Thank you, Vp Biden for going in to the House den and schooling the fools on how to GET SHIT DONE. See, Biden knows where all the bodies are burried. He knows how to work out a deal with McConnell to provide cover for both parties. Everything is as it should be. Let the whiners whine on the left and the right. FORWARD!
MSNBC, CNN, & C-SPAN coverage throughout the day.
Time and again, the RIGHT & the LEFT refuse to learn the TRUTH about this PRESIDENT. Senate passed the fiscal cliff deal 89-8 early this morning. The House will convene at noon today and Boehner will adddress the fiscal cliff deal at 1 p.m.
Happy New Year Republicans, Obama Just Cleaned Your Clock on the Fiscal Cliff
By: Jason Easley Jan. 1st, 2013
Some on the left are already griping that the White House gave up too much by raising the income limit on the Bush tax cuts to $400,000-450,000, but here is what the president got in return for his minor concession:
– A permanent rise in tax rates to the Clinton era levels for all individuals making over $400,000 a year.
– A return to the Clinton era rates on capital gains.
– The Estate Tax will be set at 40% for those at $400,000 threshold with a $5 million exemption.
– A 5 year extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit for low income Americans.
– All Obama small business tax breaks extended for another year.
– A full year extension of unemployment benefits.
– A nine month Farm Bill.
– A permanent patch for the Alternative Minimum tax.
See how the President’s game is ALL about the LONG TERM GAINS? Look who the WINNERS are.
FULL TEXT OF THE 157 PAGE BILL TO AVERT THE FISCAL CLIFF
UPDATE:
A spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) pushed back Tuesday afternoon against the suggestion that by coming out against the “fiscal cliff” deal passed by the Senate, the congressman was undercutting House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The majority leader himself added, “Speaker Boehner and I are working with House Leadership and our conference to find best path forward.” Boehner and Cantor walked into a House GOP meeting together at 5:20 p.m. but made no comments to reporters.
Cantor’s opposition is likely to doom the chances for fast House passage of the legislation without changes, which could prolong efforts to avert the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that technically took effect on Tuesday.
Moments earlier, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wouldn’t say when a vote might be held. “I think it’s important that people read the bill,” he said.
UPDATED WITH POTUS’ REMARKS ON VOTE
Breaking
White House: President Obama has signed the ‘fiscal cliff’ bill into law – @breakingpol
3Chics is celebrating President Obama Victory Botswana style!
[wpvideo WKNQ0Iru]
Sookie Sookie!
say it Orange Julius….
MY NAME IS TOBY
bwa ha ha ha ha ha
___________________________FLATLINES_________________________
The fiscal cliff deal that almost wasn’t
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/the-fiscal-cliff-deal-that-almost-wasnt-85663.html?hp=t1_7
House Speaker John Boehner couldn’t hold back when he spotted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the White House lobby last Friday.
It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a “dictatorship” in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal.
“Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present.
Reid, a bit startled, replied: “What are you talking about?”
Boehner repeated: “Go f— yourself.”
The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bragged about to fellow Republicans — was only one episode in nearly two months of high-stakes negotiations laced with distrust, miscommunication, false starts and yelling matches as Washington struggled to ward off $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.
What The Howling Left Doesn’t Get: The Fiscal Cliff Deal Is A Huge Strategic Win For Progressives
Tuesday, January 01, 2013 | Posted by Deaniac83 at 8:04 PM
So, it’s a done deal. The fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate in the wee hours of the new year morning has just cleared enough votes in the House. 90% of Democrats voted for it. But that’s not for lack of trying by the Left’s howler monkeys to kill this deal.
This afternoon, I got an email from MoveOn.org, asking me to send an email to my Congresswoman, urging her to oppose the aforementioned deal. And so, of course, I sent her an email urging a vote in favor of the fiscal cliff compromise. What boggles the mind though – although, I suppose I should be used to the intransigence from the Left’s howling crowd demanding flying unicorns from the president – is what possibly could be keeping a group like MoveOn and its ideologue brotheren from supporting the deal.
But to understand their grievances – or if you take my frame, hair-on-fire stagecraft – you need to understand, in short, what is in the deal. Summarizing from Wonkblog by Ezra Klein:
•Income tax rates for incomes above $400,000 ($450,000 for joint filers) rise to a marginal rate of 39.6% permanently. All expiring (lower) tax rates for incomes below that amount are made permanent.
•Estate tax increases to 40% for inheritances over $5 million, from the expiring 35%.
•Stimulus tax breaks – the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit – are extended for another year.
