The American Spectator : Too Big to Fail

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Too Big to Fail

By W. James Antle, III on 3.15.11 @ 6:10AM

The belief that government can do no wrong.

Our government in Washington has made $88.6 trillion in promises it cannot afford to keep. By some reliable estimates, the national debt will become unsustainable by 2037. Social Security expenditures are beginning to exceed payroll tax revenues. Medicare has been in this condition since 2008. The annual federal budget deficit is almost as large the early Clinton-era federal budget. Some state governments are, pace the columnist E.J. Dionne, literally bankrupt.

How then do our leaders respond? With "austerity" measures that barely cut any spending and add trillions to the debt. Others assert that the shortfalls are simply the consequence of the recession. Ergo, we should spend our way out of the recession. Consider it borrowing our way out of debt. But the biggest problem is not the political class's innumeracy. It's their lack of restraint. Presented with a problem, they are seized with the uncontrollable urge to "Do Something," without knowing how that something will be paid for, whether it will work, or what the consequences will be.

Are there older Americans who must board buses to Canada in order to fill their prescriptions? Then we must pass a Medicare prescription drug benefit, even if it is not paid for and boosts the original entitlement's already staggering unfunded liabilities to the tune of trillions. Are there people out of work? We must have a stimulus program, even if it is not paid for and there is debate over whether it could even work at a conceptual level.

Sometimes, the beneficiaries of federal benevolence need not even be American voters. In response to the humanitarian crisis being inflicted on Libya by its undeniably brutal dictator, Washington interventionists cry out for a U.S.-imposed no-fly zone over the country. This despite the fact that there is no consensus the no-fly zone will work, no real plan for what we would do if it failed, no idea of who would be empowered in the event of its success, and no clear constitutional mandate to be behaving as a world government in embryo.

In each of the above examples, the problem being described is very real. But the "solutions" are often half-baked.

On Libya, the coalition of the willing among the politicians and pundits is eerily familiar. Writes the columnist Ross Douthat, "Indeed, it's striking how quickly the bipartisan coalition that backed the Iraq invasion has reassembled itself to urge President Obama to use military force against Libya's Muammar el-Qaddafi." The band has gotten back together in time for another march to war.

If Obama heeds their advice and things go badly, he should expect the Republican hawks to abandon him as quickly as the pro-war Democrats and liberal interventionists turned against George W. Bush on Iraq. Remember that Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and John Edwards were among those who voted with Bush before the going got tough -- and the poll numbers went south.

The political class is slow to learn from its mistakes because it refuses to acknowledge them. According to one or both major parties, the Iraq adventure, the Wall Street bailout, the stimulus package, the monetary policies that helped inflate the housing bubble, and virtually every major federal undertaking with the possible exception of Prohibition were smashing successes. And maybe even Prohibition, like communism, would have worked if only the right people had been in charge.

So it should come as no surprise that we hear people insisting that the government isn't broke, Social Security is just fine, Medicare is but one Obamacare away from being placed on a more secure financial footing. The politician who wishes to "Do Something" can do no wrong. Or if something does go wrong, another politician or party can be blamed later on.

The problem isn't just a matter of money. The larger crisis is due to a federal government without limit, led by people with a faith in their infinite capacity for problem-solving matched only by their mind-numbing obliviousness to their myriad failures. On the rare occasions they are confronted with those failures, our political masters can only promise that things will be different this time.

Many a failed relationship has been revived by such promises, which frequently serve as a prelude to additional pain and disappointment. It's a cliché that second marriages represent the triumph of hope over experience. The country's present condition represents the triumph of Hope and Change over the Constitution.

About the Author

W. James Antle, III is associate editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/Jimantle.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (108) | Leave a comment

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 3.15.11 @ 6:16AM

The proper headline for this article should have been:
Humpty Dumpty Knows All, No Fall to Take Place.

It's a house of cards and the Tea Party have the right idea, RINO's out and real conservatism in.

They've made some mistakes but they're already getting better.

vtwin| 3.15.11 @ 10:47AM

No, conservatism has held sway as the dominant economic philosophy, a philosophy that embraces lower tax rates and free trade, in the United States since the mid seventies. A period marked by an accumulation of wealth at the top and a decline in the fortunes of middle class Americans resulting in declining tax revenues , increasing demand for government services, and the incumbent rise in our national debt from less than $1 trillion in 1980 to over $12 trillion today.

LiveFreeOrDie| 3.15.11 @ 10:54AM

Troll, do not feed.

Albert| 3.15.11 @ 11:20AM

Nothing in your post is true. The explosion in Federal spending over the last 4 decades has been in social spending, almost all of which is unconstitutional. "Knucklehead" describes a "vtwin" in more ways than one.

vtwin| 3.15.11 @ 12:26PM

Now, that was funny!

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 12:58PM

VTWIN IS A RAPIST AND A THIEF.

Give me the money you owe me.

Tim the Enchanter| 3.15.11 @ 11:40AM

He's just upset that he lost the pink streamers on his motorcycle handlebars.

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 11:46AM

Hey, it's The Rapist!

Hey, VTWIT! Tell me, how many taxpayers do you have to rape before you are sated?

