Ezra gives the middle finger to the worst congress ever:
What’s the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It’s hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule.
The 112th, which was gaveled into being on Jan. 3, 2011, by newly elected House Speaker John Boehner, wasn’t just unproductive in comparison with the 111th. It was unproductive compared with any Congress since 1948, when scholars began keeping tabs on congressional productivity.
***The 112th found legislating so difficult that lawmakers repeatedly created artificial deadlines for consequences and catastrophes intended to spur them to act. But like Wile E. Coyote with his endless supply of Acme products, when the 112th set a trap, the only sure bet was that it would explode in its collective face, forcing leaders to construct yet another hair- trigger legislative contraption.
The near-shutdown of the federal government in early 2011 was the first of these self-detonated disasters, the near-breach of the debt ceiling in August 2011 was the most damaging, and the fiscal cliff was the dumbest. In each case, Congress mainlined a dose of fear and uncertainty into an economy already beset by too much of both. In each case, the deadline failed to spur responsibility; instead, Congress punted on hard decisions while setting up a new deadline to supplant the old, discarded one.
In that way, the 112th ended as it began: by creating a mess it couldn’t clean up. The resolution, such as it is, of the fiscal cliff simply sets up another fight in the weeks ahead over the debt ceiling and sequestration. Continued fear and uncertainty over the impending battle is the legacy of the 112th to the nation’s economy. Thanks, guys.
Unfortunately, I am under no illusion that the shit-show fail parade of a Republican led House will end with the 112th. I fully expect this new congress to be just as bad or worse, and with Boehner signalling today he is done negotiating with Obama, on this I am probably going to be right.
Buckle up, America. We’re on a big bus together and a drunk driver has the wheel.
General Stuck
We haven’t had that spirit here, since 1859
WereBear
Giving DougJ a run for his money with a Rundgren reference. Good one!
And this Congress… words freakin’ fail. Oh, Tea Party. When will you go away?
Hunter Gathers
Thanks, American electorate! I would normally be dismayed, but I long ago came to terms with the fact that a majority of voters in this country are dumber than dog shit. We get the Congress we deserve. And the World’s Worst Reality Show gets renewed for another 2 years.
Baud
McConnell today:
Morzer
To make matters worse, we are hurtling along an icy road next to a precipice with a drunken orange driver singing Ted Nugent’s greatest hits.
dr. bloor
So you’re saying Michelle Bachmann’s bill to repeal the ACA might not pass this time around?
James E. Powell
Calling it a “do nothing” congress is getting close to “both sides do it.” It’s a party that has done everything the constitution allows to prevent the federal government from functioning.
Many of us, me included, give the president grief because he doesn’t take a harder line with them. But I think we all have to admire his self-control. Not once in any public appearance has the president referred to the Republicans as “those assholes.” I wouldn’t have made it a week without doing that.
Just Some Fuckhead
Boehner is just acknowledging that he can’t compel his caucus to go for anything he negotiates.
General Stuck
@Baud:
That’s okay, Obama has the Big Bertha Bully Pulpit coming up this month. Inauguration and SOTU, to make Mitch his Bitch all over again. These assholes are painting themselves into another corner, I suspect to cause Obama to do something impeachable to save the country. Or they just can’t quit throwing dead rabbits to the 27 percenters, out of pure fear.
The Dangerman
@Baud:
From Patty Hearst to a not so Petty Heist; the hostage has been taken.
Fuck McConnell.
Joseph Nobles
And from the look of Zach Beauchamp’s twitter feed, the 113th-115th isn’t going to fare any better, not with our brand-new Senator from Texas mouthing off:
https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp
He’s talking about this WaPo op/ed from the estimable Senator Cruz:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ted-cruz-gop-needs-message-of-opportunity-conservatism/2013/01/03/c9536c8e-550e-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html
“Rawlsian lens” should become the latest DougJ plaything.
