[succ] Go directly to the solutions tent, do not collect 600 dollars

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [succ] Go directly to the solutions tent, do not collect 600 dollars

«‹›10783 »

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

looked up Gene Sperling:

quote:

Suppose we adopt Making Work Pay, but just for those who pay taxes? he suggested. No tax due, no check in the mail?

[Ron] Klain took this idea to his old friend Gene Sperling. Sperling was a veteran of eight years in the Clinton White House, the last four as head of the National Economic Council�Clinton�s economic czar. Now 51, he had played critical roles in the 1993 and 1997 budget deals and was one of the strongest advocates of progressive causes in the Democratic Party. Since he had supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, he had not been given a top economic post in the Obama administration. Uncomfortable on the sidelines, Sperling had accepted a position as Tim Geithner�s counselor at the Treasury Department, handling much of the White House business on deficits, taxes and jobs. He had an office just down the hall from Geithner�s, and was a fount of new ideas. He had hired a small army of young, hardworking number crunchers who worked in a section of the Treasury Department that other staffers referred to as the BoG, Bureau of Gene.

When Klain confided that they were considering dropping the poorest citizens from Making Work Pay, Sperling went nuts. �That would be immoral,� he said. If you do that, we�d be run out of town. No way could Obama abandon those at the bottom.

All right, said Klain, but Republicans owe us. If the president gives in on the high-income-bracket extension, that�s $60 billion a year. �So they should give us $60 billion. That�s fair. McConnell knows that.�

The task now was to find another way to get what was theirs. Sperling suggested payroll tax cuts.

He knew the tax code and federal budget inside and out. A famous workaholic, Sperling believed in preparation. He and his bureau had already gathered the research to show that many Republicans, including McConnell and Boehner, had been proponents of cutting the payroll tax that funds the Social Security Trust Fund. The payroll tax was currently set by law at 12.4 percent, with half paid by the employer and half by the employee. A cut in the tax would apply only to those who paid it, so nontaxpayers wouldn�t benefit. Republicans loved tax cuts, and this one would apply to 160 million workers.

Sperling went back to the Bureau of Gene and put together Power-Point slides showing all the different Republicans who had been for a payroll tax cut. Biden and Klain presented the idea to McConnell in a conference call.

McConnell liked it, and he and his deputy, Jon Kyl, went to the soon-to-be leaders of the new House majority, Boehner and Cantor.

note that given this story, Ron Klain is currently Biden's chief-of-staff as POTUS

quote:

After two years of struggling, Gene Sperling was elated when he finally made it to the White House inner circle.75 Obama picked him to replace Summers as head of the National Economic Council. After a decade in exile, he returned to the second-floor West Wing suite of offices where he had virtually lived during the Clinton administration.

___

quote:

Lew and Sperling, reflecting their budget wonk roots, told the president that the only way out of partisan gridlock was to propose their own major budget, spending and tax deal with the Congress. The only times in recent history when big deals like this had actually worked were when the president brought together the key players�House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats. They cited Reagan and Speaker Tip O�Neill in 1983 on saving Social Security, George H. W. Bush and the Democrats in 1990 on raising taxes, and Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich on the budget in 1997.

�You bring everybody in the room,� Sperling said, �you hold hands, and you jump together.�

The senators in the so-called Gang of Six�an unofficial bipartisan group of three Democrats and three Republicans�had been promising to put out their deficit reduction and tax plan. Maybe the White House could adopt theirs somehow. But despite frequent promises that the plan was imminent, the Gang didn�t get it done.

�We�re not waiting,� the president said in exasperation. He wanted to rip into Ryan�s plan. He was holding several meetings a week with his economic and speechwriting teams to figure out how best to do it and on the weekend of April 9 and 10, the president summoned them to the Oval Office. He wanted a credible alternative plan. Democrats didn�t want him to cut Medicare. But to prove his seriousness about deficit reduction, he said, he wanted to propose hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts and additional cuts in other cherished programs. He would also propose some cuts in Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor. But there was a line that couldn�t be crossed, and Ryan�s plan had crossed it. The Ryan plan was a model of excess.

Obama was jotting notes as he talked. A speechwriter and aides also took down what he said.

