Friday January 18, 2013, 9:22 pm
There is a need for caution and for bracing one's self against an attack. As the bard said: " A man can smile and smile and be a villain!"

Saturday January 19, 2013, 4:09 am
noted- proceed with caution

Saturday January 19, 2013, 4:38 am
The question here is "Why have the democrats not produced a budget in four years?" Anyone have an answer for that?

Personally, I believe there Republicans are doing their due diligence targeting the massive debt facing our children and grandchildren. If we continue on this spending free without cutting spending across the board, we are certain to hit a brick wall which translates into credit downgrades which will weaken our country and bring her to her knees globally.

Something must be done to stop this train wreck and I applaud the Republicans for standing firm on what they believe will save our country fiscally.

So, liberals, why hasn't Obama produced a budget? Have an answer/explanation for that?

Saturday January 19, 2013, 4:56 am
Thanks Cal for the link to the article by Ryu Spaeth. I figured the GOP would and was happy to see it happen. It is going to be a tough fight.
@ Diane here is the kink to the full text of President Obama's 2013 budget proposals, do take the time to read it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/budget-plan-2013-obama_n_1273386.html
Read and noted.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 5:00 am
LOL... Sorry for the typing error. It should read "link" not "kink" (that's the GOP proposal).

Saturday January 19, 2013, 6:28 am
Noted.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 6:31 am
Thanks for the link, John. There are many problems with Obama's budget namely that any and all revenues that will come in will be spent. How do we know this? Because we know our own government. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior:

2010: $1.293 trillion deficit
2011: $1.299 trillion deficit
2012: $1.101 trillion deficit (projected)
2013: $ .901 trillion deficit (projected)

this was taken from Huffington Post

Obama's own democrats would not pass the only budget he put forth several years ago.

We have an enormous spending problem. If we don't cut spending across the board our country will mirror European countries. The fact that Obama has stymied growth in the private sector IMO is no accident.

I believe there's a much larger and bleak future for America if we do not get the socialist mindsets out of our White House. Our country is poised for steady decline....more people on food stamps, welfare, disability and, of course, let us not forget the $60 billion we, the taxpayers, fund in fraud and abuse every year.

I hear you, John, and I appreciate the link but there's obviously a very serious problem with Obama's budget so much so that he can't get his own party to sign off on it.

So, the question remains "Why can't Obama pass a budget?" Is it because congress knows that raising the debt ceiling without signing off on necessary spending cuts will be Ronald Reagan redux? We must always look at history if we are to understand the present.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 8:56 am
The repulbicans didn't mind running up the debt over no WMD. Now they can't expect the put the debt on the backs of old people and sick people and hungry people.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 9:23 am
noted CAL, but i think its problems but not only with Obama!!!!! i do not care about politics!!!!! but the repuclicans want to change everything now, what they did not change before??????? they blame Obama for all!!!! but when Ob tooked this country was in the ground in the floor!!! in misery and in debt!!!! now people want to Ob make a magic!!!! . people are so ignorants. it will take years for htis country be ok again!!! and it not going to be OB falult!!!!!! its the repucblicans greedy!!!!!!! thnx for the article CAL. i just love to say what i feel!!!!!!!! ciao ciao!!!

Saturday January 19, 2013, 11:04 am
All I know is, I am giving Social Security $2,000 more a year based on Obama's plan.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 11:11 am
I wouldn't say the Republicans backed down as I'm sure they have something devious up their sleeves. But in this particular instance, they may appear to be cooperating if only because their approval rating is just slightly below that of a cockroach....

Saturday January 19, 2013, 11:40 am
@Diane. We're not CRAZY about Obama and the hold the right has on him. Just so you know....You can't say much about YOUR people so you bash ours. Real cute.

Ordered by to rich, white guys/fascists...

Koch Brothers Warn GOP to Back Away from Debt Ceiling Brinksmanship

By Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism

Kochs may fear that the Tea Party's debt ceiling hostage-taking will foil budget strategy. READ MORE»

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:25 pm
Thanks but what's next? Be on your guard.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:35 pm
Too bad it took the Koch Brothers to get them to do their job. We see where their allegience is. Not with the American people. What part of Public Service do they not understand? They are all about Corporate Service.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:37 pm
Greedy selfish bastards!

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:37 pm
I agree Arielle. Time for the ever irresponsible GOP to pay for the bills they rang up under BushCo which is the vast majority of the debt. Why don't these deadbeats want to pay their bills?

