TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
AP: faa2ee4c-584b-442d-80d6-1917ab08b7d6
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, talks about the elections and the unfinished business of Congress at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo)

Ready for another cliffhanger?

BY Dave Ross  on November 8, 2012 @ 8:32 am (Updated: 9:03 am - 11/8/12 )

Midnight Dec. 31, tax rates jump back to the levels under Clinton, and the defense budget plummets.

First of all, let's all remember, the fiscal cliff is an artificial precipice, like smearing Tabasco on a kid's thumb to get him to stop sucking it. He just sucks the other thumb or develops a taste for hot sauce.

So John Boehner, Speaker of the House, and a representative from Ohio, the most powerful state in the free world, steps to the podium to say this:

"Because the American people expect us to find common ground, we're willing to accept some additional revenues via tax reform."

Sounds reasonable, but note the final three words: "Willing to accept additional revenues via tax reform."

The minute you talk about rewriting the tax code, you're talking long past Dec. 31.

So it sounds like Mr. Boehner and his Senate counterpart, Mitch McConnell, or as I call them, Thelma and Louise, it sounds like they want to keep pushing the Romney Plan. The same plan that we as a collection of independent states just finished not electing.

Yes, the election was close. And yes, it's true that those same states also elected pretty much the same Congress.

But when all was said and done, Barack Obama had a national approval rating of 50, Mitt Romney had a respectable 44, and the Peoples' House had a pretty chilly 17. And that's Fahrenheit not Celsius.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (45)


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  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    President Obama does not have a mandate
    November 8, 2012 9:21 am
    Obama won by a small margin. The Administration want's to raise the debt limit by MORE than 2 trillion.Fat chance
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  • cigarfan wrote...
    @Ron_Spins
    November 8, 2012 1:23 pm
    You have the situation completely backwards. Obama doesn't have to lift a finger to end the tax cuts. The pressure is on the GOP. Fat chance is on the backs of right wingers and their corporate masters will MAKE them see the light. hehe
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  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    Then shut the government down
    November 8, 2012 3:04 pm
    Last time I checked Obama had the corporate masters:G.M , green energy companies etc.
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  • cigarfan wrote...
    @Ron_Spins
    November 8, 2012 3:45 pm
    The situation is about tax cuts....what are you talking about?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    The situation is far more complex than just tax cuts.
    November 8, 2012 6:59 pm
    .
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mnpat wrote...
    Courtesy of ZeroHedge:....Mr. Ross, you need to stop placing blame on groups you do not like,
    November 8, 2012 9:43 am
    1) When the US federal government spends money, expenses are officially categorized in three different ways. Discretionary spending includes nearly everything we think of related to government– the US military, Air Force One, the Department of Homeland Security, TSA agents who sexually assault passengers, etc. Mandatory spending includes entitlements like Medicare, Social Security, VA benefits, etc. which are REQUIRED by law to be paid. The final category is interest on the debt. It is non-negotiable. Mandatory spending and debt interest go out the door automatically. It’s like having your mortgage payment autodrafted from your bank account– Congress doesn’t even see the money, it’s automatically deducted. 2) With the rise of baby boomer entitlements and steady increase in overall debt levels, mandatory spending and interest payments have exploded in recent years. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office predicted in 2010 that the US government’s TOTAL revenue would be exceeded by mandatory spending and interest expense within 15-years. That’s a scary thought. Except it happened the very next year. 3) In Fiscal Year 2011, the federal government collected $2.303 trillion in tax revenue. Interest on the debt that year totaled $454.4 billion, and mandatory spending totaled $2,025 billion. In sum, mandatory spending plus debt interest totaled $2.479 trillion… exceeding total revenue by $176.4 billion. For Fiscal Year 2012 which just ended 37 days ago, that shortfall increased 43% to $251.8 billion. In other words, they could cut the entirety of the Federal Government’s discretionary budget– no more military, SEC, FBI, EPA, TSA, DHS, IRS, etc.– and they would still be in the hole by a quarter of a trillion dollars. 4) Raising taxes won’t help. Since the end of World War II, tax receipts in the US have averaged 17.7% of GDP in a very tight range. The low has been 14.4% of GDP, and the high has been 20.6% of GDP. During that period, however, tax rates have been all over the board. Individual rates have ranged from 10% to 91%. Corporate rates from 15% to 53%. Gift taxes, estate taxes, etc. have all varied. And yet, total tax revenue has stayed nearly constant at 17.7% of GDP. It doesn’t matter how much they increase tax rates– they won’t collect any more money. 5) GDP growth prospects are tepid at best. Facing so many headwinds like quickening inflation, an enormous debt load, and debilitating regulatory burdens, the US economy is barely keeping pace with population growth. 6) The only thing registering any meaningful growth in the US is the national debt. It took over 200 years for the US government to accumulate its first trillion dollars in debt. It took just 286 days to accumulate the most recent trillion (from $15 trillion to $16 trillion). Last month alone, the first full month of Fiscal Year 2013, the US government accumulated nearly $200 billion in new debt– 20% of the way to a fresh trillion in just 31 days. 7) Not to mention, the numbers will only continue to get worse. 10,000 people each day begin receiving mandatory entitlements. Fewer people remain behind to pay into the system. The debt keeps rising, and interest payments will continue rising. 8) Curiously, a series of polls taken by ABC News/Washington Post and NBC News/Wall Street Journal show that while 80% of Americans are concerned about the debt, roughly the same amount (78%) oppose cutbacks to mandatory entitlements like Medicare. 9) Bottom line, the US government is legally bound to spend more money on mandatory entitlements and interest than it can raise in tax revenue. It won’t make a difference how high they raise taxes, or even if they cut everything else that remains in government as we know it.
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  • logical open mind wrote...
    you would think Dave R from Cornell could grasp this. Luke wont even try because his Seattle libs would hate him
    November 8, 2012 9:52 am
    phony, two faced, not open minded but think they are, sterotypical, elitist Seattle's finest knee jerk libs.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Good post mnpat..... a simple math exercise confirms it
    November 8, 2012 10:04 am
    Visit:

