2015 American Politics Thread: The 114th Congress Is in the House!

and:

Aides said that the Social Security Disability Insurance program would be amended, in part to tighten and standardize eligibility requirements that now vary by state. That change was projected to save the government $5 billion.

In addition, the accord calls for eliminating a provision of the Affordable Care Act, not yet in force, that would require businesses with more than 200 employees to automatically enroll their workers for health insurance.

The emerging deal would also reallocate funds among Social Security program trust funds to ensure solvency of the disability insurance program. Such reallocations have occurred regularly over the decades but Republicans had opposed any new reallocation without changes to reduce costs of the program.

so which 2 dozen republicans will be the ones to vote for it?

seeing that this deal does amount to treason

medicare / social security - birth to the earth

pay for it with eisenhower's tax rates

http://sageamericanhistory.net/coldwar/images/ikeonmacfiring.jpg

That's the thing. The NY Times had that article that if the top rate was raised for the .01 percent, you could do Bernie's plan to pay for college for all. If you lift the payroll tax cap and make more income go into that you can fund Social Security better. If you make the capital gains rate the same as the income tax rate and if you get rid of that exception for hedge fund managers, one can do a lot. But none of it will happen with the current Congress, and its unlikely even a Democratic Congress would have to courage to do all that.

Ryan will of course oppose the budget deal, even though it's the biggest gift he'll ever receive. it's funny watching the MSM push that narrative for him, though. I'm sure that when Boehner repeatedly called him to beg for him to take the Speaker position, and when Ryan spent last week playing Mario Kart with his family, that no one ever mentioned to him that the House and Senate majority/minority leaders were cutting a deal with the White House to save his ass, and that he wasn't totally supportive of that

is that true? doesn't sound right to me. I have to imagine Ryan is completely signed up for this compromise.

is what true, that he will oppose the budget deal? i think he'll publicly oppose it, yeah. he's already stated that "the process stinks" or something like that.

privately, he must love it.

Ryan will be happy secretly if this passes, as long as some of the Freedom Caucus opposes this because it allows increased domestic spending. He can then promise them that in 2 years with a Republican Congress and a possible Republican Prez, they can then slash domestic spending and Medicaid and stuff. Passing this now decreases attention on Ryan's goals and the Tea Party Freedom caucus goals, and allows the mainstream media to ignore how far to the right the Republicans as a party have gone.

xpost
i mean, the only reason this deal can happen is because it can be tied to boehner's departure, which takes away the freedom caucus' leverage. if/when it passes with the support of almost all the democrats and a few dozen republicans, that frees up the rest of the GOP to criticize it and tell constituents that there was nothing they could do because Boehner betrayed them yet again. given that the Freedom Caucus just ran Boehner out of town, i doubt that Ryan is going to ally himself with Benedict Arnold on his way out the door

The deal emerged as the GOP House coalesced around Ryan, so he approves privately.

in other words,

http://i.imgur.com/1Q1AXYC.jpg

Is that Speaker Syndrome?

I feel a little better. Greg Sargent:

What Democrats got:

— $40 billion in additional non-defense spending, over and above the caps imposed by the sequester, over two years

— a debt limit hike through March of 2017, meaning no more conservative-manufactured debt limit extortion through that date

— an end to conservative-manufactured government shutdown drama through the election and beyond

— a solution to a glitch in cost-of-living calculations that threatened to hike premiums for millions on Medicare Part B

— a reallocation of Social Security funds that Dems had sought to keep disability insurance solvent

What Republicans got:

— $40 billion in additional defense spending, over and above the caps imposed by the sequester, over two years, plus an additional chunk of defense spending in a side contingency fund. That is to say, an increase in defense spending overall that is higher than the increase in non-defense spending

— Medicare cuts, but (according to reports and experts) only on the provider side

— A tightening of eligibility requirements to the Social Security Disability Insurance program that experts say does not equal a benefits cut

— a debt limit hike through March of 2017, meaning no more conservative-manufactured debt limit extortion through that date

— an end to conservative-manufactured government shutdown drama through the election and beyond

— a solution to a glitch in cost-of-living calculations that threatened to hike premiums for millions on Medicare Part B

not bad

republicans got to satiate their bloodlust and desire for nihilist chaos by getting someone in government thrown out

I approve of this strategy of cannibalism over obstructionism

LA Times: Fans of the 1972 film “Deliverance” will be happy to know the weird-looking, banjo-playing, hillbilly kid from the movie has grown up and found work as chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

Ha, I was wondering if I was the only one who thought this!

