Instead of playing the Magic8Ball scenario Mark, how about reporting on this Republican fascination of a Woman's Uterus, instead of doing things to bring JOBS to America!

How about reporting on the Alabama Politician's comments being , wait for it"taken outta Context"?

How about reporting on the Wyoming Politician comments being the Same?

Mark, are yall here at 1st Read not concerned about these Polticians comments, about Putting Bullets thru the opposition's(Democrats) Head's?

Still carrying the GOP's water for'em, nothings changed!

Rick- can you say 'Comcast'?

I knew that you could.

I agree Rick. What about the lies and the characters of these people? Does anyone care? Just more "paths" to..... Shouldn't someone care? C-Span is also doing a horrible job of it, I think. Barrasso (Rep.) was on there this morning, nothing but doom and gloom, cut, bluster, lies. Still talking about repealing healthcare because by golly they will need 15000 IRS agents to take care of all the IRS problems with HCR. How many times do these things need to be debunked, but they continue to spout them and not even C-Span moderators both to mention that they have been proven to be lies.

MSNBC seems to be the only partially left-leaning really "fair and balanced" stations out there. On Fox there is nothing but drivel and lies. C-Span also puts up with the lies. Just allowing those lies to hang out there with no rebuttal - don't they care what it is doing to this country. Or are they really for the low information, stupid voter, and somehow this helps their corporate agenda as well? I've been trying to figure it out, why the media panders to the most stupid and incompetent and gullible and fearful people.

God help us if Repubs would have "path" to the Senate. Surely the independents with brains, and the Democrats and people with normal forward thinking will not allow that to happen. I don't want my country taken back to a third world country, totally divided by a few rich and all the rest in poverty. I don't want my country taken back to when women had no rights. I don't want my country taken back to the good old cowboy days of shoot 'em up that seems to exist for the TPers. I don't want my country taken back to a few moneyed powerful making the rules for everyone else. Talk about a dictatorship. Pretty soon the NRA, the insurance companies, and the Republican Tea Party will want dominion over all.

And the slant of the news on here is becoming more and more right-wing. Come on Mark. How about the same story included as to how the Democrats may take back the House, and get a further majority in the Senate? How about stories that include both - you are carrying water for the Repubs. And I believe C-Span is likewise.

Why don't you delve into Ensign and others? Instead of repeating idiotic remarks by the astute leadership of the Repubs about teleprompters? It's like watching children on the playground and you give all the attention to the worst brats.

Good point, dangerfield.

I believe that the Democrats have 21 U.S. Senate seats (plus the seats of independent Senators Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman, who caucus with the Democratic majority) at risk in 2012; the Republicans, 10 seats.

The four seats referenced are good candidates to flip; I would add the seat of Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to the list, given the rout Missouri Democrats suffered last November. Voters there also overwhelmingly passed Prop C, which puts Missouri in conflict with the federal government by rejecting Obamacare's individual mandate. Since federal law supercedes state law, the vote was largely symbolic; but, it offered a glimpse into the level of opposition in Missouri to the Obama Administration's signature legislative achievement.

Good point Because here in Missouri we want to get rid of that lying two faced McCaskill. She is the biggest lyer there is. Missouri can't get rid of her quick enough

Rick,

Instead of playing the Magic8Ball scenario Mark, how about reporting on this Republican fascination of a Woman's Uterus, instead of doing things to bring JOBS to America!

Actually FR has done a few pieces on the tax payer funded abortions issue. Are they obsessing on it like US Navy Retired Liberal Grandma, nope - nor should they. (BTW - The regulars got the idea, but you realize that to most educated people like Mark that aren't used to translating - sentence didn't make sense.)

How about reporting on the Alabama Politician's comments being , wait for it"taken outta Context"?

How about reporting on the Wyoming Politician comments being the Same?

Mark, are yall here at 1st Read not concerned about these Polticians comments, about Putting Bullets thru the opposition's(Democrats) Head's?

