BREAK NEWS: Obama, Congress fail to reach fiscal cliff deal

[Steel Curtain]

Nice job Obama/congress.

[FOBolous]

Agreed, however the stock market will likely not agree, whether that's correct or not.

Place your bets now, folks - NHL season or financial reform, which will happen first?

yea that's actually one thing i'm looking forward to...i have $$$ ready to buy stocks when everyone panicks and stock prices drop like crazy

[dbroncos78087]

yea that's actually one thing i'm looking for...i have $$$ ready to buy stocks when everyone panicks and stock prices drop like crazy

I was all set to do this before December 21 but I didn't pull the trigger and I'm glad I didn't. But honestly, I think the stock market has figured our politicians ineptness into their prices already.

[ccugrad1]

You are your government. If you don't like it, don't vote for any of them.

I didn't vote for any of them; none of them were worth voting for!

[dbroncos78087]

I didn't vote for any of them; none of them were worth voting for!

So did you not vote?
Or did you vote for all the candidates who lost?
- If so, do you actually think that those candidates would be professional statesmen as opposed to the flopping fish who (like it or not) represent you?

[FOBolous]

I was all set to do this before December 21 but I didn't pull the trigger and I'm glad I didn't. But honestly, I think the stock market has figured our politicians ineptness into their prices already.

lol...yea i don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing

[bootleg42]

As long it's finished by tax time it's not a HUGE deal but who knows if that will even get done

True.

Nothing happens if no deal is done today, or tomorrow, or next week. The whole "fiscal cliff" was a term from a CBO (Congressional Budget Office) report months ago that showed what would happen if the U.S. passed the ENTIRE 2013 without doing something about the gap in the budget.

In other words, if we're still in February, and no "deal" is reached, then nothing bad happens to the population. And if it's not fixed before taxes, then it's no big deal because any deal after tax time means we'll get a refund after on the difference.

Don't let the corporate media (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc) scare you. Most of the reporters you see on TV have no idea what they read off the cue card.

And personally I hope there is no deal for a while. Both Obama and the Republicans want to cut social security and medicare with this "grand bargain". There is no fundamental opposition to cuts in these negotiations. The majority of the population do not want cuts to social spending. So I hope no deal gets done so that some sort of pressure can be put on Obama to NOT cut social security or medicare.

[jayjay33]

THIS is why our country is screwed up. because we're backwards. people get rewarded for failure in all levels of society ranging from lazy people living off of welfare to CEOs of troubled/bankrupted/struggling companies getting "retention raises/packages/pay/bonuses" to our leaders in Congress who pats on themselves on the back for doing nothing by giving themselves raises.

x2

A system that penalizes success and rewards failure is one that cannot work long term.

Yeah we'll neither can one that helps the rich, get richer and tells everyone else to catch the scraps........even though their aren't any.

[jlohm1]

But they all agreed upon giving themselves a raise last week. This country sucks ***....

I think the raises was an executive order by Obama, which means that it wasn't voted on.

Rob Portman posted on facebook "I am calling on President Obama to withdraw his recent Executive Order raising federal salaries -- including for Members of Congress. Until a long-term deficit reduction agreement is reached, we should not consider increasing the pay for Congress."

republican or democrat, I think we could all agree.

[bootleg42]

I think the raises was an executive order by Obama, which means that it wasn't voted on.

Rob Portman posted on facebook "I am calling on President Obama to withdraw his recent Executive Order raising federal salaries -- including for Members of Congress. Until a long-term deficit reduction agreement is reached, we should not consider increasing the pay for Congress."

republican or democrat, I think we could all agree.

Although I don't like the idea of the payraise for those lawmakers, I don't agree that current lawmakers need to make an agreement for long-term deficit reduction, because the deficit is not a problem.

And any "deal" made by both parties (who are in essence just two factions of the same party) would mean cuts to social spending (Social Security and Medicare). That is a big no-no. The population does not want those programs to experience cuts. If there is any "deficit reduction", then it's the population who will suffer, not the 1%.

[grandsalami]

The Associated Press ‏@AP

BREAKING: Senate Democratic aide: White House and GOP reach deal on fiscal cliff.

[jrm2054]

So how does this effect me either way?

[AmsterNat]

Although I don't like the idea of the payraise for those lawmakers, I don't agree that current lawmakers need to make an agreement for long-term deficit reduction, because the deficit is not a problem.

And any "deal" made by both parties (who are in essence just two factions of the same party) would mean cuts to social spending (Social Security and Medicare). That is a big no-no. The population does not want those programs to experience cuts. If there is any "deficit reduction", then it's the population who will suffer, not the 1%.

Totally agree with the bolded above.

I would imagine that 'Federal salaries' includes more than just members of Congress. I would specifically deny raises - hell, I'd cut the bastards - to any members of Congress, until such time as they demonstrate some sense of public responsibility. If word of the last minute deal is true, the Republitards (I use the term advisedly, you know who they are) were just playing chicken with the POTUS again.

To anyone looking on from the other side of the pond, it is beyond incomprehensible that extreme right wing conservatives can literally hold the country to ransom to try and push an agenda that is not only unfair, unreasonable and immoral - to cut social services while maintaining tax benefits for the very rich and for corporations, and while maintaining an obscene 'defense' budget - an agenda that was defeated at the recent election. This means that a majority of those who voted rejected the plans the Republitards have been trying to push.

The 'defense' budget stands at around 700 billion. The US Air Force has nearly 6000 planes of all kinds! The Army has over 6000 M1 battle tanks! What. The. ****????? What do we need 6000 tanks for, and why does Congress vote for funds for more tanks when even the Pentagon says that they don't need any more. What. The ****????

And nobody dares say a word about cutting defense, because then you'd be accused of being un-American, of risking the safety of the country, etc. We could happily make do with a quarter of what we've got now, and even that would be overkill. That would 'save' a trillion in no time.

[GoCrew5]

The Associated Press ‏@AP

BREAKING: Senate Democratic aide: White House and GOP reach deal on fiscal cliff.

Still has to pass the Senate and especially the house. A lot of liberal dems are pissed off. saying Biden and the WH gave in and republicans in house are pissed off because spending cuts aren't in the deal and this just kicks the can down the road to March

[jlohm1]

Although I don't like the idea of the payraise for those lawmakers, I don't agree that current lawmakers need to make an agreement for long-term deficit reduction, because the deficit is not a problem.

And any "deal" made by both parties (who are in essence just two factions of the same party) would mean cuts to social spending (Social Security and Medicare). That is a big no-no. The population does not want those programs to experience cuts. If there is any "deficit reduction", then it's the population who will suffer, not the 1%.

how is the deficit not a problem? they have an obligation to balance their budget.

and there has to be some kind of entitlement reform. it's 70% of the federal budget. I would actually disagree and I think that most people agree that there has to be some kind of entitlement reform.