The Republicans Leadership of the House (well at least the Orange One) have decided to cave on their latest hostage taking excursion. That means that on Friday morning, Boehner will ask fellow Republican House members to support President Obama’s position on the payroll tax cut extension by unanimous consent. If all goes according to plan, then folks will not see their taxes increase, unemployment extensions end and medicare payments to doctors shrink on January 1st.
That is a pretty big “if”.
Afterall, we are talking about the Republican Party and the Tea Party mob that controls it. Just one House Member–seeking to become the new hero of the 27 percenters–could throw the entire game into overtime. All he or she would have to do is object to the motion for unanimous consent. That would extended any final resolution to some time next week when all members of the House would be forced to take a recorded vote on the two month extension.
Now, no sane person, party or movement would do that–but we are talking about the Tea Party–so I think the odds are slightly better than 50/50 that one of their wankers in the House will object and force another week of nonsense before the majority of the House overwhelming votes to support the President. And the person forcing a week of delay will become an instant hero to the wingnuts demanding the crazification of all politics. The base will love it.
And they’ll hate Boehner for his cave.
It is only a matter of time before Cantor and some of the boys surround John to stick in the knives.
So it goes.
Cheers
Triassic Sands
It couldn’t happen to an “oranger” guy.
JPL
It will pass though either Friday or Tuesday. Boehner needs two dozen
sanerepubs to vote with the democratic members. I’d rather an up or down vote just to see who wants to raise taxes on the middle class.Villago Delenda Est
DING DING DING DING DING
The only question is, which sack of offal that has been temporarily shape shifted into a Rethuglican congressman will be the one to do it?
Joe “My Maserati does 185” Walsh? Allan “Sure, I’m black, but that doesn’t mean I’m not apeshit crazy” West? Louis “I can go even lower than whale shit, watch me!” Goehmert?
different-church-lady
That would be a big ole FTFY.
dmsilev
@Villago Delenda Est: There’s an embarrassment of riches to chose from, isn’t there? Well, maybe ‘riches’ isn’t quite the right word.
I’d say that if it *doesn’t* happen then Boehner’s job is safe for the time being. If it does, well…
Edit: Oh, and the proper description for Joe Walsh is “$100K Deadbeat Dad”.
Monkeyfister
They DIDN’T “cave.”
Gods above, this entire “debate” has been an atrociously misrepresented farce.
This has already been a huge win for the Teabaggers and their horrible sponsors. The F.I.R-E Industry is getting some fat SMAK via the FEMA re-workings, The TELCOs are piping it in with all the BS TeleCommunications re-arrangements, and BigEnergy got it’s pipeline from Hell.
They’ll pull out their three Hostage cards later this year.
They only reason the GOP is feeling butt-hurt, is because they were not able to make this completely worthless and destructive Payroll Tax Holiday more hurtful to those of us down here, as they had intended.
Neither the Payroll Tax Holiday, nor any of the GOP’s insane amendments should have been stapled to the extension of Unemployment Insurance and Medicare Payment Legislation.
It’s simply shameful, and these two-month Bills is no way to govern the United States of America.
–mf
Amir Khalid
AboutBetter than even, I would guess. Like you say, the Teabaggers in the House are that childish. They won’t want to miss any chance to throw a big tantrum.Y’know, I kind of envy you guys, sometimes. Most national parliaments don’t come anywhere near this level of nuts.
Schlemizel
I don’t see this hurting Boner any. Sure he made an ass of himself in public but that is not a hindrance in teatardland. If the bosses like him being the majority leader he will be. He survives at least until after next November. If there is a flying spaghetti monster he will be very gracious and step aside & let Cantor be minority leader.
amk
@Monkeyfister: fdl —> That way.
Benjamin Franklin
More like 27 basis points. Teh Tea’s have been the tail waggin the dawg since inception. Their influence has been anachronistic from the outset. They have the half-life of a fruit-fly. They truly are, the Know-Nothing Party of the 21st century, the new Whigs of present-day extincts.