RN in Houston| 3.15.11 @ 12:12PM

Vtwin, you are beginning to bore us. You are so full of it that you squish when you walk. Take a hike.

vtwin| 3.15.11 @ 12:20PM

Tax Cuts: The income disparity in the United States is worst than before the Great Depression, worst than in Europe or even Brazil. As Michael Moore pointed out to protesters in Wisconsin the top 400 wealthiest Americans have accumulated $1.5 trillion to what end? And the top 1% own over 60% of all of the outstanding shares of stock or bonds of corporate American. And the stock market, they are trading amongst themselves. This is why they pushing Social Security privatization, they need buyers.

Free Trade: We are not competing with foreign companies like the seventies with American vs. Japanese auto makers. Today American companies close factories here and open them in Asia. And to what benefit? Sure the stock holders might benefit in the short term but community as a whole will suffer; reduces tax revenues and increase government expenditure; in the short term unemployment insurance and healthcare costs followed in the long term costs for early retirements, disability payments, welfare payments, public housing… for those who jobs that went overseas.

Let me add another conservative emphasis Deregulation: Take air travel deregulated in the seventies by Carter. Today it may be cheaper t to fly because of deregulation but at what cost? Aircraft maintenance is outsourced to Central American. Pilots are paid so little many are collecting food stamps. And for those of us who flew before deregulation know it’s also costing us service and safety.

No, if Ronald Reagan had played the part of George Bailey instead of Jimmy Stewart, George would have accepted old man Potter’s offer and Bedford Falls would been domed to the nightmare future conjured up by Clarence.

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 12:29PM

VTWIN IS A RAPIST.

Give me my money, crook.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:38PM

Hey, dipstick, have you ever seen how many of the top income earners remain top income earners after 10 years? Very Few. Have you seen how many people that were in a lower income bracket have moved up at least one bracket after 10 years? Almost all of them.

Do your research, please.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:54PM

You just got a whipping, boy, now go to your room and think about what you've done.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:01PM

"Free Trade: We are not competing with foreign companies like the seventies with American vs. Japanese auto makers. Today American companies close factories here and open them in Asia. "

More ignorance.

Why is BMW, KIA, Hyundai, Toyota, etc. etc. opening factories inside the states?

Uh oh.. Shouldn't have brought this up, ol buddy ol pal. Its the unions that are chasing american manufacturers off while just about EVERY foreign manufacturer is finding it more profitable to operate inside the U.S.

Otherwise they wouldn't build factories here, idiot.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:14PM

"Let me add another conservative emphasis Deregulation"

Sorry folks, I'm gonna feed the troll.

Well lets start with, I assume, your preference of regulation.

Dept of Energy(regulations): Started during the Carter Administration to end our dependence on foreign oil. 30% of our oil needs were met by foreign nations then, its 70% now. FAIL.

Dept of Education (regulations): Anybody have any doubt that americans are dumber now than 35 years ago? FAIL.

OSHA (regulations): Since OSHA's inception, workplace related injuries are right on par with where they were when the program started for a small price of 250 billion dollars per year. FAIL.

Please, justify these regulations.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:22PM

The top 1% of "income earners" are all corporations, idiot. that's why they own much of the stock.. And please, don't EVER reference the fat bast*rd look-alike Michael Moore on this website EVER again.

Ned| 3.15.11 @ 1:32PM

Don't wish to get splashed with whatever the brown stuff is that you guys are throwing, but - Earth to Vtwin... you say that the top 400 wealthiest Americans have accumulated $1.5T, as though that were something bad - may I point out that Bill Gates, who ain't even the wealthiest guy in the world anymore, owns $88B of that, all by himself... toss in Buffet, Allen and a few others and there's the bulk of the $1.5T... so, are you saying Bill and Paul should be stripped of their Microsoft wealth? How about Buffet and Berkshire? Or that somehow they are undeserving of the wealth they have created, just because someone, somewhere isn't doing as well?

There are names for that kind of thinking, and those attitudes... none of which are polite, and many of which apparently apply here.

canuckistani| 3.15.11 @ 3:38PM

I would even think vtwin has no issue with the rich that actually MADE something to garner their earnings like gates and buffet and allen....

Where I do agree with him are the vampires that made their money off of speculation and pure manipulation of sycophant pols and the such. They used to be called usurers, now they're "donors".

Nailing winfall profits with taxes derived from speculation without real offsetting capital investment in the country is a-ok by me.
Nailing profits of companies that are on the government teat, or have the system rigged in their favors: oil, big agri and big pharma all should be in play.
Nailing the profits of companies that show a net outsource of jobs and capital from the US year over year.

I favor businessmen who invest in the country, input benefits and grow the real economy. Tax breaks for them.

Occam's Tool| 3.15.11 @ 5:22PM

So, raising taxes on individuals and business is going to make us more competitive how, vtwin?

simon templar| 3.15.11 @ 5:26PM

VermontTwit: The top 400 wealthiest Americans have accumulated $1.5 trillion to what end?
You said it yourself..1.5 trillion. That it, right there? Please think! How much is the debt? 14 trillion. If we steal every dollar they have it would only be a down payment of 10 percent on this debt! You know when I was a radical liberal, I was not that stupid. I tell you what, you go back and play with you Xbox and we, the adults, will take care of this. Troll out of here.