Just Some Fuckhead
@efgoldman:
maybe because he didn’t
Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)
Even the Whigs and the Know-Nothing Party disappeared with a flatulent haze. It just shows to go ya, in today’s politics it pays to decorate your warts, rather than shun and hide them.
The Dangerman
@efgoldman:
Thus, the pork in the bill; the votes were clearly bought. I mean, it’s not like Obama wanted to give NASCAR a check for tracks.
Alison
Don’t you have to begin something in order to be done with it?
Valdivia
your post title just made me think of this.
Too happy sounding to associate with this do nothing congress. Any bets if the next one will be worst? Did we have Peak Congress yet?
Just as an OT–I have my Cuban Opus Dei first cousin’s wedding in Miami this weekend. I am telling you guys there’s no amount of alcohol that can get me through it. I will be screaming Viva Castro just to annoy them at the end of it.
Felonius Monk
There’s big difference between the national debt and the debt ceiling. The rethugs seem to enjoy conflating the two or else they really are too stupid to know the difference.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Alison:
He was. He’s been rolling a president eager to make a deal for awhile now. Then he goes back to his caucus and they gurgle and grunt, yell wolverines and leave him hanging.
eemom
k, now I’m convinced — there is no DougJ. All the sock puppets, spoof trolls, everything — all just one giant John Cole.
Maybe all the other FPers too.
cathyx
I predict this is the way congress will always behave from now on. Thanks Citizens United and the Supreme Court.
Valdivia
I haven’t been able to catch up all day: has anyone talked yet about the super duper trillion dollar platinum coin as the way for Obama to get around the debt ceiling?
Ted & Hellen
@General Stuck:
Two things: I thought Obots believe the Bully Pulpit to be a joke, so how can it possibly be of use to Obama?
With past bully pulpit opportunities as an example, we can expect forceful, aggressive calls for bipartisanship, which will surely scare to Repubs in to participation.
Roger Moore
A drunk, weepy, orange driver, with a gang of unruly passengers threatening to take over the wheel if he doesn’t run over as many elderly pedestrians as possible.
cathyx
Why does Obama care so much about the deficit?
General Stuck
@Ted & Hellen:
One thing. Fuck off troll.
Cassidy
This is a very intelligent pie filter.
Just Some Fuckhead
Someday the Fightin’ 112th will be hailed as the awesomest Congress ever for ending loud commercials.
RobertDSC-iMac G5
Fine. The oath to the Constitution involves defense against all enemies, foreign or DOMESTIC. Obama should simply round up the GOP terrorists and send them to Gitmo. Done and done.
Baud
@cathyx:
1) The media cares a lot about the deficit when a Democrat is president.
2) If he doesn’t take charge of the deficit issue, other politicians will, and will likely produce a worse result for him and all the rest of us too.
Ken Burd
Boehner saying he is not going to negotiate with Obama is just the same as Boehner saying he is going to quit having sex with Marilyn Monroe.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Valdivia:
While I support minting a trillion dollar platinum coin featuring Reagan to celebrate him for being the first president to run up a trillion dollars in debt, I think it’s unlikely to happen.
General Stuck
@cathyx:
Because it is sound and responsible economics for the long run. If you listen to Obama, rather than react, he always speaks in terms of reducing the long term deficit, which is boilerplate keynesian econ theory. The republicans don’t care about the deficit and never have. They are obsessed with killing the safety net and New Deal entitlements. Their reasons for this are purely political in an overall electoral sense, as well as their bedrock belief that all money belongs to the wealthy. The rest of us only rent that money for basic subsistence to stay healthy enough to help make the rich even richer.
Valdivia
@Just Some Fuckhead:
ha it had not occurred to be that it would genius to put his visage on the coin.
ETA: Also, too. Woodward has one of his gossipy pieces about the Cliff. I am sure it’s all about how Obama made the Republicans cry.
Raven
@Valdivia: You’re gonna fuck around and get cut.
Suzanne
@Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):
That would be a great band name.