�I want to say this idea that we can�t get our deficit down without brutalizing Medicaid, it�s a dark view of America,� he said. He wanted that idea in the speech.

The Ryan view is that �we can�t afford to invest in our infrastructure.� In mid-March Obama had visited Brazil, Chile and El Salvador. �Can you believe in South America, they�re doing this stuff?� He had met with heads of state and they said, �The main thing in our country is to build up our infrastructure.� And these were the conservative leaders, he said acidly.

Obama was getting fired up as he worked through what to say and how to say it. He wanted a $4 trillion deficit plan too, but the cuts were too severe. The progressive and liberal base would be deeply distressed.

Sperling suggested an old trick from the Clinton years: Stick with the $4 trillion�that was easy to understand�but instead of projecting it over the traditional 10 years, do it over 12. No one would really notice. Few would do the math. By stretching the plan out and loading most of the cuts into its final years, the early cuts were substantially smaller.

___

quote:

There were lots of potential savings in other mandatory entitlements, though Lew pointed out that the House had voted for significantly more in the Ryan budget�$700 to $900 billion in such cuts. The distance between the $5 billion for medical equipment and the $700 to $900 billion from the House was a long one�a Grand Canyon�sized gap.

But this meeting was about reaching agreement between the Democrats and Republicans in the room. �There�s a lot of overlap between where you are and where we are, but this isn�t going to be easy,� Lew said. He cited agriculture subsidies and various education programs that both sides agreed could be cut.

Lew said he was concerned about low-income taxpayers and the impact cuts would have on the poor. Then he turned to tax reform, despite the fact that Biden had pretty much taken it off the table only a few minutes before. �We should have a tax expenditures discussion,� he said, referring to deductions, such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions and health insurance costs. He suggested the next step should be laying out the White House and Republican plans side by side.

Biden then called on Sperling to talk about a proposed debt cap. This would set a specific dollar amount for the national debt which, if exceeded, would trigger automatic spending cuts and revenue increases. It was the alternative to default. Including both spending cuts and tax increases, he said, was intended to make the consequences of exceeding the cap unacceptable to both sides.

�The goal is for it not to take place,� Sperling said. �The goal is for it to be equally offensive [to Democrats and Republicans] so that we are forced to act. Getting the debt under control is the ultimate target.

___

There's more but this post is long enough.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 01:54

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# ? May 23, 2024 05:00

Thump!: Nov 25, 2007; Look, fat, here's the fact, Kulak!

mastershakeman posted:

I'm gonna guess he hosed with some natives that weren't being killed prior to him?

Oh right he only had a month in office. How about trump's the only guy with one full term not to start a hot war against foreign or domestic enemies (including natives, the south, etc)

Raskolnikov38 posted:

i've said again and again, if you examine actions taken while in office alone, harrison is the best president ever

Raskolnikov38 posted:

i mean his entire election campaign was "hey remember when i killed a poo poo load of natives during the war of 1812??"

Harrison was a monster prior to his election. Pneumonia should've gotten an award for murdering that bastard so quickly before he could do any harm, not that Tyler was much of an improvement.

As for actual harmless presidents who didn't slaughter thousands of civilians during their term in office and actually served at least one full term?

Uhhhhh maybe John Quincy Adams? He was still an avid expansionist.

Calvin Coolidge maybe? Idk enough about the guy but I know he tried to repair relations in the wake of the Banana Wars and what not, though he continued a lot of our shittier actions in Latin America in the 20s. Of course, he was still racist as poo poo

Idk they all just kinda suck and should have gotten pneumonia more often.

Thump! has issued a correction as of 02:05 on Feb 22, 2021

# ? Feb 22, 2021 01:56

Tricky D: Apr 1, 2005; I love um!

Flavius Aetass posted:

yeah I just assumed they wouldn't mention it, or if they do it'd be countered by a plucky Kurdish girlboss who dreams of being a capitalist

i'm just salty that the media surrogates decided to make hay out of every trump policy failing but this one and the omission is telling

# ? Feb 22, 2021 02:00

Majorian: Jul 1, 2009

Tricky D posted:

i'm just salty that the media surrogates decided to make hay out of every trump policy failing but this one and the omission is telling

Well look, abandoning a historically oppressed group is all very tragic, but have you considered MICROAGGRESSIONS?!?!?!

