Rep Brian Higgins and brinkmanship

Brinkmanship is a very strong word and the first time I remember hearing it was during the debate with Obama and Representative Kathy Hochul was on WBEN and she accused the Republicans in the House of Representatives of it. Back then it struck me as then everyone starting saying it, Democrat operatives and apologists including the President himself.

Once again the word is back and has reared it’s ugly head. Brian Higgins my new Congressman used it on WBEN with John and Susan, then the President, now all the talking heads are repeating it. It is the talking point of the day once again.

I have a question, who is it aimed at now? The Republicans or the Democrats? All the Democrat talking heads, here it’s Higgins, are throwing the word out. so who is it aimed at?

As I look back starting with the debate of raising the debt ceiling to where it is at right now (16.7 Trillion) and where this fiscal cliff concept started. It was the democrats that were demanding the debt ceiling be raised or elderly would not get their checks and the Military wouldn’t get paid. It was the democrats that refused to cut anything just demanding more be borrowed. Republicans wanted cuts, sound familiar?

Fast forward to this self inflicted crisis. I say self inflicted because this is what they all wanted. The deal back then was to put in place massive cuts and tax increases to force both sides to the table to work out a deal. Instead what did we see? Harry Reid standing in the Senate refusing to allow any House Bills to the floor for a vote including by the way a budget. We have not had one in four years. President Obama demanding more tax increases and the democrats refusing to add any cuts whatsoever to this fiscal cliff proposal.

Obama and Reid continued to say “we are close but still no deal”. Why no deal, for 18 months they knew this was coming. The republicans still came forward offering more and more, Boehner offered an inch and Obama stood there and demanded a mile.

So brinkmanship? Looking at the definition it would appear to me that it is the democrats that are showing the brinkmanship here and have been. The proof is in the Bill that passed the senate and the house, it is a disgrace and a slap in the face to every hardworking American in this country.

Once again they have kicked the can a little further down the road. The democrats and Obama have won, using their style of brinkmanship, they have forced the hands of members of congress to vote to give them the majority of what they want and then accuse the republicans of being at fault, standing in the way of progress in making a deal.

Higgins once again is simply using the words he was told in Washington DC. The tactic is and always has been to point the finger of blame at the republicans to divert attention from his parties actions. What we have now is a disaster once again waiting to happen.

The next is again raising the debt limit, this time to where? 20 trillion? The President wanted carte blanche, to raise the limit without any authority from congress. Thank God that was struck down in this Bill. Also by executive order Obama attempted to raise salaries for the VP, Congress and all federal workers. That would have cost us 11 Billion in 10 years.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Senate-passed bill would cost taxpayers $3.9 trillion over 10 years and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would add almost $4 trillion in debt over the next ten years. The official estimate is that it will increase spending by at least $330 billion over 10 years.

Cuts? Are there any at all? Yes for every $41 spent there is a ONE Dollar cut in the rate of growth, not even a real cut in spending.

This is a clear violation of the public trust, congress right now has an approval rating of less than 18% and Obama has not even been sworn in for term 2. This is disastrous and just shows how badly DC has been corrupted. Fiscal cliff? No we will be looking at printing more and more money driving down the value of the dollar even more, the fed will buy more debt and keep interests rate low with money harder and harder to get. There is no confidence in Wall Street and the consumer? Unemployment’s real figure is closer to 20% as more and more people leave the job market and small companies close doors.

And on top of that? Hidden in the middle of it all is billions of tax increases for the implementation of 0bamacare. The House of Representatives needs to vote this Bill down and demand serious negotiations to start immediately with meaningful cuts and not just the cuts in the rate of growth. What is happening is unacceptable and unsustainable.

We need to show both sides of the story coming out of Washington DC. It is all a disaster in the making. The next few months will be one crisis after another. This is NO way to run a country, we have no leadership just partisan fighting, finger pointing and plenty of brinkmanship.

I am truly disgusted with my country and my congressional representative Brian Higgins. He now represents me and Grand Island. Hey Brian….. What are YOU going to do about the Grand Island Tolls. You still refuse to answer that question.
Rus Thompson
Grand Island, NY
TEA New York.com
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brinkmanship: The practice of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather than concede.
: the art or practice of pushing a dangerous situation or confrontation to the limit of safety especially to force a desired outcome