Althouse: Do you even know what the "fiscal cliff" is?

December 6, 2012

Do you even know what the "fiscal cliff" is?

69 comments:

Franklin said...: Jesus. The Simpsons is so painfully unfunny now.; 12/6/12, 8:09 AM
Mogget said...: I saw it as we went over it, some time ago.; 12/6/12, 8:13 AM
Dad said...: Wow that's hideous. Looks like something Mike Luckovich would come up with.; 12/6/12, 8:13 AM
Robert Cook said...: Yes, it's a lie propagated by those with an anti-social security and anti-Medicare agenda; 12/6/12, 8:20 AM
Big Mike said...: Do you even know what the "fiscal cliff" is?"

Yes. And it's not funny.; 12/6/12, 8:20 AM
Robert Cook said...: Ha! I hadn't seen that Simpsons clip. Was it a standalone or from an episode of the series?

Dad and Franklin's comments notwithstanding, that was pretty good. "It's funny 'cause it's true."; 12/6/12, 8:23 AM
Matt Sablan said...: The fiscal cliff is a sort of self-inflicted trigger-switch. Sequestration will hurt; automatically raising tax rates will hurt. We can see that by the pre-emptive layoffs and damaged economy. It sucks that some in the Democrats caucus think it will be a political win, but politicians have rarely cared when politicking hurts real people.; 12/6/12, 8:23 AM
AllenS said...: The fiscal cliff is something that the next generation or two will have to face. Why worry about it.; 12/6/12, 8:28 AM
TMink said...: Cutting spending by .25 percent after the amounts are adjusted up for inflation and population growth is no spending cut at all.

It is not a fiscal cliff, it is a Kabuki speed bump.

Trey; 12/6/12, 8:28 AM
Hagar said...: Well, it looks like we are going to find out.

I have previously thought they would go up to the deadline, and then agree to a 6-9 month stopgap measure while they worked out a real reform program according to an agreed framework which the Obama administration would then renege on starting January 20th, but I now agree with those who think Obama sees nothing not to like about the "fiscal cliff" and in fact wants it to happen.; 12/6/12, 8:32 AM
Known Unknown said...: I believe your "Obama economics" tag is an oxymoron.

Well, some sort of moron anyways.; 12/6/12, 8:33 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Hilarious!

When will South Park tackle this issue? Or have they already?; 12/6/12, 8:37 AM
Hagar said...: I do not know if the demand for unilateral authority on the part of the Executive to raise the debt limit is for serious, or just intended to enrage the Congressional Republicans so that they will say and/or do something stupid.

I do think the last time anything like that was heard of in English-speaking countries was in 1629, and then in England, not North America.; 12/6/12, 8:37 AM
Renee said...: "The fiscal cliff is something that the next generation or two will have to face. Why worry about it."

Because some of us have children, and would like to have grandchildren someday.

If we don't resolve this, I don't think my children would want to have children.; 12/6/12, 8:38 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: I think you folks are missing the point about the humor of this video.

You can take the caricature of the rich, embodied in Mr. Burns, a number of ways.

After all, Homer Simpson, the lovable Everyman of the show, is a completely incompetent nuclear plant operator!

It's supposed to be funny!; 12/6/12, 8:41 AM
Hagar said...: A thought I saw mentioned somewhere this morning: Has the Democrats considered that the current massive support for the Obama administration - regardless of what - is personal in nature and won't be transferable to succeeding Democrat leaderships?; 12/6/12, 8:43 AM
Anonymous said...: Ancient civilizations used to worship the Gods of fertility and crop abundance.

They would sacrifice virgins and their children to apese these Gods.

Ofcourse, in our enlightened, advanced society, we hold no such barbaric notions.

We now solely worship the God of abundance, and have locked the God of fertility in a closet to apese.

(One doesn't expect enlightened people to worship TWO Gods - one God was always destined to conquer the other, and we're just siding with the winner.)

We have sacrificed our children and sold them into bondage in the name of our God of abundance.

With the God of fertility in the closet, the virgins sacrificed themselves voluntarily.; 12/6/12, 8:44 AM
Sydney said...: I keep thinking about the story of the Israelites in Egypt. They went to Egypt in the first place because they had fallen on hard times in their native land - drought and all that. They had a charismatic folk hero who was working for the Egyptians and who said, "Hey, move to Egypt. Things are great here. Pharaoh will help you." And so they did. Then later, times were hard again. And their charismatic leader said, "Hey, sell your land to Pharaoh. He'll take care of you." And so they did. And times were better for a while. Then times got hard again, and they had no choice but to sell themselves to Pharaoh. And before they knew it, Pharaoh was killing their first born sons because there were too many of them to take care of. I think we are about to enter the selling-themselves-to-Pharaoh part of that story.; 12/6/12, 8:51 AM
Wince said...: The show lost its edge long ago.