Cacti
Per AP: Dems introduce a high capacity magazine ban in the House.
smintheus
Yeah, but just think how many post offices are getting renamed.
SiubhanDuinne
@dr. bloor:
Lucky 34?
PeakVT
We simply cannot increase the nation’s borrowing limit without committing to long overdue reforms to spending programs that are the very cause of our debt.
Lies, lies, lies.
Baud
@smintheus:
No kidding. I should have bought Post Office Signage Co. during their IPO.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oops, beat to the punch by efgoldman
Valdivia
@Raven:
as long as they don’t whip out the cilice….;)
Ted & Hellen
@General Stuck:
Yes, I am so wounded by that.
And wow, haven’t heard that one before.
Stuck, you are a pompous windbag. Is there any thread you don’t suffocate with the big fat stinky ass of your endless windbaggery?
YOU are BJ’s most noxious and persistent troll.
Ted & Hellen
@Cassidy:
Pretend to pie me, then respond to me anyway.
You are a loser for the ages.
Raven
@Valdivia: Had to google that!
Baud
@Valdivia:
I initially read that as Ci-alis. :-{
barath
I have to say, I’m not sure New Deal Democrat (who used to post at dkos fairly often, and is top-notch in economic analysis) is wrong in saying this about Ezra Klein’s latest postings:
Young-Broder-in-training hears a heavy stillness
Ted & Hellen
@General Stuck:
Shorter Schmuck: One must listen to Obama’s speeches thru one’s special deluxe Obama decoder earphones. Only then does one hear the words one wants to imagine to hear.
Valdivia
@Raven:
don’t ask me how I know about it! :)
@Baud:
if I were really bad I could quip, but I am going to behave. Promise.
grooverider31
@General Stuck: general, i’m no fkcng troll, but i believe you are wrong on this one. obama is not a keynesian and he is pretty much into the idea to cut the deficit. and he will go after our entitlements. that was the reason, why harry didn’t negotiate for him with turtle and joe had to take over last time. and as happy i am, that we will get rid of geithner at the end of this months, i have really a bad feeling about his follower. bowles or some wall street guy? it doesn’t matter, it will be some deficit hawk paid by pete peterson. you can bet on that.
Raven
@Valdivia: I figured it was some mackerel snapper deal.
Baud
@Valdivia:
If you were really bad, the Ci-alis might come in handy.
General Stuck
@Ted & Hellen:
LOL, I’d say something nasty back, if you weren’t already so obviously miserable being you. You are just too pitiful to flame.
SiubhanDuinne
@Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):
“Flatulent Haze” would be a good band name.
Valdivia
@Raven:
ha ha!
@Baud:
touche!
SiubhanDuinne
@Suzanne:
GodDAMMIT Suzanne.
Trakker
I may be in the minority but I think the 113th will be somewhat better than the 112th. More Dems in Congress, more experience dealing with the tea party, a smaller tea party, and a growing fury by the voters will probably contribute to a better record.
On the other hand the tea party is now a cornered beast fighting for its life and more than capable of doing huge damage to the country as it sinks into the tar pits of history.
burnspbesq
@Cacti:
Ordinarily I have a fairly low tolerance for political kabuki, such as loudly introducing legislation that has no chance of getting a floor vote in the House. This issue is different. If Democrats can successfully paint the Republicans as enablers of massacres of children, that can only help in 2014.
So yeah, hang that albatross around the R’s necks every chance you get.
kimp
Sadly, I see no end in sight to the notion that Obama will cave. I believed intially that he was playing the long game, but do not any longer. The idea that he will actually keep his word when promising to protect the poor and middle class seems laughable now. I simply do not understand why he keeps going further right in order to appease people intent on ruining him and the people who voted him in.
burnspbesq
@Ted & Hellen:
You, fucker. Yes, you.
What’s your agenda?
What do you want?
Why do you come here?
