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Obama’s (dumb) Line in the Sand
So both Boehner and Obama have done their post election photo ops. They have spelled out their positions on the looming fiscal cliff. No surprises at all. The Republicans are saying “No” to any increases in tax rates while Obama has said he will outright veto any bill that is presented to him that does not raise taxes on rich folks.
I was surprised by the reaction in the press to the positions set forth by these two. The headlines make it seem like B&O are ready to work together, and achieve the necessary compromises to avoid falling off a cliff. I think the press has it wrong. We’re headed into a bitter fight; in part, because the President has drawn a very dangerous line in the sand.
The President has said that the recent election has shown that the majority of American’s want the rich to pay more in taxes. What is the President insisting on? Is he pushing for something that would make a difference? I don’t think so. More importantly, the Congressional Budget Office does not agree with the President’s position.
The CBO put out a report on this topic last week. It spelled out the consequences of an increase in the tax rate for those making over $250,000 (versus reversing all of the Bush tax cuts). It does not add up to much.
The tax that Obama wants to increase will result in a lousy $42Bn in 2013 and $38Bn in 2014 according to the CBO. That’s peanuts to a government that spends $3.6T a year. The tax increase that Obama is insisting on comes to three days of spending.
No tax increase comes without a cost. The CBO evaluated the implications of raising the taxes on those making $250k and up. The consequences to both GDP and jobs:
Raising high end taxes will reduce GDP growth by .1% and will result in 200,000 less workers finding jobs. It will do these bad things by the 4th Q of 2013. Some context for these numbers:
The .1% drop in GDP translates to $16Bn less growth in 2013. On average, the government takes in about 20% of GDP, so the drop in GDP relating to the tax increase will translate into a shortfall in revenue of $3.2Bn.
The tax increase mandated by the President will translate into 200,000 less jobs for 2013. If the people who did not find work as a result were forced to stay on unemployment it would cost the government $4.6Bn.
So Obama’s “must have” tax increase will generate $42Bn in revenue, but it will cost ~$8Bn. The Obama's plan is to decrease the deficit by about $34Bn in 2012, and by less than that in future years. These numbers are beyond chump change. It comes to 0.9% of total spending and just 3.0% of the deficit. It does not move the needle at all.
My conclusion is that we are in for a fight. Talk of compromise and “coming together for the good of the country” is just noise. The President is insisting on a tax increase that will not achieve anything of substance. Obama has drawn a very visible line in the sand over this issue. I can’t imagine how the House Republicans will go along with it. The President’s opening position on how to work through the fiscal cliff is about politics, not economic substance.
Get ready for a failure in these negotiations. We are going to fall off of that cliff in 53 days!
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yep touche
just got back from reading the links...
obamesque on my part
Orly, your comment is one of he most interesting that I have read anywhere on this site and completely trumps the content of Bruce's article which usually isn't easy to do. I read your URL reference, and previously had read Griffins tome on the FED. The latter was the eye opener for me. I usually believe that one should not invoke conspiracy when simple incompetence will suffice, but I'm starting to change my view. If you see the same pattern over and over eventually its a bit hard to ignore.
Have any of you peps read 13 bloodlines of the illuminati
JWB is in there among others that Orly speaks of. Of whom I am in 99% agreement with.
These effers are straight up Satanic. Black magik is real. Satan is real. GOD is real.
...end of transmission
Thanks, JC! There's more, more, so much more! Explore. You'll be amazed.
Excellent posts Orly! Do you perchance know Visable?
Sorry, I am not familiar...
www.smokingmirrors.blogspot.com
It is commonly believed that government can't accomplish anything right. However, according to a lot of the comments here, they do conspiracy VERY well. Either one or the other is true. Perhaps we could just chalk all this crap up to incompetence rather than conspiracy? The simplest solution is usually the correct one.
Not exactly. The "Network" is a very tight bunch of highly skilled and highly organised operatives who know how to keep secrets.
The people at the DMV, not so much.
You're either a genius, or need to stop smoking the pipe.
Given the inability for a secret involving more than 20 people to stay a secret (often times, the bar is much lower than that), I know where I put my money.
That being said, you should write a book and a movie script based off of said book.
No sarcasm. You'd be a millionaire.