Admiral_Komack
1) I don’t care what the TeaRepublicans say; watch what they do.
2) How long will it take for The Professional Left to:
a-proclaim that Obama caved.
b-go emo.
c-tell Obama how:
0.1-Hillary would have saved the day.
0.2- they would have saved the day.
Not long at all.
kdaug
Bah. Unless the knives are a pair of enchanted legendary glass daggers, the GOP splits.
“Business&ZealotsForTheWin!!!” worked for a while, but many former hardcore Republicans I know personally now call themselves “conservatives”, making note that they’re not Republicans, they don’t really have a party identification, they just have “conservative” principles.
Um-hmm.
You ain’t got a party ’cause you ain’t got a candidate.
Benjamin Franklin
@Admiral_Komack:
You sound UNhappy….
Egg Berry
@Amir Khalid:
What were the national parliaments that had fisticuffs break out over the last decade? At least two, IIRC.
And “Question Time” would be a great addition to the US system.
Monkeyfister
@amk:
Hardly. I don’t even go there. Jane just makes shit up. I suggest you read the two Bills, and see for yourself what the Senate stripped out, and what they left in.
dmsilev
@Amir Khalid:
Well, there are some parliaments that feature the occasional fistfight or all-out brawl. We haven’t descended to that point yet, at least not recently. There was this one episode a hundred and fifty some years ago, but not much since then.
different-church-lady
@Admiral_Komack: Answer: so little time it’s already starting to happen at #6.
dmsilev
@different-church-lady: Even earlier than that. The same poster was making more or less the same claims this afternoon.
amk
@Monkeyfister: you don’t say.
Are you sure you are not jane ?
Admiral_Komack
Benjamin Franklin:
I’m happy for President Obama and the American people (I think the calls to Congresspeople helped).
But the haters will continue to hate.
So, yep, I’m happy.
Benjamin Franklin
@Admiral_Komack:
Just checkin’…
Amir Khalid
@Egg Berry:
And two is way, way fewer than the total number of national parliaments. In America there’s still a year to go for those Teabagger representatives — still time for one or more of them to resort to fisticuffs on the floor of of the chamber. With that lot in office, I wouldn’t dare rule it out.
Admiral_Komack
different-church-lady:
Well, damn.
I’m shocked; SHOCKED, I tell you!
amk
boner’s butt-hurt.
Stay with it till the end.
Mnemosyne
@Monkeyfister:
Shorter Monkeyfister: Fuck the working poor.
Southern Beale
Ah this is all so fascinating, the gamesmanship, the strategery, the behind-the-scenes machinations and the smoke-filled rooms … EXCEPT TO THE FUCKING WORKING PEOPLE FOR WHOM THIS SHIT ACTUALLY MEANS SOMETHING!!!
Swear to fucking God I wish our political system didn’t treat working families like fucking pawns they can push around for their own amusement.
I really hate this country right now. They can all fucking go to hell, every last one of them.
amk
@Southern Beale: churchill
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
amk
@Southern Beale: or Gandhi
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
amk
@amk: or Wilde
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
japa21
I predict it will be Joe “The 100K dead beat dad” Walsh that will throw the monkey wrench in the works. He will then be guaranteed a ton of face time on the tubes. That’s all he really cares about.
Benjamin Franklin
George Carlin;
“The only reason they keep the poor around is to scare the Middle Class enough so they keep going to work”
Liberty60
@Villago Delenda Est:
or Joe “YOU LIE!” Wilson?
Or Virginia Foxx?
Maybe we should start a pool on which Lost Causer will rise up agin’ it.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
I think the end game for the tea party to rescue itself from the corner it painted itself into is the unanimous consent. lets be home for christmas, they can at least sell their most rabid medicare mobsters back home, that they sold out to spend christmas with their families.
Dennis G.
A great quote of the day from Orange John:
Monkeyfister
Hmmm…
$10 bucks a week Payroll Tax Holiday… That $10 goes over into Gross, Taxable Pay… Oh BOY!!! I get ~$8.75!
