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[whitetomger.livejournal.com]

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[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

They're waiting until the last minute, as I said in another comment earlier. The point was that they aren't giving the Democrats what they want, and Democrats control the Senate and presidency.

The Tea Party was unwilling to raise the debt ceiling at all unless they got exactly what they wanted with nothing else given in return. I'm sure many of them are still unwilling to raise it, but they're outnumbered by the more reasonable members of the House Republicans and the House Democrats.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

They're waiting until the last minute, as I said in another comment earlier. The point was that they aren't giving the Democrats what they want, and Democrats control the Senate and presidency.

I disagree. They've been acting for months to solve this. And they have, for the last few weeks, been giving the Democrats what they want - a debt limit increase and smaller cuts.

The Tea Party was unwilling to raise the debt ceiling at all unless they got exactly what they wanted with nothing else given in return.

I disagree. They didn't even want to raise the debt ceiling. As it stands, the only thing that has remained off the table have been tax increases.

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

They've been acting for months to jockey to a position that benefited their side more. It was always going to go down to the wire. That's how this works.

The Democrats and most of the establishment Republicans do not consider the debt ceiling increase to be "on the table" as part of a compromise. They realize it needs to be done because the consequences are worse than not. So I reject the notion that this was actually a compromise position, even if the reckless Tea Party doesn't.

Tax increases being off the table shows they are more ideologically driven than realistic about reducing the deficit. All this jockeying over the last few months, among other things, has had the benefit of showing the true colors of everyone involved.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

They've been acting for months to jockey to a position that benefited their side more. It was always going to go down to the wire. That's how this works.

Absolutely - they do what they're elected to do in many senses. But they're still acting.

The Democrats and most of the establishment Republicans do not consider the debt ceiling increase to be "on the table" as part of a compromise. They realize it needs to be done because the consequences are worse than not. So I reject the notion that this was actually a compromise position, even if the reckless Tea Party doesn't.

Call the Tea Party reckless if you'd like, but the option for them was to cut spending where necessary to avoid even having to hit the limit - a better option than this, IMO.

Tax increases being off the table shows they are more ideologically driven than realistic about reducing the deficit. All this jockeying over the last few months, among other things, has had the benefit of showing the true colors of everyone involved.

That tax increases were on the table is the true problem. The Tea Party and the Republicans both showed that this can be done without tax increases.

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

That tax increases were on the table is the true problem. The Tea Party and the Republicans both showed that this can be done without tax increases.

Of course it could. But the sacrifices being made are by the middle class and the poor in this new deal. The wealthiest people sacrifice nothing. That's the argument I've heard from the other side.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

But the sacrifices being made are by the middle class and the poor in this new deal. The wealthiest people sacrifice nothing

I'm not sure that's really the case. But, then again, if the middle class and poor were given too much to start...

That's the argument I've heard from the other side.

That might be part of the problem.

Re: I'm not sure that's really the case. But, then again, if the middle class and poor were given to

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

I understand why many in society disagree with me - it's because they've come to believe this idea that the wealthy, who pay a significantly higher amount of taxes, somehow also benefit more at the same time.

It's not a misunderstanding of economics, nor is this a moral issue. It simply is.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

I'm not seeing how it's even an issue worth paying attention to. I don't know what the libertarian perspective is on it.