No letup for Cincinnati's distressed pension plan - Something has to give in 2013: city services or retiree benefits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRlpRcorEU - Link to video that mocks hypocritical celebs about gun violence - VID NSFW - Click at your own peril
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Local Politicians vote
Portman / Brown - YES
Paul - NO
McConnell - NO
Chabot / Massie / Schmidt - NO
Boehner - Yes
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Higher Tax on 77% of Households
CBO: 'Fiscal cliff' deal carries $4 trillion price tag over next decade
...and rum runners...and algae producers...electric motorcycle producers
Congressional pay raise blocked
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House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement following passage of the Senate agreement on the fiscal cliff:
“The federal government has a spending problem that has led to a $16 trillion national debt that threatens our country’s future. On the day after the election, I proposed that both parties work together to avert the fiscal cliff in a manner that would ensure 2013 is the year we finally enact entitlement reform and pro-growth tax reform to begin to solve our country’s debt problem.
“Now the focus turns to spending. The American people re-elected a Republican majority in the House, and we will use it in 2013 to hold the president accountable for the ‘balanced’ approach he promised, meaning significant spending cuts and reforms to the entitlement programs that are driving our country deeper and deeper into debt.
“Without meaningful reform of entitlements, real spending controls, and a fairer, cleaner tax code, our debt will continue to grow, and our economy will continue to stumble. Republicans stand for a stronger, more prosperous America, rich in opportunity and free of the debt that threatens our children’s future. On this New Year’s Day, we renew our commitment to that vision, humbled by the opportunity to serve.”
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Senator Rob Portman ((R-OH) released the following statement regarding the Senate vote on H.R.8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act, which passed 89-8:
"I supported the fiscal cliff agreement because it stops huge tax increases from being imposed on the overwhelming majority of Ohio’s families and job creators.
"I am also pleased that the $1.2 trillion sequester put in place by the Budget Control Act will not be unwound. Although I will keep fighting to reallocate the across-the-board cuts in our defense programs, with the debt at record levels, Washington cannot let the spending cuts lapse. It is reassuring to see that we've also been able to stop the President's planned salary increases for his own staff, Congress, and other federal employees on the same day the Treasury tells us the US government has once again hit the nation's debt limit.
"Now that the fiscal cliff has been averted, Congress and the Obama Administration must move forward on pro-growth tax reform and reform of the important but unsustainable entitlement programs."
