This idea of cutting the military by a ton is a good thing. I have a feeling these 10% cuts will primarily come from salary and other things that affect the "little guys". The large scale defense contractors are protected I bet

Not all Federal programs are alike. Some have been on the blunt end of cutbacks for years since they don't have the lobbying interests to support them.

The only way Flair would win is if he snuck in some brass knucks in his tights. He'd have to get his ass beat for about 20 minutes first though, then he would lay em all out and figure four their asses one by one while they all rolled around pretending they were exhausted all of a sudden.

Come on.. these are senators we're talking about. THey'd be sucking wind after two minutes. But that's ok, cuz Flair's the sixty minute man.... WHOOO!

This is even funnier if you didn't read the Grantland piece from a few months ago detailing Flair's financial problems with people and paying taxes.

I was trying to go with a wrestler about the age of most Senators ;)

And, no, didn't know he had financial issues so that does make it even funnier :D

SI

Can you give an example of a program that has been on the blunt end of cutbacks for years?

I'll go with the aforementioned food inspectors. I don't know if there have been cuts, but they certainly haven't grown at the rate food producers have over the past three decades.

Officer I was only going 80, at least I wasn't going 100!

I'm good with this. Haven't seen any polls yet but suspect Obama comes out of this looking better than Congress.

Obama To Veto Any Attempt To Roll Back Automatic Cuts After Committee's Inability To Reach Debt Deal | Fox News

I love these commitments. He may only be in office for another year or so, but by golly he can promise what's going to happen 10 years from now. Presidents love to pull this garbage, from both sides of the aisle.

You just have to translate his "promises" into "vague statements of preference that will happen if there is zero opposition from anyone." The latter phrasing is more honest, but not very useful in a campaign.

If it comes down to the last two standing are Ric Flair and Roddy Piper...oh man! I'd pay to see that.

Yeah, that's pretty accurate. He's honestly taking the easier of two roads by not vetoing. If he vetoes, he'd look silly.

My favorite Presidential montage was on the Daily Show where they showed every President since Nixon promising to get off foreign oil in the next 10 years. (The perfect number to not happen at any time during their presidency) Its hilarious watching Nixon, Ford, Carter, Bush I, Clinton, W Bush, and Obama all make almost the exact same empty promise.

Possibly too good to be true but interesting read.

Al-Qaeda targets dwindle as group shrinks - The Washington Post

Some fact checking on the GOP candidates/accusations on Obama.

NBC Politics - FACT CHECK: Hyperbole on terror interrogations

Right, if I'm running for President, I don't try and convince anybody that Obama isn't willing to kick some foreign ass for the safety of our country.

Because all he has to do is point at Bin Laden and the other members of Al-Qeda killed and you look like an idiot. Not that it's unusual for Bachmann to look like one, mind you!

Not to mention his successful continuation of our nation building efforts in Iraq, his strong determination to keep Gitmo open and away from here, and the continuation of the Patriot Act. He's done much better than expected. I've no idea what she's talking about.

This came out of the blue for me. Didn't know we were still working on star wars missile defense - not sure if ground, satellite or combo. I remember reading about alot of failures in the 90's ... hopefully its more robust now.

Medvedev: Russia may target US missile shield - World news - Europe - msnbc.com

Government website on missile defense. No lasers used that I saw, too bad.

The Ballistic Missile Defense System

This is the most interesting GOP primary I can recall.

Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair With Cain, As Candidate Denies Latest Allegations | Fox News

I think we can quibble on whether all combat troops are out of Iraq but I think Obama has fufilled his promise. Only time will tell if Iraq was worth the price.

Obama and Iraq Leader, Maliki, Mark Shift to Postwar Ties - NYTimes.com

Dangerous game Boehner is playing ... I think this will come back and hurt the GOP but it is good to see a person stand behind their beliefs (if that's really the case).

I did not see any opinions from the GOP candidates.

Obama, Boehner square off in payroll tax fight - CNN.com

I think its more about trying to screw up the economy before the elections tbh than any 'standing behind their beliefs' .... the more they can mess things up before the election the better their chance of getting into power, at the moment things are starting to look like they're improving so expect spanners to be thrown at the works as often as possible imho ...

If that's the case, the Republican Party should be banned.

I mean, they've said in the past that their main goal is to get Obama out of office, so I wouldn't put it by them. I agree with Boehner that it sucks to pass a 2-month bill to just start the same negotiations. I don't agree with a 1% surcharge on rich people, but I don't think the Republican party is offering anything on their side to cut (defense, etc), rather just expecting the removal of regulations to somehow spur the economy and equal more revenue.

But it's a stupid game of chicken because the R's think Obama has more to lose in an election year.