This isn't thinkprogress lala land.

Still carrying the GOP's water for'em, nothings changed!

Pretty inappropriate. (BTW - If that was intended as an insult, the only thing you insulted was your intelligence.)

BeBob, you insult Intelligence on here 24-7!

1st Read's own words on 1st thoughts this morning concerning the lack of attention given to there overindulgence on a Womans uterus & HCR" The Good news for the GOP, is the lack of Attention "!

In other words, still carrying the WaterBucket for the GOP. their words Bob, not mine!

BTW Bob, here in Kentucky, if I so much as mention ,seriously or jokeingly saying I wanna kick someones Ass, it's called Terrorist Threatening & punishable. So i'ma guessing I'd havta prove in Court, the comment was taken outta context. Make these Ignorant Politicians prove thier comments were taken outta context, instead of TV interveiwer asking them to refute thier comments! Surely we can agree on this, can't we BOB?

Get off of other channels & maybe, you may hear of other Happenings Bob!

The World is spinning all around BOB, watch where you getoff!

Don"t forget about the change in Governors and redistricting, that could be a big problem for Obama.

Mixed,

I know you like to watch the match-ups, polling trends, etc. (thanks btw for those comments), but don't you think it will come down to the same thing the 2010 elections came down to.

This is probably a weird perspective/scenario, but unemployment has been at or north of 9% for 21 straight months. What has Obama done differently, what has he done to reign in regulations, free up private enterprise......but to walk over to the Chamber and joke they could have been bought off with a fruit cake? What realistic expectation, with Obama as he has been, is there for unemployment to get below 8% in 2012?

Obama is still a well liked guy, the people just don't approve of the way he does things, but Americans seem to still want their Presidents to succeed. So unemployment goes from 9%-8%. A little improvement... still liked ......benefit of the doubt?

But 8% after 4 years and the debt incurred, what chances do Dem senators really have really have with independents?

thetotas,

Great point.

thetotas: Don"t forget about the change in Governors and redistricting, that could be a big problem for Obama.

Obama's big problem is in the Mid-west and the much of the East. Those regions are shifting fast from being Blue to Red. Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin are all trending Red.

Florida isn't too thrilled with Obama either, that could shift back to the GOP in 2012.

That's about 135 electoral votes up for grabs in 2012 that Obama won in 2008.

JoAnnaSmith1

Obama's big problem is in the Mid-west and the much of the East. Those regions are shifting fast from being Blue to Red. Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin are all trending Red.

Joanna i hate to tell you this BUT, Indiana was red for the last 40 years (civil rights bill) untill Obama won that state as well as virgina, NC, Ohio and Penn, were red in the 04 presidental election.

so this shift you talk about is in your head, but i will relay this to the president for you. if reagan could be re-elected with unemployment above 8% after it being above 9.5% Obama should not have all the problems you are talking about.

Cathy,

God help us if Repubs would have "path" to the Senate. Surely the independents with brains, and the Democrats and people with normal forward thinking will not allow that to happen. I don't want my country taken back to a third world country, totally divided by a few rich and all the rest in poverty. I don't want my country taken back to when women had no rights. I don't want my country taken back to the good old cowboy days of shoot 'em up that seems to exist for the TPers. I don't want my country taken back to a few moneyed powerful making the rules for everyone else. Talk about a dictatorship. Pretty soon the NRA, the insurance companies, and the Republican Tea Party will want dominion over all.

And you say the GOP/Fox preys on the fears of the people. Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black:)

Heck Bob,

Unemployment will be around 5% if the Republicans keep doing such a good job. Since they were sworn in, the unemployment rate has gone down .4%--shoot, if they keep that up month after month, well, you know how people perceive things:)

Actually, if the unemployment rate doesn't drop at least 2 points by 2012, the Repubs will be voted back out, for not living up to their promises. In just this 1st month alone, they have already broken many of their promises, but I digress, for Obama has done the same thing in several instances. The election in 2010, was about the economy, and will be again in 2012. If things get better, it will be Obama that gets the credit, not Congress. Also remember that Congress has some really low ratings and Obama is inching his higher. Just FYI.

chilled

So, The Macaca is a top challenger in Virginia?

