OFF THE CLIFF!

[Townsend]

Congressman Torn Between Meaningless Pledge To Anti-Tax Zealot, Well-Being Of Nation



http://tinyurl.com/bsl2kjo

WASHINGTON—Amid ongoing negotiations in Congress over the looming "fiscal cliff," Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) told reporters Wednesday he is "completely torn" between his commitment to conservative activist Grover Norquist's meaningless anti-tax pledge and the general welfare of the entire country. "On the one hand, you have a nonsensical promise to blindly oppose tax increases regardless of circumstances, but on the other, you have the well-being of more than 300 million people and the long-term stability of the entire U.S. economy," said Reed, adding that he is "really stuck between a rock and a hard place" now that he must decide between his loyalty to a dogmatic political lobbyist and his responsibility to serve the best interests of his constituents. "At the end of the day, it's a question of whether a nonbinding signature on an outdated and worthless pledge written 26 years ago is more important than preventing the nation from completely going to hell. I just don't know what to do here." When reached for comment, Norquist urged the pledge's signatories in Congress to "remember what's really important" before sacrificing utterly irrational principles for the sake of the country's future.

[Teatownclown]

Kudos to Cole and Coburn!

But don't expect Mitt to be sharing a beer with POTUS today....maybe tea but no WH brewski.

[Townsend]

But don't expect Mitt to be sharing a beer with POTUS today....maybe tea but no WH brewski.

No caffeine.

[Teatownclown]

Mitt's going to go in there with bile spilling down his throat, and that's a sad thing. 

[Red Arrow]

No caffeine.

You may wish to verify that.  I have been told by a Mormon co-worker that coffee and tea are specifically prohibited but caffeine is not.

[Red Arrow]

Mitt's going to go in there with bile spilling down his throat, and that's a sad thing. 

A little OTC Zantac will take care of that.

[Townsend]

Another look at it:

Leading House GOP figure's compromise plan gets shot down

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/28/politics/cole-taxes/index.html?sr=fbmain

Washington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner and other conservatives shot down a proposal from a senior congressional Republican who suggested that his GOP colleagues break from their firm anti-tax position and agree to a demand from Democrats to immediately renew middle-class tax cuts.

Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a member of the leadership team that helps round up House votes, told fellow GOP lawmakers that he thought they should, as a matter of political strategy, extend just the tax-rate cuts for those making $250,000 or less before the end of the year -- a position being pushed by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.

Cole first floated the idea at a closed-door meeting of the Republican whip team on Tuesday and his comments were first reported by Politico.

Cole told reporters after another meeting on Wednesday with House Republicans that he believed giving certainty to the majority of American taxpayers now was important. But he emphasized that he still opposed increasing tax rates for upper-income Americans.

"In my view, we all agree that we're not going to raise taxes on people who make less than $250,000. We should just take them out of this discussion right now, continue to fight against any rate increases, continue to work honestly for a much bigger deal," Cole said.

Cole added that major issues should be worked out in the debate next year.

"We need to deal with entitlement spending. We need to deal with job creation. Rates are intimately tied to that. So let's have that discussion. But I think it's easier to have without a lot of people whose taxes we don't intend to raise being worried they might get raised."

Cole's Tuesday comments were reported and distributed broadly by Democrats as a major development in the fiscal cliff talks. But they were quickly rejected by Boehner, who is negotiating with the White House and Democratic leaders on a way to avert the combination of spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect without an agreement by year's end.

"I told Tom earlier in our conference meeting that I disagreed with him," Boehner told reporters after meeting with GOP rank and file. "He's a wonderful friend of mine and a great supporter of mine but raising taxes on the so-called top 2 percent -- half of those taxpayers are small business owners that pay their taxes through personal income tax filing every year."

At the Wednesday meeting in the Capitol, Boehner also made a point in his opening remarks to tell members he disagreed with Cole, according to two GOP sources who were in the meeting.

One of these sources said Cole brought up his idea with GOP members in the meeting, saying he did not support raising any rates.

Conservatives immediately rejected Cole's idea, and seemed annoyed that the attention on his comments was taking away from their focus to press Democrats to agree to some major entitlement reforms as part of a broad agreement to address tax rates and the automatic spending cuts.

Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador didn't mince words when asked by CNN about Cole's idea.

