I don't see any reason to cheer this fake compromise. None at all. This was a manufactured crisis by the Obama administration. And just like last December, this deal will turn out to have accomplished nothing in terms of debt reduction.
According to the messiahs speech today, "Growing the economy isn’t just about cutting spending and rolling back regulations that protect our air and water and keep people safe. We’re going to have to do more than that."
In other words... more stimulus. Hey! It didn't work the last time, but maybe it'll work THIS time, right?
As for market stability? The Dow dropped 265 points today.
And who said there wouldn't be any tax increases? Reid: Joint Committee Must Include Taxes Or Trigger Will Kick In
So what have we accomplished, with this 'nothing to show for...' piece of legislation other than an increase in the debt ceiling? Nothing. 2.5 trillion in cuts over 10 years? Future congresses are not beholden to this deal, as evidenced by past congresses with similar promises made before them. Simply put, future congresses can change, nullify, or add to ANY bit of legislation made law before their time at bat.
What we should have had, prior to any debt ceiling agreement, was a balanced budget amendment. Short of that, this piece of sham legislation will prove to be a waste of time, effort, and money. While bragging about not kicking the can down the road, they kicked the can down the road. And the truly spectacular thing about this is, NO ONE PAID ATTENTION WHEN THEY KICKED IT DOWN THE ROAD.
The president and politicians of both political persuasions want to tout 'shared sacrifice'? I'd like to SEE them make some sacrifices. With the exception of a small few, these folk have no idea what it means to sacrifice.
The Left simply doesn't get it.
Consider this cartoon. Look at the news guy response. How messed up is that. The GOP isn't barreling the car over the cliff, the Dems are, and yet Media's analysis lays the blame on the GOP.What compromise was the Left offering? What compromise was Obama offering? The world will never know, because neither the president nor the Senate leader bothered to codify their plan. They had no intention of laying out a plan; just as they never intended to pass a budget when Pelosi was in charge.
Another Illustration: Not once has Obama taken responsibility for this economy. It is not George W. Bush who added 4 trillion to our national debt. If Bush truly drove the car into a ditch, Obama has done nothing to get us out. Instead he's hitched an impossible load to the already beleaguered (read: 'stuck') car. There's no way this car is getting out of the ditch. Not under the power of this bit of crap legislation... also known as (by a democrat, no less) a "Satan Sandwich."Sadly... despite the apropos metaphor, Emanuel Cleaver doesn't get it either.
Here's a bit of analysis from Whiskey & Gunpowder:
The budget deal is all but done. Woohoo!
Back to spending beyond our means again. Back to buying more iPads. Back to more public work projects.
What a huge relief it is to get that silly spending cap out of the way.
Or... is it?
The deal making its way through congress would provide for an immediate $400 billion increase in the borrowing cap. Then they'll kick in an additional $500 billion cap increase this fall.
That $900 billion increase in borrowing is supposed to be matched by cuts to agency budgets over the next 10 years. (We'll believe it when we see it. More on that in a second...)
But first, the deal also creates a "Super Congress" (two words that typically are not found so close together). The do-gooders will appoint six "no-tax-increases-Republicans" and six "no-Medicare-or-Medicaid-entitlement-cuts-Democrats" to this group. Their goal is to find $1.5 trillion in cuts by November.
But what does this plan really accomplish?
Well, despite us waiting for the phone to ring, Congress didn't seem to ask our opinion. But we're happy to provide it to you, of course...
Aside from averting an over-due and necessary U.S. default, well... the deal does... NOTHING.
Our so-called "leaders" cut under $1 trillion over ten years. That works out to be about $90 billion per year... while we're running $1.5 trillion deficits.
And best of all, because of the non-recovery we've had, the politicians want to wait until we're on more stable footing to make any of those cuts. So NOTHING will be done for at least one year.
Laughable, I know.
All that posturing... supposed arguing... back door dealing... for a piddly 5.7% spending cut of this year's deficit... and not until 2013 at the earliest!
"It is not George W. Bush who added 4 trillion to our national debt." You can deny facts, but facts are facts.
ReplyDeleteGeorge W. bush did INDEED add 4 trillion to the national debt. And more.