•The Alternative Minimum Tax is permanently fixed to stop it from affecting the middle class.
•Extended unemployment benefits are extended for another year.
•The stimulus business tax breaks – including R&D and wind energy credits – will also be extended for another year.
•Medicare provider payments are prevented from decreasing drastically (both from the sequester deal, 2%, and the automatic yearly reductions that Congress prevents every year).
•The rest of the sequester – i.e. the automatic defense and domestic cuts – is postponed for two months, financed 50% by defense and domestic cuts.
•Personal exemptions are phased out for incomes above $250,000; itemized deductions will be reduced for people with incomes over $350,000.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. As compromises go, to me, it looks like the Republicans got rolled. They got no austerity cuts, the president got tax increases on the rich and unemployment benefit extensions. The only “compromise” our side made was setting the income level above which taxes are going up. The president opened with $200,000/$250,000 level, and we are ending up at $400,000/$450,000.
…………………………………
Let’s get serious. This bill is a big win for the Democrats. Not just in terms of being able to raise taxes on the rich, but this is a big strategic victory. That strategic victory cannot be underestimated. The first, and biggest strategic victory was this: we finally decoupled the tax provisions of the cliff from the spending cuts provisions. This means that Republicans no longer have a hostage. They can no longer hold the middle class hostage to help out the super rich. This is the biggest of losses for them. The president was masterful in devising this strategy to disarm them.
Consequently, when the sequester comes up again, Republicans will have no leverage when they want to prevent the defense cuts. They will not be allowed to move over the defense cuts into domestic cuts, and if they want to restore the defense cuts, or want replace or add to the domestic cuts, the president has already outlined what he will insist on: even more revenue. The Republicans are trying to take this medicine of total and disastrous loss by pretending they would be able to force austerity cuts later. Not a chance. If the Republicans don’t play ball, it will be much easier for the president and the Democrats to let the automatic cuts take place – which is the biggest on defense – when there is no big hits to the middle class taxes or unemployment benefits coupled with it.
Another big strategic victory not to be overlooked is that this vote gets Republicans to finally throw the Norquist pledge under the bus, and abandon their seriously antidemocratic screed of not allowing votes on anything that does not have a support of a majority of the Republican caucus. This vote breaks the back of that Republican obstructionism. This isn’t to say that they will not be obstructionist later again, but it spells success for the president’s political strategy: if you back the Republicans into a corner, and go around the House Republicans to work out a compromise with the Senate, you can force them to vote even without a “majority of the majority.” This bodes well for the upcoming fights, whether it’s on immigration reform, gun safety, energy policy reform, education reform, or another item on the president’s second term agenda.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/01/what-howling-left-doesnt-get-fiscal.html
House passes fiscal deal, sends agreement to White House
By Steve Benen
Tue Jan 1, 2013 11:25 PM EST
Seven hours ago, House Republicans were fired up and ready to kill the bipartisan fiscal agreement that the Senate passed easily last night. Tonight, however, the House passed the Senate deal relatively easily, 257 to 167.
House Speaker John Boehner was, as expected, forced to ignore the arbitrary, so-called “Hastert Rule,” and bring the bill to the floor despite the opposition of most of the majority caucus. By the time the gavel fell, however, it was far more than a sliver of House GOP members who bit the bullet and grudgingly supported the compromise — 85 Republicans voted for the bill tonight, while 151 voted against it.
Of particular interest was the division among GOP leaders. Boehner and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan voted for the Senate compromise, while House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy voted against it.
The rumors of sharp fissures among Republican leaders are true, and Boehner and Cantor are obviously not on the same page. It’s a dynamic that’s well worth watching as the new Congress gets underway, and the House GOP leadership tries to govern with an even smaller caucus.
Regardless, while Boehner surely wished he enjoyed more support from his own members, Cantor does not end the evening looking especially strong — he briefly led the insurgency against the fiscal agreement this afternoon, and ignored the wishes of his own Speaker, but the effort to derail the deal ended up failing badly.
President Obama, who will sign the completed agreement quite soon, is scheduled to speak from the White House briefing room any minute now.
But as the dust settles, it’s worth considering how the day unfolded in the House. The GOP caucus gathered for a preliminary, midday meeting at which Republicans insisted on “amending” the bipartisan bill — making it far more favorable to the right — and then sending it back to the Senate with an ultimatum: pass the House version or else.
But by the time House Republicans gathered for a rare evening meeting, the push behind the effort had fizzled, and the earlier threats started to look like empty bluster. So, what happened? A few things, actually.