    http://usdebtclock.org/

    Note the figure in the box near the upper right: Total US Tax Revenue

    Then deduct the figures in the box just down from the upper left "Largest Expenditures"

    Ooops.

    Before it was shut down by partisan forces hoping that a severe budget crisis could be used to retake the White House in 2012, Obama and Boehner *almost* had a deal that called for $5-6 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax increases. Old age entitlements like Medicare and Social Security were also on the table. Now that nobody is trying to get elected or re-elected for at least a year or so, it's time to dust off that plan that focused primarily on spending cuts and raised taxes a minimal amount.

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  • mnpat wrote...
    Chuck Gould
    November 8, 2012 10:11 am
    Agreed
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sghouse wrote...
    MNPAT
    November 8, 2012 1:52 pm
    please use the html paragraph tag. looks like you have a lot of good info but it is completely unreadable.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    mnpat
    November 8, 2012 4:55 pm
    Excellent Post! Too bad the liberals are to STUPID to understand...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Steve Dallas wrote...
    The solution
    November 8, 2012 10:32 am
    The solution would have been to vote all incumbents out. Democrat AND Republican. However, both in our state and nationally, our voters are idiots. We keep voting in politicians who are only concerned about votes...not solving the issues. So, I expect nothing will happen again because no one wants to make the touch decisions (again) because they don't want to lose votes in the NEXT election. How about we put people in office who will act, rather than react to votor polls & PACs.
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  • Padre wrote...
    It takes 3 to tango Dave...
    November 8, 2012 11:04 am
    It should be Thelma, Louise and Harry.Your smarminess is neverending, Dave.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    Grand Bargain
    November 8, 2012 11:18 am
    Obama & Boehner had their grand bargain worked out. Then Obama pushed for even more taxes. It was his ego & his hubris killed any chance of the two sides coming together.

    When you look at Obama's top 10 personality traits, "humility" and "able to work well with others" is nowhere on the list.

    So why would anybody think that the next four years will be any different?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    Great post mnpat. I would disagree with calling medicare and social security entitelments because we do pay into them, if you work.
    November 8, 2012 11:23 am
    How ever if you disagree with any of these comments you could be a democrat.1-You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislateing the wealthy out of properity. 2-What one person receives without working for another person works for without receiving. 3-The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 3-You cannot multipy wealth by dividing it. 4-When half the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half will take care of them; and the other half gets the idea it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation. It has happened throughout history and we are there. Any questions?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mnpat wrote...
    HLC
    November 8, 2012 1:36 pm
    You are very correct with your comments. The way I see it and have seen it is....we are very deeply in trouble.....you can hide the poop all you want but sooner then later the smell will kill you.
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  • CH wrote...
    President Obama does have a mandate . . . .
    November 8, 2012 11:40 am
    who is the leader? Boner?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Dave the Die Hard Dem.
    November 8, 2012 12:00 pm
    BTW dave, Please stop posting how you read both sides and vote. You just push D like the rest of them

    But I wish you to comment on somthing.

    Harry Reid was talking all nice about working together and all that nice talk. BUT, at the end he says "We will not come off our positions"

    So I take it bi-partisanship for him is "Do it my way or nothing"

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  • cigarfan wrote...
    Boehner
    November 8, 2012 1:24 pm
    Can talk as tough as he wants but at the end of the day his corporate masters will MAKE him play ball because Obama doesn't have to do anything to end the Bush tax cuts ;)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Oh and...
    November 8, 2012 4:57 pm
    Harry Reid has sex with goats and beats his wife.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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