“Posted at 05:24 PM ET, 06/23/2011

Eric Cantor’s deception on the budget talks

By Matt Miller

“Okay, kids, let’s review the Republican fiscal position as of today. Eric Cantor has walked out of Joe Biden’s budget talks because Democrats are insisting that tax hikes be part of any debt-ceiling deal. But Cantor and his entire party have already voted for the Ryan budget plan, a plan that does not include any tax hikes and which as a result (despite its controversial spending cuts) still racks up $5.4 trillion in fresh debt over the next decade.

Before Thursday it would have been hard to find a purer example of political posturing and hypocrisy than Republican support for a plan that adds $5.4 trillion to the debt even as Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling. But that phoniness factor has just been increased by Cantor’s huff.

“For the umpteenth time, let me say it: President Obama should insist that both sides increase the debt limit only by the amount it would take to accommodate the Ryan budget’s debt over the next decade — and then say we can work out the details later. If the president came before a microphone and uttered these few lines it would change the entire news coverage, and thus the dynamics, of this negotiation overnight. With Cantor pulling stunts like this one, isn’t it time the White House did something creative?”

Cassi Creek: I’m fed up with the GOP’s “no tax increases position. I’d be happy to counter it with a “No pay for legislators” position and then add to it, “No benefits of any sort for legislators.” They can miss a paycheck or three, lose their personal and family health care access, and spend the hot humid summer months in D.C. with “No Congressional recess.”

Millions of us are depending on these spoiled children to resolve the debt-ceiling limit and to deal with the budget in a manner that displays some intelligence for a change. Did I mention that corporate lobbyists should be booted out of D.C. for the duration of the budget fight? And while we’re at it, we should find a convenient WWII barracks complex and move Congress into it until they remember who elected them. Perhaps a week or two with no air-conditioning, no television, no internet, and no cell phones might help them remember what they are preparing to subject the rest of the nation to.

And the war drags on…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-does-the-afghanistan-war-go-on/2011/06/23/AGwIS4hH_story.html

Why does the Afghanistan war go on?

By Eugene Robinson, Published: June 23

“Some heard a declaration of victory, others an admission of defeat. The many contradictions in President Obama’s speech about Afghanistan Wednesday night were perhaps intended to obscure the bottom line: Tens of thousands of American troops will remain for at least three more years, some of them will be maimed or killed, and Obama offered no good reason why.

The only debate within the administration, it appears, was whether to bring home the troops far too slowly or not at all. Obama decided on the too-slowly option…

“Three years from now, the Afghan government will still be thoroughly corrupt. The Taliban will still have considerable support, based on ethnicity and kinship, in the Pashtun heartland. Distrust of central authority will still be a defining national characteristic.

We have already done all that is within our power to eliminate the terrorist threat that Afghanistan once posed. It is not within our power to impose lasting peace and prosperity. Obama acknowledged that this can be achieved only through a political settlement. But only Afghans can make — and keep — such a deal.

In essence, we are using military means to pursue political ends that lie beyond our reach. Obama should realize that this makes no earthly sense…”

Cassi Creek: In 2008, Obama opposed the war in Afghanistan. Something has changed his outlook. We won’t be given that reason. His military advisors, doubtless, made him aware of how the withdrawal from Vietnam played out. He has to avoid such a debacle as that. But he needs to acknowledge the experience of his military advisers. They know the danger of too rapid an exit.

I want a rapid and complete exit. I would be happiest to see us form a battle line and begin marching/driving to the nearest deepwater port. Any hostilities along the way should be dealt with immediately. Once the coast is reached, bring in the ships and load the men and equipment. Of course, along the way it would be just too bad if the Pakistani nuclear arsenal and labs were to meet with an industrial mishap.