Doctor Right| 3.15.11 @ 5:40PM

Stupid post, l'il libby boy.

Income disparity will ALWAYS be greater in free, capitalist countries, dummy.

That's because under free-market capitalism, people with a serious work ethic have the chance to make a lot of money, and even become super-rich. People with a so-so work ethic can still make a living.

And the rest...Well, like parasites, they do their best to siphon as much as they can from the latter two groups with as little work as possible.

Therefore, under free-market capitalism, you'll have a wide range of incomes, from the super-rich to the super-poor.

Meanwhile, in puss-holes like Brazil, or the former Soviet Union, income disparity is extremely low. Why? Simple: because the chances to earn money are few and far between, so most people have little to none at all.

In fact, the MOST successful and prosperous nations will have the widest income disparity. That's called common-sense, something you lack.

You really are ignorant when it comes to economics, aren't you?

Typical liberal.

Negro X| 3.15.11 @ 6:41PM

do not feed the trolltard vtwin.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:33PM

Conservatism is NOT an economic philosophy. Quit showing your ignorance, please.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:34PM

P.S. If you actually did the research, you will see that everytime tax RATES have been lowered in the last 60 years, tax REVENUES have went up. Please take your liberal claptrap elsewhere.

vtwin| 3.15.11 @ 12:58PM

And Mr. Pig, if you actually did the research, you would see that every time tax RATES have been lowered in the last 60 years, the deficit has gone up. Deficit tripled under Reagan tax RATE reduction and doubled again under Bush Jr. tax RATE reduction. And the deficit continues to climb today because of the extension of Bush’s RATE reduction.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:03PM

So, tax rates went down, revenues went up, and we still run higher deficits. What does that tell you? Logical reasoning 101: WE SPEND TOO DAMN MUCH ON FAR TOO MANY PROGRAMS!

Get it?

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 1:30PM

No, Phil, VTWIN the rapist doesn't get it. Just like physical rapists, he believes that if someone is getting screwed against their will, they can either decry it or lie back and enjoy it, but, either way, they are going to be violated, and that which is precious to them can be taken by force.

VTWIN is just another fungible cog in the statist machine. Reality? Reality? VTWIN don' need no stinkin' reality.

As long as he keeps HIS money, he's happy to make you forfeit yours. See, in the liberal mind, that makes VTWIN a good person. The liberals’ stock in trade if virtue by proxy and absolution by posturing.

And if 75% of all government expenditures are graft, corruption, bribes, fraud and greed, so what? If none of these massive programs work in the real world? Who cares? If the nanny state serves only to institutionalize racism, graft, stupidity, power lust, desperation and fear, who gives a rat’s ass? The destruction of this country is a small price to pay for VTWIN to look in the mirror and tell himself he’s a good little troll.

What a messed up world we live in when a common, dumb rapist presumes to claim the moral high ground.

As for economics, I'm sure by VTWIN's logic, if only we taxed productive Americans at a 100% rate, Utopia would be achieved; why, what quicker way to get to Nirvana than having some feckless bureaucrat in Washington who is beholden to the greed of his direct constituency decide precisely how you can live? You know, in the name of the “common good,’ nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Besides, that 100% rate is just for you and me, of course. VTWIN and his fellow rapists will be exempt. That’s the moral order of the universe, Phil. See, VTWIN is above you and me; he can advocate for the enslavement of the middle class because he's one of the privileged elites. And, just as slave owners could rape their chattel with impunity, VTWIN looks at taxpayers and licks his corrupt, thieving, dirty, rapist lips.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:38PM

LOL.. Funny but too true

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:04PM

But don't let the facts get in your way, buddy.

George S| 3.15.11 @ 1:11PM

Correction: not the 'BUSH rate reduction' but the CLINTON tax rate schedule! Remember how Clinton "balanced" the budget? It was because of those tax rates, right?

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:18PM

How do you "balance the budget" AND raise the national debt every one of his last 3 years?

Please don't further the talking points of the left. Clinton never had a balanced budget as long as he was borrowing more dollars on a yearly basis.

Budget deficits/surpluses don't matter. Its the budget that matters.

If my budget is 4 trillion dollars and I only spend 3.9, then I ran a surplus. If my budget is 500 billion dollars and I spend 600 billion, then I ran a deficit.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:45PM

I guess Conservatism and Liberalism are Economic Theories now, and Classical Economic Theory, Keynesian Economics, and the Theory of Rational Expectations are all... Psychological Theory? Political?

According to VTwit, at least.

It just goes to show the depth of ignorance in this fool.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:52PM

Conservatism = Spiritual Freedom for man's mortal soul = maximizing freedom.

If anything, Conservatism has been ignored, even by the right, for the past 80-90 years. Conservatism, if anything, would imply low-spending, which leads to low taxation. But these are only implications. Conservatism does not attempt to define an economic theory. What it does do is define that government interference in individual decisions is an infringement of liberty. Therefore, govt programs that take away choice or coerce people to spend their money in one way or another, is taking away a man's right to spend the fruits of his labor as he sees fit. Therefore, Conservatism would lead to low-tax, low-spending policy. But once again, these are just implications.

The most advanced economic theory (Rational Expectations - which is built on historical data observations) also implies that the strongest economies are in low-tax, low-spending environments.

