Senate candidates react to debt-ceiling compromise
Congress has reached an apparent compromise on a measure that will raise the federal debt ceiling, likely averting a fiscal crisis that had been feared if the U.S. government would have risked defaulting on its loan obligations.
The reactions of the three top candidates for the U.S. Senate seat representing Virginia up for grabs in the 2012 elections are telling as to how deep the divide is among the two leading political parties.
“While far from perfect, the current approach before Congress maintains economic stability by raising the debt ceiling and enacts important spending cuts that will help preserve our nation’s and Virginia’s credit rating. This is the beginning of a much longer process as we work to rebuild our economy,” Democrat Tim Kaine said.
“After months of pushing our economy to the brink, Washington has yet again failed to deliver a long-term solution to our debt crisis,” said Republican frontrunner George Allen. “This 11th hour deal fails to address the country’s serious fiscal problems, has no concrete Balanced Budget Amendment, and punts the tough decisions to yet another commission while adding nearly a trillion dollars more to our nation’s debt as they deliberate. ”
“I am both angered and dismayed by the total lack of leadership and courage this deal represents. Last week I warned that our biggest mistake would be falling for what I called the Debt Deal Sugar Rush. As I feared, our leaders could not resist, and they struck a deal that provides a temporary and deceptive feeling of relief,” said Tea Party leader Jamie Radtke, a candidate for the Republican nomination.
Radtke pushed a Tea Party talking point – the idea that a balanced budget amendment is needed to “put America back on strong financial footing.” “You can’t vote for a solution that doesn’t solve the problem, especially when it will result in making things worse for Americans,” Radtke said.
Allen, playing to the right flank, also talked up a balanced budget amendment, as he also worked in GOP boilerplate about “job-killing tax increases” that he says are on the horizon.
“Senate Democrats will use this new commission to continue their push for job-killing tax increases as the answer to our country’s problems. And if they fail to reach an agreement, significant cuts will be made to defense spending, risking our troop’s safety and seriously threatening Virginia jobs. Meanwhile, American job opportunities are diminishing, our economy is on a downward spiral, and Americans are paying high fuel prices that are hurting already strained family budgets,” Allen said.
Kaine, parroting President Barack Obama, is the one of the three using the word “bipartisan” without meaning to imply anything in the area of epithet.
“By establishing a joint committee with representation from both parties that is empowered to make additional cuts as well as raise new revenue, Congress has said that they also want a bipartisan and balanced result. And, I sincerely hope that negotiating without the specter of default or economic collapse will result in less partisan maneuvering and grandstanding and more pragmatic solutions,” Kaine said.
“I’m disappointed that my Republican opponents joined the Tea Party in choosing default over bipartisan compromise. As the next U.S. Senator from Virginia, my commitment will be to always put the best interest of the Commonwealth and the nation over politics, as many Members of Congress have done by standing behind this flawed but necessary agreement,” Kaine said.
Webb to GOP: Don’t destroy the U.S. economy in order to save it
Mr. President, I would like to express my support for the Majority Leader’s plan to raise the debt ceiling and reduce the deficit. Our nation, as we all know, faces a looming crisis.
The markets have already warned us. Businesses are already postponing investments. We know the consequences of inaction; they are predictable: Borrowing costs for businesses and individuals will escalate. Interest payments on the debt will grow, and already anemic job growth will decline. Our nation will run the risk of another financial catastrophe and possibly a return to recession. As Chairman Bernanke recently stated, the outcome would be “calamitous.”
Many Americans are struggling. Far too many remain out of work. They cannot be asked to absorb the shockwaves of yet another failure to act. It is time for both sides and both chambers to find common ground.
Reasonable and responsible editorials from across the country have endorsed the Majority Leader’s proposal. Well-meaning people on all sides have shown genuine concern. Most all of us share those concerns about the implications of not acting.
There are in the other party some individuals who view themselves as revolutionaries in the best sense of the word. They appear less concerned with the here and now than with where they want to take the country in the future. We all understand that the two are connected and that looking to the future is vital to the country. The question, though, is the harm that might be caused by precipitous action.
