obama scoffs at Gop Proposal to save 4.6 Trillion in cuts

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House GOP Propose $4.6 Trillion in Cuts to Obama

Monday, 03 Dec 2012 03:49 PM

By Newsmax Wires

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House Republicans, rejecting President Barack Obama’s demand for tax rate increases, offered a $4.6 trillion deficit reduction plan today that doesn't raise tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.

The proposal is based on a framework from a year ago outlined by Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, one of President Obama's debt commission chairs, and includes an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare benefits, likely to age 67.

"What we're putting forth is a credible plan that deserves consideration by the White House," Boehner told reporters.

Editor's Note The IRS’ Worst Nightmare — How to Pay Zero Taxes
The proposal, contained in a letter today to Obama from House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican leaders, calls for $800 billion in new revenue over the next decade. It would also cut spending on entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid by at least $900 billion and save another $300 billion through cuts in discretionary spending, according to the letter to Obama.
The House Republican leaders also proposed saving $200 billion by revising the way cost-of-living increases are calculated for Social Security recipients and others, such as retired federal workers.

The White Houre swiftly fired back that the plan "does not meet the test of balance," and that Republicans were clearly not "serious" about averting the fiscal cliff.

"Their plan includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close or which Medicare savings they would achieve," he said. "While the president is willing to compromise to get a significant, balanced deal and believes that compromise is readily available to Congress, he is not willing to compromise on the principles of fairness and balance that include asking the wealthiest to pay higher rates ... Until the Republicans in Congress are willing to get serious about asking the wealthiest to pay slightly higher tax rates, we won't be able to achieve a significant, balanced approach to reduce our deficit our nation needs."

After days of stalemate, the Republicans' offer showed deep differences with President Barack Obama as the two sides work to head off across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases due to take effect in January.
But the proposal could allow negotiators to begin their work in earnest as both sides now have outlined their visions in concrete terms. Analysts say the talks will have to show tangible progress this week to ensure that a deal can be signed into law before the end of the year.
"If you are agreeable to this framework, we are ready and eager to begin discussions about how to structure these reforms so that the American people can be confident that these targets will be reached," Boehner, of Ohio, and several other House Republican leaders wrote in a letter to Obama. The Republican proposal would overhaul the complicated U.S. tax code to raise $800 billion in new revenue over 10 years, roughly half the total Obama is seeking.
But the Republicans said they would oppose raising tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent of U.S. households, a central element of Obama's proposal.
The plan would also trim government healthcare costs by $600 billion over a decade, $250 billion more than Obama proposed in his opening bid last week.
It would slow the growth of cost-of-living increases on federal benefits by $200 billion by changing the way they are calculated and cut other government spending by $600 billion.
Using the White House's accounting methods, the Republican proposal would reduce annual budget deficits by $4.6 trillion over 10 years, within shouting distance of the $4.36 trillion in savings proposed by Obama.
But the relative similarity of the headline number masks stark differences in how those savings would be achieved.

Editor's Note The IRS’ Worst Nightmare — How to Pay Zero Taxes
MUTUAL DISTRUST
The cuts proposed by Republicans are sure to face fierce resistance from Democrats, who are still smarting over $1.1 trillion in cuts that Republicans extracted in a budget deal last year.
And Obama has insisted that he will not sign any deal that does not raise taxes on the wealthiest households -- a step Republicans have resisted so far, even as they expressed a new willingness to reconsider the anti-tax stance that has defined the party for decades.
Negotiators must overcome more than just mutual distrust as they work toward a deal in coming weeks. While some business leaders and grassroots groups are urging Washington to craft a "grand bargain" that would put federal finances on a sustainable course, lawmakers also face a more immediate lobbying blitz from groups that worry that any deal could decimate favored federal programs.
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist has been in the spotlight as he pressures Republicans to stick by a pledge many have signed to oppose any tax increases.
On the other side of the ledger, industry groups are scrambling to protect spending on everything from education to defense and scientific research. Liberal groups have mobilized to protect popular federal health and retirement programs.
"Everyone wants something to happen before the end of the year, but what's more important than having something happen is having the right thing happen," said Nancy Altman, co-director of Social Security Works, a coalition of liberal and labor groups.
"A bad deal is worse than no deal at all," she said.
Editor's Note The IRS’ Worst Nightmare — How to Pay Zero Taxes
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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Two pictures worth a billion words ... Thanks Dr. H.

2 Pictures worth a Billion Words!!

 

The spoon ... Thanks good friend, Anon Ymous

A lesson on how consultants can make a difference in an
organization. Very Impressive! Last week, we took some
friends to a new restaurant, 'Steve's Place,' and noticed
that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his
shirt pocket.