J. Michael Neal
WTF? Was that a safety on a 2-point conversion attempt? There’s something you don’t see very often.
General Stuck
@grooverider31:
Let me introduce you to Ted And Hellen.
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne: LMMFAOOOOOOOOO.
burnspbesq
@efgoldman:
Fuck that, and fuck him. I say we trap him in the shower after gym class and shoot a turkey baster full of Atomic Balm up his ass.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@kimp: It depends on which “long game” you think he’s playing. What you think is a long game, cutting taxes for the poor, keeping unemployment, is not a long game. Any one of those things can be changed by any congress and president. The long game is breaking the Republicans. Last night we saw two things end: Republicans never voting for tax increases, and the Hastert rule. With those things gone, the Republican party is falling apart.
In the early 80s, Reagan didn’t get everything he wanted. He got a tax cut all right, and then had to raise taxes 10 times. But he weakened the Democrats and changed the way Washington worked for 10 years.
Humble Lurker
@Ted & Hellen:
Still haven’t figured out how to use the Edit function have you, pedophile defender?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@burnspbesq: Wouldn’t tape across the butt work, or would that just get you sent to the library for Saturday detention?
General Stuck
Some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused.
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
@kimp: oh god. Please explain how you were hurt by not going over the fiscal cliff. Were your taxes raised too much? Were you upset that formula 1 race track builders didn’t get a break? Do you simply think workers shouldn’t pay their FICA ever again and that mysterious other people should pay and everyone should retire at 59?
kimp
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): I get that the immediate benefits are not inconsequential, but the “permanent” tax cuts, and the idea that we have shifted so quickly from the “fiscal cliff” debacle to the next “debt ceiling” fight without any sort of believable fortitude, worries me. He has (and has had) a unique opportunity to change the narrative and yet he seems to be buying in , in ways, that taxes are too high. I don’t see that as helpful.
kimp
@Or something like that.Suffern Ace</[email protected]Or something like that.Suffern Ace: I am not sure why you would think I didn’t want taxes to go up. They need to. I wish he had explained why it was vital to do so.
El Cid
@Or something like that.Suffern Ace:
It may not have to do with the “fiscal cliff,” but the economy and our population would be better off if we did. If instead of our scrimpy retirement system and an eye toward getting us all to work until we rot we moved toward earlier retirement and healthier social pensions, younger workers could not just find work but careers.
Roger Moore
@Trakker:
And a lot of them are in what they think are safe gerrymandered districts, which isn’t going to make them any more prone to compromise.
General Stuck
@kimp:
He saying he won’t even talk about it with the wingnuts. And the actual video footage of this statement was a surprising bit of cold resolve that it needs to be witnessed to appreciate. Especially from this ordinarily willing president to talk about anything the wingers want to.
Maybe you should spend less time on left wing blogs, and actually catch up news from the horses mouth. Obama has not for a second stated he will give up creating new revenue, especially from the wealthy. It is why they are so angry with him from being so slippery on public announcements and negotiating behind closed doors.
and
Take some time to view and read actual statements Obama makes on things. You have no idea what you are talking about here.
kimp
Your steadfast belief in his on air statements is quaint. I seem to remember a pledge to repeal the Bush tax cuts, not make them permanent.
General Stuck
@kimp:
No, he promised to make permanent Bush’s tax cuts for the middle class, and could only do that by extending all the Bush tax cuts for two years, and now has fully delivered on both promises with due process of compromise in a democracy.
Obama is far and away the most likely president in my lifetime, to at least try to do in his campaign promises. He has not been perfect, but unless he was thwarted by the limits of his office, and considering we have divided government with two other co equal branches of that government. It really isn’t close in the department of following up campaign promises.
edit – It is true that Obama rarely draws deep lines in the sand, as per his method of open negotiation. He sure as shit has done that this time with the debt ceiling.
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
@kimp: what? We just had two elections now where he pledged to make them permanent for middle and lower middle class households. He’s twice tried and finally succeeded in raising higher income tax rates without raising lower income tax rates.