How, and Why does this happen? Then, there is the grey wolf Rehberg?

...the Republicans are wrong on every level and their rabid base defends and applauds their bad behavior!

Yes, chilled they are wrong on every issue; REALLY, if they THINK can win the Senate and the White House. Just look at what they are voting on now; cutting the middle and poor classes out of what one of the Founding Founders wrote-- life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness instead of JOBS.

Please give me a break; every body in the good on USA is not dumb. Those who are dumb are waking up.

" North Dakota, where Sen. Kent Conrad (D) is retiring. Republicans don't have a clear candidate here, but they have a solid chance of picking up the seat."

Bev, FR needs to state exactly what is meant by this post!

Double speak, just like the Repubs!......'don't have a clear candidate here, but they have a solid chance of picking up the seat"!

So, I guess the Repubs can run anybody/anything, and still WIN!

I can go back to 2010 and find the same exact statements you liberals were making about the Republicans not winning anything and look what happened.

"People in America are not dumb", "America is waking Up", "The just say No party will get hammered in november if they keep saying No", "The GOPTP is ruining America and the Independents know this",etc.........etc........etc.........

Seem as though some of you need to STFU and stop embarrassing yourself.

Return of the potty mouth, ITM.

what, why do you keep embarrassing yourself ITM? Stop It!

"People in America are not dumb"....really?

IntheMiddle, TX

Anybody that would want the Republicans -Tea people in charge has to have a screw loose. These Republicans- Tea people have pulled the biggest con in history and so many are to stupid to realize it.

9/11 was the "biggest CON in history". Never forget, 9/11 was an INSIDE job, brought to you by Cheney and BushCo. P.N.A.C. and Dr. Dov ZakHeim.

Paul, that theory was debunked, but it has been proven that the Bush administration knew 9/11 was going to happen and did nothing to stop it, because they wanted a reason to go into Iraq. They had all the information right there in front of them and ignored it. Sad, but true.

What theory was debunked by whom? Cheney didn't just let 9/11 happen, he took part in making it happen.

Can't you progressives show a semblance of decency and drop the sexual reference of 'teabagger'; Olberman snickered at that crude reference a year ago, it has jumped the shark.

Was Olbermann's moment before, or after the TeaBaggers gave themselves that handle?

Bob, only will progressives show a semblance of decency.......

Let the REGRESSIVES show a semblance of decency on ANYTHING!

Bob: I don't even know what "tea bagging" means....all I know is I saw bunches of people running around with tea bags stapled to their heads, thus "teabaggers". Please enlighten us all, as that is not a sexual phrase as far as I know. I must admit - I'm 67 and not one of you "young guns" (by the way, what's the innuendo of that!?) and I've certainly come a long way baby those 67 years, but just never heard the phrase. If it's so insulting, why pin tea bags all over themselves?

Thanks for bringing that up, Bob. The snark from public officials is already out of hand. The conversation isn't furthered by degrading remarks.

Cathy:

You know exactly what TEABAGGING means. Ask some of your fellow Liberal teabag experts. Don't be ashamed to ask some of the men because they do it too.

Mark Foley(R) is a teabagger.

Speaker Boehner (R) is a teabagger.

Another double entendre

ITM (R) TX - is a PROFICIENT tea baggee! ;o)

Bob, I agree, but we need to go a step further- we all need to learn to use our nice words. I'll admit it can be difficult if not impossible some days but we would go a long way in calming the fire if we could all agree to refer to people by their actual names instead of the snarky ones so many prefer- this goes for Teabaggers, Odumbo, Oblahbhal, Tan Man, Boner, the whole lot of 'em. We can hardly expect our elected reps to quell the rhetoric if we can't do so ourselves.

