THE BUDGET DEAL, DEMOCRATS SNATCH DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY & Senate Approves Budget Deal, Reducing Chances Of A Shutdown 18DEZ13

THIS budget deal is nothing to be proud of, if fact Democrats should be ashamed of abandoning millions of unemployed Americans and caving to the demands for austerity for the 99% from the gop / teabagger minority in the Senate while agreeing to protect the wealth and power of the 1% and the military-industrial complex. Once again these jellyfish democrats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Here is a petition from Credo to the Senate to eliminate the debt ceiling and to stand against further austerity measures when Congress votes on raising the debt ceiling by 15 JAN14. And see How To Destroy An Entire Country & How the Defeat of Trade Unionism Gave Rise to Low-Wage Jobs & Organized labor's decline in the US is well-known. But what drove it? 14&4DEC13 & 4SEP13 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/how-to-destroy-entire-country-how.html

Tell Senate Democrats: Abolish the debt ceiling

The petition to Senate Democrats reads: "The Ryan/Murray budget bill wasn’t a compromise, it was a big win for Republicans who have succeeded in moving the goal posts so far that Democrats voted for a budget that had spending levels below the original Paul Ryan budget. With another debt ceiling showdown on the horizon, Democrats need to go on the offense now and adopt an aggressive strategy in advance of the next set of negotiations. Part of that should be pushing to abolish the debt ceiling, which serves no useful purpose other than to give the Republicans another opportunity to hold us all hostage to their extremist agenda." Automatically add your name:

Dear Craig, The Senate just passed a two-year budget bill, and it’s headed to the president’s desk for his signature. The politicos in Washington DC may be hailing this deal as a “compromise” or a good first step. But in fact, it’s a big win for Republicans. Military spending goes up. Unemployment benefits for nearly 1.3 million Americans go away. Incredibly, this budget boasts spending levels lower than the original Paul Ryan budget. How did we get here after the Democrats, led by Senate Majority Harry Reid with strong backing from President Obama, so thoroughly routed Republicans over the government shutdown in October? It comes down to a deeply misguided and bipartisan belief in the myth that, with millions of Americans still suffering through the aftershocks of the economic collapse, what we really need right now is austerity and deficit reduction. This is a budget that is both cruel and counterproductive -- we shouldn’t be limiting government spending to levels below Paul Ryan’s original and heartless budget proposal at a time when government spending is needed to lift us out of the economic slowdown. And if this budget deal wasn’t bad enough, in February we’ll face another showdown over the debt ceiling. You can bet that Republicans will be ready to build on the change of momentum represented by this victory to extract even more concessions from Democrats in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Tell Democrats: It’s time to go on offense. Stop caving to Republicans and fight to abolish the debt ceiling before the next negotiation over revenues and spending. Click here to automatically sign the petition. The Republicans have now set their sights on the looming need to raise the debt ceiling as their next hostage-taking opportunity. While thankfully the prospect of a grand bargain (a scenario where Democrats accept cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits in exchange for tax increases) has diminished, far too many Democrats support benefit cuts and many more are failing to adopt the type of aggressive posture that they’ll need to stare down the Republicans. If you want to see what aggressive looks like, look no further than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The budget hadn’t even passed before Minority Leader McConnell said he’d use the February must-pass vote to raise the debt ceiling as another opportunity to extract budgetary concessions from Democrats. This is what happens when the pretense of fiscal discipline is used to mask an extremist agenda that amounts to an unwavering commitment to the needs of the top 1 percent. We need the Democrats to unabashedly adopt a posture that aggressively seeks to close loopholes that subsidize corporations and the wealthy and restore the cuts that Republicans have passed in their relentless attacks on vital programs benefiting the poor and the middle class. Time and again, Democrats have compromised with Republican extremists, leading to deeply pernicious results, including the cruel and unconscionable refusal to extend emergency unemployment benefits for millions of Americans set to expire just three days after Christmas. Democrats learned in October that they could win if they went on offense and refused to cave. The best way to bounce back from the recent setback and regain the momentum is for Democrats to set the stage for the next round of negotiations with an aggressive campaign to do away with the debt ceiling and end Republican hostage-taking of our economy. Tell Democrats: Abolish the debt ceiling. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Despite the cries from Republicans about out-of-control government spending, the debt limit doesn't have much at all to do with spending. Instead, the debt ceiling artificially prohibits the government from issuing new debt to pay the bills that are already due based upon previous budgets duly approved by Congress -- including budgets supported by many of the people who used the debt ceiling as an excuse to push their extremist agenda through blatant extortion. While votes to raise the debt ceiling have traditionally been opportunities for members of Congress to grandstand, the severe consequences of not raising the debt ceiling have until recently served to ensure it was increased as a routine matter -- including seven times under George W. Bush. But extremist Republicans -- many of whom voted for the tax giveaways to the wealthiest Americans and the unfunded wars that caused our government deficit to explode -- have now twice tried to used the threat of a government default to hold the entire American economy hostage to their radical demands. The Democrats shouldn’t sit back and let the Republicans do it again. Tell Democrats: The debt ceiling serves no useful purpose other than to give Republicans a hostage and should be abolished. Click the link below to automatically sign the petition: http://act.credoaction.com/go/2959?t=6&akid=9651.179403.qHLFZJ Thank you for speaking out to stop Republican hostage-taking. Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets Automatically add your name: Learn more about this campaign

Senate Approves Budget Deal, Reducing Chances Of A Shutdown by December 18, 2013 5:08 PM Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), walks to the chamber for the final votes on the bipartisan budget deal on Wednesday. J. Scott Applewhite/AP The Senate passed a two-year bipartisan budget deal aimed at easing automatic spending cuts and avoiding a government shutdown, following a House vote on the measure last week. The vote by a simple majority was absent the partisan brinksmanship that has become a hallmark of budget deals in recent memory. The appropriations committees in both chambers must now set in stone a $1.012 trillion fiscal 2014 spending bill before current spending authority expires. Congress also faces a Jan. 15 deadline to raise the debt ceiling — another potential partisan standoff. Last Thursday, the House voted 332 to 94 to approve the deal, which was hammered out by Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Patty Murray. outlines the details below: "— Discretionary spending would be set at $1.012 trillion for 2014 and $1.014 trillion for fiscal 2015. This is basically all federal agency spending and doesn't include 'mandatory' programs like Social Security or Medicare or emergency spending on wars. It's also higher than the $967 billion that was allocated next year under current law. "Now, we still don't know what each particular agency will receive in funding. That will get determined by the appropriations committees in the House and Senate, who now have to finish up spending bills by Jan. 15 to avoid a government shutdown. Think of the current bill as setting an overall cap on discretionary spending and making that process easier. "— The bill would provide partial relief from the automatic 'sequestration' spending cuts, giving agencies an extra $63 billion over two years, split between defense and domestic programs. So for 2014, the defense budget will be $520.5 billion and the remaining domestic discretionary programs, including health, transportation, and housing, will get $491.8 billion." Update at 6:50 p.m. ET. Obama: Budget Deal A 'Good First Step': In a White House statement, President Obama called the budget deal "a good first step away from shortsighted, crisis-driven decision-making that has only served to act as a drag on our economy." "It's a budget that unwinds some of the damaging sequester cuts that have harmed students and seniors and acted as headwinds our businesses had to fight," he said. "It clears a path for critical investments in things like education and research that have always grown our economy and strengthened the middle class. And it will continue to reduce our deficits at a time when we've seen four of the fastest years of deficit reduction since the end of World War II."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/18/255282288/senate-approves-budget-deal-reducing-chances-of-a-shutdown