Little-Acorn
12-31-2012, 04:58 PM
A few minutes after 1:00PM here (4:00 PM Eastern), some CNN newsbabe came on, to breathlessly announce that the House of Representatives had adjourned for the day.
"So, since the House members have decided to go home, this means they will not vote on the Fiscal Cliff deal we've been hearing about", she remonstrated.
Almost in the same breath, she then continued on, to say, "This is in part due to a minor procedural matter: There is nothing to vote on."
My wife wondered why I was laughing at the TV (she's the one who had CNN on). I repeated what the newsreader had said, and asked my wife why the absence of anything to vote on was considered a "minor procedural matter", and not the entire cause of months of problems that it actually was.
The House had, of course, passed legislation to avert the "Fiscal Cliff" months ago, in August to be exact. It's the Senate that has passed nothing, and has failed to even vote on anything passed by the House. And that failure goes on, up to the present time, a few minutes after 4:00 Eastern... and THAT is why the House will not be voting on any Fiscal Cliff legislation. (a) They already did, and (b) The Senate, which has done nothing and produced nothing, has not produced anything (such as a compromise to the already-passed House bill) that can be voted on.
But this CNN newsbabe could barely wait to announce how it's all the House's fault that nothing will be passed today.
....Memo to CNN newsbabe: This isn't even news. The tax cut expiration was extended till now, TWO YEARS AGO. Ditto for the automatic spending "cuts" (actually reductions in the rates of increase) in spending, that are also scheduled to take place tomorrow. This was set up, also TWO YEARS AGO. And not a thing has been done since. Why are you acting like it's a sudden crisis when it could have been fixed any time in the last two years?
"So, since the House members have decided to go home, this means they will not vote on the Fiscal Cliff deal we've been hearing about", she remonstrated.
Almost in the same breath, she then continued on, to say, "This is in part due to a minor procedural matter: There is nothing to vote on."
My wife wondered why I was laughing at the TV (she's the one who had CNN on). I repeated what the newsreader had said, and asked my wife why the absence of anything to vote on was considered a "minor procedural matter", and not the entire cause of months of problems that it actually was.
The House had, of course, passed legislation to avert the "Fiscal Cliff" months ago, in August to be exact. It's the Senate that has passed nothing, and has failed to even vote on anything passed by the House. And that failure goes on, up to the present time, a few minutes after 4:00 Eastern... and THAT is why the House will not be voting on any Fiscal Cliff legislation. (a) They already did, and (b) The Senate, which has done nothing and produced nothing, has not produced anything (such as a compromise to the already-passed House bill) that can be voted on.
But this CNN newsbabe could barely wait to announce how it's all the House's fault that nothing will be passed today.
....Memo to CNN newsbabe: This isn't even news. The tax cut expiration was extended till now, TWO YEARS AGO. Ditto for the automatic spending "cuts" (actually reductions in the rates of increase) in spending, that are also scheduled to take place tomorrow. This was set up, also TWO YEARS AGO. And not a thing has been done since. Why are you acting like it's a sudden crisis when it could have been fixed any time in the last two years?