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:41 pm
I do agree with one thing Diane said. We have to look at history when things were much better for the country.
However that would be...
When we had more regulations and higher tax rates on the weatlthy.. Not the ridiculous excess and absurd influence they hold over our government.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:42 pm
What the liberals don't seem to realize is that none of this revenue will go to pay down the debt. It will be used for more socialist programs. There's plenty of money to take from other sources to pay massive interest on the debt we have accumulated. The liberals are mirroring Obama's scare tactics.

Our country has a spending problem....period. Even Obama as a senator said this, "Do not raise the debt ceiling...it shows a failure of leadership." So, what say the liberals to Obama's OWN WORDS?

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:44 pm
Hopefully the GOP will realize what a hindrance they have been to any progress that could have been made and could still be made.

It's encouraging that people are noticing though...and the GOP is losing fans and followers.

They're a bunch of greedy spoiled children and they don't give a rat's patootie about anyone who doesn't line their coffers with gold.

I hope that more people see them for what they are.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:49 pm
I am not sure kicking the can down the road three months actually constitutes caving in on anything. It just postpones the conflict - which the two parties have been doing for years, same dance, same music. There are real things to be done and this is what they do, play at leadership. People need work, health care and education. The countries infrastructure is falling apart at the seams and not a thing is being done about it, when all the century old water and sewer mains burst, then it will be finger pointing and time to pay the piper. Until then, they pretend to be leaders. We no longer have statespeople concerned with the long term good of the country, we have poseurs who can see only as far as the next election. The lot of them make me sick.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:53 pm
What the liberals don't seem to realize is...

What you don't realize is the size of hole bush and the republicans put us in. Depressions are only fixed when liberals have full control. What you don't realize is that the right doesn't know how to run an economy in spite of the history we have, that shows us what DOES work. Consumer economy.

What you don't realize is we have put a LOT more thought into our poverty problem than you ever will. You just refuse to realize.

We have a revenue problem. Your people are the ones that want the bloated arrogant military, not us.

"There's plenty of money to take from other sources"


Go on. Name the sources. We can't wait to see how compassionate you'll be. I think I'm going to throw up.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 12:54 pm
Again, Diane...

America's Big Political Fight: Will We Grapple with Reality or Fully Detach and Live in Fantasyland?

By Robert Parry, Consortium News

Key elements of the American Right have set up permanent residence in the world of make-believe, making the real-world challenges we face almost impossible to solve. READ MORE»

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:00 pm
Are you kidding, Jason? Surely you jest....George W. Bush's deficit is miniscule beside Obama's Obama took three years to double down on the spending and none of it worked. Bush's deficit was over an eight year period and don't forget that TARP was on Bush's deficit most of which has been paid back so if we are math enthusiasts and a republican we can safely deduct that hunk of change from GWB's deficit.

Obama brought the country our first credit downgrade: debt to income ratio And then he did it again...a second credit downgrade.

Obama horribly mismanaged a deep recession. He didn't fix ANYTHING...he just threw the taxpayer's money at it and nothing worked....Cash for Clunkers? Total Failure. Realigning mortgages? Total Failure. $860 billion stimulus sold to us as a Job's Bill? Total Failure

Talk about wasteful spending. Obama is the absolute King and the history books will portray him as the worst president in our country. Take a bow, Jimmy Carter, you have been replaced!

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:10 pm
Early in 2009 President Obama had a supreme opportunity to turn the deep recession around by turning full force towards our small businesses. Small businesses? The job engines in our country. Ask yourself why Obama didn't do that? Ask yourselves why Obama ignored the large elephant in the room and turned instead to spending an entire year working on his "legacy" (sociopath/narcissist) healthcare bill which has already proven to be failure.

Ask Obama the hard questions. We didn't vote for him. You did.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:14 pm
Talk about "fantasy land" Jason.....have you looked at Greece lately? How about Italy, Spain and Portugal? No? Well, you should because they ran OUT of money because their pensions, healthcare THEIR ENTITLEMENTS are poised to bankrupt their countries....Greece fell. Is that what you want for America? Because you know that one day a country runs out of rich people to tax at 60% and higher to pay the bills. Then what do you do? Start feasting on the middle class to support the lower middle class and the building number of poor people?

