT, or would be if they took it. If you take it and get better than 50th %, I’ll pay for your test plus double the cost as cash.
You never admit that you are wrong and rarely support what you say with facts. And you are wrong more than anyone. When confronted with overwhelming evidence that is contrary to what you believe, you ignore it.
Until you stop being willfully ignorant, you can never be considered to be smart. Smart people know that they are dumb and make a conscious effort to do something about it. The people who don’t even know that they are dumb… are a liability.
You claim you don’t watch Fox News, as if that makes you better. Please links us to your sources. I bet they are worse than Fox.
Fish, next time you have something to add to the conversation besides a personal insult, I might respond to you. Not again till then. Buh-bye.
Cosa: I have three college degrees, my terminal degree is a Ph.D. in science from Berkeley so you do the math as Berkeley rates one of the top University’s in world. So you loose.
Maybe you cannot read, but I regularly provide sources for my arguments. But not my problem since you find yourself in the minority of views about how to advance the country.
It amazes me, that conservatives are challenged by evidence. The statistical evidence was clear for months running up to the election that Romney had a low probability of winning. Poll aggregators like Nate Silver (he relies largely on robust Bayesian Statistical models that he derived – you would know if you ever read them) who predicted all of the races he followed in 2008 but 1 (house, senate, president, governors). Yet, conservative pundits used non-statistical jibberish to convince themselves and their base Romney was a shoe in and they were shocked he lost. Those of us who relied on evidence were not.
All of the smart money predicted this latest fiasco of the Republican party would end badly for them, and it did, they got nothing of substance, except Ted Cruz lined his pocket for a 2016 race that will go nowhere. He (and the Tea Party) had no exit strategy – not a very good negotiator. If you honestly think the Republicans were well served or had a chance to prevail – then you probably scored in the bottom of the bottom quantile. You need to broaden your reading.
So if were you shocked at Obama’s re-election, the fact that this latest fiasco ended badly for the Republicans, so badly the pollster’s had never witnessed a drop in the polls for Republicans this fast and low, ever. So if you were surprised by these events, then I suspect you are either so driven by ideology as to be illogical, or you are not very smart. Not worth my effort to worry which best fits your pathology.
I on the other hand pay attention to those that push evidence whether I like their analysis or not. So whether my ideas or beliefs are supported by the political process or not, I am rarely surprised by the outcome – I may not always be happy, but I already have a good sense of what is likely to occur. If politicians I support are on suicide mission (even if I agree with them in principal) that in the end will compromise the values I hold dear, I let them know and will let others know I believe it is a bad idea. I do not blindly support people that fall more in my camp just because we are like minded. If their strategy sucks, I may be powerless to stop them, and I will let others know it was stupid from the start – just as McCain and many other party leaders noted.
Rick
Smart Republicans are licking their wounds and trying to figure out how not to let whack jobs lead them off the cliff again.
Keep up supporting bad ideas and your ideas will continue to become more irrelevant.
Rick
All I have to say to many of those that comment…only to play the playground games…
Really? Why do you continue to “bite”? All you do is cheapen the site, and yourselves, and turn it into some type of Geraldo Rivera show!
Bring in the bouncers! Or, bring in the clowns!
Take a higher road, express your opinions, based on whatever knowledge/facts you have. But leave the personal attacks out!
Grow up, and clean it up!
Once again the liberals have won and freedom has lost. America will continue it’s decline, private sector will continue to decline, wealth for private sector workers will continue to decline and America’s future will continue to darken.
The evidence is our future. No sense arguing about it, the future will tell use who is right. Will we be better off in a year or worse off… ?
GBA