2008 Moon Phases

Clarence Page: 'Satan sandwich' a tea-party staple unless Obama fights

A “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.” That’s what Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, called the bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling — as he announced he was voting for it.

“With Satan fries on the side,” added House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, another reluctant yes vote.

And those were two of the nicer things that President Barack Obama's congressional allies said as they voted for a flawed but necessary deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

Elsewhere in the country, especially in the South, a “Satan sandwich” is a scarlet version of the classic Moon Pie, a red devil’s-food cookie sandwich with marshmallow filling.

But on Capitol Hill, it is a symbol of Democratic discontent. Like the marshmallow filling, moderate pragmatic voices in Congress found themselves caught in the squeeze between a looming debt default deadline and a stubborn tea party faction of Republicans.

The final compromise, after weeks of negotiations, looked more like a rout by the tea party. Congress approved a package that included all spending cuts and no tax increases. The initial phase of the cuts, spread among domestic and military programs, totals almost $1 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s without any of the closing of corporate tax loopholes, tax rate increases on the wealthy or other “shared sacrifice” that President Obama tried to write in.

And more liberal pain may be in store in the second round of cuts, another $1.2 trillion-$1.5 trillion in savings to be decided by a strange new creation nicknamed the “super-committee”: a 12-member group to be divided equally between members of both parties and both houses of Congress.

Since long-standing Washington wisdom dictates that, when you don’t want to do something, form a committee, the attachment of “super” this time apparently is meant to signal, “Hey, we really mean it!” Good luck.

In theory, nothing is off the table for that group. By a simple majority vote, the super-committee can recommend more cuts, more changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security and even more taxes. Congress can then vote up or down on their recommendations, again by a simple majority, no amendments. Super!

Instead of capes or multicolored tights, the super-committee’s super-sized power to make hard choices is enhanced by the “trigger.” If the committee and Congress fail to pass $1.2 trillion in savings by Jan. 15, 2012, automatic spending cuts will go into effect.

Llewellyn's 2008 Moon Sign Book, A Gardening Almanac & Guide to Conscious Living

Encyclopedia Britannica almanac 2008

Secrets of the Old Woman Who Never Dies, The Ancient Ways of the Moon Phases

The Trinity Matrix 2008, Your Interactive Guide to the Other Reality

Field & Stream