The more biting humor would have been to represent the fiscal cliff with Fonzi doing a motorcycle jump over shark pen. Henry Winkler makes over $200k.

But that would have struck a little too close to home.; 12/6/12, 8:55 AM
Known Unknown said...: A thought I saw mentioned somewhere this morning: Has the Democrats considered that the current massive support for the Obama administration - regardless of what - is personal in nature and won't be transferable to succeeding Democrat leaderships?

I think the Republicans have more of an Obama problem than a Democrat problem. The country, over the past 2 elections downballet has gotten more conservative. The governorships and state legislatures are nothing to sneeze at.; 12/6/12, 8:55 AM
Anonymous said...: 8 of the ten richest counties in the nation voted for Obama. So how is this funny?; 12/6/12, 8:56 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Just noticed the "Binder" and "Women" props in the video. Funny!

You guys have to lighten up.

The whole point of The Simpsons is to satirize the foolishness of all humans. The show does so in a very gentle way. There have been some shows that attempt to delve into the sensitive human side of Monte Burns, not to mention the same about Moe the bartender.

The producers do a very good job.; 12/6/12, 8:59 AM
Seeing Red said...: Santa Claus for EVAH!

OPM!

We are broke, hundreds of trillions which we can't pay back.; 12/6/12, 9:02 AM
Seeing Red said...: Anyone laughing at the deal?

If you give me a hamburger today - raise the tax rates - I'll gladly pay you Tuesday - entitlement cuts will be talked about next year!; 12/6/12, 9:04 AM
Paco Wové said...: "If we don't resolve this"

It seem as though for many, "resolve" == "kick this can down the road, again". I'm really not sure what a non-painful "resolution" is going to look like. (And yes, I have offspring to worry about.); 12/6/12, 9:05 AM
garage mahal said...: The country, over the past 2 elections downballet has gotten more conservative

The country has gotten more gerrymandered since 2010. Dems got more than a million more votes in the House races in 2012.; 12/6/12, 9:05 AM
Seeing Red said...: As I read somewhere else, I have no guilt now, the kids want me to have their future. I'll take it.; 12/6/12, 9:06 AM
Hagar said...: @EMD,

The point is that the Democrats have an Obama problem. In 2016 he will be term-limited, and their naional leadership will be in disarray as the octogenarians die off or get too noticeably gaga.; 12/6/12, 9:07 AM
Seeing Red said...: Nahhh - living in boxcar-sized houses will be the pubbies fault.

Turning the US into the rerun of the mortgage problem will really work this time.; 12/6/12, 9:10 AM
Unknown said...: Why do people look to aging cartoonists and commedians for political commentary again?

Oh, right, they voted for Obama. Makes sense now.; 12/6/12, 9:10 AM
test said...: garage mahal said...
The country, over the past 2 elections downballet has gotten more conservative

The country has gotten more gerrymandered since 2010. Dems got more than a million more votes in the House races in 2012.

The country has been gerrymandered longer than anyone reading has been alive. Garage just started caring in 2010 since the advantage of gerrymandering became more evenly distributed between parties instead of overwhelmingly benefitting democrats.; 12/6/12, 9:13 AM
Hagar said...: There is also the problem of the leadership, or their spouses, going off to jail on various corruption chargees.; 12/6/12, 9:18 AM
Known Unknown said...: You guys have to lighten up.

The whole point of The Simpsons is to satirize the foolishness of all humans. The show does so in a very gentle way. There have been some shows that attempt to delve into the sensitive human side of Monte Burns, not to mention the same about Moe the bartender.

The producers do a very good job.

I have no problem with mockery of all, provided it be truly funny. This simply fails the funny test.; 12/6/12, 9:20 AM
Known Unknown said...: Dems got more than a million more votes in the House races in 2012.

I was focused on state legislatures and governments, but okay.; 12/6/12, 9:20 AM
garage mahal said...: I was focused on state legislatures and governments, but okay.