It seemed a little strange.
When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I observed
that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket.

Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons
in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our
soup I inquired, 'Why the spoon?'

'Well,' he explained, 'the restaurant's owner hired Andersen
Consulting to revamp all of our processes. After several
months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the
most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop
frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour.

If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the
number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours
per shift.'

As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it
with his spare. 'I'll get another spoon next time I go to
the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right
now.' I was impressed.

I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the
waiter's fly.

Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same
string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I
asked the waiter, 'Excuse me, but can you tell me why you
have that string right there?'

"Oh, certainly!' Then he lowered his voice.
'Not everyone is so observant.
That consulting firm I mentioned also learned that we can
save time in the restroom.

By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can
pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to
wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by
76.39%. I asked quietly, 'After you get it out, how do you
put it back?' 'Well,' he whispered, 'I don't know about the
others, but I use the spoon.'

Thanks Mr. Shover

 Inner Peace: This is so true

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without alcohol,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then You Are Probably
The Family Dog!

Sunday clothes ... Thanks Mary K. and the Deemers

Subject: Sunday Clothes

 

 

 

Too cute..... The sweet innocence of a child... Lord please help us to raise our children to want to be pure.....

 

 

 

"Sunday clothes" 

 

A little boy was walking down a dirt road after church one Sunday afternoon when he came to a crossroads where he met a little girl coming from the other direction.           'Hi,' replied the little girl. 'Where are you going?' asked the little boy. 'I've been to church this morning and I'm on my way home,' answered the little girl. 'I'm also on my way home from church. Which church do you go to?' asked the little boy. 'I go to the Baptist church back down the road,' replied the little girl. 'What about you? '             'I go to the Methodist church back at the top of the hill,' replied the little boy.   They discover that they are both going the same way so they decided that they'd walk together. They came to a low spot in the road where spring rains had partially flooded the road, so there was no way that they could get across to the other side without getting wet.   'If I get my new Sunday dress wet, my Mom's going to skin me alive,' said the little girl. 'My Mom'll tan my hide, too, if I get my new Sunday suit wet,' replied the little boy. 'I'll tell you what I think I'll do,' said the little girl. 'I'm gonna pull off all my clothes and hold them over my head and wade across.' 'That's a good idea,' replied the little boy. 'I'm going to do the same thing with my suit.'       So they both undressed and waded across to the other side without getting their clothes wet. They were standing there in the sun waiting to drip dry before putting their clothes back on, when the little boy finally remarked:       'You know, I never realized before RIGHT NOW just how much difference there really is between a METHODIST and a BAPTIST!

Krauthammer- Republicans still have some leverage

Benjamin Marrison is a decent man and a fine editor of the Dispatch.  Sam Kegley aka SamKat

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Republicans still have some leverage

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Sunday December 2, 2012 5:02 AM

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Why are Republicans playing the Democrats’ game that the “fiscal cliff” is all about taxation?
House Speaker John Boehner already made the pre-emptive concession of agreeing to raise revenues. But the insistence on doing so by eliminating deductions without raising marginal rates is now the subject of fierce Republican infighting.
Where is the other part of President Barack Obama’s “balanced approach”? Where are the spending cuts, both discretionary and entitlement: Medicare, Medicaid and now Obamacare (the health-care trio) and Social Security?
Social Security is the easiest to solve. So you get a sense of the Democrats’ inclination to reform entitlements when Dick Durbin, the Senate Democrats’ No. 2, says Social Security is off the table because it “does not add a penny to our deficit.”
This is absurd. In 2012, Social Security adds $165 billion to the deficit. Democrats pretend that Social Security is covered through 2033 by its trust fund. Except the trust fund is a fiction, a “bookkeeping” device, as the OMB has written. Future benefits “will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public or reducing benefits or other expenditures.”
And draining the Treasury, as 10,000 baby boomers retire every day. Yet that’s off the table. And on Wednesday, the president threw down the gauntlet by demanding tax increases now — with spending cuts to come next year. Meaning, until after Republicans have fallen on their swords, given up the tax issue and forfeited their leverage.
Ronald Reagan once fell for a “tax now, cut later” deal that he later deeply regretted. Dems got the tax; he never got the cuts. Obama’s audacious new gambit is a raw partisan maneuver meant to neuter the Republicans by getting them to cave on their signature issue as the hold-the-line party on taxes.
The objective is to ignite the kind of internecine warfare on taxes now going on among Republicans. And to bury Grover Norquist.
I am not a Norquistian. I don’t believe the current level of taxation is divinely ordained. Nor do I believe in pledges of any kind. But Norquist is the only guy in town to consistently resist the Democrats’ stampede for ever higher taxes to fund reckless spending.
The hunt for Norquist’s scalp is a key part of the larger partisan project to make the Republicans do a George H.W. Bush and renege on their heretofore firm stand on taxes. Bush never recovered.
Why are the Republicans playing along? Because it is assumed that Obama has the upper hand. Unless Republicans acquiesce and get the best deal they can right now, tax rates will rise across the board on Jan. 1, and the GOP will be left without any bargaining chips.
But what about Obama? If we all cliff dive, he gets to preside over yet another recession. Sure, Republicans will get blamed. But Obama is never running again. He cares about his legacy. You think he wants a second term with a double-dip recession, 9 percent unemployment and a gridlocked Congress? Republicans have to stop playing as if they have no cards.
Obama is claiming an electoral mandate to raise taxes on the top 2 percent. Perhaps, but remember those campaign ads promising a return to the economic nirvana of the Clinton years? Well, George W. Bush cut rates across the board, not just for the top 2 percent. Going back to the Clinton rates means middle-class tax increases that yield four times the revenue that you get from just the rich.
So give Obama the full Clinton. And with what also lies on the other side of the cliff: 28 million Americans newly subject to the ruinous alternative minimum tax.
Republicans must stop acting like supplicants. If Obama so loves those Clinton rates, Republicans should say: Then go over the cliff and have them all.
And add: But if you want a Grand Bargain, then deal. If we give way on taxes, we want, in return, serious discretionary cuts, spelled-out entitlement cuts and tax reform.
Otherwise, strap on your parachute, Mr. President. We’ll ride down together.
Charles Krauthammer writes for the Washington Post Writers Group.
letters@charleskrauthammer.com