But we're not talking about the rumour about how much money I make circulating around the water-cooler or who the boss is having sex with. We're talking about gung-ho killers who are running billions and billions of dollars of guns, drugs and money to and fro around the globe.
A lot more than twenty people can keep a secret, believe me. I mean, they know where my grandchildren live.
So there are much, much bigger incentives to keep quiet. Besides, they're called "spooks" for a reason.
And if you think I am smoking dope, please just have a look at the links, follow the ties in all of them and make up your own mind. Do a little research and you'll see I am not so high after all. Besides, many books have already been written on this stuff. It's just that no one pays attention. We just need a few more to understand this and it becomes a groundswell. We really are close to blowing the lid off of all of it.
Orly, your post correlates with much of my own research, done post-911 as well, arising from a life-long distrust of anything to do with saluting a flag, of any "state"
what is genuinely surprising to me is that there is so little response to your brilliant post, here, where folks believe themselves to be red-pilled. it's mind-boggling to acknowledge the empathy with the narrative apparent, as lines are being drawn in minds. even given the "election year" divisiveness, it's not what I expected to read on ZH, thread after thread. . .
"do a little research" indeed.
thanks for taking the time to post yours.
The problem, CA, is one that I've been stating for some time now. And that problem is that fully 80% of the US (and probably world) population are functional morons. No matter what you show them by way of evidence, they will not be persuaded that they are being shammed. Or, they'll believe it, but they won't care to do anything about it because they have the millstones of debt, payments, and posessions around their necks, and they would rather sink like rocks to the bottom than to risk shedding that weight.
When the morons do take a little time to do some research, all it takes is for one or two snarky gov't shills to make some "tinfoil hat" or "rightwinger fantasy" comments, and they just drop the whole thing and go back to the herd. Anything that doesn't fit the official narrative, is just crazy talk.
Those of us who have come to know the truth, but don't elucidate well enough to really make our case to the sheep end up in small, like-minded, preaching to the choir groups (like ZH) that can never gain enough traction to make a difference. What's worse, is that there is no where to escape to, except for a few extremely wealthy folks, who by way of their wealth are pretty much free anywhere.
You're very welcome. There may be little in the way pf response or green arrows but hopefully, there are a few more people enlightened today than yesterday. And if they tell two friends and they tell two friends...well, we'd all have great hair!
while I agree with your response here, I wasn't really referring to upvotes or even positive replies. . . I was making reference to your "enlightened" mention, in that it would be great to see more folks adding to THIS type of discussion vs. false voting memes or support of .gov with caveats, or lateral lines being drawn in the hate-stakes.
but yeah, it's still good to see critical thinking make it to the threads!
peace.
Orly i did not bother to green arrow you because you deserve a hell of a lot more than me clicking a button to express my appreciation for the time and effort you put into this thread. Thanks so much for the insight.
Hey, fonz! That's kinda what I figured, too.
How's thing's? Got power? Got in-laws?
yes and unfortunately yes :)
this free preview of your findings you have been kind enough to provide us with all came post 9/11?
You mean since I figured it out? Yes. I said to myself, "Osama binLaden, watch." Sure, enough, they said Osama binLaden; just like the Khobar, Kenya, Tanzania, USS Cole...and I'm like, my word, this guy sure gets around. Then, looking at the damage done by two aluminum jet planes that hit a steel building and they fall straight down?
Osama binLaden is the son of Mohammad binLaden, a manufacturer of offshore oil rigs out of Yemen. Ding! Off-shore oil rigs? Yemen? Yes, that Zapata Petroleum Corp, owned by GHWBush. It goes on and on.
Osama binLaden's CIA handle is Tim Osman, by the way. http://911documents.blogspot.com/2007/09/osama-bin-laden-tim-osman.html
The only people allowed to leave US airspace on 11 September 2001 were the binLaden family.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/030903binladen1.html
It's so simple, really, to piece it all together and I sure hope more people do.
:D
I hope they're at least doing the cooking and cleaning while they're there!