I do not mind the Libs on this site to use the term "Teabagger". All it does is show the hate and ignorance that the liberals have toward fellow Americans.

Nothing hateful about referring to someone by the name they have chosen for themselves.

I agree, that is why I use it, that and how the "teabaggers" immediately demonstrated their ignorance by picking that name to begin with. I find it terribly appropriate.

So when an African-American uses the "N" word toward another African-American, it OK for all to use?

John, Tucson, AZ

So when an African-American uses the "N" word toward another African-American, it OK for all to use?

First of all what does this have to do with the artical above, second i want you to go to harlem or the west side of chicago even Phily and see if its ok to use the N word. after you get out of Intensive care i want you to tell us if its ok. Don't believe what the media has lead you to believe, that Black are ok with calling each other the N word. we are not, my son kick this black kids ass because he called him the n word.

Jeff, lets try not to be so literal. I think John understands that using that particular word, even though others use it in reference to their own peers, is inappropriate. The use of teabagger may have started with some rather naive tea party members but it has since been abandoned by them, yet embraced by the left specifically because it inflames. There are plenty of times where I would prefer to use a slur in reference to a whole lot of politicians but it instantly discredits one's point and we can hardly expect better of our elected officials when we can't tone down the rhetoric ourselves.

Excuse me ITM, Cathy here again. I have never ever heard the word "teabagger" in a sexual context. Again, enlighten me, don't call me a liar. And when I say the word teabagger the only picture that comes to MY mind is that lady in a photo or on the news with her teabags hanging from her straw hat. So whatever is in YOUR mind does not necessarily have to be in MY mind.

Cathy M, KY

Excuse me ITM, Cathy here again. I have never ever heard the word "teabagger" in a sexual context. Again, enlighten me, don't call me a liar.

To be teabaged is a very dirty sexual suggestive comment that i will not elaborate on. this is why i have and will never use it.

Cathy, for propriety sake, I will agree with Jeff on this one. Google tea bagging and I'm sure you'll come up with it (probably more than you want to know, actually). I was unfamiliar with the term myself until the whole Tea Party thing came up so I don't doubt that your honest but I'd ask that you trust us in that it's a very unflattering term in it's original definition.

And Jeff, thanks for the efforts to rise above the rhetoric. We don't always see eye to eye on the issues but at least we can agree on this!

Well, I did google it. Personally, I don't think anything between partners sexually is "dirty". You can choose to do whatever you want if you are comfortable with it. If not, don't do it. Therefore, I have no moral judgment about teabagging, at least with the first four or five entries when googled. But thank you all for assisting me. I don't do much on the internet except play Pogo games and get on First Read.

Maine....lol........Hell a blackman is out of place in Maine.....I know..I know...Your best friend is black and we have a black family in our town.....

Amy B: There is a very good chance a Democrat could take Snowe's senate seat in 2012

That would just be making it officially a Democratic seat. Unofficially, it's already with the Dems. Good riddance. Just like with Specter in PA, the GOP can then just start over in Maine.

The election is still 20 months out, and anything can happen, but it's clear that Obama has settled into to being what every one expected him to be, i.e., a big (huge?) government deficit spending, debt increasing liberal. No amount of spin is going to get that stench off him, and that's what the Democrats will have to run on in 2012. With 23 seats for Democrats up for the election, and only 10 Republicans, it's easy to forecast that the Republicans will win both the Senate and the House by substantial margins going into 2013.

That leaves the White House as the only remaining piece of the puzzle for the Republicans. Certainly the media is going to fall all over themselves trying to make Obama into some kind of moderate. That will be fun, and funny to watch. Cause ya'see Libs, Obama has something this time around he didn't have in 2008, something he can't run on very well, his record. A record of failure.

