From Robert Reich:
Republicans figure that if they can’t sell the pig, they’ll just put lipstick on it and find some suckers who will think it’s something else.
That’s the proposal emerging in the Senate from Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee and also Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri.
Original DVD coverIt would get the deficit down not by raising taxes on the rich but by capping federal spending.
If Congress failed to stay under the cap, the budget would be automatically cut.
According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the McCaskill/Corker plan would require $800 billion of cuts in 2022 alone. That’s the equivalent of eliminating Medicare entirely, or the entire Department of Defense.
Obviously the Defense Department wouldn’t disappear, so what would go? Giant cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, and much of everything else Americans depend on.
…snip…
The McCaskill/Corker spending cap would also make it impossible for government to boost the economy in recessions. Which would mean even higher unemployment, lasting longer.
Other Senate Dems are showing interest in the lipsticked pig, including West Virginia’s Joe Manchin. Not surpringly, Joe Lieberman is on board.
But don’t be fooled, and don’t let anyone else be. McCaskill/Corker is the same Republican pig.
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
DEMOCRATS are showing interest? In an obviously GOP plan? Dang, I gotta check the control circuits on my TARDIS. This is DEFINITELY not the Earth I thought I landed on some decades ago…… 😉
nothing really shocking. the blue dogs are just rethugs lite.
Yeah, true, it just sounds weird in this hyperbolic age of rage to even HEAR the words “Democrat” and “Republican” in the same phrase, without words in the middle like “viciously attacked”. With all the BS in the press, I just figured we’d all misplaced our dictionary page with the word “bipartisanship”.
it’s only weird when it’s the other way around. rethugs are not prone to doing anything but holding their breath until they turn blue and get their own way.
That’s one damn stupid plan.
hello s night,
welcome to the raisin! 😀
i agree 100%. it’s a stupid and shortsighted plan.
Totally off topic, Nonnie, but knowing your great skill with Photoshop, I figure there’s gotta be at least one photo you can use. And it’s a neat collection of military dog photos all on its’ own. Enjoy!
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/04/war_dog?page=0,0&sms_ss=email&at_xt=4dc2fae630f43690,0
Sorry for the messy link, I linked to it from another site.
john, i saw those pix last night and again today. i am totally in awe of the photos, the dogs, the trainers, and the bond that they have with each other.
Check out http://www.pawsandstripes.org/home.html and
http://www.olive-drab.com/od_wardogs.php for some great war dog sites. If you ever get over to Alabama, there is a war dog memorial:
http://www.eagleid.com/veterans/alabama.htm
I believe it’s part of the park where the World War 2 battleship USS Alabama is on display.
The US have used dogs since WW1 – other countries long before that. Belgium used them to haul heavy machine guns in WW1, the Soviets tried to use them to blow up German tanks. The ‘Nam era guys got the worst of it – when we bailed in 1975, the dogs were declared “surplus military equipment” and abandoned. You can imagine what the NVA did to their 4-legged enemies. I’ve known a few ‘Nam dog handlers, and most of them can’t talk about their partners for more than 15-30 seconds without tearing up. The love is just unbelievable.
And just as I finish my serious and heartfelt post, the wife throws this at me:
http://news.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/05/06/political-pictures-war-lol-day/?ref=ichc562011
It’s all her fault – ya wanna yell at her, I’ll get you her Email! 😀
you leave me no choice but to link to this.
Hey, the poor dog just wants to play, and some joker plops a load of bronze shaped like a guy in the eager pup’s path! See, people are evil! Dogs just want to have fun! 😉
Pig with the yoda ears and the hat from Gilligan’s Island is a hoot. Corker’s face?
yes. i made him the bob nameplate, because i figured nobody would know who he is. originally, i was going to make joe lieberman the pig, but that wouldn’t have been kosher. 😉
Off topic: Just saw this headline from the AP – “Source: Bin Laden directing al-Qaida figures” – Since they used directing instead of directed, more evidence for the proofers!
silly afa, thinkin’ the deathers know how to read! 😉
Where was this dynamic duo when Bush was at the helm?
All these financial concerns surfaced after the GOP racked up a trillion dollar debt over 8 years. Timing is everything, I suppose.
closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out.
Maybe they’ll eventually join the blue dogs from last election
you’d think they’d learn a lesson from the last election. if you stand for your principles, you might get elected, even if voters don’t agree with you on everything.
Didn’t we go through this nonsense 20 years ago with that stupid Graham-Rudman “10% a year” crap. At the time, my estimate was about a dozen years of that and the government would magically disappear into some sort of Ron-Zen. Now here in modern times we need to go back to the basics of tax collection (for perspective, working people didn’t pay witholding tax untill the WW2 factory boom). Back in the days of President Teddy, an income tax was introduced that would affect the highest earners in society. That would be the 2,000 to 4,000 a year crowd. A typical federal tax bill would be in the $10 to 12 range and they screamed bloody murder! Now I’ve been consulting with Demo who has been hiting those geology books and we have come up with a term: AURIFEROUS which means “gold bearing” diggings and rocks where that stuff hides. A simple solution to budget deficit reduction is to find and locate the many auriferous republicans and put the squeeze on them. And just let them holler like a child that doesn’t get its way. Someone once asked Demo the Miner “Why do you tax rich republicans?” to which he replied “Because that’s where the money is”.
Paul Krugman thinks this plan is almost as stupid as Ryan’s. Considering that Krugman thinks Ryan’s plan is both dishonest and brain dead, that’s saying something.