Your proof of that would be that slashing taxes has created lots of jobs? It is a given that slashing taxes does not create jobs, nor does it has an effect on demand. That experiment has been tried since Reagan and the economy just gets worse and worse. Unless of course you are the elite rich who are accumulating vast wealth.
A balanced budget was tried not long ago, during Clinton. Low deficits and getting lower. We could have retired the national debt if the Repubs did not cheat their way into Bush.
Bush became president and saw all that money going into debt reduction. He gave it to his peeps. They are happy to get super rich without doing any work.
Apropos of not alot, surely the USA needs a better system of Gov than one that requires opposing parties to agree on a damn budget. Does this happen anywhere else in the world?
The whole reason the other party is in opposition is because… never mind.
Boehner has basically said this is the new template for raising the debt ceiling. Baby Mohammed weeps.
We are the answer, because we are the problem. We, the people. Our true enemy is not even the Pubbies, our truest enemy is the Apathy Party.
Bright spot: I think the Tea Party is done for, as a major force. Item: their rallies are so sparsely attended, they don’t even make Fox News anymore, they are an embarrassment. Sarah Palin’s bioepic is a colossal failure. They have devolved from a movement to a joke.
Its not gonna be easy, we are up against a buttload of money, thanks to the Supremes, may the Goddess wither their peckers like a worm on a hot griddle. Talk to your neighbors, talk to strangers, post messages on boards. Talk to your friends, I’ve talked to mine, and they are both on board!
Being politically active is tiresome, tedious, and boring. And possibly futile. Do it anyway! No one is asking you to storm Omaha Beach. We are dominated by an insane minority because the sane people can’t be bothered. Bother them. If not us, who? If not now, when?
According to McConnell, yes.
Of course, that will change in 2017.
IOZ sez:
Time for a cool change.
A poll conducted over at Daily Kos has some fairly surprising results. I recommend a reading, darned interesting.
Haven’t you been informed otherwise enough times now for the facts to sink in? There weren’t 60 “lefties”, there weren’t even 60 Democrats. Ever. Lieberman isn’t one, Sanders isn’t either (but he’s more reliable than Nelson or the others mentioned), Franken got stalled by your guys until June, Kennedy was on sick leave, and most of the time Byrd was too. Now do try to show at least a basic respect for the basic facts, or the derision isn’t going to let up for you here.
Or are you really operating on such a basic level that you think Democrat and “lefty” are synonyms? Dear Og.
So Democrats are happy and everyone else is unhappy? I’d believe it.
I know that in some places, “less unhappy” translates to “happy”.
I’m just glad I don’t live in any of those places.
I’m not really sure what you’re getting at there. A majority of Democrats and/or liberals are in favor of the deal. What is interesting is that those numbers track very closely to those for moderates.
Selective reading ftl 
First and foremost, I said Democrats and everyone else, specifically, not liberals and everyone else. You know… Political affiliation versus political ideology, the two which don’t correlate to liberal > Democrat, moderate > Independent and conservative > Republican. But anyway, to highlight the part you blatantly ignored.
All Americans: 39% approve, 46% disapprove
Democrats: 58% approve, 28% disapprove
Independents: 33% approve, 50% disapprove
Republicans: 26% approve, 64% disapprove
Of the three, only Democrats are approving of the budget deal. Good luck with whatever spin you’re free to come up with.
I was agreeing with you, smart guy. There’s a post in between yours and mine.
I approved of the root canal work I had done. Can’t say I was happy about it.
That,s all we need to know. There will be no new polls. The disaster that we have coming will not change a thing.
Sorry to go off-topic, but are there other recent examples beside Franken of reprehensibly refusing to seat?
And in better days, did not Senators politely match absences from the other side of the aisle to accommodate infirm Senators?
And yes, any Doper silly enough to equate Democrat and “lefty” is … well, unworthy of even the BBQ Pit post needed to discuss the silliness. 
“Approving” of the deal and being happy about it are two entirely different things.
Let’s take it as granted that raising the debt ceiling was necessary. We can even say it was a necessary evil.
Then, it is appropriate to approve the fact that the debt ceiling is raised, even if you disagree with how it was raised. Most of Wall Street approves the increase in the debt ceiling, even if they’re still grousing about long term finances.
None of that nuance is captured in that poll. Sometimes you do something you don’t like to achieve your greater objectives. What are you not getting?
Here’s a link, quoting McConnell.
They threaten the world with potential catastrophe to get what they want.
Their demands are accepted. A clean bill is off the table entirely.
They now have every incentive to make threats again.
The motivations behind hostage situations are extremely clear. It was predictable from the beginning. It was in fact predicted from the beginning. Congress should just eliminate the debt ceiling, as Moody’s and other financial commentators have suggested. If it’s not legal to eliminate the ceiling entirely for constitutional reasons, they can still eliminate it mathematically. Set the limit officially to 1000% of GDP, recalculated yearly using the data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and have done with this.
Letting the economy crash just seemed like too big a risk for Obama to take. He had plenty of businessmen and execs screaming at him not to allow the ceiling to expire. So did mayt Repubs, but they figured Obama would get the blame if we crashed.
Why is there not a recall McConnell movement? That would send a message.