JoAnnaSmiht1

Did you just described Bush regime, your regime? spinning unfunded war, lying to the entire world about WMD, tax breaks for super rich that was never paid for, letting war street go gaga, turning surplus into deficits, firing of Justices who didn't play with you, above all, driving the economy into the ditch.....hum, we refused to tea-bagged again.

A triple entendre

PEN - .....hum, we refused to tea-bagged again.

Seems you have some experience in this area?

And so you're saying Obama is very similar to Bush? Okay. You can use that in your "WTF" campaign to re-elect Obama.

Obama similar to Bush...ED? In your world teabagging world? compare 8yrs of Bush to Obama's 2yrs.....you'll see the obvious difference. Obama's 2yrs, health care reform passed, DADT repealed, financial reform passed, Detroit is up again competing and scooping awards, economy recession saved and The benchmark index posted the largest gain for consecutive years since 1999 under Obama, Iraq war brought to a sensible end....the list is endless. THAT IS OBAMA IN 2YRS.....TEABAGGER, tell us about the BUSHED YRS OF WASTE, 8YRS to be precise.....

I think the 2012 elections will be a big surprise for the people on the right. Already, the Presidents numbers keep going up and the American People are seeing the true colors of the Republicans and Tea People. Twenty months is a lot of time and the Republicans and Tea People are going to continue to be fighting with each other. For example they pick on Social Security, women and the poor. Remember, it’s a big lie when they say Social Security is broke. 2.4 Trillion is not broke

So don’t worry you folks on right. After President Obama wins re-election and the Senate holds on to the majority and the country is on top again, you will come to love President Obama.

ONGOING, that is one poll and 2012 is an eternity away. Just realize that if the Repubs put up a TP candidate and that person wins the nomination, Obama will win in a landslide. If the Dems can pick up their own type of Frank Luntz, then they can win majority in both houses again.

I believe you libs keep making up the ways Obama will be reelected to make yourself feel better. I guess what happened in November hasn't sunk in.. In case you missed it, Obama's policies were rejected, and a large amount of people who voted for them were rejected. The HCR will be a big issue, and probably not for what you think. As of right now, the Obama administration is in contempt of court for implementing the unconstitutional HCR. A Federal Judge has ruled so. You cannot pick the decisions you agree with, and ignore the others. It is funny how they want the court to help them out-sueing Arizona, but ignore rulings against them.

The grand slam of them all:

A homerentendre.

Bo: 20 months from now,,,,,Hmmmmmm,,,,,,Will there still be a Republican party in 20 months???

Seems some in the Democratic party thought the Republicans were done as a national party 20 months ago.

How'd that work out for you Lefties?

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15259.html

The Republican party will be about the only party left after the next election. We may keep a few of the funnier Democrats around for amusement purposes only.

Then we can get spending reduction into full swing. It will be painful, but necessary. Some of you libs may have to go out and actually find a job. That moisture that will spring out on your forehead....don't worry about it, It's natural...It's called sweat.

Doomed to what?

Joe. If you wanted to throw out out fiscally irresponsible incumbents, most of the republican leadership would have lost the last election, they did not, democrats did.

Stop this nonsense of claiming the teabaggers ( political definition ) are independents, they are the same old right wing of the republican party, just with a new name. Despite what the pundits try to spin.

I think what the 2010 election cycle demonstrated is that we the voters are no longer content with business as usual. Electing the same professional politicians is not going to give us a new result, so we elected a lot of new faces- the largest freshman class since WWII if I'm not mistaken. And I think many of us are just as willing to recycle the new faces with more new faces if they do not deliver on promises made- going native is the biggest mistake the Freshman class can make and I don't care if its a democrat or republican facing reelection. The only way we are going to see change in Washington is if we elect.

I think what the 2010 election cycle demonstrated is the power of the corporate media and the power of money in our electoral process. How else to explain how average Americans voted against their own best interest in voting for a party whose top priority was to provide tax benefits to the richest 2% of the population, and who promised to cut spending that benefited the other 98%.