"I think he's wrong and I think most of the conference thinks that he's wrong," Labrador said. "I think he's, you know, he's a good man who's served here for a long time. But he's also a man who has voted for a lot of the increased spending in Washington, D.C., and that's the problem."

"I think this is a false choice between running off the fiscal cliff and damaging the economy, or raising rates on small businesses and professionals that also damages the economy," Texas Republican Kevin Brady, a senior member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said.

Cole said he would continue to discuss his suggestion with colleagues, and predicted that if it came up for a vote, it would pass the Republican-led House. But GOP aides made it clear there are no plans for any vote on a bill to separate the middle-class tax cuts from those for higher-income earners.

Even though Republicans criticized the idea, Democrats praised Cole. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, highlighted his shift in a speech on the Senate floor.

"I applaud Representative Cole for that common-sense and brave position. I am hopeful that he can persuade other Republicans to do the right thing for our families, small business owners and communities across the country who have so much at stake and who are looking to us to solve this problem," Murray said.

That kind of endorsement probably won't help Cole make his case with fellow Republicans. Asked about potential backlash to his idea from anti-tax groups focused on enforcing a "pledge" not to raise taxes, Cole seemed nonplussed.

"My job is to get the best deal from the American taxpayers that I can get," he said. "If by keeping the pledge taxes go up on everybody, then I don't know if that's a very good idea. If, on the other hand, we can negotiate a deal, which I think we can, which keeps rates where they are but provides revenue and certainly protects people below $250,000, I think we have a responsibility to try and do that."

After the meeting with the rank and file, House Republican leaders were sitting down in the Capitol with several CEOs who are part of the "Fix the Debt" coalition chaired by Erskine Bowles, the former head of Obama's deficit reduction committee.

Boehner delivered a message to his members that he planned to reiterate to the CEOs, "We won't be party to a deal that protects big businesses and preserves special-interest tax breaks while raising tax rates on the small businesses we're counting on to create jobs."

After the meeting Bowles told reporters he did not see the GOP showing any flexibility in their opposition to any tax rate increases.

[Townsend]

You may wish to verify that.  I have been told by a Mormon co-worker that coffee and tea are specifically prohibited but caffeine is not.

Started off as "hot drinks".  I remember reading that caffeine was added later.

edit:  I'm not sure my memory is serving as this does not mention caffeine so you may be right.  Although it could defer state to state.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=bbd508f54922d010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=0692f73c28d98010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____

In the Word of Wisdom, the Lord revealed that the following substances are harmful:

Alcoholic drinks (see D&C 89
Tobacco
Tea and coffee (see D&C 89:9; latter-day prophets have taught that the term "hot drinks," as written in this verse, refers to tea and coffee).
When people purposefully take anything harmful into their bodies, they are not living in harmony with the Word of Wisdom. Illegal drugs can especially destroy those who use them. The abuse of prescription drugs is also destructive spiritually and physically.

The Lord also declared in the Word of Wisdom that the following foods are good:

Vegetables and fruits, which should be used "with prudence and thanksgiving" (see D&C 89:10–11).
The flesh "of beasts and of the fowls of the air," which is "to be used sparingly" (see D&C 89:12–13).
Grains such as wheat, rice, and oats, which are "the staff of life" (see D&C 89:14–17).
To those who keep the Word of Wisdom, the Lord promised:

"All saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

"And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

"And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

"And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them" (D&C 89:18–21).

The best course is to completely avoid the substances that the Lord prohibits in the Word of Wisdom. Those who have engaged in addictive behaviors can stop and become free from addiction. Through personal effort, strength from the Lord, help from family members and friends, and guidance from Church leaders, anyone can overcome addiction.

[Teatownclown]

To think that these clowns could have been in the White House....

The first topic on the agenda was the IRS audit of all those tricky tax evasions that got exposed during the campaign.  Romney tried to set the tone after that but the discussion sadly went quiet. All indications is that not only is Mitt completely out of touch with any realistic view of reality, but he represents everything that's wrong with our economy.There were no new ideas discussed and no petting Bo....

There was zero point to meeting with this doosh nozzle.

Meanwhile, back at the crapitol, the leaders continued to waffle....

Off the cliff I dare say!

[Gaspar]

Off the cliff I dare say!

You may be right.  Bowls seems to think it may be unavoidable.
The president typically runs away at times like this.  I'm willing to bet he disappears on some extravagant and expensive vacation in a couple of weeks and we don't see him until 2013.