Columnist George Will wrote a column a few days ago likening the Tea Party movement of today to the beginning of the Goldwater-Reagan conservative era–that the Goldwater movement of 1964, even though it did not bring Senator Goldwater to the Presidency, was the first step toward the conservative revolution that culminated in Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980.
Mr. Will wrote, and I am going to quote a couple of sentences, “The Tea Party, the most welcome political development since the Goldwater insurgency in 1964, lacks only the patience necessary when America lacks the consensus required to propel fundamental change.”
Mr. Will goes on to say, “If Washington’s trajectory could be turned as quickly as Tea Partiers wish, their movement would not be as necessary as it is.”
Those are Mr. Will’s words; that is Mr. Will’s considered opinion. That may be so, and it may not be so, but the first rule of good governance is to do no harm. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make cuts. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look toward some of the directions that the debate has taken us. But it means be careful when you are dealing with the fragility of national policy at a time like this. Some things sound better in a speech to a room full of activists than they actually are in the reality of how you govern and the practicality of how you actually bring about change where change is needed.
Senator Goldwater did not attempt to torpedo the economy in order to get his way. Ronald Reagan, in whose administration I proudly served, raised the national debt eighteen times—more than any other president.
I fought in Vietnam as an infantry Marine. I am very proud of that. Those of us who did fight in Vietnam all remember the regretful quote of one infantry officer who lamented that during one battle he had to call in heavy artillery and airstrikes on a populated village, that he had to “destroy a village in order to save it.”
I do not think the Republicans, who are using this issue as a lever to bring about their view of radical change, want to look back at a fractured economic recovery, a downgraded credit rating for the world’s number one economy, a citizenry that has become more angry and less capable of predicting its own financial future, and then say, as if all of this were not predictable, that they destroyed the American economy in order to save it.
Jim Webb is a United States senator. The preceding remarks were taken from a speech made by Webb on the Senate floor on July 27, 2011.
Kaine, Allen talk debt ceiling
George Allen sees the debt-ceiling issue as “leverage” for Republicans heading into the 2012 elections. Tim Kaine has raised issue with Allen on that stance, and on Friday Kaine offered a statement of support for Senate Democrats for their 51-46 party-line vote rejecting the so-called “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan that passed the Republican House earlier this week.
“I applaud the Senate’s rejection of the Republicans ‘All Cuts, No Balance’ legislation,” said Kaine, a Democrat and former governor and presumptive Democratic Party nominee to run for Virginia’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2012.
Allen, also a former governor, is the frontrunner for the Republican Senate nomination in 2012. Allen has offered consistent support for GOP efforts at brinksmanship on the debt-ceiling issue. President Obama and congressional Democratic Party leaders have raised the spectre of the federal government going into default if the debt limit isn’t raised by an Aug. 2 deadline.
Economists have suggested that the absence of a congressional agreement on raising the debt ceiling could also have disastrous effects on the U.S. economy.
“In 11 days, our country will reach its legal debt limit and, absent action in Washington, we will face drastic and lasting economic consequences. It’s time for Washington to put aside ideology-driven legislation like the “All Cuts, No Balance” proposal and do what is right for our nation: raise the debt ceiling to allow government to pay our bills and work toward a balanced approach to reducing spending and reducing the deficit,” Kaine said.
Chris Graham: No way to run a country
This is something that should be pretty simple. Congress has voted more than 70 times since the Reagan administration to raise the federal debt ceiling. Seven such votes were cast in the administration of the previous president.
That it’s all the sudden a sin to do so is politics.
This is no time for politics.
Remember the recession? It’s hard for some to forget. For me, I had to hold on for dear life, scratch, claw and anything and everything else you want to say cliche-wise to make it through. At the depths, I stayed up many nights thinking through what bankruptcy would do to me.
Fortunately we were able to get back on our feet – and actually, we’ve been quite fortunate. From the depths of despair, now it seems that we don’t have enough time in the day most days to do what we need to do.
