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03 Dec 2010 11:40

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Politics: Deficit panel vote ends in tears – without the votes needed

  • 11-7 so much for them getting fourteen votes, right? source

02 Dec 2010 21:52

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Politics: Deficit committee may not have needed votes by tomorrow

  • Our debt crisis is a threat not just to our way of life but to our national survival. And the threat that we face is so real and so close that we do not have further time for gridlock or inaction. It’s necessary that we take strong, aggressive action now.
  • Idaho Sen. (and deficit committee member) Mike Crapo • Revealing that he, along with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, would be voting in favor of the deficit committee’s proposal Friday. That means that, along with retiring Sen. Judd Gregg, three Republicans would be voting to send the proposal for a vote in Congress. Problem is, that brings the grand total up to around nine votes. Fourteen of the nineteen members need to vote yes. At least three other  Republicans (including our boy Paul Ryan) and one Democrat (Max Baucus) will vote against it. But that may not matter, according to committee co-chairman Alan Simpson. “Whether we get two votes or 18, this baby ain’t goin’ away,” he said. He’s right; the ideas will remain no matter what happens. source

01 Dec 2010 10:49

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U.S.: Interesting Deficit Panel suggestion: Social Security payroll tax holiday?

  • Would giving everyone back their Social Security payroll taxes next year help the economy? It’s a somewhat wild idea, but one floated in the new report (along with a separate report by the Bipartisan Policy Center task force). The effect would be a noticeable increase in paycheck size and would cost a lot ($50 to $100 billion), but it could be the shot in the arm that the economy needs. Come on, they’ve tried everything else, and this seems like something that both parties would actually go for without much grief. We’ll see. source

01 Dec 2010 10:39

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Politics: Deficit Panel’s final findings: Mostly the same as the draft

These guys have offered up a plan that, among other things, would cut 200,000 federal jobs and trim defense spending. But will Congress go for it? source

30 Nov 2010 20:23

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Politics: Obama’s bipartisan deficit panel not currently seeing eye-to-eye

  • 18 number of members of the Obama’s bipartisan deficit panel
  • 14 number of votes the panel needs to send their findings to Congress
  • no they don’t have 14 votes yet, but they hope they will by Friday source