[Townsend]

I'm willing to bet he disappears on some extravagant and expensive vacation in a couple of weeks and we don't see him until 2013.

I'm sure you'll bank on this one too.

[Hoss]

I'm sure you'll bank on this one too.

Scott's 'prognostications' are like when I decide to see a movie based on Roger Ebert's review.  Usually if he hates a movie, I'll like it.

[Townsend]

A Huge Pay Cut For Doctors Is Hiding In The Fiscal Cliff

http://kwgs.com/post/huge-pay-cut-doctors-hiding-fiscal-cliff

Yesterday, in the Bronx, Chris Veres took his grandfather to see Dr. Bob Murrow. He was worried about his grandfather's heart. Dr. Murrow talked to the family and ordered a cardiogram, which came back normal.

It was a pretty routine visit. But what happens next for the doctor — getting paid by Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for the elderly — is suddenly sort of a big deal.

Included in the fiscal cliff is a 30 percent pay cut to doctors who treat Medicare patients. It's set to kick in on Jan. 1. Lawmakers from both parties say they want to prevent the cut. But the cut is part of a plan Congress put in place 15 years ago to contain healthcare costs, then proceeded to postpone again and again.

After he sees the patient, Dr. Murrow writes what he did on a form and then sends it to his billing guy, who turns the form into codes. The codes are what the doctor needs to get paid by Medicare.

First visit with a new patient is code #99204. That's worth $144.96. The cardiogram is worth another $17. That's a total of about $162.

Hundreds of thousands of doctors like Dr. Murrow bill for every service and procedure they provide for Medicare patients. And every year, they bill for more and more services and procedures.

So back in 1997, Congress said that if doctors' bills per patient increase beyond a certain rate, then Medicare would start paying a little less for each bill. There's a whole formula to figure it out. In 2002, the formula said fees for each procedure should be cut by 4 percent

"Doctors were somewhat grumpy about this," says Joseph Newhouse, who teaches Health Policy at Harvard University. "Some of them started to talk about, 'Well maybe we won't be happy about taking Medicare patients.'"

People on Medicare didn't like the sound of that. People in Congress didn't like to hear complaints from senior citizens, who vote in high numbers.

And then, the next year, 2003, same thing: The formula said cut doctor fees another 4 percent. People in Congress got very nervous about how their senior citizen constituents would react.

So instead, Congress passed a bill to ignore the formula that year. Instead, they raised doctors' fees. And then for the next year. And the next...

The formula is cumulative. So if you ignore a 4 percent cut two years in a row, the following year the formula will call for an 8 percent cut. And so on. The formula now says doctors' pay should be cut by 30 percent next year — which means that $160 Dr. Murrow made for treating Chris Veres's grandfather should, according to the formula, be only about $120.

Congress is very likely override the formula once again, and prevent doctors' pay from being cut next year. But Congress is much less likely to get rid of the formula altogether.

That's partly because projections of the long-term budget deficit assume that the formula will kick in eventually, and the federal government will spend less money paying doctors. Those projections — clearly based on a fiction — make the long-term deficit picture look brighter than it really is.

[Teatownclown]

POTUS Obama and our country stand to see significant positive momentum coming into his fifth year....must really make some people squirm.

The White House Presents Its Fiscal Cliff 'Opening Bid' And It Contains Four Excellent Ideas

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-white-house-fiscal-cliff-opening-bid-2012-11
But there are 4 smaller things that Obama is pushing that are all good.
A permanent end to the debt ceiling. Under the new plan, there would be a law change such that Congress has to vote to BLOCK a debt ceiling hike, rather than vote to increase it. The debt ceiling is a stupid idea, and preventing it from being a hostage tool is a great idea.
An extension to the payroll tax holiday for another year (with 8% unemployment, this is still a justified stimulus, and we had not thought it was on the table).
An extension to emergency unemployment benefits (same, good idea, justified)
Some other modest stimulus including more infrastructure spending and mortgage relief.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-white-house-fiscal-cliff-opening-bid-2012-11#ixzz2Dft76n3X

[Townsend]

It's about to be made worse...

From a TW post - "OKLAHOMA CITY– Gov. Mary Fallin and the National Governors Association executive committee on Tuesday will be at the White House to discuss the impact that the "fiscal cliff" will have on states."