Again, we’ve been quite fortunate.
So when I read that the silly partisan posturing over raising the debt ceiling could very well push us back to another recession, well, now, I don’t know how that can make any sense.
Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, when you vote, key to your vote, most likely, is which side will do the best job creating and maintaining a stable economy.
The pending default on our debt obligations will push up the cost for the federal government to pay on the national debt. That takes more money out of the economy – for what? Not to go to seniors on fixed incomes, not to go to soldiers and police and emergency personnel keeping us safe.
Not to go to education. Not to go to long-overdue road improvements that keep business moving.
Not to go to creating new jobs.
Nope. It would cover the asses of two groups of people who obviously can’t do what we hired them to do.
Republicans. And Democrats.
Memo to the politicians: You screw this up, and it seems pretty clear that you’re intent on doing just that, you’re done.
Bob Goodlatte – done.
Barack Obama – done.
Mark Warner – we can’t vote on you until 2014, but consider yourself toast.
I think I speak for the vast majority of Americans who don’t care if the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party gets its way, or if the Blue Dogs or liberals in the Democratic Party end up in ascendancy, or what-the-hell-ever. We just want to be able to pay our rent or our mortgage, keep paying the car payments, get groceries at the store, maybe have some extra spending money for something fun to do every so often.
Get the message, powers-that-be? I doubt it. You guys and gals are too busy drafting press releases about how hard you’re working for us to actually get anything done.
This is no way to run a country.
Chris Saxman: The Holy Grail/Gang of Six Edition
The oldest child is set to leave for college in 32 days – *sniff*
My academic recollection from the freshman fall of 1983 is the Monty Python classic movie “The Holy Grail”. Ah, memories. *sniff* One does not develop a working knowledge of such a piece of cinematic brilliance by watching it in a single sitting. Two dozen viewings should not be considered a waste of time as that film skewers most governing political systems and the dialogue must, must mind you, be submitted to memory.
If you have never seen “The Holy Grail”, go now. If you have, please enter the hard drive portion of your brain and ask yourself – just what is the Holy Grail of the United States federal government?
If you answered – money – you are warm. If you answered – spending money – you are getting warmer. If you answered – spending Other People’s Money – you hit that out of the ballpark!
OPM. Other People’s Money.
John’s going to Las Vegas. Before he leaves for the airport, John’s next door neighbor says “Man, I wish I was going to Vegas! You lucky duck! Here’s $250, please play roulette and put it all on red for me. Okay? John takes the money and says “Not a problem – good luck!” John arrives home and his neighbor runs out and asks, “Hey, did I win?” John says “Sorry buddy, you lost. But you had a great steak dinner!”
Oh the view one has of money that one has not earned.
Enter the Gang of Six – Senators Warner (Va), Durbin, Crapo, Chambliss, Coburn and the one I can never remember….Fonzarelli, I think. Anyway, these senators saw the train wreck coming and ordered in some pizza and beer and went to work.
Today the Grand Poobah of the Loyal Order of O.P.M, Barack Obama, blinked and said he supported the Gang of Six plan. This is not a cave, this is a blink. There’s a difference. Blinking means admitting that he had nothing to offer himself so he might as well start with this thing. Not bad since we are at 14 days and counting. Strong. Leader.
I read the executive summary of the GOS plan and I have to admit that I have about 23% understanding of it. It is a substantive policy submission; however, most of it is comprehensible by DC policy wonks and ONLY DC policy wonks.
But it’s a start. The negotiations have begun. The Senate must first actually write up a bill, have it scored by CBO, pass it and send it over to the House for probable, hopefully, amending. Then it goes back to the Senate for acceptance or rejection of the House amendments. A likely committee of conference is appointed and final negotiations occur.
In the mean time, the fundraising industry of DC will be in hyper drive. Every piece of the bill will be used by the affected entities to apocalyptically pronounce the end of the Earth’s rotation which will only be alleviated by a $50 donation which will also get you their latest policy report.