Actually Suzy, the only way we are going to be able to change the face of Washington in the way you want, is to have new election campaign reforms. As it sits now, the corporations can spend their vast amounts of money on campaign ads for or against candidates of their liking or disliking. When campaigns are funded solely by the public, meaning personal, individual donations (which have limits), and do away with PACs, 527's, etc. Only then will we be able to get the representatives that we voted in. It should also be made illegal to accept money from lobbyists as well. I can see where a lobbyist could buy an elected official dinner to discuss legislation, but nothing more can become of it. Just an FYI.

I think you should hold on to it, might be worth a fortune someday :) It certainly is prophetic.

Don't count on that. Those figures you gave for the nat'l. avg. on HC, is rather old. It has been reported that it is closer to 48% for to 42 % against.

Tracy: You would do well to read or see actual news such as the taxes in this country are at their lowest point since 1950s. That President Obama has cut taxes over the past two years, including extending those awful Bush tax cuts. And by the way, misery due to financial destitution has reached an awful lot of middle class families under the direction of Republicans. What we have in this country, under Republican leadership, is an actual redistribution of the wealth upward. Not the other way around. And if you will think out the denouement of capitalism it is a system that will crush in upon itself. People who once could afford to buy product and be consumers will no longer be able to because they have no jobs, they have been shipped overseas, our factories have closed, our infrastructure has failed. All the while those pushing capitalism as the end all and be all and who have truly benefited from it, the very top, will take their families and their homes to another country that now has our jobs. I have worked all my life, paid all my bills, bought my insurance, paid my taxes, taken care of raising four children, I don't need you to preach to me about what it is to live and be responsible. If I want this country to remain that shining beacon and which I still believe is the best country in the world I have to have some sense of what is reasonable and what is not. I know that if I do not pay my taxes that I will not have schools to educate my grandkids and greatgrandkids, I know that I will be driving on potholes and ruining the tires and shocks on my cars and that safety will be put aside as we continue to deregulate everything. I have not changed this country into something other than that, however, I do think that the Republican corporatism surely has, and that the SCOTUS will continue to do so with their vote for Citizens United. What citizens, citizens of this United States? I don't think so. I think they are citizens of the global economy and that they are countries such as China that are buying their way into every decision that is made here and that promotes their ideals, not the ideals of the citizens of this country. Do I see bleakness in what has occurred in the last several decades? Yes. I see a breakdown of civility, I see a culture of lies and smears and violence, promoted by many of the Republican leadership.

I don't expect anything from you or anyone else. I just want MY country back to being sane, rather than insane and stupid.

Cathy (at least I spelled yur name kurrectly)

Capitalism does not crush upon itself. Socialism does. Your claim on the facts is lacking. Please list any country on this Earth that functions as a constitutional republic or democracy and is in better shape than we are. I can give you a perfect example of what happens when a system functions as you would have it: Greece. Talk about crushing upon itself...

I would rather not live in a system like that, but I surely invite you to do so at your own peril. Sounds like you're already in the asylum, so I'm not sure what you mean about insane and stupid.

Better than us? We have $14 TRILLION in debt and $60 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities on our doorstep in the next 40 years. We've stripped the middle-class out of our society and the rich and powerful keep demanding that their tax rate should be lowered. We're turning into a banana republic.

Sorry Tracey, I did not purposefully misspell your name. My apologies.

Paul,

You are correct that our debt is unjustifiable. In that way we will end up like Greece if our country does not turn from that path. However, corporations will always be rich and get sweet bailouts. Like it or not, they make money whether you have a job or not (see GM, as well as Lehman Brothers, mothership of the new WHCOS Daley, Obama's new boy after Rahm checked into the Chicago Mayoral hoo-ha). Increased taxes only hurt you and me, Paul, but when you cut taxes, mom-and-pop small enterprise as well as big corp business takes off, and then you get a job because they grow without so much downward pressure of big government. Who would want to start/expand business right now? The quickest way to grow an economy is to decrease the burden of government. It's callled Supply Side Economics. Works every time, dude.

