So much for the GOP mandate

[TonyR]

Republicans may have made major gains in the November elections, but they have yet to win the hearts and minds of the American people, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The midterm elections - in which Republicans gained 63 seats to take control of the House and added six seats to their Senate minority - were widely seen as a rebuke to President Obama. Still, the public trusts Obama marginally more than they do congressional Republicans to deal with the country's main problems in the coming years, 43 percent to 38 percent.

The poll suggests that the election, while perhaps a vote against the status quo, was not a broad mandate for Republicans and their plans. The survey also underscores the degree to which Americans are conflicted about who they think is setting the agenda in Washington.
...

In the new poll, just 41 percent of respondents say the GOP takeover of the House is a "good thing." About 27 percent say it is a "bad thing," and 30 percent say it won't make any difference. Most continue to say that the Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to compromise with Obama on important issues.
...

Even as Republicans are determined to fulfill their campaign promises to reduce spending, repeal the new health-care law and in other ways block the president's agenda, the public's ambivalence serves as a warning that the GOP will not have a free hand in the new Congress.

Obama maintains double-digit leads over Republicans in two big areas - helping the middle class and health-care reform. The GOP has a significant edge on only one issue tested in the poll: When it comes to dealing with the federal budget deficit, Republicans in Congress are up eight points.

But while Republicans are more trusted on the issue, Americans believe that the president is more genuine in wanting to reduce the deficit. More than two in three say Obama is sincere in his commitment to deficit reduction, while only a bare majority say the same for congressional Republicans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...121407681.html

[TDmvp]

I'm sorry , but every time you post I just end up rubbing one out thinking about Candice and never truly grasp what you was trying to say.

[TonyR]

Originally Posted by TDmvp

I'm sorry , but every time you post I just end up rubbing one out thinking about Candice and never truly grasp what you was trying to say.

She is a little slice of heaven. And that's a particularly good picture of her that you just posted, thanks for that.

[Taco John]

I'm not a huge fan of the Republicans, but where a mandate is concerned, there is only one poll that counts and it was taken in November. Push polling after the fact means absolutely nothing. The name of the game is getting your butt out of your seat and behind a curtain in November, and the Democrats didn't get enough people interested in their agenda to win the only poll that matters.

If you think you're going to change the mandate the Republicans won with a Washington Post-ABC poll - well... good luck with that.

[Rohirrim]

Democrats have an agenda? I hadn't heard about that. I wonder what it is?

[BroncoLifer]

Originally Posted by TDmvp

I'm sorry , but every time you post I just end up rubbing one out thinking about Candice and never truly grasp what you was trying to say.

She looks anorexic -- I'm not into big girls but that just looks way too skinny.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by BroncoLifer

She looks anorexic -- I'm not into big girls but that just looks way too skinny.

I like a little more curves myself.

[chadta]

but the tiny frame makes her boobs look that much bigger.

i like it

[Rigs11]

I wonder if tanbed John Boner is crying again?

[Broncojef]

Originally Posted by TonyR

Republicans may have made major gains in the November elections, but they have yet to win the hearts and minds of the American people, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The midterm elections - in which Republicans gained 63 seats to take control of the House and added six seats to their Senate minority - were widely seen as a rebuke to President Obama. Still, the public trusts Obama marginally more than they do congressional Republicans to deal with the country's main problems in the coming years, 43 percent to 38 percent.

The poll suggests that the election, while perhaps a vote against the status quo, was not a broad mandate for Republicans and their plans. The survey also underscores the degree to which Americans are conflicted about who they think is setting the agenda in Washington.
...

In the new poll, just 41 percent of respondents say the GOP takeover of the House is a "good thing." About 27 percent say it is a "bad thing," and 30 percent say it won't make any difference. Most continue to say that the Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to compromise with Obama on important issues.
...

Even as Republicans are determined to fulfill their campaign promises to reduce spending, repeal the new health-care law and in other ways block the president's agenda, the public's ambivalence serves as a warning that the GOP will not have a free hand in the new Congress.

Obama maintains double-digit leads over Republicans in two big areas - helping the middle class and health-care reform. The GOP has a significant edge on only one issue tested in the poll: When it comes to dealing with the federal budget deficit, Republicans in Congress are up eight points.