Everybody loses using that mentality.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:38 pm
What Conservatives don't seem to realize or choose to ignore is they spend like crazy when they are in power. Exchanging Clinton's surplus for excessive debt. Time to pay up for all the debt that the GOP approved while they were in power. They've certainly earned the named Deadbeats, unfortunately they are not earning their salaries and benefits. Those are two areas that we can afford to cut as excessive waste. Why do they think they are ENTITLED to paychecks for doing nothing, especially now that they are working LESS than half time thanks to Eric Cantor's lax scheduling. It's a ripoff of the American people. Seems like Ayn Rand would agree.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:50 pm
Roseann, you need to ask President Obama why he doubled down on the debt via the $860 billion failed stimulus....talk about wasteful spending. Face that fact. Then ask yourself why Obama took a deep recession and enhanced it by throwing money at the problems instead of fixing them. Then ask yourself why he erected his legacy healthcare to "save us money" and already the cost has gone up. Talk about a deadbeat President....and now Obama is standing before us trying to take the guns away when he is negotiating right now as being the largest "Arm's Dealer" in the world. Do your research.....there are two faces to Obama both of them ugly.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:53 pm
"More than 130 congressmen, led by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., signed a letter sent to President Barack Obama Monday expressing their opposition to a U.N. arms trade treaty if it violates U.S. gun owner rights and sovereignty.

The United Nations is starting a month-long negotiation for a long-delayed treaty on international standards for importing and exporting conventional weapons.

Proponents say the treaty will simply replicate U.S. standards in much of the rest of the world without affecting domestic gun sales, The Hill reports. But gun rights activities are concerned.

“The UN's actions to date indicate that the ATT [United Nations Arms Trade Treaty] is likely to pose significant threats to our national security, foreign policy, and economic interests as well as our constitutional rights,” the letter states. “The U.S. must establish firm red lines for the ATT and state unequivocally that it will oppose the ATT if it infringes on our rights or threatens our ability to defend our interests.”

The letter includes specific demands — that the treaty leave out small arms and ammunition and recognize an individual’s right to self-defense.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) applauded the letter. “Any international ATT that in any way, shape or form affects the constitutional rights of American gun owners is unacceptable,” Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement. “International organizations and foreign governments do not have the right to restrict the fundamental freedoms handed down to us from our Founding Fathers.”


Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obama-un-arms-treaty/2012/07/03/id/444320#ixzz2ISdBlUUk

The liberals on Care 2 need to dig down and do their research on Obama....know WHO HE IS.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:54 pm
Jason, please give it up on the "Old Rich Guys." There are plenty of "Old Black Guys" in America as well as "Old Rich Hispanic Guys."

Even Obama is considered rich. Hate him for it? Nah...not Obama!

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:55 pm
typo: "There are plenty of "Old Rich Black Guys...."

Saturday January 19, 2013, 1:58 pm
Gene, the only person playing at leadership is President Obama. The loner. The bully pulpit orator. The "Leading From Behind" President. He has proven that he doesn't know how to reach across the aisle and conduct some semblance of negotiation. Instead, he gets mad and sends someone else in to do what he is too incompetent to do....to save face.....this is a narcissist technique....and Obama does it well.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 2:54 pm
"George W. Bush's deficit is miniscule beside Obama's Obama took three years to double down on the spending and none of it worked."

Wrong! Bush's 2 wars were NOT on the books when he left. obama had to immediately put them in the budget. You DO NOT realize the truth. "Key elements of the American Right have set up permanent residence in the world of make-believe, making the real-world challenges we face almost impossible to solve."

This is true. All because of fox people like you. When are you going to realize what a bad person/human you are being?

Saturday January 19, 2013, 2:57 pm
@Diane. "Key elements of the American Right have set up permanent residence in the world of make-believe, making the real-world challenges we face almost impossible to solve."

How the Deficit Got This Big -
The second graph shows that under Mr. Bush, tax cuts and war spending were the biggest policy drivers of the swing from projected surpluses to deficits from 2002 to 2009. Budget estimates that didn't foresee the recessions in 2001 and in 2008 and 2009 also contributed to deficits.
nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24sun4.html More results
Off-budget accounting for Iraq - Roanoke.com

Off-budget accounting for Iraq By refusing to estimate the costs for the war in Iraq, Bush makes his budget deficits look much smaller than they actually are.
roanoke.com/editorials/wb/xp-25651 More results

