Why did Rethuglicans risk the downgrade by refusing to raise taxes? 'Cause they swore an oath

[deminks]

to a man, over the oath they took to the country. They represent Gover Norquist, not the people mentioned in the constitution.

Here is a link to Grover's pledges (right wing link warning). The pledges have been in place since 1986. Endorsed of course by St. Ronnie. There are lists of who has signed. Ask your congress critter if this oath is more important than the other one they took for the office they hold. If it is, maybe they don't belong in Congress anymore.


http://www.atr.org/taxpayer-protection-pledge

[RagAss]

1. A secret society within the government...That's fucking Treason !!!

[SpiralHawk]

2. Occultism is intrinsic to modern Republiconism. They seek to 'starve' America as if...

America itself were "The Beast" of Revelations.

Google the terms "starve the beast" and be prepared for a Massive Diaperload of info on occultist Republicon so-called 'christian' efforts and tactics to destroy America.

[malaise]

4. We've been saying that for ages

Lock them up starting with Grover - shove him in a bathtub

[ejpoeta]

3. they are counting on obama getting blamed for this. they want to tank the economy

and expect that the electorate that isn't paying attention is going to hold obama responsible.

[mwb970]

5. These oaths and pledges are, of course, explicitly un-democratic.

(Not that that is anything new from republicans, who seemingly despise our democracy.) The problem is that these pledges tie the potential leaders' hands in advance, disallowing what may come to be seen as necessary actions. (Ask HW Bush about his own "Read my lips, no new taxes" pledge, the ultimate self-inflicted wound.) The pledges put massive power over American citizens in the hands of unelected, virtually unknown individuals like Grover Norquist. This is not how democracy works.

There is a reason that only republicans have pledges and purity tests. (Democrats merely take an oath of office upon assuming power.) The reason is that the republican party is in fact no longer a political party; it is a religious cult underpinned by a criminal enterprise. The oaths, pledges and litmus tests represent the "vows of faith" that are sworn in the republican church. Like all religions, the beliefs you must hold to join are largely false and/or unprovable. Interestingly, most of the dogma of the republican church directly contradicts the words, actions, and teachings of Christ, despite the claim of the rogue republican church to be affiliated with Christianity in some way. (Not that this is anything new from republicans, who will seemingly lie about anything whatsoever without compunction.)

[OHdem10]

6. It is much deeper than that. TP (Libertarian)does not hold the

same reagard for Institutions as most Americans do.

They do not respect the Fed, Wall St as an Institution.
Therefore, they did not believe the ratings Agencies
have the Power they do.

[Cool Logic]

7. The downgrade occurred as a result of not meeting the $4 trillion marker

for deficit reduction, that S&P laid down prior to the debt ceiling debate. Thus, the downgrade was not a surprise.

It's really quite amusing to watch as each side, endeavors to blame the other when both sides knew it was coming.

Even so, both sides are right; for both sides are responsible for consuming that which they stole from the future. Likewise, both sides were on board when the proposal to loot the SS Trust Fund was put on the table.

Ultimately, the reason for the downgrade can be found in the shovel wielded by our government. For a country that continues to dig, when all of the signals say stop, is not a wise investment.

As an aside: The total net worth of the Forbes 400 is $1.27 trillion. In 2010 the fedgov spent $3.6 trillion; 20% ($720 billion on defense).

Now, $1.27 trillion + $0.72 trillion = $1.99 trillion. Thus, if we confiscated all assets held by the Forbes 400 and zeroed out defense spending; we would have enough money to fund the fedgov for about 6 1/2 months.

[doc03]

9. The Democrats gave up spending cuts and the Republicans

refused to give up any in revenues. The blame goes squarely on the Teabaggers for the downgrade and S&P came awfully close to putting the blame on them. The President even insisted on a bigger long term cut than the Republicans asked for and they still refused to give up any on revenues, so don't go blaming the Democrats for it.

[Cool Logic]

14. Clearly, revenue enhancement should have been part of the deal.

If only that would solve the problem...it will not, because of demographics. There simply aren't enough rich people.

Even so, raising taxes on the rich should be part of the equation, because if nothing else, it reinforces the idea of "shared sacrifice." I also believe that it makes sense to define things like stock options as compensation. This would ensure that those who receive corporate stock options pay their fair share of Income and Social Security taxes on those earnings. The reason they don't now is because they have enough Ds & Rs in their pockets to ensure that the tax code is favorable to them.

