CNN: Crossfire- U.S. Representative’s Keith Ellison & Cory Gardner: ‘Weaponizing The Debt Ceiling’

Source:CNN– On the left, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (Democrat, Minnesota) and on the right, U.S. Representative Cory Gardner (Republican, Colorado)

“Rep. Keith Ellison says the GOP is creating economic uncertainty by bringing the debt ceiling into the Obamacare debate. More from CNN at:CNN.”

From CNN 

At risk of sounding like a Democrat here: I believe Representative Ellison sounds very reasonable here. Which is surprising to me because he represents the left-wing (if not Far-Left) flank of the House Democratic Caucus, as well as Democratic Party as a whole. Representative Gardner, is just toeing the Tea Party Republican line: “You give us what we want on ObamaCare, or the government will shut down.”

Source:CNN– On the left, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (Democrat, Minnesota) and on the right, U.S. Representative Cory Gardner (Republican, Colorado)

I actually agree with Republicans here when it comes to the debt ceiling that we should pay for the increase in it. But House Republicans are going to have to compromise again on it like they did in 2011 to get anything done. And I agree with them here because our debt is too high and we simply can’t keep pushing it off just because economic growth is so low and unemployment is relatively still high. That our fiscal problems are going to have to be addressed sooner rather than later while we still can control our own fiscal policy. Rather than having to make drastic policies to avoid even worst things from happening in the future.

You pay for the debt ceiling increase something we did in the 1990s and 1980s in a responsible way, you are telling Wall Street and world markets that America is serious about its economy and fiscal situation. And we are going to do what we need to do to get it under control and finally fix these problems.

So the compromise between the White House and Democratic Senate with House Republicans on funding the Federal Government and raising the debt ceiling, is that House Republicans do not get a defunding of the Affordable Care Act. The debt ceiling is raised in a strategic way where everyone that can afford to get cut that doesn’t hurt the economy gets cut. Not across the board but everywhere in the federal budget where we can afford to and should save: taxes, entitlements and, defense policy reform great places to start along with agriculture. Everybody gives a lot and gets a lot and both sided can move on to other issues.

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The Nation: George Zornick- ‘A Truly Progressive Budget Vision’

Source:The Nation– U.S. Representative Keith Eillison (Democrat, Minnesota) Co-Chair of the so-called Congressional Progressive Caucus, in the House.

Source:The Daily Times

“Paul Ryan’s recently released budget will not become law—at least not any time soon. The Democratic Senate would never pass it, President Obama would never sign it. Ryan surely knows this, and his proposal is a fantasy budget: more an ideological argument than genuine attempt at legislating.

That hasn’t stopped widespread media coverage of Ryan’s proposal, and that’s fine: he’s a leading thinker of the conservative movement, with real power. But corresponding attention should also be paid to the opposite ideological vision sketched out by the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the “Back to Work” budget proposal, released on Wednesday.”

From The Nation

I’ll give the so-called Congressional Progressive Caucus (Democratic Socialists, in actuality) credit for once: they have moderated a little from 2011. Two years ago their budget plan called for eliminating all of the Bush tax cuts including those for the middle class. And using all of that money on infrastructure and creating new Federal Government New Deal era programs. But even some of their members now see how bad of an idea it is to pass middle class tax hikes in a struggling economy.

So now what the so-called CPC has done instead is put all of that new tax burden on wealthy individuals and business’s. Leaving our high corporate tax at 35% in place and closing a lot of corporate tax loopholes. So short-term that may sound fiscally responsible because you are attempting to pay for new government spending. But are the results instead, business’s move that money out of the country to avoid paying those high taxes.

The so called Back To Work Budget Plan from the CPC is as dead as disco or high-water pants. Or people dancing to disco in high-water pants. People dancing disco in the ocean, in high-water pants (If you can’t wear high-water pants in the ocean, where can you wear them?) Why, because very few people in Congress believe that government should have all of that power when it comes to job creation. That what we should be doing instead is freeing up capitol in the private sector so they have work to do and have a need to hire new employees.

What makes great economic sense when it comes to infrastructure investment, is government sets priorities and then rewards contracts to private companies to do the work. Rather than government or the private sector having most of the power and why its the ultimate private/public partnership.

Infrastructure investment that’s needed, especially in a sluggish economy, always makes great economic sense. The question is always how is it paid for. The CPC has their approach, but the reason why a lot of their ideas are usually dead as high-water pants and disco George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, is because they generally don’t have much if any power, even in their party and Congress, but they’re so far out in left field, even in the Democratic Party.

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