Snap out of it! This is serious sh*t! :(

Saturday January 19, 2013, 3:53 pm
Jason, sorry, pal. But you are posturing from far left wing biased dialogue. The Iraq war is over. Afghanistan, thank God, is winding down. Let the Muslims kill each other over a slight difference in their religious beliefs....I'm all for pulling out of the middle east. But know this....Saddam Hussein was gassing, mutilating and raping his own people.....killing them and piling them in ditches so don't tell me that the American soldiers didn't help the Iraqi people. Now that we are out of there....the same infiltration of evil people will once again take over. Did America learn a lesson? Was it costly to save the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein to try to bring some semblance of democracy to their country? You bet it was. Were innocent people killed ? Unfortunately yes. But you must know that America planted a seed in all of this for the validation of women to vote and to become a vital part of society there. Female children weren't allowed to go to school. Their pets, their yard dogs were treated better than women in this country. Yes, the cost was enormous and only history will reveal if we made a difference in their country or not.

For me, personally, being raised in a strong military family and now married into a military family, I know that to bring a democracy to these crazy middle eastern countries is...at best...a real challenge. Hopefully America has learned a valuable lesson. The middle east is very different from America. They must fight their own religious wars killing each other and we should not let another American die fighting for them. It is a long and arduous war in Afghanistan and now it needs to end. Democracy is not right for every country. This is precisely why the United States and other countries are unique. We encourage democracy and equality. We don't have a cast system like other countries. Why do many people approach the US every day to become US citizens? Ask yourself that question.

However, now we face a President who is conflicted because he was never raised to be a true American patriot. It is more than troublesome to at least 50% of Americans. We'll have to endure four more years of this conflicted president we have but beyond that my hope is that we can once again become a proud and stronger America...fiscally in good shape so that we can better able take care of our own....our very own Americans who need our help more than any middle eastern country. We need to stop $1 billion a year to Pakistan and stop foreign aid around the world until we get AMERICA in order. We need to take care of our own but know this, too.....in order to have the safety to take care of our own we need a strong military and the best technology to protect our country. To think otherwise is ludicrous.

We are now at the fork in the road IMO. We are a divided America and as long as we are....we are like sitting ducks to the terrorists who live each day to kill us.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 4:14 pm
Noted. Raise the debt ceiling, cut massive Pentagon spending, take the payroll cap off Soc. Sec., introduce a new stimulus for jobs (larger than the last one), reinstate Glass-Steagall, impose a Financial Transaction Tax on Wall St, cut corporate and private loopholes, subsidies and tax breaks, raise taxes on the wealthiest....a good start!

Saturday January 19, 2013, 4:14 pm
I once had a wise boss who said, "I don't care WHO made the mistake...just fix it!" That's how I feel about all this bickering. This is one of the main reasons I am a registered Independent. I vote for the individual, not a party or a platform. I am a flag waving, red/white/blue wearing supporter of the USA and it pains me to watch the cat-and-mouse game that goes in circles with WE THE PEOPLE caught in the middle. What ever happened to a government FOR AND BY THE PEOPLE? At some point, even if you do not support the current administration, at the end of the day, President Obama IS the president. Some respect should be paid to the office, if not the man, and to the original purposes of the democratic system. After viewing the movie, LINCOLN, I developed a greater appreciation for negotiation and compromise. Otherwise you have paralysis and no one wins.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 4:54 pm
Sheila, I couldn't agree with you more. Fix the problem and not the blame. The Independent candidates were the only ones with viable platforms who instead of mud slinging tried to make the problems and issues facing the nation the crux of debate.

Saturday January 19, 2013, 7:51 pm
Don't trust them at all....they never do anything that won't help them as a party. Watch their hands and mouths at all times....they are sneaky and cunning and up to no good!

Sunday January 20, 2013, 5:51 am
If we could please put the vindictive and hatred of the past in the closet and worry/discuss our current ptoblems it would be appreciated. That's a nice way of saying "Get over it" to both parties and their supporters.

When will we stop kicking the can down the road? We now have 4 crisis points facing the Congres in the next few months. Devious? Only in the sense that we will now have another deadline (line in the jello) that forces a budget that is meaningful to spending and debt reduction which is just what we need.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 6:10 am
Just kicking the can down the road doesn't solve anything.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 7:03 am
"Gene, the only person playing at leadership is President Obama. The loner."