Gobbless Uncle Sam– that $8.75 SAVED MY LIFE!!!
–mf
Linda Featheringill
Why would the Republicans call for approval by unanimous consent? That would be sooooo easy to mess up.
Isn’t Boehner setting himself up for a failure?
Baud
@Linda Featheringill:
Theory is that Boehner is lousy at his job. Also, maybe he’s hoping none of the tea partiers will actually ruin their Christmas to oppose unanimous consent.
dmsilev
@Linda Featheringill: Besides being, as Baud points out, bad at his job, I think Boehner wanted to push this through without having to get a quorum’s worth of Reps back in town a day or so before Christmas.
Benjamin Franklin
@Monkeyfister:
Well, it won’t buy a Cubano or a shot of Louis XIII…..so, fuck it !
Monkeyfister
But Mortgage Relief is off the table.
ACTUAL Tax Relief is off the table for everyone BUT the Have Mores.
Don’t purposefully try and misinterpret my stance.
This is NOT a proper Tax Cut for the Working and Middle Class. It is WOEFULLY inadequate, and the funds are wrongfully sourced, and wrongfully purposed.
Yea! We get an extra $8.75 in our net pay. Compare that to Jamie Dimon’s Weekly Bush Tax Cut.
–mf
WeeBey
@Monkeyfister:
No, seriously, I mean this, sincerely:
Go fuck yourself with a rusty fucking butterknife.
amk
@Villago Delenda Est: I bet the cowardly teahadists will skip town today claiming they are ‘protesting’ against boner’s cave-in and their clueless voters will buy it.
Mnemosyne
@Monkeyfister:
So, to be clear, you’ve never been so short of cash that $8.75 a week could make a difference to you, so therefore there’s no way that anyone in this country could possibly be that poor.
Mnemosyne
@Monkeyfister:
It’s also the middle of fucking December, and some people in this country need that lousy $8.75 a week so they don’t freeze to death. But fuck ’em, right? They should have planned better.
jl
Current headline story on TPM indicates that next week might be interesting
Consensus of One
In a conference call with House Republicans Thursday, Speaker Boehner took no questions after making it clear to his members that the game was up and they would have to swallow the Democratic payroll tax extension.
At a press conference with reporters just after the call, Boehner admitted he has no assurances that the unanimous consent request will fly — but in a sign that he’s finally laying down the law with his unruly members, he vowed to force them to take an up-or-down vote on the issue next week if they cause any trouble.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/boehner-takes-strong-hand-with-house-gop-after-payroll-tax-meltdown.php?ref=fpa
B W Smith
@Monkeyfister: I think you have misunderstood where the $40 figure came from. The average savings is $1000 per annum. That equals $83 per month. Forty dollars was per pay period, assuming being paid twice a month. Of course, I don’t know why I’m bothering. Just go ahead and carry on with your private meltdown.
Out of curiosity, did you previously go by the name Fed Up in Brooklyn? Your writing style seems familiar and I would understand why you could no longer post under that name.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Monkeyfister:
This bill maintains the status quo on taxes for most people, which is OK. There’s also nothing that raises the top marginal tax rate to 70%, but that doesn’t make this a bad bill.
This counts as a Democratic win whether or not what Dennis is proposing actually occurs, and, if his scenario occurs, it would only further point out how crazy the Republicans have become. And Democrats can wait for Republicans to completely implode, because while this will hurt some families – I remember in the Navy when an extra $20 really meant a lot – it’s not collapsing the US economy bad. Any bill passed will have some sort of retroactive piece attached.
dmsilev
@jl: Can Boehner really force his caucus to do anything? I mean, if we’ve learned nothing else over the last year we’ve learned that Boehner dances to the tune of the Teahadists, not the other way around.
Benjamin Franklin
It is incremental, but a highly symbolic win. The Republicans are in teatotal disarray, and that alone, makes it a good day.
Monkeyfister
@Mnemosyne:
In January of 2003, I was literally two weeks from being homeless with two cats in Michigan. I sold my plasma twice a week (you’re only supposed to give plasma ONCE per week), I went to a different county, where the records hadn’t caught up.