You can look it up on the internet, it's there.

The Keynesian model just crashed and burned. Check in with Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Geithner, because they're trying to extricate themselves from the wreckage right now using defective equipment called QE2. It's a hot mess, man.

I'm gonna go eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich now.

Love ya.

LOL............at least we agree that there is a problem..............beyond that, we've got some issues.

Tracey, I have to gove you credit for knowing very well the FOX Noise talking points. However, they are wrong. and you'll have to do more than just say trust me on this in order for me to believe you. Try reading some Paul Krugman and Robert Reich, sometime, and you may get a whiff of real economics. I have been keeping up with Krugman for years now and he has been spot on the whole way through this economic mess. Try it and you'll see just how wrong the right really is on economics.

Brent, you assume I have not read either of those guys. I read their stuff as it appears because I read EVERYTHING. For example, there is Realclearpolitics, which links to articles and items from across the political spectrum. Krugman is a Keynsian, and Reich is a Socialist. My libertarian view is my own, just as your liberal view is yours. I don't expect that you will change your mind about your beliefs. but please don't assume that mine are uneducated...Fox doesn't go into anything deep enough to force me to form any of my views. History has been my teacher, not someone's viewpoint of it. I refuse to let political spin from a tallkinghead pundit or a rabid journalist tell me what to think. God embellished me with a brain, and told me to use it!

Love ya.

Just got to love Brent placing Krugman and Reich as "real economists." No thanks Brent. Tax and spend is all Krugman espouses. And Tracey is spot on with the observation that Reich is a socialist. You need to read a few of Krugman's more infamous NYT articles. He is as far outside of mainstream as an economist can be. (Kind of makes you wonder what those fine young students at Princeton are getting along with their degree.)

Perhaps one of his politifact blunders will suffice as evidence:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/nov/16/paul-krugman/paul-krugman-said-obamas-deficit-co-chairs-had-no-/

Right, and the people will learn to love the health care bill after we pass it and I won't .....nevermind.

Social security is paying out more this year than it takes in. IT wil do that every year until it runs out of money. The tax cut extension passed in 2010 will cut revenues to SS by about 7% this year in addition to the now structural annual deficit.

The notes from the Treasury that make up the "Trust Fund" will all be cashed in by 2037 and SS will, in fact, be broke.

And for those of you that trust governmental predictions, three years ago, CBO said SS wouldn't face an anual deficit until 2017. NOt bad for government work.

SS is adjustable between now and 2037. If you think SS is an unsolvable problem, Medicare and Medicaid are going to bring us down sooner than SS will. We've got lots of tough decisions to begin making, SS is one of the easiest to remedy.

Dude, first off, the Dems lost their filibuster proof Senate when Ted Kennedy died. I guess you aren't up on current events. Secondly, defense, medicaid, and medicare, make up the majority of our budget, not dicretiionary spending. Please get some real facts so you can be taken seriously.

Being able to end a filibuster with a cloture vote, doesn't stop a filibuster from starting. There is no such thing as a filibuster PROOF senate. Not yet anyway. A cloture vote still obligates you to waste 30 more hours on "debate".

Geez, it's like talking to my 18 year old daughter! Nice that neither of you address the meat of the post and tinker around the edges. The term "filibuster proof majority " was coined by the Dems when they got to 60 (which technically wasn't 60, it was only 58 with two "independents" caucusing with the Dems. Wopuldn't wnat you to bring that up next time!) And the PROOF is that a bill will be brought to the floor for a vote and can't be kept off the floor by a filibuster.

And you fail to address the point that the deficit was only $350 billion in 2008 and is $1.5 trillion now. What are we getting for the extra $1.15 trillion? I don't see it. Adopt the 2008 budget again and let's move on down the road.

OF course, it would have been nice if the Dems had bothered to pass a budget last year, but they were too busy to do that.