Not true at all, Diane. He IS the only one in his branch of government, if that makes him a loner, well, blame the constitution, the institution, not the man. The legislative branch has 535 people in it. You'd think one or two of those might have an idea that goes beyond their next election. They used to. They did work across the aisle to get things done in the long term interest of the country, how do you think we got our Interstate Highway system, our national electrical grid, the management of air travel in this country? That was people working in the best interest of the country long term EVEN if it did not help them win their next election. Though that is really a straw man argument, incumbency has tremendous advantages and it is rare an incumbent is unseated. So they COULD work together, but the party of no, since 2008 has refused to bargain on anything, compromise on anything, look at anything beyond their limited agenda of attacks on women and minorities. They were elected to GOVERN, not remake the country in their religious image. They don't seem to understand that. As ugly as things got in American politics during the last century, we have NEVER had a more shallow bunch running things than we do now.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 7:05 am
"socialist programs?" Seeing that citizens are housed, fed, have jobs, and a future - those are socialist programs? I stopped reading the broken record after that....but not dealing with the issues is what got us a cut in credit rating. NOT Obama - the fact that a country like ours cannot deal with finances in a timely and appropriate manner is why our credit rating dropped.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 9:45 am
We have one major problem...FOX!!! They are pumping out ill informed, blow hards faster than the majority of americans can keep up with. Just look at Diane's words she refers to as facts! We have mathematical facts...
"The second graph shows that under Mr. Bush, tax cuts and war spending were the biggest policy drivers of the swing from projected surpluses to deficits from 2002 to 2009. Budget estimates that didn't foresee the recessions in 2001 and in 2008 and 2009 also contributed to deficits. "
Countered with ,"The Iraq war is over. "

We can't teach the fox heads the truth, so where do we go from here? How do we get away from the destruction they inflict on the rest of us?

Sergeant Diane talks about building democracy while she advocates the end to ours. She refuses to acknowledge that we won the presidency. In the old days, before fox, the opposition would just step aside and let the will of the people play out. Now, they go into battle against their own people.

Now we know she's PART of the military industrial complex. Living well off of our tax dollars that they fight to keep. Now we know she is and always will be, part of the problem.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 10:32 am
What do you call democracy, Jason? Having the government pay for your shelter, food, and healthcare? That would be called a "nanny state." That translates into: socialism.

Go to Switzerland.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 12:26 pm
I came to make the comment "three months - how generous" but now think it's more important to shout

DON'T FEED THE TROLL

Sunday January 20, 2013, 1:02 pm
As if the troll had no chance to see the evil in her ways?

Democracy is when the people vote and say what they want, as a majority. Nanny state is just a fascist fox catch phrase for social responcibility. We ARE a group. "Personal responsibility" is only half of the M.O.

You HAVE to answer this:
If 100% employment is impossible, what do we do with the unemployed?

If you just mumbled under your breath, let them die, You're disgusting. If you live off government jobs, same.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 1:20 pm
Is it possible? Are the Republicans really starting to see reason? I have to admit that I never thought I would see that happen. They have been so hell-bent on making sure that the current administration "fails", even at the expense of our economy and the good of the country. They have been stuck in the pockets of the very rich who don't want to take any responsibility for paying what they owe in the way of taxes. To see them start to realize that reality won't let them continue on that track is almost astonishing.

Sunday January 20, 2013, 1:59 pm
Jason, all of us pay more than enough taxes to take care of our disabled and poor. All of us fund $60 billion a year in fraud and abuse of these programs. We have enough to fund that don't we?

Your 100% employment statement reveals you aren't very smart. A country will never have 100% employment due to students and retirees.

Government jobs are important. Where would our country be without The Pentagon, CIA, etc?

I don't even know why I respond to your ridiculous comments. How many poor people are you sharing your income with?

Sunday January 20, 2013, 2:29 pm
Where's your budget, Obama? Oh, still don't have one? Then no deal on the debt ceiling until you do your job.

If you think Members of Congress should have to pass a budget before they get paid, watch and share the weekly Republican address with Rep. James Lankford (R-OK).


To give Congress time to pass a budget, the House of Representatives will vote this week on a temporary three-month debt limit increase. But if the House or Senate fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid. Here are some facts to remember:


“The principle is simple: no budget, no pay,” said Speaker John Boehner. “Before there is any long-term debt limit increase, a budget should be passed that cuts spending.”

The last time Senate Democrats passed a budget was April 29, 2009 – nearly four years ago – “a shameful run that needs to end,” says Speaker Boehner. The Wall Street Journal said, while “the House works its will, the Senate does crossword puzzles.”