So, in that case, even though Conservatism is not an economic theory, it seems that there was something behind all that talk of liberty and maximizing freedom for individual souls.

Alan Brooks| 3.15.11 @ 8:27PM

"increasing demand for government services, and the incumbent rise in our national debt from less than $1 trillion in 1980 to over $12 trillion today."

It is hopeless, Vtwin, they want to replace the leftwing welfare state with a Rightist one. We have to get accustomed to the fact the GOP is going to elect another Bush-type in 2016-- or even next year-- to push another "compassionate" (crypto-statist) 'conservative' (anti-conservative) agenda.

Thomas Paine| 3.16.11 @ 12:04AM

Statism is left-wing. As is the fascism we're most familiar with:

Nazi = National SOCIALISISM.

Government education, Brooks?

Albert| 3.16.11 @ 11:16AM

Horse manure. We absolutely do NOT want a "welfare state" of any kind, whether it is welfare to support urban decay or welfare (or rather, subsidies) for corporations. Such things are flatly unconstitutional and what we want most of all is a return to constitutional (e.g. LEGAL!) government, and a rejection of this gargantuan monster of corruption the Democrats (and some sellout Republicans) have created.

David Davies| 3.15.11 @ 10:11PM

Rubbish, vtwin. I, an ordinary railroad worker, am MUCH better off now in 2011 than I was in 1970. How did my fortunes decline?

Deborah D| 3.15.11 @ 6:29AM

The old-timers know only how to spend. They have no idea how to cut. They didn't go to Washington to cut things. So we'll have to cut them. They look at the Tea Partiers as party poopers, young whippersnappers that need to be taught a lesson. Well, Republicans and Dems alike, get the heck out of our way. You're killing the country on purpose, and you're going to be on thin ice when the bottom falls out. It's not going to be a pretty sight. God bless the USA. God bless the Tea Party Republicans. Those fiddling while Rome burns will be cursed throughout history. We will record your names so our children, their children and the rest will know who destroyed the United States of America.

Teaghan| 3.15.11 @ 10:17AM

No Deb, those in DC who are killing our country will still get all their benefits, retirement, health coverage etc. It is we who will be without.

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 10:44AM

Deborah, I've come to believe the sole purpose of government since FDR is to hand out freebies to constitutents. Period.

So when James Antle says above that whenever there's a problem, government has to be seen "doing something," he's a bit off the bull's eye.

Whenever there's a problem, government has to be seen giving money to someone. I mean, cutting the budget is "doing something," but there's no widespread appetite for that. Why? Because there's no political advantage in taking toys away from our increasingly infantalized, spoiled, delusional, Alice-in-Wonderland-residing populace.

That's why it will never change. Freebies intended to buy off voters ossify into inalienable "rights" that must prevail in perpetuity the very second the legislation granting the freebies is signed.

The Tea Party-supported politicians will either learn to go along to get along or they'll remain outliers, isolated, ostracized and eventually ousted.

As long as we can kick the can down the road - either by printing money or borrowing from China or enslaving the taxpayer or marshalling the intimidation provided by a seemingly endless supply of useless liberal idiots - it will be business as usual; damn the TEA partiers! Full Speed Ahead!

This is a syndrome that has only one end - and it is not that we will wise up, pull back from the brink at the last minute and restore fiscal sanity to Washington. No, we are already over the cliff - the only way to stop the gravy train is to wait for it to finish its fall from precipitate heights and crash to earth, as it inevitably will, taking our country with it. The physics of fiscal profligacy dictate no other outcome.

Look at the Wisconsin situation - mobs of bloody morons protesting in support of overpaid, underperforming, greedy parasites who are sucking the blood out of the body politic, looting the public treasury, not giving a damn that they are borne aloft on swollen, jewel-encrusted litters by struggling taxpayers who don't enjoy the same privileged political position at the government teat that they do. It is perverse – and ironic indeed - that liberals, ostensibly champions of the common man, are the ones cracking the whip and telling the tax slaves to shut up and bear the unconscionable load with beatific smiles, insisting they express gratitude to their overseers for their bondage.

We are repeating the last days of the Roman Empire, in which a succession of mediocre, ill-equipped emperors du jour simply bought off the populace and the barbarians alike in order to maintain illusory power in an increasingly disintegrating civilization.

This will only end in the utter collapse of the United States. It may take two years or twenty, but 50 years from now, the US will be nothing more than a supine client state of China - those parts, that is, that aren't part of the new Caliphate.

SpiralArchitect| 3.15.11 @ 12:08PM

There are far too many people that are glad to take the freebie and have never once thought of where it comes from nor what consequences may be attached.

When the well runs dry they will turn the blame to...well Bush is no longer around.

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 12:26PM

Oh, SpiralArchitect, you have no faith - liberals will be blaming George Bush forever.

Of course, it's hard to focus hate in the here-and-now on Bush, since he's off the public stage. That's where Sarah Palin comes in! Good liberals everywhere are champing at the bit for their hourly two minutes of hate!

I think rapists like VTWIT above should stop putting other people's money where their mouths are - VTWIT says he pays more in taxes in a year than I make in annual salary. Why the hell isn't he giving me enough money out of his pocket to make it fair?

