Just heard on CNN this morning that Reid bill has 2 Trillion in cuts, Boehner has 900 billion.

[Leopolds Ghost]

I assume Obama will use Reid bill as the starting point for negotiations, What gives?

This is the first I'm hearing of the numbers.

And there's talk of sneaking in Social Security and Medicare privatization (extending the Mitt Romney plan -- individual mandates for health care -- to pensions) as the Blue Dog caucus has been trying to do for 15 years now.

Also, CNN reported Obama lost 30,000 Twitter subscribers en masse after the White House sent out an activist appeal for Twitter followers to plead with Republicans for compromise.

The tweets were all "text #compromise to so-and-so's office in Washington".

CNN's Candey Crowley (I think it's her) said her plan would include the 2 Billion in cuts, no new taxes or tax reforms, and a pledge to hold a vote on the Balanced Budget amendment (which would put in the constitution that the government is not allowed to raise taxes in order to balance the budget.)

[ejpoeta]

1. sounds like they made it so we are screwed no matter what happens.

[NutmegYankee]

2. Reid's bill covers a much longer period of time. nt

[Chan790]

3. Unless he changed it...

Reid's bill includes the same level of cuts Boehner claimed his did, but none of them were in SS, Medicare or Medicaid benefits...the largest share of Reid's cuts were in defense spending, basically daring the GOP to choose between their love of military adventure and their love of cutting spending. That was what they were saying about a few days ago.

[Bluebear]

4. Reid's plan includes the "Super Congress Catfood Commission II”

"a 12-member, bicameral, bipartisan “Catfood Commission II” that would deliver recommendations for further deficit reduction by the end of the year."

(Talk about vague. And scary.)

"Both plans create a super-committee – a bipartisan committee of 12 members from both houses – to come up with a bill that reforms taxes and entitlements (Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security). Both houses would be required to vote on whatever bill the committee came up with."

http://www.christianpost.com/news/boehner-versus-reid-what-do-their-bills-do-53094/

[Leopolds Ghost]

5. Sounds like a poison pill daring the Republicans to vote for it.

If only...

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. The GOP says it wants cuts equal to the debt limit increase

Boehner's bill covers the debt limit increase through December of this year. Reid's covers the debt limit increase through January of 2013. It thus stands to reason that Reid's bill will include a larger number.

Well, not "to reason." Reid could have put in a trillion of cuts and a trillion of revenues to get to that number, but he went with all cuts.

[Leopolds Ghost]

8. Well, to quote Jack Sparrow, that's decidedly less than unhelpful

On Reid's part.

Using Reid's logic...

Why not agree to $10 trillion in cuts and extend the debt limit through 2020?

One thing I can agree with is that we are spending our way into oblivion. It's all military spending, the Post reported that the #1 holder of US Debt is the Treasury itself, which allowed Congress to steal trillions from the Medicare and Social Security TRUST FUND to use to fund Bush's adventures and the new privatized health care giveaways. However, Congress needs a good dose of James Howard Kunstler. We're entering a period of economic decline ending in permanent corporate feudalism. Fareed Zakaria on CNN bs'ing about how it is IMMORAL in a capitalist society to default on one's debt. Capitalism is the new religion they want everyone to embrace, replacing all other religions. After all Zakaria is the guy who wrote a book on how democracy is obsolete in a free market capitalist society... The reality is these people think we can innovate ourselves out of a mountain of (deliberately created) debt which was engineered to kill Social Security and the New Deal social services programs by starving them of money. The republicans WANT corporations like Apple to have more money than the Federal gov't.

[Leopolds Ghost]

7. Larry O'Donnell hopefully suggests that it's all a game of chess and that Dems know GOP will block

Their proposals, thereby allowing nothing to happen and they can say they agreed to $$trillions in cuts to social services programs but the Republicans balked.

Apparently that's something to brag about on the campaign trail now :shrug:

[JDPriestly]

9. Is CNN's Candy Crowley running for office?

Why is she promoting a plan of her own?

Medicare privatization will not work. The administrative costs on the public Medicare plan are incredibly low. Privatization would eat up an even bigger hunk of GDP than the public plan does.

[Leopolds Ghost]

10. She said "um, do you want to hear the Candy Crowley plan?"

She seemed to think it was the logical combination of what Reid wants and what Boehner wants.