Hey a little OT but I know you can appreciate it. The reaction here (NY) to the lack of power and gas probably could have been predicted by 95% on this site. They are begging/pleading/demanding that federal oversight come in and take over the power grids. The governer (Cuomo JR) has been stamping his feet and screaming at LIPA (Long Island Power Authority) and saying how awful they are. Apparently LIPA came into power when his Dad was governer and took apart LILCO. The point is the people here are screaming GET RID OF THIS BULLSHIT AND GIVE ME DIFFERENT BULLSHIT!
The people who lived right on the water are all talking about plans to rebuild and get back to normal. I would not feel bad if one of these storms hit every month just to see how many times these idiots need their balls shocked before they decide to think about alternate living plans.
The gas lines have actually gone down because of the alternate days. I would not be surprised to see them decide to keep it for "efficiancy purposes". Probably a great way to prep people for price controls and bread lines....
I think you're starting to catch on, fonz. These people are ruthless murderers and they couldn't care less about you or your family. Feel like youre in a fishbowl? Maybe you are. Didn't hear that before the election, though. Obama was the bomb! Right...
My problem is I don't where to turn. I agree with you that the few up top are disturbingly ruthless. I had a business meeting with a guy out here that probably came close to qualifying in the group you discuss. He said to me (basically) "America is the greatest country on earth because we have found a way to get a bunch of people thousands of miles away to make our shit for 50 cents and hour and no benefits, under horrible conditions". He then said "But make no mistake I don't care if it is some kid in China, or your kid that makes my shit, as long as someone does"
So I do feel like I am in a fish bowl. More Like a fish barrell. But to Doc Engali's point last night....as shit breaks down around us, we will go after each other.....what is a fonzannoon to do?
Move to Montana, stock up, and learn to shoot, shovel and shut up.
Would never work. I don't know how to shut up. One of you guys would put a hole in me 5 minutes after I got there just to get some silence back.
Hollywood.
Actors.
Fake smiles, fake tears.
Smoke and mirrors.
Shell games.
Look... over there... a terrorist!
Don't complicate things.
We the people need to end the Fed and start printing our own currency, with no interest payments. We don't owe the Federal Reserve one cent for pressing the "print" button.
Get a fucking grip
Well that much is obvious and you must be right about that. I mean, the man has had a hella career in the military (some say undeservedly, but whatever...) and when a man of that stature is taken down over a supposed sexual encounter it makes one wonder what else is going on behind the curtain. But you also must remember that these holograms like their perks and their jobs and there is nothing more they would like than to get something over on somebody, especially the president of the United States.
I understand your diversion idea, as I brought it up last might myself on the other thread but I cannot imagine what we would be diverted from. All manner of scandal is old hat now and we even used the word "quadrillion" for the first time just yesterday. No one even blinked.
It is so odd that the man would just quit like that, so he must have been asked to resign, is standing on his principles or wants to free himself from the shackles of the US Army and the CIA so that he can either come clean or go hide under the fifth. Being a soldier, the odds are that he is going to go and hide under the Fifth Amendment and bury his secrets under his fruit salad.
But either way you slice it, this thing is much bigger than most people know right now and I don't think it is going to go away that easily. Political leverage just walked right into the Republicans lap and, whether they play for the same team or not, that kind of political power would be very hard to resist.
:D
They're more like BO....
It's not a Clift, but a slow relaxing escalator ride down with nice elevator music...then they turn on the gas.
"Being a soldier, the odds are that he is going to go and hide under the Fifth Amendment and bury his secrets under his fruit salad."
Please explain this cryptic sentence. Are you implying that soldiers are afraid to tell the truth, or are you attempting to say somethinig specifically about Petraeus without saying it?
I don't know what he's trying to say, but I'll say this:
Soldiers in general *love* telling the truth. In many cases, they'll tell anyone who'll listen.
On the other hand, soldiers who asipire to (and especially those who eventually attain) the same rank as Petreaus are more often than not incapable of telling the truth when a lie that makes them look better will suffice.
And the former can always recognize the latter.
"soldiers" of all rank take an oath to preserve their nationstate, and that includes "official secrecy" pledges.
it's like any fraternal club, protective of information that might tip their hands. . .
I see where I may have offended with that statement. No offense was offered and I apologise if any received.
What I meant was that his Commander-in-Chief asked him to step down from his Army post and from the CIA so that he could then become a regular US citizen and have no conflict of interest by taking the Fifth if he were called to testify.