I work as hard as VTWIT does - hell, I'm willing to bet I work much harder.

After all, how hard do you have to work to be unrepetant rapist rewriting history to the fictive liberal tune and then sanctimoniously calling on people who are already squeezed to keep feeding the ravenous Leviathan?

I say we toss VTWIT - and all of his fellow travelers into the Leviathan's maw. Confiscate ALL of his wealth. NOW.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 1:26PM

What wealth? The wealth he mooched off the taxpayers? That's our wealth. Let's reclaim what is rightfully ours!

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 2:02PM

I agree - and I'm not kidding.

These bastards want you to lie there and take it - well it's time for them to take their own damned medicine.

I appoint myself a deputy of the IRS and a warrior for social justice, and I demand that VTWIT pay me my money NOW or I'll come and take what's mine.

scotchieguy| 3.15.11 @ 1:00PM

Wow! That was brilliant! Thanks for the insightful thoughts, although the future does look bleak.

Bob K.| 3.15.11 @ 7:00AM

It's a good article but what does the picture of the former Indiana Basketball Player above it have to do with it?

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:39PM

The General, above

Red At Heart| 3.15.11 @ 7:02AM

Interesting selection of photo for this article...if Joe moves back to FL to run for office again, he'll go by the way of Charlie Crist. No amount of photo shoots walking barefoot on the beach or yucking it up w/ Oprah will carry Joe in a state that quickly developed a crush on the REAL conservatism of Marco Rubio. Both Joe and Mika are Big Government proponents; BHO can solve anything with his charm and eloquence.

Mimi| 3.15.11 @ 10:26AM

The ...ERROR of 2008 can take his charm and eloquence and STICK-IT !!
The FOOL is spending us to DEATH ! 4 billion a day, weakening the currency, the world ready to give up on the dollar ! This past Nov. election should have wised him up... but NO, he still wants us banqrupt. The Dems are no help in stopping the madness...pathetic. We are a helpless people just waiting for the shoe to drop! We are desparate for a STRONG LEADER for a STRONG PEOPLE! What we are enduring now is a WEAK LEADER creating a weak PEOPLE.....GOD HELP US!!!

SpiralArchitect| 3.15.11 @ 12:09PM

4 Bil a day is the interest - spending is closer to 10 billion/day.

Mimi| 3.15.11 @ 4:44PM

Yes Spiral I knew it was interest..Thanks for clearing up a bad sentence, for the folks!

Mimi| 3.15.11 @ 7:03PM

Woops..,the 4 bil is deficit spending every day!

Ret. Marine| 3.15.11 @ 7:12AM

It's time someone stands up and proclaim, are these things they continue to claim to be a success actually the cause of the failure to be "faithful" to their Oath to the Constitution? Us old timers, as some would call us, are not the problem with what is and has been going on the past 80+ years, I submit to all, it's the end result of the infiltration of those unfaithful to their duties and responsibilities laid out in their Oath to Office. Traitors one and all. This bullcrap of their concept of a living Constitution is just that, a traitors recipe for failure while deflecting the blame to those of us who actually honor, and have in our past, our obligation to said Constitution of these United States.

Tom Osterman| 3.15.11 @ 7:18AM

"Tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect." This is how the Political Class got power, how it kept power and how it intends to get more power, and it has come too far to stop over something like unsustainable deficits. I believe that any career politician who signed on to anything like the necessary spending cuts would find his career over sooner than he could blink, and this bunch has too much ambition and too much ego to let that happen. It's gotten ugly, and it's going to get uglier.

Old Soldier| 3.15.11 @ 11:04AM

They figured out how to buy votes with taxpayer's money. Nothing short of hanging will stop them.

vtwin| 3.15.11 @ 12:50PM

Wrong, the votes are bought with campaign contributions. And, what votes are bought; the vote for tax cuts for the wealthy because the wealthy make the campaign contributions, the vote for spending on war because the wealthy that make the campaign contributions own the companies that profit from war, the vote for Bush’s Medicare drug benefit because the wealthy that make the campaign contributions own the companies that profit from this drug benefit...

Occam's Tool| 3.15.11 @ 5:24PM

Hmmm....so why isn't Obama running over them all, since he has the biggest war chest? Perhaps it is because he's an ass.

Kishego| 3.15.11 @ 7:39PM

Let me tell you something dimwit, I am a small business man, I don't make 6 figures but, I make a decent living. I will retire a millionare because I invest in these companies. You know, companies like the evil pharmacueticals, and the evil oil companies, and the corporations that take so much from the middle class... ooops, how can they take from me and give back to me at the same time ? hmmmm.....Know of what you speak fool.

Thomas Paine| 3.16.11 @ 12:13AM

vtwin - more like "moped"

You must have fallen from the Stupid Tree and hit every branch on the way down...! Out of mercy, I'll explain to you your own theory on campaign contributions:

1. The part you miss - many people honestly believe in candidates and support them with their contributions.

2. The part you get - many people contribute to win influence and ultimately, get something (normally, much more in taxpayer money or tax breaks) in return.

So ... it's ONLY corporations and the war industry? Turning a blind eye to unions? To farmers? The unemployed? It's not just money contributions, for many groups the payoff is votes.

