The real fight

By Carl 

The drums have been beating for months over this fight, ever since the GOP took back the House in November. This week, they get much louder. The time is at hand:

"Obviously, we need to look at all corners of government," said Obama senior adviser David Plouffe in announcing the speech on NBC's Meet The Press. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., on Fox News Sunday, said, "we've had to bring this president kicking and screaming to the table to cut spending."

Obama's forthcoming plan to reduce the government's red ink will also re-frame a variety of budget-related political battles. 

Cantor's comment is particularly irritating, since Obama's original budget proposal cut $33 billion dollars, which is eerily close to what Boener caved in on for the continuing budget resolution.

But I digress...

What this week's battle will really be about is the debt ceiling. Approve it, and the nation can go on and try to get a handle on the bills. Turn it down, and the nation will instantaneously lose any and all credibility in the world, becoming no better than Uganda or Zimbabwe or Myanmar or Greece or Portugal, or any number of nations who have repudiated or otherwise abrogated their responsibilities to the world.

Like those other nations, we will have sold out to tyrannical dictators, only ours won't be in office, only the men behind the curtains.

The Republicans have already signaled they will agree to the raise, but in exchange they want spending cuts.

Um, duh. Then ur doin et rong, if you're going to play brinksmanship without the very real threat you'll go over the edge. After all, what's the thrill in seeing someone swim in the Niagara River if he's tied by a rope to the mainland? It just amounts to an exercise in exhaustion.

What this really amounts to is the Bush tax cuts, which will expire next year after an extension... again... in 2010. Allowing these to expire would of course immediately cut the deficit and the growth of the debt, but it would also inflict pain on the überrich and the corporatocracy.

Pain, in this case, being defined as the bite of the mite that sits on the gnat that's piggybacking on the mosquito on the collective butt.

The rest of the debate is really just smoke and noise and amounts to next to nothing in terms of cuts... no one seriously thinks Paul Ryan's plan is worth the paper it's printed on... and really is just the GOP saving face from the charge of being the Party of No.

Which they are. You really ought to embrace your inner hater, boys.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.) 

Addendum: I just wanted to add my voice to those who are expressing their regrets over the loss of one of our very best and brightest here at The Reaction.

Creature, in your retirement, may you find the thread you believe you've lost and come out fighting again really soon. You will be missed.

10,000 posts

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I forgot to mention, we reached the 10,000-post milestone here at The Reaction the other day. (It was my "Unblogging" post, wherein I apologized for not blogging enough this week -- and also a post that discussed nuclear nightmare in Japan and the possibility of another war in the Middle East.)

I must say, I'm very proud of what we've accomplished here, and it's amazing to think we've done that many posts. I still remember that first one, way back when.

A huge thank you, as always, to my wonderful co-bloggers, past and present, as well as to the many other fantastic contributors we've had over the years. It's been my privilege and pleasure to blog alongside so many great people, and to have been able to turn this blog into a place where so many different voices could be heard. It's my name on top, but I really do consider this a team effort.

Let's hope we make it to 20,000, and beyond.

But who knows what the future will bring? Honestly, I had no idea what would become of this blog when I started it, mostly because I really had no idea what blogging was all about. It's been an incredible experience. No, this isn't one of the "major" blogs, but I do think we've built it into something really good, something of extremely high quality, something respected in the blogosphere, even if we're not huge. I just hope that we keep getting better, that we keep growing, and that we keep having fun doing it. And I hope all of you keep coming back to check us out.

To all, thank you for your support. Even if you just came here once, from a Google search or something, it's a genuine pleasure to welcome you to our blog. And to those of you who are regular readers, well, all I can say is that I'm humbled.

10,000 posts. Wow. Seriously... wow!

Now let's keep it going! Stay tuned.