Two days before my rent was due, I got a job offer that forced me to move from Michigan, where all my family is, to the asshole of Tennessee. Lucky me… but I still live close to the margin. 18-months of unemployment took four years to recover from. Those months of worry will never leave me.
But, this Payroll deduction is woefully inadequate, and simply wrong for the future health of our country.
Stop being thick about this.
Eight yers down the road, I fianally make $60K. Big whoop. I’m still a working stiff. Quit with the BS, man. All my life before this job, I was paycheck to paycheck. I am no stranger to being dirt poor.
–mf
Linda Featheringill
Cleek:
You’re wonderful! I finally figured out how to install the pie filter and the results are just great!
hugsandkissesandhugsandkisses
ETA:
Yes, it took me this long to figure it out. Shut up.
Monkeyfister
The only TWO good parts of this Bill are the UI extensions, and the funding for Medicare… But, WHY is a TWO MONTH BILL, with another CRISIS stand-off good for America?
Why does the most simple, most proper Legislation ALWAYS have to become the OK Corral with these Teabaggers? Why must they ALWAYS exact maximum pain from us down here, and from our poor Mother Earth?
Damn. And y’all are hung up over eight cans of beans a week?
When I was down to needing eight cans of beans per week, I started going to the local Food Bank, and learned how to garden. Gardening is what continues to keep my budget together, and I supply the very Food Bank that I helped build in this shitty county, where none of the Mega Churches would provide for one.
Argue all you want for your love of argument.
Two months from now, the Teabaggers are going to have us all right back here, and a year from now, they’ll be setting their hair on fire over funding Social Security.
–mf
Mike in NC
Yes. Not gonna end well for these maggots. Expect that in early 2012 Boehner will resign to “spend more time with my family”.
Raven
@efgoldman: Nah, spelling, punctuation. . .nah.
Raven
@efgoldman: How you doin?
Linda Featheringill
@efgoldman:
monkeyfister = samara?
I disagree. mf is a LOT meaner than samara.
Mnemosyne
@Monkeyfister:
That’s $20K more a year than I make. But here’s the difference between you and me: even when I was broke and unemployed, I wasn’t under any illusion that I was poor. I was broke. The people to whom $10 a week can mean the difference between having heat in December or not are the ones who are poor, not the ones who have to buy cheaper beer.
Monkeyfister
@Mnemosyne:
Oh, for the love of fucking christ– FINE!
You win the “Pauper of the Fucking Year Award.”
Please tell me where to mail that precious, precious eight cans of beans.
Better yet– I’ll mail you a sack of Pole Bean Seeds, and instructions on how to grow your own, so you won’t have to worry where the beans come from.
When I was shit broke, I grew and slaughtered my own chickens and rabbits, and grew my own produce. I STILL do.
If I couldn’t afford the heating bill, I wore sweaters, and wrapped the water pipes.
That $8.75 is NOT going to throw ANYONE out onto the streets, and you’re just arguing to be a fuckhead, now.
–mf
different-church-lady
@Monkeyfister: OK. Fine. Wire me $455 dollars right now. Doesn’t make a scrap of difference, right?
Mark K
Don’t get why your so hacked off at monkeywrencher. He sounds like a genuine, honest dude.
I can sure attest to the months on unemployment/now working living on the margins stuff. We should be marching on DC and spitting on the teabaggers.
dead existentialist
@Mark K:
Douches gotta douche. Why do you think this country is such a pile of offal? Citizenship is dead: It’s all about the Other, and both sides really DO do it. Yar with us or agin us like our last dear leader said.
Omnes Omnibus
@different-church-lady: Give me your bank account info and I “promise” I will send it. I am also a Nigerian Prince.
Jewish Steel
Smells like Wylde.pirate if you ask me. Same kinda red-ass vibe.*
*WP swallowed my first post identical to this one except Wylde’s name was spelled correctly. Maybe someone banned his red-ass. Good.
