Last August, during the negotiations to raise our debt ceiling (something that has been done 102 times the theoretical cap on government borrowing was established in 1917) Congress decided to put off deciding how to pay for it by forming what Jon Stewart at The Daily Show characterized as a suicide pact. Each of the parties agreed to form the so-called Super Committee that would come to a fiscal agreement in November of 2011 or else trigger mandatory cuts to each of it’s allegedly sacred cows. Democrats agreed that their $492 billion in cuts would come from their favored programs (Medicaid, education, infrastructure, health care), and Republicans agreed theirs would come from the Pentagon and Defense.

The Super Committee failed to reach an agreement last November, which triggered the dreaded, “sequestration” cuts… except now the Republicans are trying to find a way to not cut their sacred cows by cutting instead (and here’s a big surprise) more from the Democrats sacred cows.

That’s right! Instead of facing the consequences for their childish pouting, holding their breath and grandstanding, the Republicans would like to have the poor, elderly and infirm bear that burden for them. I’m sure that they will have some clever wordsmith come up with some spin that will make Gramma and Junior out to be assholes for expecting things like a return on the thousands they paid into Social Security or access to basic education or clean drinking water and such. But the truth of the matter is that Republicans are welching on a bet. It’s like saying “Heads, you pay me $492 billion. Tails, I take your $492 billion at gun-point.” Who do they think they are? Who are the voters dumb enough to look the other way while they do this?

They are counting on dumb voters losing the real focus in this battle. The same voters dumb enough to buy into the notion that huge corporations, like GE (who pay no U.S. income taxes), are just not creating jobs here because they’re afraid of the big bad Democrats raising their tax rates; Or who believe that villianous estate tax laws are robbing you even after death and not that this effects only the silver-spoon children and grandchildren of the wealthiest .02% of the population. The rest of us need to make sure they don’t get a pass by fighting this as loudly as we possibly can. Tell the Democrats in Congress that we expect them to push back against any efforts by these repuglicans to shift the burden on their inaction onto the backs of the rest of us.

Sign my petition on Change.org:

sarahlee310:

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Connecticut Senate approves bill to repeal death penalty in state; bill now goes to the state’s House of Representatives - @Reuters

In all the darkness, a little light.

Yay!