——————————————————————————–
First, GOP members realized that amending the Senate package would necessarily unravel the entire process, and there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind who would receive — and deserve — the blame for higher taxes and sweeping austerity measures that would do real harm to the economy: House Republicans.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/01/16291385-house-passes-fiscal-deal-sends-agreement-to-white-house?lite
Conservatives Freak Out, Call for Boehner to be Fired and Blame Obama
By: Sarah JonesJan. 1st, 2013
Ideology crashed into reality tonight after the fiscal cliff vote, and conservatives are utterly miserable. They want Boehner fired and the’re blaming Obama for the House GOP failure.
At Breitbart, they freaked out over the showdown between “Team Boehner and Team Cantor.” Pointing out Boehner’s weakness now that Plan B failed and he’s had to stand up for the Senate bill, they pointed out, “That means Cantor, who’s wanted the speakership for a long time, could strike now and challenge Boehner in the election for House officeholders on Thursday–or he’ll likely have to wait at least another two years.”
Inner war on? Check.
The base hasn’t met the wall yet, and from their tweets, it’s looking like they never will. They want Boehner gone:
http://www.politicususa.com/conservatives-freak-out-call-boehner-fired-blame-obama.html
Obama Tells Republicans to Forget About Causing Another Debt Ceiling Debacle
By: Jason Easley
Jan. 1st, 2013
Instead of taking a fiscal cliff victory lap, President Obama used his statement to land the first blows in the debt ceiling debate.
Obama praised the bipartisanship of the deal, and specifically mentioned Boehner, Biden, McConnell, Reid, and Pelosi. The president stressed the increase in revenue, and the extension of unemployment benefits. He called the fiscal cliff deal one step, and said that the deficit is still too high. The president said that he is chipping away at the deficit problem, step by step.
The president said he is very open to compromise, and he believes that we have to find ways to reform Medicare without hurting seniors, but he warned Republicans that we can’t cut our way to prosperity. He mentioned closing tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy.
Obama said he will negotiate over many things, but he won’t have another debate with Congress over whether or not we should pay our bills. The president said we can’t go down the path of another fiscal cliff drama again. He said that his concept of everyone should pay their fair share has now been enshrined into law.
http://www.politicususa.com/obama-tells-republicans-forget-causing-debt-ceiling-debacle.html
Bask in the Glow
by BooMan
Tue Jan 1st, 2013 at 11:46:56 PM EST
For the first time in some of your lives, the House of Representatives just passed a bill that the majority of the majority party opposed. Ordinarily, such votes are not even allowed to happen. And, while technically this vote occurred past midnight (and thus in 2013), this is the first time that Republicans have voted for tax increases since they helped Poppy Bush violate his “Read My Lips” pledge over twenty years ago. The Republicans also voted for stimulative tax credits and an extension of unemployment insurance, in violation of their anti-Keynesian economics absolutism. Insofar as the fever could be broken, it has been broken.
If you watched the debate in the House, it was clear that the Republicans were absolutely miserable and the Democrats were absolutely giddy. Yet, many respectable voices in the Progressive movement are unhappy. I want to remind you, first of all, that only 16 Democrats in the House voted against this bill. That is only a tiny fraction of the Progressive movement. Unless you think your elected officials are idiots, you probably are wrong to see this as a defeat. This is a bill that was supported by people like Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, Jeff Merkley, Tom Harkin, and Sherrod Brown. If you think that they sold you out, you might be an extremist yourself.
Yes, it sets us up for a battle over the sequester and the debt ceiling, but that was where we were from the beginning, right? We were going to battle over those things, but also unemployment insurance and progressive tax credits and so much more that we got in this deal.
The GOP has been splintered, with their leader forced to take the minority position within his own party and then forced to ram it down the throats of his base. If you ever thought you’d see that day, raise your hand. And we need it to happen again to tackle immigration reform or assault weapons or climate change. It may not happen, but this was a prerequisite if it was going to happen.
If you are worried that we will see cuts in entitlements two months from now, you are probably correct. We were never going to escape that entirely. But any cuts we see will be matched by further tax hikes. We have a president who is coming off a series of victories whose popularity will have never been higher, and he isn’t going to cave. The GOP might think that cuts to entitlements are popular, but they are wrong. Actually, they know that they are wrong and that the only way to get them is as part of a bipartisan deal where blame is widely shared. They will not refuse to pay our debts in order to slash our Social Security checks and, if they do, we’ll win back the House.