# ? Feb 22, 2021 02:25

The Oldest Man: Jul 28, 2003

mcmagic posted:

They hope (probably wrongly) that the COVID relief package will be enough if the vaccine gets out there to everyone and the economy gets better. That is clearly the plan since they can't do anything else without killing the filibuster.

That's quite a jump from "give us money and become a Founding Member (TM)"

# ? Feb 22, 2021 02:32

mcmagic: Jul 1, 2004; If you see this avatar while scrolling the succ zone, you have been visited by the mcmagic of shitty lib takes! Good luck and prosperity will come to you, but only if you reply "shut the fuck up mcmagic" to this post!

The Oldest Man posted:

That's quite a jump from "give us money and become a Founding Member (TM)"

The marks for fundraising emails apparently care about being Founding Members.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 02:35

DarkEuphoria: Nov 7, 2012

mcmagic posted:

People took this crank seriously and told their lefty podcast followers that she was someone worth listening to.

Democrats are actually good: I am not defending the occupation, but

# ? Feb 22, 2021 02:48

a helpful bear: Aug 18, 2004; Slippery Tilde

Flavius Aetass posted:

I doubt many people except socialists and people who have been there even know that

I will never forgive bernie for giving these fuckers my email address

# ? Feb 22, 2021 02:50

comedyblissoption: Mar 15, 2006

Tricky D posted:

i'm just salty that the media surrogates decided to make hay out of every trump policy failing but this one and the omission is telling

the liberal media was actually using trump abandoning the kurds as a political prop at the time because trump was not bombing syria or trying to overthrow assad to their satisfaction

# ? Feb 22, 2021 03:06

Tricky D: Apr 1, 2005; I love um!

i may have missed it because conservatives didn't knee jerk defend his position on it

or that their protestations died down within the hour

# ? Feb 22, 2021 03:17

my bony fealty: Oct 1, 2008

sleep with the vicious posted:

Lol America is an evil country...kids in cages!! was like one of d&D's main reasons for Biden support and now they won't even acknowledge the camps

there was a story/poll a while back about how a lot of Trump supporters believed that the wall was totally built and finished, and when presented with the fact that this was not true just doubled down because fake news

this is how it's going to be for Democrats, most of them probably believe that the cages have been ended by sole virtue of Biden winning the election

# ? Feb 22, 2021 03:18

Atrocious Joe: Sep 2, 2011

The Kurds get far more media attention than most oppressed nationalities. If Trump actually followed through and pulled the US out of NATO, it would have been more beneficial than keeping US troops in eastern Syria. Without US backing Turkey would be less able to wage war against the Kurds, both in Turkey and in neighboring states.

US ghouls like Graham becoming chummy with Kurdish military officials is a risk to left wing Kurds in it's own way as well.
https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1242200352197410819?s=20

# ? Feb 22, 2021 03:26

Tricky D: Apr 1, 2005; I love um!

that's the best part.

republicans criticizing trump for not being against ISIS enough

# ? Feb 22, 2021 03:44

Zurtilik: Oct 23, 2015; The Biggest Brain in Guardia

What'd you all do to the hotline thread?

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:08

Scrub-Niggurath: Nov 27, 2007

Zurtilik posted:

What'd you all do to the hotline thread?

it got goldmined

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:09

Tricky D: Apr 1, 2005; I love um!

Scrub-Niggurath posted:

it got goldmined

it took me a while sorting through the gas chamber before i realized

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:10

Zurtilik: Oct 23, 2015; The Biggest Brain in Guardia

Scrub-Niggurath posted:

it got goldmined

But who will I call when I'm lonely?

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:10

Pobrecito: Jun 16, 2020; hasta que la muerte nos separe

look, i know that democrats are good and obviously operating in good faith to try and pass legislation to improve the lives and material conditions for average americans, so they must have a very good and not at all wonky reasoning for why they havent immediately admitted DC to the union as a state and picked up 2 senators and a house rep, right?

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:20

DarkEuphoria: Nov 7, 2012

Zurtilik posted:

But who will I call when I'm lonely?

you can still call the hotline

1-(TRU)-A01-HAPM or 1-‪(878)-201-4276‬. Remember to dial *67 before the number if you wish for your phone number to remain invisible.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:25

spacemang_spliff: Nov 29, 2014; wide pickle

Willa Rogers posted:

also lol that it took me weeks to find this thread bc I refused to mentally process the dems being good.

lol

Yinlock got like 4 succ zone threads gassed in rapid succession so I thought maybe being nice for a change would work.