State legislatures are part of the new gerrymandered ward boundaries.; 12/6/12, 9:40 AM
Matt Sablan said...: The "more votes in House races" is a pretty goofy metric to choose to use. All that shows is that they are able to run up the score in California, New York and other population-dense states.; 12/6/12, 9:41 AM
Chip S. said...: It's weird that Mr. Burns shares the Dems' preference for low-skill immigrants.; 12/6/12, 9:42 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Good government types have, for years, been trying to convince people to have some sort of neutral arbiter for deciding districts, wards, etc. to get rid of gerrymandering. Unfortunately, entrenched constituencies have cried all sorts of fouls, leaving it in the hands of the government. Neither political party really cares about gerrymandering, except when they're not in power.; 12/6/12, 9:43 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: I laughed my ass off over the bit about Irish immigrants peeling potatoes.; 12/6/12, 9:48 AM
Chip S. said...: Not so surprising that RCook gets his policy analysis from cartoons, tho.; 12/6/12, 9:48 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A shorter Robert Cook...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we only had one party rule?; 12/6/12, 9:53 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: For once, I find myself in partial agreement with the execrable Ted Rall, the author of Tom Tomorrow!

The "fiscal cliff" rhetoric is a ginned up crisis.

I'm only in partial agreement because the Democrats are equally complicit with the Republicans in ginning up this crisis.; 12/6/12, 10:03 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Republicans are gerrymandering the previous democrat gerrymanders... And when the democrats come back to power, they will un-gerrymander the republican gerrymanders and gerrymander back to what they hope, is a gerrymander proof, unencumbered incumbency.; 12/6/12, 10:06 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The "fiscal cliff" is the same old found art of responsibility avoidance.; 12/6/12, 10:11 AM
Seeing Red said...: We can spend, spend, spend and there will be no consequences, someone else will pay for it.

Until they decide not to.; 12/6/12, 10:17 AM
Seeing Red said...: Well, it looks like the Italians might cause the EU some more heart burn.; 12/6/12, 10:21 AM
Thorley Winston said...: Not so surprising that RCook gets his policy analysis from cartoons, tho.

Which is still slightly less pathetic than those who get it from the Daily Show or the Colbert Report.; 12/6/12, 10:27 AM
edutcher said...: Doesn't matter whether anyone knows.

Barry's taking us over.

PS Never thought the Simpsons was one bit funny.; 12/6/12, 10:36 AM
Robert Cook said...: "For once, I find myself in partial agreement with the execrable Ted Rall, the author of Tom Tomorrow!"

Shouting Tom, you have made an error of fact and an error of judgement:

Error of fact: Ted Rall is a cartoonist and writer separate and distinct from Tom Tomorrow, whose real name is Dan Perkins.

Error of judgement: Tom Tomorrow is consistently hilarious and on point.

(Ted Rall, on the other hand, although I agree with many of his political opinions, is a terrible cartoonist.); 12/6/12, 10:55 AM
Robert Cook said...: "PS Never thought the Simpsons was one bit funny."

No surprise there.; 12/6/12, 10:55 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I'm only in partial agreement because the Democrats are equally complicit with the Republicans in ginning up this crisis."

This is correct, Shouting Tom, and Tom Tomorrow acknowledges this. Check the word balloon with the text beginning "and by austerity fetishists of both parties...."; 12/6/12, 11:04 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Lem said...

A shorter Robert Cook...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we only had one party rule?

From what I've seen of Robert Cook's opinions, he probably believes that is essentially what we have, with that entire one party too far to the right.; 12/6/12, 11:38 AM
Robert Cook said...: "From what I've seen of Robert Cook's opinions, he probably believes that is essentially what we have, with that entire one party too far to the right."

Yes.; 12/6/12, 11:45 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: A thought I saw mentioned somewhere this morning: Has the Democrats considered that the current massive support for the Obama administration - regardless of what - is personal in nature and won't be transferable to succeeding Democrat leaderships?

Senate Democrats have considered this. That's why they declined to vote on Obama's plan.; 12/6/12, 11:48 AM
test said...: Ignorance is Bliss said...
From what I've seen of Robert Cook's opinions, he probably believes that is essentially what we have, with that entire one party too far to the right.

