Quickie--apparently President Obama is holding a news conference any minute...figured some of you might want to follow it...
11:39: Just started w/general comments about the economy sucking, "we're taking steps today to help solve the problems" etc.
11:40: Right now, Congress could send a bill that does this/that/the other to help (infrastructure loans, trade agreements, etc.) because bill A, B, C, D are all pending
11:42: One of the most important/urgent things we can do is cut the deficit, Biden has made a lot of progress in talks w/GOP, but we need to do more
11:43: Now we're gonna have to cut the MILITARY, cut entitlements WITHOUT HITTING MEDICARE/MEDICAID, and TAX BREAKS FOR ULTRA-WEALTHY, OIL COMPANIES, ETC.
11:44: Any agreement will require tough decisions AND balanced solutions; before we fuck kids/old people/disabled/etc, it's not unreasonable to ask the ultrarich/corporations to pony up a few bucks
11:46: I think we have a framework for agreement now (???)
11:47: We will reach a deal
Q&A now
Q1: You say balanced solution, but the GOP are being utter dicks about any tax increase/loophole closing. What's the deal?
A1: Everyone throws meat, but at the end Boehner won't be a boner. If they're serious about cutting the deficit, they'll cave eventually ("call me naive"...um, yeah...)
If everyone else is willing to make sacrifices, why the f*ck won't the ultrarich/oil corporations/etc; if they won't, we can't have a deal.
I'll leave it up to the rest of you guys to fill in the rest of the Q&A if you don't mind...