Fiscal Cliff MEGATHREAD: Wile E. Economy falls off, lands in cloud at bottom

[MadImmortalMan]

So we reached the debt ceiling on Monday.

[KRonn]

Apparently Rep. Peter King (R) threatened to go Democrat over this. He seems pretty angry.

It seems that Boehner couldn't have easily brought up Sandy relief that night while trying to pass the fiscal bill, and get all that passed. Not sure but that seems the general consensus by some. He has promised to bring it up as soon as possible though.

What is up with the farm/milk subsidy? How much is milk being subsidised in the US? There was talk of prices doubling without the milk subsidy. That just seems out of wack that the US has to subsidize milk like that.

[Caliga]

I'm not sure why it's considered necessary anyway.  You don't *need* to drink milk to live, or there'd be a whole lot less people living in Asia.

[Ed Anger]

Give me chocolate milk or give me death.

[MadImmortalMan]

The way it was described to me is that the government buys milk at a price set by some law from the 40s, and if that formula for the price they pay goes into effect in today's dollars they'll be buying it at way over the current market price. I haven't looked it up though.

[KRonn]

This bill adds hundreds of billions in additional spending. Hollywood film makers get a nice break, along with perks for other interests. Really, was this all needed in this bill which is really just a stop-gap measure? Congress and the Pres are supposedly going to go at it all again in two months. Same thing.

This is a lousy bill but averts a likely even worse outcome. These clowns put in this sequestration in the first place because they coudn't come up with a budget, for nearly five years now. So this was supposed to force them to do something. But in the meantime they formed a small group earlier in the year to try and sort things out to avoid sequestration. But of course that had no chance of working. So now they come to this, 11th hour. And raising the debt ceiling is another 11th hour, or likely will be. But for going on five years now, no budget, no attempt to reign in an over 1 trillion dollar yearly deficit.

Sheesh. No one should be happy over this, thinking some good, positive accomplishments were made. That hasn't been the case for some years now regarding Federal spending, reforms, budgets.

[Legbiter]

This bill adds hundreds of billions in additional spending. Hollywood film makers get a nice break, along with perks for other interests. Really, was this all needed in this bill which is really just a stop-gap measure? Congress and the Pres are supposedly going to go at it all again in two months. Same thing.

This is a lousy bill but averts a likely even worse outcome. These clowns put in this sequestration in the first place because they coudn't come up with a budget, for nearly five years now. So this was supposed to force them to do something. But in the meantime they formed a small group earlier in the year to try and sort things out to avoid sequestration. But of course that had no chance of working. So now they come to this, 11th hour. And raising the debt ceiling is another 11th hour, or likely will be. But for going on five years now, no budget, no attempt to reign in an over 1 trillion dollar yearly deficit.

Sheesh. No one should be happy over this, thinking some good, positive accomplishments were made. That hasn't been the case for some years now regarding Federal spending, reforms, budgets.

[Admiral Yi]

I think if we had gone over the milk cliff the government would have been obligated to buy all the milk in the country at $8/gallon.

[Legbiter]

America = failed state. 

[KRonn]

I think if we had gone over the milk cliff the government would have been obligated to buy all the milk in the country at $8/gallon.

Clearly the US needs to do something about the dairy cow gap!!   

[CountDeMoney]

I'm loving Boehner's potty mouth.

Like that doesn't happen every day down there.

[mongers]

I think if we had gone over the milk cliff the government would have been obligated to buy all the milk in the country at $8/gallon.

That rings a bell, I think it's called a "breast".

[Zanza]

FOR the past three years America's leaders have looked on Europe's management of the euro crisis with barely disguised contempt. In the White House and on Capitol Hill there has been incredulity that Europe's politicians could be so incompetent at handling an economic problem; so addicted to last-minute, short-term fixes; and so incapable of agreeing on a long-term strategy for the single currency.

Those criticisms were all valid, but now those who made them should take the planks from their own eyes. America's economy may not be in as bad a state as Europe's, but the failures of its politicians—epitomised by this week's 11th-hour deal to avoid the calamity of the "fiscal cliff"—suggest that Washington's pattern of dysfunction is disturbingly similar to the euro zone's in three depressing ways.

[...]

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21569024-troubling-similarities-between-fiscal-mismanagement-washington-and-mess

Mainly posted for the picture.

[CountDeMoney]

Boehnerhosen.  Groovy.

[Admiral Yi]

The Economist's insistence on describing Teh cliff as a calamity is one of my few points of serious disagreement with them.