Well, that's been going on since the dawn of democracy. Perhaps it's time you realized the truly liberal (aka conservative, in today's strange vernacular) position is to advocate the SMALLEST government, in order to achieve the most LIBERTY.

Not to be a pessimist, but I'm guessing I might as well be telling you the Earth isn't flat....

davelnaf| 3.15.11 @ 7:34AM

We would all be better off if politicians did less, maybe next to nothing. But this will never happen. These people—the vast majority with next to no executive experience worth speaking of—believe they can manage the US as if it were some kind of corporation. So, they go to Washington and get on-the-job training as congressmen and senators—a type of executive experience at serious odds with what it really takes to run the country: basically, it’s called commonsense.

Thomas Paine| 3.16.11 @ 12:21AM

I don't understand why the House doesn't simply pass a CR that:

1. Covers the "good bits" - aka the pain points, like parks (so vacationers aren't stuck) and passport issuance, meat inspection. And for now, a few sops like Head Start, lest they be soft targets.

2. Take out the entire Depts of Energy, Commerce and Education, again with a few specific carve-outs for PR.

3. Refuse to fund anything else through September.

I wonder, would the American public miss the Federal Government any more than I did during the last shutdown, PRESIDENT'S DAY???

And would they recognize this course of action was saving the country $100 BILLION per MONTH (best guess), if it were repeated in news and ads every day as the argument for this course of action???

I wonder. Let's find out!

Old Soldier| 3.15.11 @ 7:37AM

"If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life."

"I heartily accept the motto - 'That government is best which governs least;' and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, - 'That government is best which governs not at all' .....

-- Henry David Thoreau

Mike D.| 3.15.11 @ 7:55AM

Its like this. The ruling and political class has been destroying this country for decades. They WILL finish the job. This is how it ends, politicians trading the future for present day careers and a descent into national insanity and lunacy.

Kim Walker| 3.15.11 @ 1:37PM

"So this is how it ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper."

Those words will be very prophetic if the American people don't start holding our politicians responsible for their actions.

catman| 3.15.11 @ 8:01AM

“She is “divisive” because the conservative movement is full of cowards who bend over because they are afraid of the left and the media. Why not fight against the smears? Why not fight for the truth? Instead conservatives run and hide and then wonder why even after 8 years of BUSH the country moved to the left!!!!!!!
While Governor, her state was one of 2 out of 50 that created net jobs. I COULD WRITE FOR HOURS ABOUT HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, but it would not do a damn thing for people like Krauthammer and other fraud cowardly so called conservatives. How come the other intellectual governors that Krauthammer praises could not eke out some job gains? Odd huh?

WAKE UP!!!! Do you want to know why the jobs are gone? Do you want to to know why your nation is turning into a shit hole? IT IS BECAUSE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. We let it happen. WE CONSERVATIVES LET IT HAPPEN BECAUSE WE SAT ON OUR FUCKING ASSES AND REFUSED TO FIGHT the left for the last 20+ years. Now Sarah is ready to fight, and most of us just let her go out there with no backup, no nothing. She is used as a human shield for LESSER MEN. She is fighting multibillion dollar left wing media companies and two hack political parties every fucking day of her life, and we cannot even muster a defense with the exception of a few websites and the OCCASIONAL defense on talk radio. PATHETIC.

I served in Korea and Vietnam in combat. When I say combat, I mean COMBAT. After that, I worked for the government “unofficially” (use your imagination.) I killed with my bare hands for this country and it makes me sick that even most of my fellow conservatives will not lift a finger to help her. If I was younger and still serving I would be honored to have her as my commander in chief. You can keep the phony tough guy men that get trotted out as candidates. I saw REAL leadership up close and I know what it looks like. Sarah Palin has “IT.” I saw men blown to pieces and other men who still ran forward with the entrails of their best friends still on them. My oh my, how far we have fallen. Those boys had integrity and valor. Today’s conservative movement by and large is not fit to shine their fucking shoes.

The state of our conservative movement today sickens me. It is full of frauds and cowards. We cower in fear because the media is too mean and unfair to Sarah Palin, so we should just throw her over the fucking side because ITS TOO HARD to fight back. AWWWW, poor babies. It would be so much easier to just nominate another fraud republican who can sell us down the river for a few pieces of silver as the country continues to move left as we descend into European Socialism.

As far as coward Charles Krauthammer goes….The day I take advice on conservatism from a guy who worked for Mondale and Carter is the day I put a loaded .357 in my mouth and pull the fucking trigger! That clear enough or should I use more big words to be on the same “intellectual stage” as the media elites?

These cowards remind of the guys in battle who said “we can’t win,” and then NEVER LIFTED A FINGER TO HELP US when the battle began. Well yeah no thanks to you!
Please commence the flogging of me. Call me every name in the book. When you have been through what I have, there is nothing anyone can ever do to harm me. I pray you young people wake up because the cold hard truth is that you have more than likely already lost your nation to a secular decline that is irreversible. There is a chance for you to save it, but from the looks of it, you don’t have the mental fortitude to make it happen.