By August 2nd, several things will have occurred. The debt limit will be increased. Some taxes will be raised and some will be lowered. Crisis will be averted. Calmer heads will prevail.
But still.
This should never have gotten to the point at which we are actually thinking that the full faith and credit of America is suspect to the whims of the political machinations of those who seek to govern with the singular philosophy of “See, I Told You So.”
Many hysterical op-ed writers will get the vapors over how X or Y principle has been unalterably compromised. Nothing will be compromised away.
It will be negotiated.
Think about it. How many times to you go to buy something thinking “I am going to compromise to get what I want.”? You don’t. You think, rightfully, that you want to win the negotiations.
Winning, duh.
Who is going to win this show down? The side that first declares victory.
Republicans are still in the minority in DC. They are outnumbered 2 to 1 – President and Senate to House. Political Science is math. They have the advantage.
The GOP have taken this as far as they can. They should amend the bill or start their own that BEGINS the multi year path to balancing a budget that has not been passed in 812 days. If you really think the Democrats are going to cave but so much, you are smoking crack. They have the numbers.
Take what can. Declare victory. We have a lot of work to do in the future. Go Home. Win the Senate and the Presidency. If they want to play chicken with an economy that is creeping back into recession by even thinking about playing roulette with the full faith and credit of the United States, then they will forfeit any chance of future successes.
We didn’t get into this mess overnight and it won’t be solved in the next fortnight.
Let’s keep the momentum toward fiscal sanity going. Declare victory. Show the American people you can make progress. Repeat.
Right now, as in the Holy Grail, Camelot is a silly place.
It’s only a model.
Cold Fusion Holy Grail prediction – for the same reason that the NFL season will start soon – there is too much money and power for a deal NOT to be done. The difference with the NFL and DC? In the NFL, it’s either the owners or the players money. In DC? It’s OPM – so this thing will go down to the wire.
Set your office pools for a July 31st or August 1st for a budget deal to get done. NFL practices will have started several days before.
Other People’s Money.
Column by Chris Saxman
The AFP on WREL: Politics talk
AFP editor Chris Graham talks news and politics with WREL-1450AM’s “Online with Jim Bresnahan.”
The segment begins with talk on the ongoing negotiations in Congress over the national debt ceiling. Chris gives insight into a conversation that he had with Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican who seems more focused on the importance of getting the deal done and what a done deal can mean for business. That is the approach that many on both sides of the aisle seem to favor, Chris says, given the economic uncertainty of the time.
A review of campaign-finance numbers in the Virginia Senate race and then a switch of gears to talk a little Valley League baseball wrap us up.
Chris Saxman: Cold Fusion-Bull Durham Edition
After sitting in the stands for a doubleheader between the Pirates and the Nationals, one becomes keenly aware that the only thing that works in DC is professional baseball.
Everything pretty much to the west of the functionally unimpressive Nationals stadium can be summed up by the scene in Bull Durham where veteran minor leaguer Crash Davis coaches his coach to scare the underperforming Durham Bulls.
The coach takes an arm full of bats and throws them into the shower/locker room and reels off this little gem to the scared young ballplayers.
“You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? (quick snap turn to assistant coach Larry) Larry!”
Larry “Lollgaggers”
Coach (disgustedly) “Lollygaggers”
Baseball is a game in which the rules and the field are close to perfection. During a doubleheader, one is treated to many routine ground balls, fly outs and close to 600 pitches. After awhile one comes to the inescapable conclusion that the people who laid out the field, made up the rules, the equipment and the stadiums did so with the game in mind. The product. Over the decades and generations, fads and trends come and go but the game lives on because it is bigger than the players, owners or, yes, even the fans.
Granted someone has to play and watch the game and it has become a very large business, but baseball simply works. Just watch how close so many routine infield ground outs are. How close strikes and balls really are. How much a fastball moves.