But while Republicans are more trusted on the issue, Americans believe that the president is more genuine in wanting to reduce the deficit. More than two in three say Obama is sincere in his commitment to deficit reduction, while only a bare majority say the same for congressional Republicans.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...121407681.html

He continues to back pork bill after pork bill and set an agenda that continues to bury us further in debt...Only a 1.1 trillion bill this week and Obama has the balls to lecture the public on cutting the deficit...anyone seriously thinking he is focused on fixing the economy or reducing the debt is beyond worthy economic discussion. No one should trust the President, Republicans or Democrats at this point...the message this fall wasn't we love republicans and want them in. STOP the Spending, the bills pushed through Congress without being read and Obama's far left wing agenda...we can't afford any of it.

[DBruleU]

Originally Posted by Broncojef

He continues to back pork bill after pork bill and set an agenda that continues to bury us further in debt...Only a 1.1 trillion bill this week and Obama has the balls to lecture the public on cutting the deficit...anyone seriously thinking he is focused on fixing the economy or reducing the debt is beyond worthy economic discussion. No one should trust the President, Republicans or Democrats at this point...the message this fall wasn't we love republicans and want them in. STOP the Spending, the bills pushed through Congress without being read and Obama's far left wing agenda...we can't afford any of it.

Exactly. It wasn't a mandate for the GOP, but a mandate on this administrations spending, and the current congress.

If you can't see that, then there isn't much else to say.

It's like congressmen Wiener ( I swear, this dude must have been made fun of so much in his childhood it is really no surprise why he acts the way he does. Needs to prove something.) This guy I saw on TV twice this week defending the spending in Washington. And his response is basically this...congress is this giant fire hose that won't shut off (Spending), and we the American people are the ones who supply the water...like it or not.

[That One Guy]

I would say that with the current atmosphere of congress, there are two entirely different opinions about where the country should be heading. The Rs think simply maintaining the status quo rather than going down the wrong road any further is a win. They (Rs) know they can't change the direction of government as a whole so they just have to dig their heels in until momentum at least stops and they can start to pull in the direction they think is right.

I can't say I blame them. If there's two entirely different opinions on the solutions to our problems, walking down the middle of both wont fix anything. If my mechanic thinks my car drives bad because of the alignment and I say it's because the tires are worn unevenly, it doesn't make sense to do a partial alignment and replace one tire. Obama also alluded to the issue in his John Stewart appearance back in the day when he said filibustering allows people to reject any notion of compromise and just block changes entirely. I think that tells us about the issues when the two parties have such different opinions on so many different topics. That tells me there's likely agendas involved that pushes the common ground almost entirely out of the picture.

[TonyR]

I noticed a slightly desperate edge to Sean Hannity's eyes last night. Before the Tea Party quite realized what was going on, Obama forced them into an immediate decision on whether to back the GOP in Congress, following McConnell, or to start a civil war now. This was a lose-lose proposition for the tea brigade. This Hugh Hewitt monologue ( http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/f64...3-04e01ca8d595 ) captures just how difficult a time the Republican Party is having as it tries to square its campaign rhetoric with, you know, governing:

The worst part of "the deal" is the damage it does to the Pledge to America. Speaker-designate Boehner's website prominently features the Pledge, and this Facebook page provides all the handy links to GOP rhetoric about it from September forward.

"The deal" violates five provisions of the Pledge, though hopefully one of those provisions --"Read the bill"-- will be honored before the House votes on "the deal" this week. Representative Steve King of Iowa bluntly declared what everyone knows on last night's Sean Hannity program --he hasn't read the bill yet because there is no bill to read. Thus all the GOP members declaring for the bill have been abandoning the pledge for the sake of creating a sense of momentum around "the deal."

On yesterday's program Congressmen Dan Lungren and Tom McClintock, both fiscal conservatives, declared for "the deal." Both argue that it was the best this Congress could do. Many conservatives reject that argument, but it is obviously a legitimate position to hold. But the GOP leadership needs to get out and talk about the Pledge and why it needs to be abandoned for the moment but will guide the new Congress. 

Good luck with that. They're a calm, reasonable lot, as we know, and abandoning their promises before they have even taken their seats is quite an achievement.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.co...-in-knots.html

[Taco John]

That's the way I feel about it. I think this deal is a farce. The Repubicans played it all wrong. They should have let the tax cuts expire and forced them through in January. It would have been win/win because the Democrats would have taken the blame, and they'd have been able to come in riding white horses with a new proposal across the board. Instead they got a small victory and allowed the Democrats to force another trillion in debt on our kids. Terrible deal.