There are legal ways to do this though. That's my point. If they are actively trying to tank the economy, they should be banned as a party.

It's a two month extension because the GOP won't agree to a year extension. The Dems would take a clean year extension if they could get it, but the GOP will only go for a year if a bunch of non-related riders are included.

Of course I don't believe the House freshmen would even agree to that. Obama is for it, so they have to b against it. It would be interesting to see Obama embrace a Tea Party platform just so the freshmen could abandon it entirely.

Well, Boehner blinked.

I was watching Fox News yesterday and they were telling saying for Boehner to move on.

Glad to see so many saying that tax cuts are good for the economy.

Can't ban a party if people want it around and agree with their tactics.

It's more people saying lets throw more on the credit card and let our kids figure out how to pay this off.

Jobs are what should be the focal point right now, not these little tax cuts.

Yeah, the payroll tax cut is a joke. In the long run, it's just starving Social Security all so everyone can have an election year bribe.

SI

Here's a couple of quotes from Boehner yesterday:

"You know, sometimes, it’s hard to do the right thing. And sometimes it’s politically difficult to do the right thing."

"If you can get this fixed, why not uh, why not do the right thing for the American people - even though it’s not exactly what we want?"

I like the payroll tax cut because it is targeted at people under the $100,000 level and a large majority of that money is more likely to go back into the economy than with something like the Bush tax cuts. I think taking that 2% of purchasing power out of the economy just as it is starting to recover would be a horrible and devastating mistake.

I actually agree but this is just another example of how both parties deflect real problems in exchange for the focus to be on this little problem.

Lets not talk about corporate welfare, entitlement reform, or tax cuts for the rich...lets talk about payroll taxes so we can play this game instead of the game that would have real substance and require tangible output.

Actually the CBO disagrees with you. The money is more likely to be saved than be put back into the economy.

I thought that was true if the tax cut came as a rebate, but not true if the cut gets spread out over the year in small amounts.

Obama on the rebound. I think we all knew it would tighten up some.

Haven't thought much about it but my first impression is this will be a good combination assuming Biden steps away gracefully.

ROBERT REICH: Get Ready For A Obama-Clinton Presidential Ticket

Might be better to switch the order of the two.

The CBO historically would call a payroll tax cut to boost consumer spending... also the definition of 'save' is a bit complex, it more often means paying down debt than stuffing pennies in the piggy bank. Debt reduction, while maybe not preferred by our finance overlords, will lead to increased consumer spending in the future as dollars spent on interest are instead available for goods and confidence to perform that spending increases as debt burden is perceived smaller.

I wouldn't put it past the CBO to tweak their current song and dance in order to push a limited tax cut pie to some other pet projects over payroll tax cuts, such as employer payroll subsidies of various forms, or other arguments that rich people need those cuts so much more than everyone else. Compare CBO circa 2000 to now (or even earlier, although the explosion of internet archives makes document mining so much easier over the last decade) and you can see how their opinions show a bias to the mood of the times.

Statistically the payroll tax cut is better than most other tax cuts on the table for boosting consumer spending and the average American's pocket book. Considering the amount of capital sitting around and low interest rates the many other giveaways... er tax cuts that target the rich would have little stimulus effects. If low rates, relatively low taxes, and abundant capital are not enough to stimulate investment... even more tax freebies will not do much more.

Given the current economic situation, anything that boosts consumer confidence is good for rich people's stock portfolios, so if they gave up the class warfare and trying to maximize their cut of the pie... maybe the pie they are eating will be a bit larger and sweeter rather than a glorified shit sandwich a second recession would bring us. Let the poor shlubs have an extra 500-2000 this year, they will spend it on iPads and my Apple stock will continue to be highly priced. Win win for all of us.

Interesting the only 2012 must do is extending the payroll tax cut and not including finding the budget cuts before the automatic across the board sequester to trim the $1T+ over 10 years.

There's going to be so much partisan "messaging" in 2012.

Obama’s 2012 political strategy: Keep attacking unpopular Congress - The Washington Post

Sample partisan messaging but I do think Obama needs to run/explain his track record.

GOP’s battle plan against Obama: Use his own words against him - The Washington Post

That's always going to be one of the most effective strategies against an incumbent who has had issues producing what he promised. Don't say what he didn't do, let him say it for you.

All I know is if SOPA gets passed to go along with the defense bill Obama signed into law on New Years Eve, I'll do anything I can to get the fuck out of America. This shit is getting downright scary.

Of course, it's also a little strange to criticize a guy who's acting more in line with your ideals than anyone thought he would.

I can see both sides of the argument. I didn't see the $ savings or the specific details on programs. Not sure what to think but I do trust Panetta.

Obama unveils plans for pared-down military - CNN.com