“We should cut Washington's budget, not your family’s budget,” says Rep. Lankford. House Republicans have already passed two budgets that cut spending and address our debt. Rep. Lankford says the House will pass another one to "pay our bills and keep the government running” – one that “walks our nation out of debt, deficit and decline.”

President Obama has missed the legal deadline for submitting a budget more than any previous president, and suggested this year’s budget will be late too. “Ordinary folks … meet deadlines,” says the president. He just can’t seem to meet his.

President Obama’s jobs council hasn’t officially met in more than a year. The House, on the other hand, passed 40 jobs bills that were blocked by Senate Democrats.

Fitch Ratings made it clear that our national debt is undermining our economy and spending needs to be cut. Driven by out-of-control spending, more than $5 trillion has been added to the national debt since Senate Democrats last passed a budget.

http://www.speaker.gov/general/nobudgetnopay-debt-undermining-our-economy-budget-should-be-passed-cuts-spending/?ref=image

Monday January 21, 2013, 1:46 am
The sourpusses all seem to be smiling. Beware!

Monday January 21, 2013, 3:07 am
Noted.

Monday January 21, 2013, 7:27 am
This is certainly not a win, but more a temporary reprieve. The lull between battles, as it were.

The crazies in the GOP are still going to try to take this country down and further ruin the economy and they must be stopped. The only thing that stopped them this time is the fear that they will not get paid if they stand firm on the debt ceiling talks, so we need to use that advantage and stop paying them until they come up with a budget and tax changes that benefit the people and not their corporate puppeteers.
Social security does not contribute to the budget. The only reason that they want access to it is to pirate it in order to use OUR money to balance their pork barrel spending.
We need sweeping changes in how we pay contractors, in how the MIC gets paid and in what we are actually paying for. research is one thing, but when a contractor gives us a project, they need to either come in on time and within budget, with a working product, or they need to not get paid beyond the budget they were given.
We need to increase the taxes on the 2%; they contribute the least and get the most. We need to END corporate welfare. if your company shows billions in profit, why are we giving you our tax dollars and allowing you to ship jobs overseas when it is not necessary?
We need to punish, not reward companies that ship jobs overseas as well as those tax-dodgers who hide their money in tax havens overseas.
We need to put people back to work by getting Congress to start passing jobs bills that will help the people, not the corporations.
We need to prosecute the financial institutions that were allowed to wreck our economy in the first place. Start by putting them in jail and taking their money instead of blaming the victims of their predatory practices and bad investments.
In short, we need to end the stranglehold that the corporations/banks have on our economy.

Monday January 21, 2013, 11:06 am
The Republicans aren't trying to take the country down we are trying to save it! What part about America receiving it's first AND second credit downgrade don't you understand? It's the debt to income ratio and we've got far more debt to pay out than we have coming in.

Sorry, Christopher, but the rest of your comments are elementary level IMO. When you said we should punish companies for taking business overseas I knew right there that you have no idea what you are talking about. Do your research on the high union wages, the high cost of owning a business in America and then tell ME why a business would want to pay triple for something that they can send overseas to avoid the high labor costs and the taxes we place on our businesses here in the United States. Americans don't want to take their business overseas. Many are forced to in order to make a profit.

Monday January 21, 2013, 3:01 pm
Oh really!

Four More Years Starts Today

As many as a million Americans gathered on our National Mall today, to watch Barack Obama be publicly sworn in to serve his second term as President of the United States. And he rides into his second term with a mandate - as the only President since Dwight Eisenhower to be elected twice with 51% of the vote. But if there's one thing the President learned from his first term, it's that Republicans will at all costs destroy whatever mandate he's earned.

In fact, on this day, four years ago, Republicans gathered at a fancy steakhouse in Washington, DC, just as President Obama was attending the inaugural balls. The likes of Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and Frank Luntz all attended this meeting. And the purpose of the meeting was simple: How to destroy the Obama Presidency and retake the White House in four years. That night - Republicans committed themselves to four years of obstruction and economic sabotage. And that's exactly what they did - even though it didn't work out for them in the end.

Today, the question is - what are Republicans plotting now? How will they sabotage the President's second term? Let's hope the President has learned lessons from the first term, and accepts that he's facing a loyal opposition in the Republican Party. He's facing economic terrorists - and the only way he can succeed is by taking the debate to the American people, using his bully pulpit, and shaming the fossils on the Right who serve the Billionaire Class.

-Thom