Rick Majerus Passed Away Yesterday ... KSR

Kentucky Sports Radio

University of Kentucky Basketball, Football, and Recruiting news brought to you in the most ridiculous manner possible.

[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]

December 1, 2012

Rick Majerus’ Saturday Night Notes

by Ally Tucker @ 11:06 pm. Filed under Blue Blooded Opinions

College basketball lost one of the good ones today. Following a well-documented struggle with his health, Rick Majerus passed away today at the age of 64. Majerus was one of those rare combinations as a coach: the kind that has a brilliant understanding of the game– labeled by some as a masterful tactician, but also is well-liked across the board by nearly everyone he has come in contact with. Throw in to the mix a sharp sense of humor and ability to even poke fun at himself at times, and you have a man who will be genuinely missed on this earth, especially in college basketball circles. Those who knew him well loved him for his magnetic personality and deep passion for the game of basketball.
Majerus had a few notable coaching stops in his storied career, including Marquette (his alma mater), Ball State, Utah and Saint Louis. Kentucky fans feel a connection to Majerus in large part due to the fact that his Utah team was Kentucky’s opponent in the 1998 national championship game. Beyond that moment in time, Majerus generally spoke highly of Kentucky whenever given the opportunity. A basketball junkie, Majerus appreciated the rich history and tradition wrapped around Kentucky.
Rick Majerus was never one to pass up an opportunity to provide a gem of a quote. Majerus had some of the greatest quotes, many of which have been circulating in remembrance of his life. Below are a few of his best. Rest in peace, Rick Majerus.  Click here to read a whole list of great Majerus quotes. 
“Never marry a beautiful woman. A beautiful woman will leave you. An ugly woman will leave you, too, but so what?”
About his exercise routine…
“I like to bike. I could beat Lance Armstrong, only because he couldn’t pass me if he was behind me.”
On coaching college vs. the NBA…
“I like practice, I love teaching, I love to see a kid get a degree and an education. I enjoy the college campus. I love the theater in our campus. I like the campus life. There’s a travel club on our campus, and I’ll go to those lectures. In an NBA player’s life, how can you make a difference? I mean, you might be able to make a little bit of a difference, but I think I’ve impacted all my players more than any pro coach they’ve ever played for — both from a basketball standpoint, but more importantly, from a lifestyle standpoint. (Keith) Van Horn just asked me to be the godfather for his baby. It was fun to sit through Andre (Miller’s) graduation, to see his mom smile. It was fun to see Hanno (Mottola) come from Europe and realize his dream. It was fun to see Drew Hansen get in Stanford Law School. The other night, one of my players had a really bad family problem and I really did enjoy offering a perspective on it and seeing if I could help him out. A lot of people that are very wealthy throw money at their problems, but it’s fun to help them work through it. I love the fans and the college students. I like the alumni association deal. I like the rah-rah and all that. I like the band rather than that fabricated music. I like the fact that we have students that are cheerleaders that really care, as opposed to a dancing girl team of hired mercenaries.”