Question: Why do you think U.S. tax code is 71,684 pages in length?

Answer: So that they can have more of these § and these ¶.

If you are rich and powerful, you get to write the rules. Thus, K-Street will ensure that one of those little thingys above, that was written by you and for the benefit of you, is on one of those pages.

What you fail to recognize is that our Representatives are much more in touch with one another, than they are with their constituents. All of the grandstanding you see on TV is pure theatrics, meant to be consumed by rank and file Ds & Rs. Do you ever watch WWF...? Nor, do I, but it's pretty much the same thing.

"The blame goes squarely on the Teabaggers for the downgrade" Whatever you say.

[doc03]

22. I don't recall anyone ever saying that taxing the rich alone could

eliminate the debt. The S&P came about as close as they could come to putting the entire blame on the Teabaggers. Why you seem to be defending the Teabaggers, I don't know. Here is what John kerry had to say about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIRiZrPIJhM

[Cool Logic]

23. I'm not defending anyone--I'm blaming everyone.

The other side blames Obama and Congressional Ds. Come to think of it, Presidents always get the blame...or in the case of something good, the credit.

Meanwhile, members of the House and Senate skate by under the radar. It's the same thing with deficit spending...even though not a single President has ever spent a dime.

Ultimately, Obama will be blamed, even though he was the last one to arrive at the party.

[socialindependocrat]

8. WITHOUT A DOUBT - VOTE THEM OUT!!!!!

Great slogan. Vote them all out!!! what good are they. they need to remember that every vote and every law should be aimed at making life better for all Americans!!!!
Businesses are groups of people - both hierarchy and rank and file. If money is donated to support a political party by the hierarchy then an equal amount should be donated on behalf of the rank and file!!

corporate leaders do not OWN the company - they are employees of the company.

The Supreme Court is obviously off track. they are voting according to their political affiliation when they should be voting according to the laws of the land!!

Something needs to be done to shake up these people who have been mesmerized by the power they control! Our government is BROKEN!!

A government FOR THE PEOPLE! BY THE PEOPLE

We are in a very dangerous place right at the moment!!! The PEOPLE are not being listened to!!!!

WITHOUT A DOUBT - VOTE THEM OUT!!!! ( EXCEPT BERNIE!!!! YAY)

[MaeScott]

10. K and R. nt

[spanone]

11. their sworn mission is to make the President a one-term president.

fuck the country

[unblock]

12. you say that as if they were conflicted about it.

these people are religiously opposed to tax increases, period.

it's not as if they really wanted one but, damn that oath they took, they can't.
no, the oath is mere evidence of their fanaticism about taxes.

republicans have played this game for a long, long time. they need to position themselves that taxes are evil and need to be strongly opposed at all times. if republicans were reduced to a single issue party, this would be that one issue. occassionally, they'll let themselves be "outmaneuvered" or "outvoted" to allow a tax increase, but they simply MUST have at least the image of having strenuously opposed it at every turn.

look what they did to poppy bush. they ate their own over this one issue.

their opposition to tax increases is religious, and will not be satisfied until the income tax, corporate tax, and tarriffs are abolished entirely. as far as their concerned, the only reasonable taxes are regressive sales/vat taxes and the payroll tax (provided it's used to fund the military and other forms of corporate welfare).

[Cleita]

13. I think in the past, when America was considered the

greatest country in the world, it would have been considered treason. Investigations would have been under way in Congress and convictions made. The best we can do is primary the whole lot and replace all of them who took the oath. Convince your Republican friends to put up a moderate Republican in the primaries to get rid of the oath takers. Better than that, get a good Democrat in to defeat them in the general election.

[alfredo]

15. No, they want to bring down our economy because that is

the only way the people will accept the ending of the New Deal reforms. Shock Doctrine.

[philly_bob]

16. Tax oath conflicts with oath of office, it's a mental reservation.

But don't rely too heavily on the fact that it's an oath to a man. Republican say it is an oath to their constituents, not to Grover Norquist.

[msongs]

17. why did democrats risk the downgrade by refusing to raise taxes? nt

[TomCADem]

18. I Am Signing A Pledge....

...Not to vote for somone idiotic enough to sign a pledge.

[JHB]

19. It ain't (just) the pledge...

...it's knowing that violating it will cause them pain come their next election.

[oldlib]

20. This pledge is totally illegal

and anyone signing it should be prosecuted and removed from government service.

[Cool Logic]

21. I am curious...

Which one of these § or these ¶ say that?