Budget negotiations--whose responsibility?

President Obama has been going around saying it is up to the Republicans to come up with a budget solution that avoids going off the so-called fiscal cliff.  But the Republicans control only the House, not the Presidency.  So what's wrong with this picture?

Here's what's wrong:  The responsibilities of the Members of the House and Senate rest with their districts and their States, respectively.  They are expected to vote the wishes of the voters that sent them there.  The President, on the other hand, is president of the whole People.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon the President and no-one else to forge an agreement concerning the budget.

If Barack Obama is incapable of fulfilling that responsibility, then we have the wrong man in the Oval Office.

Fiscal cliff--who's fault if we go over?

The President is on the campaign trail yet again beating the drums for a job-killing tax increase on the wealthy while warning of dire consequences if we go over the cliff.  But, doesn't the legislation now exist which avoids the cliff?

[A] bipartisan majority in the Republican-held House of Representatives passed a package of measures to solve the fiscal cliff back in August.  The legislation maintained the current tax rates for the middle class (and everyone else);  other Republican efforts aimed at offsetting the devastating defense cuts outlined in sequestration -- which the president's own Secretary of Defense has likened to the US military shooting itself in the head -- also passed.  Democrats will hasten to point out that the Republican bills were not "balanced" with tax increases on the rich. [Link]

So,  it seems,  the Democrats are perfectly willing to hold the middle class hostage so they can extract their pound of flesh from The Rich (you know,  the people also known as 'employers').  The Dems get their tax increase or we go over the cliff;  either way they expect to be able to blame the GOP for any negative consequences.  It's a tough situation for the GOP, the media bias being what it is.

It's over

ALLEN WEST CONCEDES AFTER PRELIMINARY RECOUNT

Allen West has conceded the election to Democrat Murphy.  But, it seems to me, it was more the idea that the recount was such a fiasco West simply gave up rather than the recount showed who really won. 

Then there is Gertrude Walker, the 32-year-veteran election supervisor of St. Lucie County, who has spent much of the last two weeks explaining why her office completely botched the count.  She admitted that her office had acted in “haste” in issuing election results, and that “mistakes were made.”  Among her mistakes was failing to count 40 of the 94 precincts under her jurisdiction on Election Night — and then counting the other 54 twice.  Indeed.  On Friday, her office announced it had “discovered” 304 additional early votes left in a box.  None had been counted.

Allen West fights on

ST. LUCIE COUNTY CANVASSING BOARD ORDERS RETABULATION OF ALL EARLY VOTES IN ALLEN WEST RACE Allen West continues to fight the Democrat machine:

The St. Lucie County Canvassing Board has ordered the retabulation of all the county’s early votes in the highly contested congressional race between Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) and Democrat Patrick Murphy, according to Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, a volunteer lawyer for the West campaign. The board voted 2-1 in favor of recounting the votes.
…

St. Lucie County was the only one of three counties in the district that Murphy won. The St. Lucie County elections office previously admitted double-counting some votes and missing others on election night. West has refused to concede and relentlessly pushed for a recount of early votes in the county. Now he hopes he can pick up enough votes to force a full recount, which would bring Martin and Palm Beach counties into the mix as well.

What went down in Cuyahoga County on election day?

First St. Lucie County, Florida now Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  According to news reports Obama got more than 99% of the vote in over 100 Cuyahoga County precincts.  Sixteen precincts reported zero votes for Romney,  24 precincts reported exactly one vote,  and so on.

Considering how important the swing state of Ohio was to the national election, one would think that such improbable results would get the attention of somebody out there.  Could we be looking at evidence of election fraud hidden in plain sight?

Read more at Election Fraud? Barack Obama Won More Than 99 Percent Of The Vote In More Than 100 Ohio Precincts

Evidence of election fraud

The Chicago motto—Vote early and often—apparently has gone national this election:

BREAKING: Massive Voter Fraud in St. Lucie County, Florida

UPDATE: Partial Recount in Tight Florida House Race Between West and Murphy

Obama Likely Won Re-Election Through Election Fraud

The Romney campaign team was stunned at the election results and are now trying to figure what they did wrong.  Beeson, et al of the campaign are blaming themselves for letting Romney down.

I think they should look elsewhere.  And, soon.