Relax. Have a cigar. Bask in the glow.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/1/234656/1392
POLITICO@politico
Breaking: House GOP abruptly pulls the plug on Sandy aid bill
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/house-pulls-plug-on-sandy-aid-bill-85661.html
lowdown muthafuckas…
hope all those Republicans in Sandy-effected areas remember this
LOWDOWN DIRTY MUTHAFUCKAS
Note to the wealthy–>Pay your fair share!
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Pres. Obama ran & won on getting taxes raised on the wealthy. For the first time in 20 years, republicans voted to do so. Well played Sir.
___________________
**PBO drops the mic**
BWA HA HA HA Say my name, bitches. MR. PRESIDENT!
Peter Baker @peterbakernyt
For all the complaints from the left, elected Dems disregard them; only 3 Dems in Senate and 16 in House voted no.
Elise Foley ✔@elisefoley *leaves for Hawaii* is the new *drops mic*
HOLLA!
GET ON AIR FORCE ONE TONIGHT, MR. PRESIDENT.
GET BACK TO THE FIRST FAMILY!!!
The debt ceiling is gonna be fun.
not really, but here’s the thing..
on the one side, you will have the President saying..
Give me a clean bill..
on the other side, you will have the lunatics talking about gutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid….
clean bill…
gutting the social safety net..
and methinks that there will be few, if any Dems that will allow the nebulous’ oh we need cuts’…
I believe we will hear the screams of…
TELL US YOUR CUTS, GOP!
LOL PBO: What part of CLEAN BILL, don’t you guys & gals understand?”
PBO=No fight with CONGRESS to pay AMERICA’S BILL.
Set it up, Mr. President. Let these fools know we’re not going down the debt-ceiling hostage road this year. NOT.GOING.TO.DO.IT.
Arrogant Demon@ArrogantDemon
Is that “Ruff Ryders Anthem” playing in the background as @barackobama comes to the podium?
______________________
LOL And Ride or Die Joe’s right by his side.
POTUS: Happy New Year, Every-body!
I want to thank you, my EXTRAORDINARY Vice President, Joe Biden.
Breaking the Hastert Rule
by BooMan
Tue Jan 1st, 2013 at 08:56:05 PM EST
Here is some recent history, via Wikipedia:
The majority of the majority is a governing principle (not a legal procedure) used by Republican Speakers of the House of Representatives since the mid-1990s to effectively limit the power of the minority party to bring bills up for a vote on the floor of the house.[1] Under the majority of the majority doctrine the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives will not allow a vote on a bill to take place unless the majority of the majority party supports the bill.[2] This is sometimes referred to as the “Hastert Rule”,[3] as its introduction is widely credited to former Speaker Dennis Hastert (1999-2007); however, Newt Gingrich, who directly preceded Hastert as Speaker (1995-1999), followed the same rule.[4] Hastert was vocal in his support of the rule stating that his job was “to please the majority of the majority.”[5]
Within the next hour, we may see Speaker John Boehner violate the Hastert Rule for the first time. In a parliamentary system, this would never happen. What would happen instead is that the parliament would express “no confidence” in their prime minister and a new coalition would elect a new prime minister. We don’t have a parliamentary system, but our system has been behaving like one since the Republican Revolution of 1994. Getting Boehner to behave like a Speaker of the House rather than merely the leader of its largest faction is a major accomplishment. It may cost him his gavel, but more likely it will save it. House members will need to be slowly house-trained to give up some of their delusions and bad habits if this country is going to be governable over the next years. The reason is simple: the majority of the House Republicans are stark-raving mad.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/1/20565/58737
The House of Representatives voted 257-167 to approve the Senate’s fiscal cliff bill.
The legislation would avert much of the fiscal cliff’s negative near-term economic impact by extending the Bush-era tax cuts for almost all Americans. It would also extend long-term unemployment benefits that were set to expire.
But the agreement leaves Congress facing other issues in coming months that could lead to standoffs: federal borrowing hitting the debt ceiling, the so-called sequester of automatic spending cuts and a continuing budget resolution expiring.
itgurl@itgurl_29
I’d like to dedicate this one to POTUS Barack Obama:
LOL
House passes ‘fiscal cliff’ bill
The U.S. House has voted to approve a bill allowing taxes to rise on the wealthy, extending unemployment benefits for millions and delaying deep automatic spending cuts in federal spending for two months, ending the long national drama over the fiscal cliff.
Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/house-members-meet-to-review-senate-passed-cliff-deal/2013/01/01/6e4373cc-5435-11e2-bf3e-76c0a789346f_story.html
11:20 pm- 10:20 Ct PBO to speak on the vote.
Orange Julius:
1. voted for it
2. violated the Hastert Rule
IT PASSED.
Cantor didn’t Paul Ryan did.
The Bush Tax cuts? —>GONE! Over 20 years since Republicans have voted to raise taxes. Game, Blouses, Bitches! Check baby check baby one two three..
LOL Bring it on, bitches. The pundits just want the war over the debt ceiling. They’re salivating.,, fostering this vile behavoir
BOEHNER HAS VOTED YES!
15 minutes to vote.
*sign* GO AWAY talking points baldie guy….. Just go away
Rep Sander Levin just smacked down the rethug’s lie about POTUS not wanting to balance the deficit.
West Wing Reports@WestWingReport
Winter 2012: GOP candidates refuse to support idea of $10 cuts for $1 revenue. Winter 2013: Senate GOP agrees to $41 revenue for $1 cuts
LMBAO Just sheer insanity…
Speak on it Rep Clybrun.
_________________
**hollaring**
LOL Boehner can’t check his caucus’ hate for POTUS. LOSERS!
Vote the FUCK, already PEOPLE.
Daryl Issa’s an ASS. Rep levin shut his shit down. and Charlie Rangel’s kickin ass too!
Hell yeah!
It’s LITERALLY Hammer time.
for you, Orange Julius…
love….
your GOP caucus.
BWA HA HA HA HA HA
Apparetnly, McCarthy sides with Boehner and not Cantor. WHATTSAMATU- YOUNG GUNS?!
this rocks!!
LOVING IT! :-)
Mark Knoller@markknoller
House votes nearly unanimously, 408-10, to approve rule for debate of Senate-passed “fiscal cliff” bill. Coming up next.
***Hollaring***
Thes pip squeaks are way out of their league, when it comes to THIS PRESIDENT.
On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 8:42 PM, 3CHICSPOLITICO
WHO GONE CHECK US, BOO?
House is voting on Resolution now C-Span is covering the sideshow now.
For all of us who have had to work with one… Cantor is picture perfect “punk ass white boy”!
There you GO, jamalA!
Live video: US House debates and votes on the Senate’s ‘fiscal cliff’ budget bill – @NBCNewshttp://bit.ly/12VKc2O
Boehner and his party are complete and utter FAILURES.
BREAKING: Leadership aide says House will take up Senate fiscal cliff bill without amendments. via @jacksonjk
Back to square one with these punk ass bitches. POTUS: GAMES, BLOUSES, BITCHES!
bwa ha ha ha ha ha
Arizona Democrat@LiterateLiberal
Cantor now sez fiscal cliff bill okay if GOP can add Articles of Impeachment against the black usurper in the White House
_______________________
Cantor’s a snake in the grass, who just keeps giving Boehner the Shiv. What a SADIST.
Eric Cantor = 2 headed conniving snake in the grass
Hold your head up, mofo. Cantor and nem DONOT SUPPORT YOU!
Senate Democrats will reject House changes to tax bill, aides say
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/275099-senate-democratic-leaders-say-they-will-reject-house-changes-to-tax-bill-
Senate Democratic leaders say they will reject any House effort to amend a fiscal cliff deal that passed the upper chamber with overwhelming support on New Year’s Day.
“The House Republicans have two choices: cut their losses and pass the deal now, or else put up a fight they cannot win and pass the same deal a few days now after being further humiliated,” said a Senate Democratic leadership aide.
Another senior Democratic aide said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will not reconsider the bill, which passed by a vote of 89 to 8.
“We’re done,” said the aide.
Eric Cantor is an evil wicked bee.itch.
zizi2@zizii2
Whaaaat? @CNN saying Boehner doesn’t seem to have votes to pass deal? Here we go again. Jeebus Christ!
_______________
Merciful God! Make it stop!
Happy New Year! Eat more cookies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1PVOIqQAns
LOL VP Ride or Die Joe UNCHAINED:
A 5 year extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit for low income Americans.
Ride or Die Joe Unchained! Hey now!
There you go! Making deals and helping 99%
Trust; if the right and left are in MELTDOWN mode, it’s a win for the MAJORITY of Americans. It’s the few who kick and scream about “bad deal” who aren’t affected the most by the deal getting done for the good of the whole. “COMPROMISE” is what AMERICAN VOTERS asked for.
The BUSH TAX CUTS GONE? I want the 3 Chics CHECK MARKS here.