Bush policies added $5 Trillion to the national debt DURING his 8 years and his policies are the gifts that keep on giving. The tax cuts (continued under Obama) and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to add to the debt under Obama.
Obama's policies will add only $1.4 Trillion to the debt over the 8 years of his term.
It's really amazing that people, like Jim, will continue to look at the Bush tax cuts as a reason for our current woes. This is absolute nonsense. As this column points out, and many others can be found that say the same thing, the Bush tax cuts did the opposite of "adding to the debt". Just as three other presidents found, cutting the tax rates resulted in higher revenues to the gov't coffers. This is absolutely true and as such a good way to add to the debt situation is to reverse the cuts.
ReplyDeleteWhat Bush did wrong was to allow spending increases to continue under his watch without pulling out the veto pen to stop it. And of course, once Dems took control of Congress after the 2006 mid-terms, spending increased in the usual lunatic Democratic fashion.
Another chuckleheaded idea is that if we simply ended our involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, why then all would be well with our economy. More nonsense. The problem of spending would still be a burden on the economy with no solution while business continues to worry about what bullshit idea Obama & Co will come up with next. The wars aren't the problem. As Marco Rubio said, the problem isn't taxes, it's tax payers. We need more of 'em and we won't get them until business owners feel as if they can act without having to bend over.
As Eric's post clearly points out, it is the policies of this administration, and Democratic policies in general, that are driving our economy to ruin.
I misspoke Jim. You're right. What I meant was Obama added 4 trillion in under 2 and a half years. It took GW 8 years to add five.
ReplyDeleteBut this...
"Obama's policies will add only $1.4 Trillion to the debt over the 8 years of his term."
Patently false.
At the rate we're spending now, even taking into consideration this sham of legislation signed yesterday, America is looking at a national debt of 30 trillion in just ten years-- that's more than double the current number --unless this nation grows a pair and dramatically scales back the liberal idea of just what it means to be an American.
Thanks, Marshall, for pointing out the left's "fuzzy math."
ReplyDeleteHow does the left come to the savings they do? By counting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as won? And troops pulled out? Before it's happened? The CBO already counted that!
How about we also take a look at Obamacare which guts half a trillion from Medicare, just so it can provide an entirely new benefit for another segment of the population. And here's the hypocrisy... the left had already gutted Medicare by half a trillion before proceeding to bash Paul Ryan for killing Grandma. Talk about audacity! But then the Left thinks the average American in stupid.
From where I sit, the left is little more than a lump of black-hearted evil. They couldn't tell the truth if there was a gun at their heads. There is no truth in them. [John 8:44]
At least, that's what I believe.
Quoting myself...
ReplyDelete"2.5 trillion in cuts over 10 years?"
Here's some pretty straight-forward math.
We're currently spending in the neighborhood of 1.5 trillion more each year than we take in. In 10 years that amounts to 15 trillion dollars.
Now, subtract this deal's 2.5 trillion in reductions (over 10 years) from that 15 trillion and what are we left with? 12.5 trillion added to the already ungainly 14.5 trillion in debt for a grand total, in just ten years, of 27 trillion.
There is nothing in this "compromise" to cheer about. America will still default. America will still cease to be a world-power, because NEITHER party could find it in their vast stores of common sense to cut spending and reform entitlements. Worse still, the Left is hell-bent on continuing spending while the right is screaming about the cliff's edge looming large ahead [see the cartoon above]. And what makes this scenario so comically dangerous is the media's insistence that it is the right which is insane! UP IS DOWN, FRONT IS BACK, EAST IS WEST!!! AND THE SKY IS FALLING... well, maybe not the sky, but most certainly the United States of America unless drastic measures are taken NOW.
I don't understand this at all. Both sides seem to ha e valid points, but both sides are spinning the figures so much it leaves me dizzy.
ReplyDeleteIt can't be a good deal, but it can't be completely a bad deal, either. The Democrats don't like it any more than the tea party Republicans.
That tells me it's probably more of the same old politics and nothing of any importance has changed.
I don't believe we are doomed yet, but we certainly aren't better off.
"Nothing of any importance has changed."
ReplyDeleteExactly.
This whole sad story was an exercise in kabuki theater.