KARL

(i didn't make that tiny paul ryan, btw. however, i did conduct an intense google image search for "paul ryan silly face" so i deserve partial credit)

love to see a remake of Dick Tracy starring Congress

the budget agreement would designate the “small House rotunda” on the first floor of the Capitol to serve as a “Freedom Foyer.”

Finally!

freedom foyer but not for me

honor the foyer!

No freedom in the foyer!

foy-urr or foy-ay tho

Meet me in the Moyers Foyers.

http://i.imgur.com/cGvGfkG.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YDyjOimInA

in a shocking development that definitely doesn't happen dozens of times per day, i was totally wrong about something:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/paul-ryan-support-budget-deal

There's more.

Paul Ryan has signed off on a letter promising restless members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) that he won’t bring immigration-reform legislation to the House floor while President Obama remains in office.

The letter, obtained exclusively by National Review, formalizes pledges that Ryan made last week in a closed-door meeting with select members of the HFC who were skeptical of his promise to maintain an “open” and “inclusive” relationship with the caucus. Specifically, it extracts Ryan’s word that he will not bring up comprehensive immigration reform “so long as Barack Obama is president” and, as speaker, Ryan will not allow any immigration bill to reach the floor for a vote unless a “majority” of GOP members support it.

Alabama representative Mo Brooks wrote the letter and will enter it into the Congressional Record on Tuesday morning. He says his intention was to record the pledges Ryan made in the meeting and earn Ryan’s confirmation that the record was accurate, so he could vote for the Wisconsin Republican in good conscience come the congressional-floor election that will determine the next speaker.

i'll scratch your back by agreeing not to send the country into default if you scratch mine by pledging not to help millions of people

classic politics

now that hastert has plead guilty to corruption, i'm gonna hold my breath till the GOP discards the hastert rule

gonna be renamed the felon rule iirc

dang it goole i always forget what your wackadoo thread is called

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2015/margins-mainstream

search for "kontinuing"

i guess it makes sense that they would get their own spelling

Looks like no speaker will surpass Mr. Sam's length of service:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/john-boehner-resigns-house-speaker/

w/ mccormack third! what a stranglehold

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/29/us-warns-britain-it-could-face-trade-barriers-if-it-leaves-eu

Call casting, we have the perfect dude for fat-head Ryan:
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMzc5OTQ5NDk1OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjE5ODgzNw@@._V1_UY317_CR12,0,214,317_AL_.jpg

Paul Ryan elected speaker of the House

Paul Ryan elected speaker of the House paints target on back

I saw a pic of the press conference; dude looked like he heard he had rectal cancer.

http://media3.vindy.com/img/photos/2012/08/17/08172012----ryan-aa-.1.jpg

heeeey i just came across a far-right hate meme i hadn't seen before about john boehner

can you guess what it's about

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324023/The-moment-proud-father-John-Boehner-watched-daughter-say-I-Do-dreadlocked-Jamaican-born-love.html

So the budget deal doesn't guarantee there won't be problems shortly I see--

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/us/politics/paul-ryan-set-to-take-over-as-speaker-hoping-to-manage-the-chaos.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

The budget deal creates room for the House and Senate appropriations committees to draft a huge spending bill for the current fiscal year that can increase spending on defense as well as politically popular programs like medical research, federal law enforcement and wildfire suppression.

The spending bills already drafted are replete with conservative policy prescriptions, from crippling Mr. Obama’s signature health care law to blocking his climate change and financial regulations. Mr. Ryan will have to decide how far to push that clash with the president, knowing a government shutdown just before Christmas could be at stake.

dear lord, goole

how the hell do you go through these things without going insane?

good diet, exercise, stress management, adequate sleep, and time spent with friends and loved ones are key to maintaining happiness

shit i had a more thoughtful answer written out but my browser ate it :(