You catch more bees with honey than vinegar or something

# ? Feb 22, 2021 04:57

gandlethorpe: Aug 16, 2008

My eyes glossed over the thread during the first week because the words made absolutely no sense and my mind filtered it out.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:00

Judakel: Jul 29, 2004; Can't post for 9 years!

Mods= dems

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:22

Chris James 2: Aug 9, 2012

Judakel posted:

Mods= dems = bad

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:38

Lux Anima: Apr 17, 2016; Dinosaur Gum

The Mods are Strongest when United with Courage and Compassion.

The Dems are Sickeningly Useless Corporate Corpses.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:44

H.P. Hovercraft: Jan 12, 2004; one thing a computer can do that most humans can't is be sealed up in a cardboard box and sit in a warehouse; Slippery Tilde

Chris James 2 posted:

actually i think you will find that, unlike mods, dems are good

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:44

Flavius Aetass: Mar 30, 2011

a helpful bear posted:

I will never forgive bernie for giving these fuckers my email address

i got a fundrasing text from bernie's campaign like last week wtf

go away

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:48

alarumklok: Jun 30, 2012

I don't know how I escaped the spam. they must think I have no money (I do not)

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:53

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

gandlethorpe posted:

My eyes glossed over the thread during the first week because the words made absolutely no sense and my mind filtered it out.

Right???

anyway this made me laugh when I saw it the other day

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:56

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

I bet there's thousands of pics of biden grooming children in the white house photo archives.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:57

Flavius Aetass: Mar 30, 2011

alarumklok posted:

I don't know how I escaped the spam. they must think I have no money (I do not)

it was intolerable when i was excited about his campaign and you know, there was an election to campaign for

# ? Feb 22, 2021 05:57

alarumklok: Jun 30, 2012

trying desperately to get a few more bucks from you before they take the wheelbarrow of poorbux over to the DCCC

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:02

Chris James 2: Aug 9, 2012

a helpful bear posted:

I will never forgive bernie for giving these fuckers my email address

i keep forgetting he did that to his supporters

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:04

Mirello: Jan 29, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

a helpful bear posted:

I will never forgive bernie for giving these fuckers my email address

please god I wish there was a way to make it stop. it's not even a loving election and they're relentless. no matter how many I unsubscribe from it keeps coming. thanks bernie!

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:07

Some Guy TT: Aug 30, 2011

https://mobile.twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1363563342279901187

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:14

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

Some Guy TT posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1363563342279901187

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:15

gandlethorpe: Aug 16, 2008

Some Guy TT posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1363563342279901187

lol

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:20

The Unnamed One: Jan 13, 2012; "BOOM!"

Spoiler: The lessons are all "Hide the old people's bodies"

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:22

DEEP STATE PLOT: Aug 13, 2008; Yes...Ha ha ha...YES!

Some Guy TT posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1363563342279901187

i loving hate andrew cuomo. even by the standards of the democrats, hell even by the even lower standards of new york dems, he is absolutely loving abhorrently poo poo.

this motherfucker wrote a goddamn book congratulating himself on how great he handled covid despite ignoring his advisors begging him to close schools for two weeks and, y'know, the whole hiding nursing home deaths thing.

just, gently caress this guy, so fuckin hard.

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:23

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

https://twitter.com/RadishHarmers/status/1363721457298247682

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:26

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# ? May 23, 2024 05:00

gandlethorpe: Aug 16, 2008

DEEP STATE PLOT posted:

i loving hate andrew cuomo. even by the standards of the democrats, hell even by the even lower standards of new york dems, he is absolutely loving abhorrently poo poo.

this motherfucker wrote a goddamn book congratulating himself on how great he handled covid despite ignoring his advisors begging him to close schools for two weeks and, y'know, the whole hiding nursing home deaths thing.

just, gently caress this guy, so fuckin hard.

Reported for cuomophobia

# ? Feb 22, 2021 06:27

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [succ] Go directly to the solutions tent, do not collect 600 dollars

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