So when steroids or a designated hitter or aluminum bats are inserted into the game, the game changes. Dramatically. Headquarters thinks that the designated hitter rule’s only true value to the game is its demonstration of its devaluing of the game. Translated – it shows that it is unnecessary and actually weakens the game. Think Roger Clemens and Nolan Ryan would throw that hard on the inside part of the plate if they had to stand in the batter’s box in the next inning? Ryan probably would – he was just that mean.
Your reality changes when you have to stand in the box and be two feet from where a 95 mph fastball is about to be thrown with tremendous precision.
So when a team plays with the “joy and verve” (Annie Savoy quote about the Durham Bulls) that the Pittsburgh Pirates have, the world is better. The Pirates have not had a winning season in 18 years. Yes, in a row. For me, that’s B.C. Before Children.
Now, everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – in baseball knows that in order to WIN in baseball you need two things. Just two. Say it with me….pitching and….right, defense.
Every playoff season, the television and radio audience is treated to the former players who call the games and say “you know, it’s going to come down to pitching and defense.” For some reason it’s never “defense and pitching”, they always say the word pitching first and then say defense. Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Peanut butter and jelly. Bacon and eggs. Speeding and ticket. Drunk and stupid. No secrets here.
Government and….3…2….1…..spending.
In August, the federal government will have $300 billion in bills it has said it would pay. The problem is revenue is only expected to be about $170 billion. Ooops.
Now, the people who spend their days actually trying to get elected to solve the nation’s problems and/or prevent them in the first place have not balanced a budget but 12 times since 1940. No one player or team is at fault here – which is the genius of that game.
The Senate has not passed a budget in over 800 days but apparently the guy who chairs the committee whose sole job is to pass a budget for the federal government to operate thinks, okay…okay, believes that the people in America who actually pay federal income taxes need to pay $2,000,000,000,000.00 more. Annually. We need to pay more every year according to the people who are afraid to pass a budget for the last two years.
Lollygaggers.
Let’s see, we are short $130,000,000,000.00 next month, right? Okay. So it’s decision time. The President said to those of us who already eat our peas that we need to “eat your peas.” We eat right, exercise, pay our taxes, employ people, drive not more than 10 miles over the posted limit and get tipsy when the Pirates, Steelers or Penguins win but in the comfort of our homes in which we are paying our mortgage.
Yes, we eat our peas. The problem for the Lollygaggers is that come August they have to decide between paying the mortgage and making the people who voted for them eat peas. Had we not gone so disastrously into debt to pay for government operations, we would not have to decide between paying the bank and funding basic operations.
A balanced budget requirement would solve this problem. Like pitching and defense in baseball, taking in more than you spend in government works.
But like Nuke Laloosh, the gifted rookie pitcher Crash Davis is training for the Show, the lollygaggers like striking out their opponents. Older, wiser Crash teaches him to pitch ground balls. Why? Strikeouts are fascist and ground outs? They’re more democratic.
The Pirates ERA has dropped considerably because their pitching coach is having them pitch to contact which creates more ground balls and fly outs. Now, they are winning.
Democracy, like baseball, is a beautiful organism when the basic rules are applied.
The problem in DC is that the basic rules are ignored, thrown out or amended into a state of complexity that demands stasis for mere survival. In baseball, it’s called lollygagging.
It’s time to get back to basics. Pitching and Defense. Spend less. Pay off debt. Diet and exercise. No more continuing resolutions. Pass a budget. Stop policing every corner of the world. Incentivize manufacturing. Wealth creation is good. Greed is bad. Greek yogurt good. Greek fiscal model bad.
He chose universal health care in a massive recession. They said “wrong choice”
They said “listen” and he said, “yeah, to me….eat your peas.”
And they said “Next”.
Larry?
Lollygagger.
Column by Chris Saxman
The AFP on WREL: Politics talk
Posted by afp on July 31, 2011 · Leave a Comment
The segment begins with a look at the ongoing federal debt-ceiling stalemate. Will the two sides come to a compromise? Chris offers his insights.
The segment wraps with a look inside the latest poll numbers in the Virginia U.S. Senate race. Tim Kaine has opened a small lead over George Allen. Chris takes us inside the numbers to explain why.
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