People can convince themselves of anything if it furthers their fantasies. Leftists ultimately know the welfare state isn't sustainable so they invent counterfactuals to obscure the obvious. Many on the left - and many libertarians as well - claim to believe the world would have less conflict if the US militarily withdrew from the international arena. That allows the pretence that defense spending is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that could fund the eternal welfare state.; 12/6/12, 12:06 PM
n.n said...: Without a budget, and without concern for a general devaluation of labor, then there is no fiscal cliff. Instead, we will continue to run trillion dollar account deficits, and there will be a progressive degradation of purchasing power. In the worst case, our non-tangible capital will become worthless, and we will become servants (i.e. effective slaves) of the state, where a minority will selectively redistribute wealth and grant favors in order to preserve their political, economic, and social standing.; 12/6/12, 12:11 PM
Known Unknown said...: State legislatures are part of the new gerrymandered ward boundaries

Like this?; 12/6/12, 12:43 PM
Balfegor said...: The fiscal cliff is artificial yes, but it's artificial only because at this immediate moment, we can continue borrowing $1.5 trillion/year to fund our welfare state (if nothing else, because the Fed is willing to buy the treasuries we issue). On the other hand, anyone with a lick of common sense knows that this happy situation isn't going to continue forever. The point of the deal that led to the fiscal cliff was to force politicians to confront the massive imbalance between our spending and our revenue.

And there are some on the Democratic side who are willing to face facts here. Steny Hoyer has acknowledged the problem. Even Durbin has acknowledged the problem. Meanwhile, the Republican leadership are coming around to the idea that, at least short term, part of the difference is going to have to be made up with increased revenues. Revenues, though, are the easiest (and dinkiest) part, because even the most aggressive plans are still only covering maybe 10% of the deficit with increased revenue. The rest is going to have to come from spending cuts. And I think there are politicians in both parties who understand that.

Unfortunately, they're dealing with Obama. And he . . . I don't know what he's thinking. Maybe he thinks he can make the problem go away with words.; 12/6/12, 12:57 PM
Smoberproject said...: It would have been funnier if it had shown Tim Geithner chasing his eyebrows off the cliff.

But c'mon... all of my comedy mainstays are getting corrupted now too. I had to unfollow the Onion the other day because they have been reduced to stupid political blather that is NOT funny.

And now the Simpsons... that had potential to be funny and usually I love them... but that was just bad. And once again wrong info.

Lord what is it with writers these days? Or maybe they are doing exactly the right thing, talk to the lowest denominator and spread untruths to stick in their hapless little brains.

Now a bunch of them feel like they know what the Fiscal Cliff is! D'HOH indeed.; 12/6/12, 1:03 PM
Hagar said...: I kind of wonder if Robert Cook lives on a Walden Pond somewhere, purchased with inherited money, where his intellect can light up the night with its clear and gemlike flame.; 12/6/12, 1:11 PM
Rusty said...: Hagar said...
I kind of wonder if Robert Cook lives on a Walden Pond somewhere, purchased with inherited money, where his intellect can light up the night with its clear and gemlike flame.

On the stuff that matters he's pretty much a dim bulb.
Awesome on comic books though.; 12/6/12, 1:22 PM
Rusty said...: Whooops!

OWN IT: UNEMPLOYMENT BACK ABOVE 8%

Anybody want to make book that it hits 9% by February?; 12/6/12, 1:24 PM
Balfegor said...: I will note, though, that (unfortunately) Obama's side of the negotiations is probably going to go a lot better than it did last time. Because it's Tim Geithner handling it this time, rather than Obama himself.

One senses, from time to time, that despite his delusional bluster, Obama actually has a much better sense of his own personal limitations than many of his supporters, including within the administration.; 12/6/12, 2:12 PM
Hagar said...: Well, we will see, but Turbo-Tax Tim starting off with demanding unrestricted authority to raise the debt limit does not quite fit that hope. This is just jabbing the Republicans in the eye before they even start talking
The White House seem pretty confident they can roll the Republicans with no consequences, and they seem intent on doing just that.; 12/6/12, 3:06 PM
Robert Cook said...: "I kind of wonder if Robert Cook lives on a Walden Pond somewhere, purchased with inherited money, where his intellect can light up the night with its clear and gemlike flame."

Unfortunately, no.

My lustrous intellect with its gemlike flame is too much hampered by my having to attend to a daily job of work, and thus the night maintains its struggle with the day.; 12/6/12, 4:33 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Why do people look to aging cartoonists and commedians (sic) for political commentary again?

"Oh, right, they voted for Obama. Makes sense now."

What makes sense? How?; 12/6/12, 4:46 PM
Balfegor said...: RE: Hagar:

The White House seem pretty confident they can roll the Republicans with no consequences, and they seem intent on doing just that.

Yeah, they were pretty confident last time too, but it was Obama handling the negotiations directly, so they ended up ignored while Congressional Republicans and Democrats worked together on a (disappointing) alternative deal.; 12/6/12, 6:52 PM
Hagar said...: I take it it is not a hard gemlike flame.; 12/6/12, 8:08 PM
Rusty said...: Hagar said...
I take it it is not a hard gemlike flame.

So far, no.; 12/7/12, 7:28 AM