[That One Guy]

Being down in Kentucky, I heard plenty about the Tea Party movement. While I enjoy politics in the fundamental sense, I don't enjoy politics of a single individual as I think everyone is corrupt and just seeking personal benefits. As such, I don't know as many details as many others but from what I heard, the Rand Paul campaign was a total mockery of the Tea Party concept. He talked the rhetoric, said some of the things his father had been saying for so long, but unlike his father didn't have the balls to stand behind it. The civil rights legislature being the most famous incident of his campaign. Now we'll continue to see folks taking pork at every opportunity and while the Tea Party scheme sounded revolutionary, there's still too much to gain by looking out for personal benefits. I don't really expect anything to change and am not surprised to hear that the basic tenets they were all preaching will slowly but surely become empty campaign promises.

[Crushaholic]

Originally Posted by TonyR

[I]
The midterm elections - in which Republicans gained 63 seats to take control of the House and added six seats to their Senate minority - were widely seen as a rebuke to President Obama. Still, the public trusts Obama marginally more than they do congressional Republicans to deal with the country's main problems in the coming years, 43 percent to 38 percent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...121407681.html

I'm sure there are several people in America who don't know that the Democrats are still in charge...

They could be seeing this mess, and thinking that the Republicans are trying to block their unemployment benefits.

[BroncoLifer]

Originally Posted by TonyR

I noticed a slightly desperate edge to Sean Hannity's eyes last night.

Projection?

[Popcorn Sutton]

Originally Posted by Taco John

That's the way I feel about it. I think this deal is a farce. The Repubicans played it all wrong. They should have let the tax cuts expire and forced them through in January. It would have been win/win because the Democrats would have taken the blame, and they'd have been able to come in riding white horses with a new proposal across the board. Instead they got a small victory and allowed the Democrats to force another trillion in debt on our kids. Terrible deal.

Just curious what you mean by this?

[Mile High Shack]

yeah, this isn't just a democrat thing, the Republicans forced this one through....so don't just label this a democrat thing

[Popcorn Sutton]

Originally Posted by Mile High Shack

yeah, this isn't just a democrat thing, the Republicans forced this one through....so don't just label this a democrat thing

Exactly. Holding any other legislation hostage (9/11 Health Care) so the top 2 percent would pay 36% instead of 39%.

Priorities: Rich people, Oil, Tobacco, Lobbyists, a whole slew of other things and then we can see about helping out the heroes of 9/11.

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by BrewCrew

Exactly. Holding any other legislation hostage (9/11 Health Care) so the top 2 percent would pay 36% instead of 39%.

Priorities: Rich people, Oil, Tobacco, Lobbyists, a whole slew of other things and then we can see about helping out the heroes of 9/11.

Most of the top 2% get their money from capital gains, so it's only 15%. Like Warren Buffett said, "My secretary pays more than I do."

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by BrewCrew

Just curious what you mean by this?

Deficits are not sourced in tax cuts. They are sourced in spending. I reject any world view that claims the lack of other people's money as the source of a deficit.

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by Mile High Shack

yeah, this isn't just a democrat thing, the Republicans forced this one through....so don't just label this a democrat thing

The only reason that the Democrats are agreeing to this deal is because of the Trillion dollars in added spending that comes along with it. The only reason the Republicans are going for that level of spending is because of the tax cuts.

[Popcorn Sutton]

Originally Posted by Taco John

Deficits are not sourced in tax cuts. They are sourced in spending. I reject any world view that claims the lack of other people's money as the source of a deficit.

If you cut taxes and don't cut spending you get deficits.

The Repubs for years have preached tax cuts but rarely ever sign on to spending cuts. This bill is yet another example. They'll do anything to cut taxes but really don't take spending cuts seriously.

[Popcorn Sutton]

Originally Posted by Taco John

The only reason that the Democrats are agreeing to this deal is because of the Trillion dollars in added spending that comes along with it. The only reason the Republicans are going for that level of spending is because of the tax cuts.

I agree with this statement. My point is the Republicans are as guilty as the Dems at adding to our deficits. You don't seem to care as much because it involves tax cuts but the fact is that tax cuts without spending cuts equals deficits and the Republicans voted for this bill too.

http://www.lp.org/blogs/wayne-allyn-...rillion-dollar