A little reassurance would be nice.

[kentuck]

Especially for people living on $7 or $800 dollars per month. How would they live if their income was cut in half? They have good reason to be scared. They hear nothing from their leaders that make them feel any better. They are frightened.

Of course, a lot of other people are scared also. These people have taken our country hostage, nothing less than that. And people are suffering emotionally from their actions and threats. People should be angry.

[Brickbat]

1. But why? It's all part of a lovely, complex game, and the payoff will be so awesome it will

be a gotcha like none have seen before.

Or so people say. Kinda like talking about heaven during the Middle Ages. Keep believing, and keep buying indulgences, and things will get better right smart quick! Or at least when you die.

[RKP5637]

5. And some will think if only I work harder I'll be a zillionaire, my turns coming. Yep, it's

the American Delusion, NOT the American Dream. Yep, kinda like talking about heaven during the Middle Ages. And the "Pray for Cash" hot lines will be springing up, maybe already have. Maybe if I just send more money to that TV Evangelist. Yep, that must be it ... my turns a coming, maybe if I vote republican.

[MineralMan]

2. People should be scared. They really should.

And they should know why they should be scared. President Obama's telling them.

What will be better is to get this shit settled. That's the President's plan.

[Mojorabbit]

6. This is like shifting the goal posts

First is that he never said he would do this, wait and see, it is the press making shit up and now it is well of course we need cuts etc and really we ought to do it now. I think just before the election when Dems had a winning meme that they were going to protect SS and medicare the rug gets pulled out from under them by the President.

[gkhouston]

11. This is like torching the goalposts, with Granny and Gramps tied to them. n/t

[dbonds]

3. The danger in offering the republicans the deal of the century to 'make them look bad'...

(assuming that is the motivation - which I'm not sure of), is that you have to really offer them the deal of the century and they may just take it - then we all are fucked just for a political game.

[Maccagirl]

4. No arguements from me.

Nor from my 93-yr-old mom (who was just watching CNN and now is certain that she won't get her SS next month). I'm waiting for the phone call to tell me when I start my new job and my brother, who's 59 years old, just lost his job last week. It's a terrible terrible time.

[RKP5637]

7. Your post makes a lot of sense as usual. I think a lot of Americans are

under a delusion that this country is about us, "we the people." The agenda got rewritten, and this is not an Obama bash. The agendas been being rewritten for several decades now. It's just coming to fruition and we're seeing the impact of it all. This county is NOT about "we the people," it's about them, those 400 hundred or so holding about 50% of the wealth of this country.

The politicians don't run this country, those holding all the cash do. Money rules America, not politicians, except when the two intersect, and anymore politicians hold a fair amount of cash or are indebted to those holding it ...

Problem is, too many of us still believe in the storybook version of America. That book has been rewritten and many of us ain't part of it anymore.

[kentuck]

9. Those 400 people have more wealth than the bottom 150 million.

Something is very wrong with that picture.

[RKP5637]

10. It's insane, kentuck. There is no way this can F'en work and be fair. This is

stuff one can write down on the back of a napkin and figure out. There is no way this model can work, so we get tons of BS covering it up trying to make it smell like a rose. The whole thing is one giant CF.

[kentuck]

12. And most politicians don't want to talk about it...

Democrats or Repubs.

[RKP5637]

14. Yep! A=B! n/t

[TheKentuckian]

8. How will they live if $5 is cut? How are we supposed to make it to Medicare or Social Security?

What happens to wages by expanding the labor pool with ever diminishing jobs?
How many more stretches of unemployment does this crap make?

[RKP5637]

15. I still feel behind closed doors about 100 million Americans have been written

off as dispensable in the big picture. If one adds up those in poverty, the lower class, the homeless, the uninsured, the disabled, the aged, the sick, the unemployed, those with mental difficulties plus anyone I missed, that's getting to be a lot of people. ... but seriously behind closed doors, I bet this discussion had occurred.

Additionally, the politicians are clueless about what to do than to serve their masters. And if this economy really goes south again what is the fed going to do, lower interest rates, they're already about zero. This gov. has run out of options to stabilize the economy. And none are bringing jobs magically back. Long story short, just about everything not nailed down has been off-shored.

[dgibby]

13. All of my retirement income derives from

the Va and SS. I checked my bank account today, and found that I have a deposit pending. That should be the SS check; however, it's for less than 1/10th of what I should be receiving. I have to wait until it posts to make sure it's from SS, then will have to contact them re: the discrepancy.

My stomach was already tied up in knots over the debt ceiling debacle and the possibility of not getting any checks at all. This is just icing on the cake. To say I'm NOT a happy camper would be a gross understatement.

[eilen]

16. I say a plague on both their houses.

Both parties lack leadership, a sense of stewardship to the American people.

They are the terrorists.