# Budget Near Collapse as GOP Leader Quits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 24, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686 "2011-06-24T09:08:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/21 "2011-06-24T14:23:31Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > How about tribute? Did any money go to tribute? > > I don’t want one cent of my tax money going to tribute. Or tribute bands, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/22 "2011-06-24T14:35:13Z")
The title needs more exclamation marks. Or cowbell. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/23 "2011-06-24T14:55:00Z")
I would put a tax on all people who stand in water. … … Woo! ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/24 "2011-06-24T15:12:27Z")
I think there should be a tax on shitty pit posts. With an additional penalty for the first post in a thread. ---
**Author:** ![heatmiserfl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@heatmiserfl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heatmiserfl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/25 "2011-06-24T15:13:35Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > While I don’t know that anyone was actually suggesting what you state they were suggesting, it is correct to say that the Bush tax cuts do not account for the entirety of the US federal debt. > > However, they are far and away the largest contributor to the debt, and proportionally grow more significant over time. Please see the chart via the link below, which you’ve probably seen before if you pay attention to the news on this sort of thing: > > [Bush-Era Tax Cuts Projected As Largest Contributor To Public Debt [CHART] | HuffPost Impact](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/20/bush-tax-cuts-debt_n_864812.html) That graph is pretty amazing. I’d like to see the OP comment on the graph, preferably in the form of an interpretive dance involving butter and Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/26 "2011-06-24T15:13:59Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > I pit cows. Evil fuckers. Oh, so do I! Well, wait, maybe “pit” isn’t the right word . . . :o ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/27 "2011-06-24T15:15:12Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I would put a tax on all people who stand in water. > … > … > Woo! I think there should be a tax on all foreigners living abroad. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/28 "2011-06-24T15:16:26Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Use a lot of butter, do you? [nods] BTW, what’s it taste like? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/29 "2011-06-24T15:16:34Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > When it comes to the Bush tax cuts, I always have to wonder: since they were supposed to generate so many jobs and make the economy all unicorns and rainbows … what happened? Did we miss a step between “Steal underpants” and “Full employment/Profit!”? Isn’t repeating the same thing (more tax cuts!) and expecting different results (full retirement accounts for everyone!) the definition of insanity? > > I am not an economist, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I do realize a big issue with our current economic troubles is the amount of government spending. But wouldn’t a reasonable approach to balancing the federal budget be a combination of big spending cuts and, you know, reasonable tax increases? Or am I too much of a liberal blockhead to not realize TAXES=BAD!!! SOCIALISTEVILBLEEDINGHEARTJOBKILLER!!! The goal is ideological purity, not growing the economy. I’m not an economist, but I don’t know of many who believe that supply side tax cuts are what will propel the economy forward. Corporate profits have exploded upwards, going up 40-50% since the recession happened while unemployment has stayed the same. Corporations have 2 trillion in cash reserves. I have no idea why another tax cut will create jobs, the lack of demand and security is why no jobs are being created. But they don’t care. Even if it were proven beyond a reasonable doubt that supply side tax cuts reduced GDP growth and increased unemployment they’d still push for them. The goal is ideological purity, it has never been about reducing the deficit or reducing unemployment. Those things are irrelevant at best and superficial excuses to push ideological purity at worst. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/30 "2011-06-24T15:22:10Z")
Coupla questions for the OP: First, you do realize that Ralph’s supermarkets are unionized, right? Why are you shopping there? I know there’s a Fresh and Easy in Glendale, and it’s my understanding that they aren’t (unionized). Next, where does the New York Times come into it? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/31 "2011-06-24T15:27:02Z")
Because they reported the story. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/32 "2011-06-24T15:42:50Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Because, you know, we are undertaxed in this country, and those EEEEEVIL Republicans won’t agree to those much needed tax increases. Pretty much yeah. Even the Congressional Budget Office thinks so. > [@](#): > > If Congress lets the Bush tax cuts expire or offsets their extension, implements the Affordable Care Act as scheduled and makes or offset the Medicare cuts prescribed by the 1997 Balanced Budget Act — which CBO calls the “extended baseline scenario” — the national debt will be totally manageable. If Congress passes laws extending the Bush tax cuts without offsetting the cost, repealing the Affordable Care Act and its cost controls and protecting doctors from Medicare cuts without making up the savings elsewhere — the “alternative fiscal scenario” — the national debt will be totally out of control: > > SOURCE: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cbo-well-only-have-giant-deficits-if-congress-wants-giant-deficits/2011/05/19/AG3w7pfH\_blog.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cbo-well-only-have-giant-deficits-if-congress-wants-giant-deficits/2011/05/19/AG3w7pfH_blog.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/33 "2011-06-24T15:46:14Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > I thought it was trillions to unicorns… unioncorns ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/34 "2011-06-24T15:46:17Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Because, you know, we are undertaxed in this country I think that’s empirically demonstrable. We pay less tax then most other first world countries and less than we ourselves used to. If we were having great economic times, one could argue that we and we alone have come to our senses and reduced taxation. But when the problem is public debt, it’s hard to argue that being the outlier for low public income is helping. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/35 "2011-06-24T15:53:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Even the Congressional Budget Office thinks so. There was an article in one of the newspapers my agency subscribes to – I forget which one, but probably the NYT – that pointed out that if congress did nothing, did not even meet again, the scheduled expiration of the tax cuts and the other items you mentioned would _automatically_ kick in and fix most of the budget crisis. The problem, in fact, is the likelihood that Congress will _intervene_ to stop or delay these automatic processes and make things worse. You know it’s bad when objective mathematical analysis shows that the best thing for the country would be if you did not show up for work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/36 "2011-06-24T15:58:42Z")
The richest cocksuckers in the US are, in fact, grossly undertaxed, and there is no possibility of economic recovery without ending the irresponsible, unfunded tax giveaways to corporations and to the rich. By choosing corporations over the needs of the economy and the people, the Republicans are choosing sides against America. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/37 "2011-06-24T16:08:17Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > By choosing corporations over the needs of the economy and the people, the Republicans are choosing sides against America. And in other news, the Pope is a Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/38 "2011-06-24T16:30:43Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > In other news, a pound of butter at my local Ralphs has doubled in cost from 1.99 to four dollars in the last six months. Way to manage the currency, you fucking asshat! I guess some more quantitative easing is in order. I think what is most frustrating is Obama’s refusal to release any of the U.S.’ Strategic Butter Reserves. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/39 "2011-06-24T16:36:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Next, where does the New York Times come into it? > [@Zebra](#): > > Because they reported the story. Were they the ones responsible for the exclamation points? 'Cause that would really look more like a New York **POST** headline… ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686/40 "2011-06-24T16:39:02Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I think what is most frustrating is Obama’s refusal to release any of the U.S.’ Strategic Butter Reserves. So far they have released a miniscule quantity of margarine, hoping we wouldn’t notice the difference. I can’t believe there’s not butter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/budget-near-collapse-as-gop-leader-quits/586686.md?page=3)