Comments on: Cliff Update: Better to Go Over than Accept a Bad Deal

By: Scary Lawyer Guy

Scary Lawyer Guy — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:27:14 +0000

I agree, Mr. Bernstein. Better to go off the curb and negotiate a deal w/o artificial timelines involved than to accept a bad deal. My column:

http://scarylawyerguy.blogspot.com/2012/12/first-do-no-harm.html

By: Alyosha

Alyosha — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:43:31 +0000

Bingo. Once Republican leverage vanishes, it’s tougher for the White House to push for entitlement cuts.

By: Alyosha

Alyosha — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:41:58 +0000

If unaccountable lame ducks pass a backroom deal that has received no public scrutiny, there is also a cost to the democratic process. This phenomenon is not unique to the Obama years, but it has become such a hallmark of how he and the Rs roll that no one seems to notice anymore.

By: The Raven

The Raven — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 05:18:01 +0000

We are so screwed.

Oh, well. With luck the Republicans will refuse to take yes for an answer again.

By: Kenneth D. Franks

Kenneth D. Franks — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 04:16:25 +0000

Fiscal cliff: Go over it and add stimulus, says Brookings’ William Gale. 7/31/2012 Washington Post, Politics by Allen McDuffee with video. There is a link to this story and video on my blog.

By: John Hobgood

John Hobgood — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 03:36:40 +0000

We need to get rid of the “Debt Ceiling” altogether. It just ends up in a political soap opera and perpetuates the myth that we need to “borrow” our fiat currency from the likes of China and that Federal taxes are needed for “revenue”. That’s why you bother using fiat in the first place. You don’t have to “borrow” it from anybody and you don’t have to obtain anything to spend it (unless you peg to some other currency).

By: Jared Bernstein

Jared Bernstein — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:29:23 +0000

Friendly amendment–go over, stay over, but offset 2013 fiscal contraction with large stimulus.

By: expr

expr — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:03:05 +0000

Apropos of nothing, I had a hare-brained thought:
Let’s really incentivize those “job-creators”.
Make the tax on capital gains and dividends a strictly increasing
function of the unemployment rate (or a strictly decreasing function
of the employment to population ratio)
e.g. 10*unemployment_rate – 25

By: David C

David C — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 01:49:08 +0000

Don’t forget we have another debt ceiling debacle waiting for us only a few weeks out. If Reid moves right of Obama’s small-bore proposal, you can be sure that the final outcome will move even further right as we deal with the debt ceiling.

Frankly, my preferred outcome at this point is to go over the cliff and stay there permanently. It would be tough on people in the short term — certainly a recession — but it would give the government the funds it needs to meet its obligations. You could take up the payroll tax relief and extended UI benefits separately — let the Republicans vote against them if they dare.

By: foosion

foosion — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 01:09:14 +0000

It’s so obvious that it’s much better to wait. Even the Rs freely admit their leverage essentially vanishes January 1. Why doesn’t Obama and our elected D representatives see this?