Cut all the bullshit and ask yourself this honest question. DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS NATION WILL BE SAVED AND PUT BACK ON THE COURSE OF TRUTH, JUSTICE, and OPPORTUNITY by electing the same tired old political hacks that our media betters APPROVE OF? DO YOU REALLY? How has that worked out for you these past 20 years or so? More debt, more joblessness, more danger. WOW SIGN ME UP! SIGH. But yeah, let’s not even fight for a true conservative. It’s too hard.

Bobby, US ARMY ret

TennesseeVolunteer| 3.15.11 @ 8:46AM

Huzzah! Bobby Huzzah!
Thank you for your service. Bobby, one of my best friends is a Navy vet who had built up a multi million dollar real estate empire and has lost it all. Thropughout, he has kept us his lust for life, for challenges and for a brighter future...No regrets he tells me.
But he says almost the exact things you do. He says a fight is coming and he will be ready. Bobby, we know what the Big Government politicians have done to this country. And we understand their will be quite a bit of pain to bring it back. With Patriots like you and my friend, we will be just fine!

Mitch Angoop| 3.15.11 @ 8:48AM

You seem to be the only person posting here who knows what it feels like when a grenade goes off close and you can feel the sand blasting bits of hot metal and the warm rain of body parts and blood that cover you while you're shaking your head and trying to make sure everything works.

The only hope I have right now is that last November more than 750 career politicians were thrown out on their butts. My hope comes from the fact that it was the first time in my memory that many federal and state legislators were fired by the voters for what they had been doing for their own elite.

The next milepost will be if the GOP has the guts to actually stop the spending and hold the line. We will know very soon.

I know what you went through; and it infuriates me every day that what was won by blood is being pi$$ed away by gutless politicians.

JP| 3.15.11 @ 10:15AM

The late John Murtha was a decorated Marine combat vet. Oliver Stone saw plenty of nasty combat with the Americal Division in Vietnam; the fromer South Dakota govenor McGovern flew hundreds of combat ops over Germany during WWII. My point is that seeing combat doesn't necessairily make one a good citizen. Murtha was probably one of the most corrupt Democratic pols of his generation; I cannot think of a more anti-American film makers outside of Michael Moore. McGovern is a very nice man. But his combat duty (for which he was highly decorated) made him a pacifist.

Occam's Tool| 3.15.11 @ 5:27PM

Yes, McGovern boo-hooed over killing Nazis. A-hole.

But I appreciate the Vets here very much.

Personally, I'd be happy, very happy, with West or Palin or Bolton.

Grzmlyk| 3.15.11 @ 5:45PM

I'm with you, Occam - West, Palin or Bolton would be great. People who've all demonstrated the courage of their convictions.

Too bad we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. As I've said, I wouldn't be surprised if we pulled Bob Dole out of mothballs for one more bite at the apple.

Thomas Paine| 3.16.11 @ 12:33AM

Bobby, Sir ... if this site had "Like" I'd personally go to the trouble to create 100 email accounts and 100 site accounts ... just so I could hit "Like" 100 times.

I caught on to Sarah P. about a year before her VP nomination and ... the pillory by the media. Unfortunately, most of the population is too lazy to attempt to think critically, instead they look for the easy answer, pigeon-hole and dismissal by the MSM.

Sad but true.

But there's HOPE for CHANGE! I see the Internet as a driving force, as comment posters educate each other -- AS WE MUST EDUCATE OUR FRIENDS, WILLING OR OTHERWISE!

Me, I've always loved to debate, but recently I've begun a zero-tolerance policy on my Facebook, etc (I'm pretty young) -- and I've been able to shame people one ... at ... a ... time ... into admitting that, for example, yes, if we drilled more here we wouldn't have $4 gas and beholden to Mideast despots - it's the logic and THE FACTS, which must be exposed because they've been LIED TO EVERY SINGLE DAY since 4th grade.

Fight the good fight, one at a time. Our enemies are not Republicans or Democrats, they are people who have taken advantage of the SYSTEM to featherbed their miserable, sell-out existences.

All the personalities and labels are just a diversion. I'll take a Sarah Palin any day over a Barack Obama ... at least she has a spine.

Habu| 3.15.11 @ 8:06AM

At this point how we got here nad who is to blame are almost totally moot.

Most economists and historians will tell you that what is ahead, which is what counts, is a war, usually a very large war....no proxy forces just mano o mano.......and we are totally un prepared having already used up a good deal of our fighting equipment and looking at a potential pool of draftees who exists on twinkies and cupcakes.

Forget getting out of debt by trimming budgets etc because a war will intervene.

SpiralArchitect| 3.15.11 @ 12:42PM

This war you speak of will not be overseas.

confedgal| 3.15.11 @ 1:42PM

Actually, we do need to know how we got here and call it correctly in order to keep from screwing up again ... that is if we get out of this one

Louis Jenkins| 3.15.11 @ 8:25AM

Too big to fail? Who said that? Biden? Obama? Reid or Pelosi? Doesn't matter folks, the finances of our government is going down. And it will crater. Best to get out of its way too. The meltdown in Japan will pale by comparison.

Intelligent Design| 3.15.11 @ 8:27AM

We need to recycle the Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the Occupant of the White House. They learned absolutely nothing from the collapse of the USSR, and they have learned absolutely nothing from the November 2010 elections, in which they lost about 750 elective seats (federal and state) to the Republicans. Congressional Democrats, and of course Obama the Ignorant and Arrogant, still don't understand that the public is screaming for less government and more private enterprise.