Mike in NC
@kimp: New year, new firebagger.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@burnspbesq:
All of the attention people give him.
gwangung
@kimp:
Your reliance on fallible memory is…quaint.
burnspbesq
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Not enough pain.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@burnspbesq: Tape across the butt, what is this, the Breakfast Club?
Yutsano
@The prophet Nostradumbass: Yup. Pretty much. That and I’m certain this is the only place Special Timmeh has ever successfully peddled his kitsch.
kdaug
@Valdivia:
Platinum’s overrated.
Try pine.
kdaug
@Ted & Hellen:
No fair, jackass. I ain’t even got started yet.
Yutsano
@kdaug: Gold-pressed latinum or bust!
ruemara
@grooverider31: doofus. There is a huge difference between a rational downpayment on the deficit over time and radical cuts done immediately. There’s a huge difference between savings based on payments and savings based on cost containment to vendors and fraud controls. The fact that you’re feeding off the liberal fear factor blogs is your own choice, but the facts have not been kind to your fantasy Obama.
AA+ Bonds
.
.
Ezra Klein is a liar built by your oppressors. Don’t be dumb. There was bipartisan Congressional support all year round – for American-job-exporting free trade agreements that this idiot Klein supports.
AA+ Bonds
OH BUT THE REPUBLICANS HAVE THE HOUSE OH MERCY ME OH MY DON’T LOOK AT OUR FOREIGN OR TRADE POLICY OR ANYTHING
YellowJournalism
@The prophet Nostradumbass: I’m sure we have the basket case and brain/dork parts filled. Probably the criminal, too. And John can be Vernonesque. Who would be the princess?
The prophet Nostradumbass
@YellowJournalism:
Betty Cracker, of course!
TenguPhule
So Orangeman is a necrophiliac on top of his many other sins?
Paul
@Baud:
This from the guy who voted for the Iraq war spending and every supplemental bill to fund the Iraq war. Maybe McConnell should show up to debate himself to come up with solutions to his own spending problems. He certainly has no problem spending other people’s money on dumb wars.
BTW – Instead of debating the debt limit, why not simply not vote to spend the money in the first place!
brantl
Speaker John Boehner, hyperdynamic underacheiver.
Lojasmo
@Ted & Hellen:
Fixt. You know, for all the slagging you do on Obama, you seem not to realize that most democrats voted for him knowing FULL WELL he is a centrist and a pragmatist. Surprisingly, despite that, he has ushered in a slew of progressive law, including the end of DADT (which he championed) Lilly Ledbetter, the end to the Iraq war, and a better health care proposal than Clinton offered, but failed to get. This all with the most obstructionist congress in history.
What is your deal, really?
Lojasmo
@burnspbesq:
It will most likely be consensual.
xian
@Baud: he’s got the order wrong. first something was done on spending alone (the 2011 deal and sequester), then something was done on revenue alone (the deal just done). now there’s a debt ceiling (so what) and the sequester is back, containing cuts neither side wants.
Obama has already explained that any plan to avoid the sequester must be balanced, half revenue, half cuts. Dems will propose the revenue they want. GOP can propose cuts.
xian
@General Stuck: Obama’s biggest problem with optics is that the same plan that any sensible economist would recommend (spend more now to stimulate recovery, pay down debt in out years when the economy is strong and to be prepared for future downturns) sounds exactly like “spend more now / cut some time in the vague future” which is what most cynical people expect politicians to say and which Teapers believe is dee debil.
personally, I think the solution is to establish debt-reduction plans that kick in with triggers when the economy reaches certain benchmarks representing healthiness.
xian
@grooverider31: you’re no troll but you sure do seem concerned.
xian
@kimp: this is parody stuff, right?
stinger
Governing through fear and uncertainty, and punting on the hard decisions. Sounds a lot like the 8 years of Bush/Cheney.