State Republicans OK'd deal
JANESVILLE — Two legislators representing Rock and Walworth counties voted with the majorities to approve the fiscal-cliff deal in Congress on Tuesday, but they weren't happy about it.
The "ayes" on Tuesday included Sen. Ron Johnson and the 1st District Rep. Paul Ryan, both Republicans.
The two Democrats representing parts of the area also voted for the bill but did not release statements and could not be reached for comment. They are Sen. Herb Kohl, who is retiring from the Senate, and Rep. Tammy Baldwin of the 2nd District, who succeeds Kohl.
Baldwin was expected to be sworn in today.
The Senate voted 89-8 for the measure. The House agreed with a vote of 257-167.
Republican Rep. Reid Ribble of the 8th District also voted for the measure.
Three other Wisconsin Republican House members—James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri and Sean Duffy—voted against.
Political observers already were looking at Ryan's vote in light of the 2016 presidential race, noting that another oft-mentioned potential Republican candidate, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, voted against the bill.
Ryan, who reportedly worked with House Speaker John Boehner on fiscal cliff negotiations, said in a statement that he opposes parts of the bill, but on balance he believes Americans will be better off than if the bill had not passed.
Ryan acknowledged most taxpayers' taxes would not increase as a result of the vote, but "it is unfortunate that President Obama insisted on taking more from hardworking taxpayers. Despite my concerns with other provisions in the bill, I commend my colleagues for limiting the damage as much as possible."
Ryan added: "The American people chose divided government. As elected officials, we have a duty to apply our principles to the realities of governing. And we must exercise prudence. We must weigh the benefits and the costs of action—and of inaction."
Ryan returned to familiar themes, referring to what he believes is excessive spending and debt and an impending financial disaster if nothing is done.
"We'll never get our debt under control unless we tackle its main drivers: too little economic growth and too much spending. Without presidential leadership, it will be difficult to forge bipartisan solutions to our debt and economic challenges," Ryan's statement reads.
Asked whether Ryan, as chairman of the House Budget Committee, was preparing proposals to address these issues, Ryan spokesman Kevin Seifert referred to the government's budget process, which he said "typically begins with the president submitting a budget proposal to Congress, and that generally occurs in February."
Johnson said he wanted to preserve tax breaks for all taxpayers, but he said the bill "protects 99 percent of Wisconsinites from an income tax increase, limits the death tax and prevents a dramatic increase in milk prices."
Johnson continued: "The revenue raised by this legislation will equal approximately 7 percent of projected deficits. It is now time for President Obama and his Democrat colleagues to show the American public their plan to close the other 93 percent of the deficit."
Johnson said the bill will "harm economic growth, hinder new job creation and, at most, reduce our annual deficit by about 5 percent."
Johnson pledged he would not vote to increase the debt unless serious spending reductions are part of the package.
Jan 5, 2013 at 2:02 p.m.
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Mongo, aka Robot_Lord_of_Tokyo aka DeGryse (deleted) aka SmellofSheath (deleted), it would seem wise to concern yourself with your own cognizance, that is, your awareness of the GazetteXtra terms of use, and attempt to keep the Mongo account from being deleted as most of your other accounts have been.
Jan 4, 2013 at 10:48 p.m.
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Seems the title of this piece tells 50% of the story...
Jan 4, 2013 at 5:18 p.m.
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Just another example of the Republican strategy
of projecting their weaknesses
upon their opponents.
Jan 4, 2013 at 4:27 p.m.
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MBHammer said, "the masses that voted Obum in are low information voters, plebeians, most educated people know this."
Are low information voters? "It’s Official: 73% of Republican News Watcher Are Less Informed" [ http://www.cps-news.com/2012/01/19/its-o... ]: "Public Policy Polling (PPP) just released their 3rd annual TV news trust poll. Surprise, surprise! 73% of Republicans don’t trust anyone but Fox Faux. So how does that make them less informed? Read on.
The University of Maryland completed a study in December 2010 and found that daily Fox News viewers, whether Republican or Democrat, was the most misinformed. Then in November 2011 Fairleigh Dickinson University completed a “Public Mind” poll and found that those who watch Fox News are left knowing less than those who watch no news at all."
Most educated people? "Lower Cognitive Ability Predicts Greater Prejudice Through Right-Wing Ideology and Low Intergroup Contact" [ http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/201... ]: "Despite their important implications for interpersonal behaviors and relations, cognitive abilities have been largely ignored as explanations of prejudice. We proposed and tested mediation models in which lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice, an effect mediated through the endorsement of right-wing ideologies (social conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism) and low levels of contact with out-groups. In an analysis of two large-scale, nationally representative United Kingdom data sets (N = 15,874), we found that lower general intelligence (g) in childhood predicts greater racism in adulthood, and this effect was largely mediated via conservative ideology. A secondary analysis of a U.S. data set confirmed a predictive effect of poor abstract-reasoning skills on antihomosexual prejudice, a relation partially mediated by both authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact. All analyses controlled for education and socioeconomic status. Our results suggest that cognitive abilities play a critical, albeit underappreciated, role in prejudice. Consequently, we recommend a heightened focus on cognitive ability in research on prejudice and a better integration of cognitive ability into prejudice models."
Jan 4, 2013 at 4:21 p.m.
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Ezoner, you missed the point - again.
Jan 4, 2013 at 4:05 p.m.