Mnemosyne
@Monkeyfister:
Uh, no, that’s the exact opposite of my point. I am not poor. And given that you make $20K more than I do, you’re not fucking poor, either.
Giving up cigarettes and buying domestic beer is not going to solve the problems of the poor in America, so shut your fucking piehole.
Mnemosyne
@Mark K:
Because he’s arguing that there’s no possible way that anyone in the US is living so close to the financial edge that having their income suddenly drop by $40 a month would be a disaster for them.
I keep trying to point out that, for a single mother of two who’s wondering how she can feed her kids while they’re home for the holidays and not getting their free school lunch, that extra $40 a month could blow a huge fucking hole in her budget, but apparently all she needs to do is sell some of her plasma and all her problems are solved!
And when it’s 20 below zero in Chicago, just throw on an extra sweater and you’ll be fine.
booch221
I’d rather have a Boner than a little prick like Cantor.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus:
I KNEW IT!!
Joey Maloney
@Monkeyfister:
You guys aren’t even in the top four.
Ian
@Schlemizel:
This is pretty much what I was going to say. Boehner is toast. Eric Cantor simply does not want to be speaker when the Repubs (might*) lose the house. Bad optics and giving ammo to the next person stepping into Cantor’s old job.
*Indications appear friendly to the dems now, but we are still ten months out. A lot could happen.
Also, really really funny that spellcheck wants to correct that as Boner.
Ian
@Monkeyfister:
Frankly, I would rather have SS financed by income taxes than payroll deductions, and think that raising the SS cap would be a meaningful thing.
Do I think its a bad short term strategy to put SS funding on general revenue? Yes, but do I think that it will hurt our future? No.
John M. Burt
@dmsilev: There’s an embarrassment of
richeswretches to chose from, isn’t there?FTFY
DanielX
@Omnes Omnibus: Actually it’s more usual to get those offers from a Nigerian government minister.
And – to add two cents to an already overworked topic – there are a shitload of people out there for whom $40 a month means a lot, even if it’s $8.75 a week after taxes. If you have a very tight budget, that’s a tank of gas to get to work. It’s a bunch of groceries, if you shop at Walmart. It’s prescriptions that you or your kids need to take. If not needed immediately it can be saved for an emergency cash reserve if your car needs a new battery or something. It does make a difference to people who are close to the edge, and I hope it hasn’t escaped anyone’s attention that there are a hell of a lot more people living close to the edge than there used to be.
I don’t mean to diminish anyone’s ingenuity or effort in keeping themselves going, but most people don’t have the means,knowledge or space to keep and slaughter their own rabbits and chicken. Growing your own produce? Possible, if you have the dirt available, and the time to do it, and the space to store your canned produce. Putting on a sweater and wrapping pipes? Great, if you’re an adult. If yoy have, say, a three month old baby at home, 55 degrees inside the house isn’t going to do it unless you want a sick infant and possibly a visit from those nice people at Child Protective Services.
If you’re a single mother with two kids working a low end job, or someone in a two parent household where someone has lost a job and prescription drug coverage with someone in the home who has to take meds or die…well, that money means a lot. So to maintain that forty a month doesn’t make a difference, or shouldn’t, is…unwise. P’raps I’m oversensitive, but it sounds remarkably like the libertarian assholes whose slogan is “I got mine, fuck you.”
different-church-lady
@Omnes Omnibus: Would someone please inform the people of Nigeria that WE’RE ON TO THEIR GAME?
chopper
@Jewish Steel:
monkeyfister is a real person, actually in TN.
BTW monkey, how did the tomato experiment come out?
Ed Drone
The “wheel” of Boehner is missing a panel that should say,
/Mode: Munchkins
“Most Sincerely Dead”
/Endmode: Munchkins
Just saying, is all.
Ed
Feebog
@ Monkeyfister
If you are making 60K a year, your two percent reduction in payroll tax works out to $1200 per Year. That is $23 per week. Yes it will be taxed, but it will still be about $20. Where do you come up with $8.75 a week?