He could remain proud of his Army career, recive full pension and not be court-martialed on any count. He could then either come clean about his and the president's role in Benghazi or (much more likely and because he is simply following orders...) take his secrets to the grave with him.
Sorry about that.
:/
The Petraeus story indeed is quite suspect, and David Howell Petraeus, who apparently turned 60 this past week, is likely thinking about one of his CIA predecessors:
'Who murdered ex CIA Chief William Colby?' - by Zalin Grant
« ... Saturday, April 27, 1996. William Colby, a former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, was alone at his weekend house across from Cobb Island, Maryland, 60 miles south of Washington, D.C. ... he was found dead in the water nine days later, it was said that he had gone out paddling his canoe at nightfall and drowned. ... I knew William Colby. And I didn’t believe that for one second. »
http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/colby.htm
the best strategy of defense when u r stripped naked is to attack. If you think Petraeus has enuff skeletons in his cupboard to warrant his future elimination he better take the initiative and make his hidden secrets the golden chips in the poker game.
Get it out enuff to scare off the hounds, without compromising it all, and make the admin feel the spook game WMD will come out anytime they try and liquidate him. Maybe in Colby's case he had already crossed the Rubicon that the CIA considered as "treachery", in his confessions to the Church commission. If I remember correctly Bush followed up on his act and...well, we know how that catapulted him to top....some memories never die, until there is retribution in blood.
Bush has an awesome connection to the spooks club since the 1960s...and as VP and then POtus he could tie up all the different threads over 12 years. And leave an impeccable watertight legacy for the agency to then see thru on its past history. No loose ends. Its an awesome tradition spookistan. And it knows how to combine the work of time with the work of hidden hand.
What do they say about Nemesis eating her dinner cold...
"Bush has an awesome connection to the spooks club since the 1960s...and as VP and then POtus he could tie up all the different threads over 12 years. And leave an impeccable watertight legacy for the agency to then see thru on its past history."
Poppy's (GHWB...) dad Prescott was the grand-daddy of them all. They had Ike by the coattails, prompting Ike to say this on the way out the door:
"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
And then there's always this: http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/page193.htm
And a nice Gezpacho to you, falak!
:D
on the same theme someone posted this : 2966585
I haven't had time to view it yet.
http://vimeo.com/20001264
Actually, its cold this evening and I'm grilling a 3 lb steak on the T-bone on vine twigs+oak logs, in the chimney, with baked potatoes wrapped in aluminium foil "embedded" into the ash like twin Paula Broadwells (hush, don't tell my other half she doesn't read ZH!). Sarment de vignes gives a nice flavour along with thyme.
The only thing standing between the Bushes and the NWO were the Kennedys. After Nixon got busted in Chicago and JFK won the White House, Prescott took it upon himself to destroy them one-by-one. I'd say he succeeded.
But is it the dawn of a new day. The old Joe Kennedy is back in Jack's old seat in the House from 1946. What goes around comes around and this playground could get really rough.
:D
______
And by the way, there are only two known people in the political world who do not remember where they were the day Kennedy was shot. First was Richard Milhouse Nixon. He said he was in a cab in mid-town Manhattan when he heard it on the radio. This is a blatant lie because he was photgraphed at Idelwilde (later, ironically, JFK...) Airport and even did a short interview with a newspaper reporter at the arrival trerminal from...Dallas.
http://mtracy9.tripod.com/kennedy.html
The other is George Herbert Walker Bush. Now, you gotta love this one. He says, "Well, I don't remember exactly. I was either at my offices in Houston or scouting an oil platform off the coast of Bimini. I'm not sure." Houston/Bimini. Yeah, I can see how you get those confused. Not only that but he was photographed standing outside the Texas School Book Depository Building after the assassination.
http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/bush2.htm Halfway down the page.
you'd make Hercule Poirot very proud!
Mais, it's my little grey cells...
:D
sunny side up!
There is a report in the french press that the Pentagon has published the minutes of the Benghazi caper in an official report :
Le Pentagone publie une chronologie détaillée de Benghazi - Yahoo! Actualités France
"Pentagon" and "official report" pretty much describes the details. . .
thanks for the exchange Orly & falak, including the fireplace nosh, great reading.
salut!