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Talking point, talking point, talking point.
Ye Olde Echoe Chamber.
Jan 4, 2013 at 3:54 p.m.
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carlitosway, nothing to get over, the masses that voted Obum in are low information voters, plebeians, most educated people know this. Obama giving Myanmar 170 million dollars we don't have, giving Egypt 20 F16s and 200 tanks to the Muslim Brotherhood, an unstable regime is not fiscally sound or makes any sense at all when the prospects that Egypt will use our weapons against Israel, a high possibility. I assume you love your elected leader.
Jan 4, 2013 at 3:29 p.m.
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Ryan is an idiot and his statement as to President Obama insisted on taking more from hardworking taxpayers. Hard working is far from the truth as they live off the real workers of this country.It Is not as he intends it to be To tax those that have had a free ride for to long is the right thing to do and now some can pay their fair share. Wislady read your right wing sites as some of us, have no interest in them. We watch and read where the truth is.. donnaw what did your republicans cost the tax payers for their long vacation?????????? Remember they did not cut theirs short and Obama DID!!!! You will never ever see the truth as you are so blind to it. Those that held out and is costing this country money are the very ones you PROTECT with your blaming the wrong party. OBAMA and BIDEN are who Were elected not your party to lead this country, get over it. Our President is for the people and that my dear you can take to the bank. To have a paid vacation is part of most Jobs, and he deserves his also. Maybe where you work that is not allowed if you work. but where I have worked we had them paid. Oh I am UNION BTW.
Jan 4, 2013 at 2:58 p.m.
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Feel like I tuned into the sci- fi station !
Jan 4, 2013 at 1:04 p.m.
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Panama -- the he did so I can too arguement doesnt hold any water. It just means you might be dumber than the person you previously criticized. So if Obama KNEW it was the wrong thing to do -- the ends does not justify the means under any circumstances.
Jan 4, 2013 at 12:18 p.m.
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What were the circumstances surrounding the request to raise the debt ceiling in March 2006 when Obama made that speech 916? Bush was outspending EVERY President since Washington. The Republican led State Department talked us into fighting two large scale wars simultaneously. From a March 2006 Washington Post article, “President Bush tried to sell the American people on the idea that we could have a war with little or no economic sacrifice. Even after the United States went to war, Bush and Congress cut taxes, especially on the rich -- even though the United States already had a massive deficit. So the war had to be funded by more borrowing. By the end of the Bush administration, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus the cumulative interest on the increased borrowing used to fund them, will have added about $1 trillion to the national debt.”
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Not only did the wars substantially add to our debt, but Republican “reckless fiscal policies” ,as described by Obama, resulted in this nations worst financial depression.
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The Republican theme is to vote to raise the debt ceiling numerous times without regard to spending for Afghanistan and Iraqi nation rebuilding but fight every effort to raise the ceiling for rebuilding America…no?
Jan 4, 2013 at 11:41 a.m.
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prounion: Bush Jr. had one of the highest, if not The highest, vacation rate of any U.S. President.
Jan 4, 2013 at 10:49 a.m.
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Anyone know what the vacation rate is of Obama as compared to Bush? Days on vacation divided by days not on vacation?
I think the Obama is taking too much vacation crowd might be suprised.
Jan 4, 2013 at 9:56 a.m.
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Why do republicans blame Obama?
Don't they remember their own party?
"Deficits don't matter." Dick Cheney
Jan 4, 2013 at 9:23 a.m.
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The people that voted for this bill to tax americans more, must be held accountable. This will destroy 600,000 jobs in 2013. We need to reduce spending, not increase revenue -- especially when the increase in revenue has no affect on deficit.
Jan 4, 2013 at 8:34 a.m.
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Another historic moment.
Obama is the first president
to go on vacation.
Jan 4, 2013 at 8:16 a.m.
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wislady, donnaw, 916WI: Which is worse...being a RINO or dutifully following and cleaning up after one?
Jan 4, 2013 at 6:23 a.m.
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This vacation is projected be 20 days long. This is a leader?
Jan 4, 2013 at 6:19 a.m.
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And poor Obama, the debt discussions wore him out so much he had to resume his vacation in Hawaii at another million in cost to the taxpayers. Try getting an interview with him. And you also have difficulty getting an interview ever with Baldwin. She learned well from Kohl....hide in a closet and they can't find you to ask questions.
Jan 3, 2013 at 6:51 p.m.
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"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government’s reckless fiscal policies. ...Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that 'the buck stops here'. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."
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Considering the attached quote from then Congressman Obama, "would have been" seems to be becoming a theme for President Obama as well.....no?
Jan 3, 2013 at 5:42 p.m.
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Permanent until the next Congress votes to change them.
Jan 3, 2013 at 5:35 p.m.
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"Would have been" seems to be
becoming a theme for Congressman Ryan.
Jan 3, 2013 at 4:48 p.m.
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If anyone would take the time to read their websites, you would see what the alternative would have been.
The positive aspect, is the Bush tax cuts are now permanent.
"The revenue raised by this legislation will equal approximately 7 percent of projected deficits. It is now time for President Obama and his Democrat colleagues to show the American public their plan to close the other 93 percent of the deficit."
Will the potus begin to take responsibility, after 4 years, as he starts another term? Time will tell.
Jan 3, 2013 at 4:12 p.m.
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This is an interesting variation of
"I was for it before I was against it."
This is
"I was for it while I was against it."
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