Maybe a day to celebrate, but then take it out on the road. With Afghanistan, the Middle East, China, European debt and a plethora of problems looming on the world horizon, he needs to leave....go deal with international concerns....right away. Reasoning below the fold:
Let's face it, our "do nothing Congress" has left Mr Obama unable to get anything done in the past two years. There sole purpose has been to make Obama a one term President. Oh, and abortion too. No Jobs Act, no Dream Act, no mortgage refinancing deal, no funding for an already watered down Dodd-Frank, no way to raise revenue. All we hear is MORE TAX CUTS FOR THE JOB CREATORS and UNLEASH THE CAPATILISTS and SOCIALISM etc etc.
Here's the thing...it all gets done on it's own in the lame duck session and in the first few weeks of a new Congress...Democrat or Republican control...it doesn't matter, it all gets done. It's baked into the cake and it's the Republicans that have done the baking. The R's are the ones that set the Bush tax cuts to automatically expire. The R's are the ones that would not pass a new budget without untenable, draconian cuts contained in the budget sequestration agreement.
The Bush tax cuts expire on January 1st!
The Budget Sequestration Agreement goes into effect in mid/late January by most estimates.
That's it! Done deal!
Oh but wait you say, if budget sequestration were to be enacted in it's current form how would we deal with the huge cuts in social services such as Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, education programs, rental assistance for the poor, nutrition programs for women and children etc etc? The cuts are real and they're no joke.
Well, take heart because these massive cuts also include such items as $1.2 billion in cutbacks to embassy security, and we all know how important that is to the R's, at least right now. Also $7 billion to the Army and $4+ billion to the Navy. Cut's of more than $800 million to Customs and Border Patrol and while we're at it an additional cut of $33 million to the budget for the border fence.
To quote Rep Chris Van Hollen
It is the American people who will pay the price for Republican intransigence.
He's right! But more specifically, it's the American people on both sides of the aisle.
Here's Jeff Sessions-
It is time for the president and Senate Democrats to follow the example of the House and present a plan to remedy these unbalanced and dangerous defense cuts.
You see, the cake is already baked. The Bush tax cuts WILL end and the sequestration cuts WILL go into effect. This is guaranteed to awaken the masses, including Senator De Mint's yammering yoyos. You know, the "GET YOUR STINKIN GOVERNMENT HANDS OFF OF MY MEDICARE" crowd. But who will scream the loudest? Will it be the 47% that are nothing but moochers and a drag on the American economy? Possibly, but who are the worst of these lousy moochers anyway? Well, as it turns out, most of them are...wait for it...that's right...
Senator De Mint's yammering yoyos The southern states have always been the biggest recipients of our federal tax dollars by far. Consequently, they are the biggest part of the 47%.
During the lame duck session the Congress is going to get an earful. The cuts to social programs will affect the most fragile in our society almost immediately. The burden will be on the middle class and our religious institutions to help the vulnerable make it through. We may even get some 1%'rs to help out...okay, probably not. The protests will be loud and threatening. But make no mistake, the R's will be just as much or more of a target from the 47% as the D's will, and we know how De Mints yammering yoyos can scream. Oh, and can you imagine how unhappy our BIG PORK defense contractors will be. No more shiny new billion dollar toys to build. But the D's will have all of the leverage, unless of course we choose to give it away and start negotiating from a position of weakness...we are Democrats after all.
We basically have a chance to hit the reset button on this whole sordid mess. No more months long extensions, no more tea bagger blackmail. A GOOD grand bargain, one that is both magnificent in style and ambitious in scope, is one achieved from a position of strength, not weakness. A GOOD grand bargain is something to be proud of, not settled for. So please Mr Obama, get out of town. Or hide in the situation room. Hmm, Christmas and New Years in Hawaii. Mele Kalikimaka!! Once the Bush tax cuts have expired and the sequestrations have kicked in, negotiations will take place at warp speed, because the pressure from constituents will be immense. But this time they will proceed from a position of strength, not weakness. The R's in Congress know they own this mess and that it must be fixed quickly! Good and deserving people will be made whole again because we all know that no agreement in DC ever happens without taking place RETROACTIVELY.
In the meantime Senator Reid (my senator), how about this pesky secret filibuster and forced cloture vote thingy. You know, the one that let's a minority of Senators play the majority of citizens like a cheap fiddle, all the while hiding behind a veil of secrecy.
I'm a lurker on DKOS, writing my first Diary so please be kind. I haven't yet mastered the ins and outs of all this. Thanks for listening.
Thu Nov 01, 2012 at 12:30 PM PT: I just read the transcript of President Obama's interview on Morning Joe. He said "I truly believe that if we can get the deficit and debt issues solved, which I believe we can get done in the lame-duck or IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE LAME DUCK(caps are mine), then that clears away a lot of the ideological underbrush,". Could this be a sign that he IS ready to let the Bush Tax Cuts expire and the sequestrations take effect? Heck, just the fact that he acknowledges that there is life after the lame duck session seems to be a step in the right direction. A little stronger tone maybe? Go Bronco Bama!!