Mattled| 3.15.11 @ 9:11AM

Intell,
They know the public is screaming for less Gov----they don't care. It's all about control. Obama wants to be Hu Jintao. He said so.

Intelligent Design| 3.15.11 @ 6:06PM

How long before Obama starts dressing like Hugo Chavez?

Thomas Paine| 3.16.11 @ 12:34AM

Soylent Greenie....

somnolence| 3.15.11 @ 8:34AM

Bobby, that is some of the most refreshing, accurate, and honest eloquence I've heard in quite a while. We are surrounded with too many back-stabbing assassins within our own courts on this, The Ides Of March. It appears lately that Boehner is right there in the top realm.

StarbucksDave| 3.15.11 @ 9:15AM

"The political class is slow to learn from its mistakes because it refuses to acknowledge them."

Ain't that the truth!

winterhawk| 3.15.11 @ 9:25AM

These messnbc rats are terrible. They agree with all of obam's commie agenda. I can't stand them.

simon templar| 3.15.11 @ 9:44AM

That's because they rule the mob rather than govern, they follow rather than lead, they get get what they want and they think they are done. The only hope for this country is the Tea Party. We either start self governing as our founding fathers intended and dump these carreer politicians or we are doomed. This has only gone on as long as it has without the expected consequences because we have undergone two industrial revolutions that brought unprecedented growth and prosperity that these pieces of shit could squander, tax, and waste without being held accountable. We have also become an overly tolerant society that suffers fools, incompetents, and posers rather easily. Look, really look at the two fools that are pictured in this article. These talking heads are taken seriously? No one seems to have the balls to call these people out for what they are! So...it goes..and never ends.

Geoph| 3.15.11 @ 9:59AM

The Government is to big NOT to fail.
Stop all this cutting "SPENDING" talk.
This debate needs to be framed as cutting "BORROWING"

Wayne | 3.15.11 @ 11:20AM

No because then the they will just add taxes. We need to cut the spending.

Petronius| 3.15.11 @ 10:04AM

Passivity has been the primary job description of most people for almost a century. And they will never react to what they see going on around them until trouble knocks on their front door. The national identity we once had has gone with the "greatest generation", so those who are in our wake cannot comprehend the reason for all the fuss. Of today's veterans, at base level they are of a mind that having done their hitch, dependency for the duration is acceptable. If the DoD does not pay them, there are other government departments to lean on. There are guys in my neighborhood who made their 20 and are satisfied to deliver flowers or pizza. Many others work for security companies for the minimum.
Culturally, most people who live in these United States have even descended from the herd mentality to functioning more like an amoeba. It engulfs and consumes all in it's path and the end result will be a world with nothing in the general public milieu that is above an ever declining mean. In this "take what we get world, the bottom is now in sight. And all the bottom dwellers will be satisfied so long as none get ahead of them.

Anthony| 3.15.11 @ 10:11AM

Bravo Bobby!!! It takes a real man who has experienced real horror and has seen Hell up close and personal to cut through the crap and call it like it is.
Let me also be blunt, I hinted at it yesterday, so let me just say it; the problem that Palin and Bachmann have with the R establishment, RINOs, and of course, the left, is that they are not part of the snob class.
Scratch a RINO and some posters here at TAS and ask them about Clinton, Kerry, Edwards, and Obozo and you'll get the predictable answers about how bad these guys are/were.
Oh yes, they'll say they all had horrible faults and should never have been president or presidential contenders, but if they are TRULY HONEST, they'll also admit that they still think these reprobates and sociopaths had more "presidential material" than Palin and Bachmann. There you have it in a nut shell.
The media and the culture shapers have enormous influence still. As a result, these enormously flawed men are still perceived as bright, insightful, articulate and worldy, that's why Will and Krauthammer are more comfortable with them than Palin or Bachmann.
So in order to justify their elitism, folks come up with B.S. excuses about Palin and Bachmann that are laughable because they would not use these same lame excuses against the aforementioned list of political pigs.
Need more proof; Bush came close to getting the full Palin treatment, and indeed it was tried, but Bush had protection. They could call him stupid and inarticulate all day long, but in the end, he was still a blue blood partrician and they all knew it!! So instead, he got the "silver spoon" special treatment rap.
So while Boeher and the boys sell us out in Washington because they are afraid of what the media will say if the government is shut down, Palin and Bachmann are doing their best to buck these cowards up. The other contenders, Newt, Romney, et al are all hiding in the tall grass.
The only real leaders we have are being chewed up by their own and Obozo and the left are besides themselves with glee.
I'm with you Bobby, but put the .357 down, we need you to fight another day. It ain't over yet brother!!!

Teaghan| 3.15.11 @ 10:57AM

Bobby while I am a woman and have never seen combat, I have seen the result of it. As a teenager I lived at Yokota AFB Japan and saw daily, the young men wounded by the Vietcong and the stacks of metal coffins sitting in the back of a C-141 on the flight-line. I understand your rage and wish for someone who has seen the same and that feels the same as you to step forward to take our country back to whence it came. I used to pray for Palin to step up and be the one, but her actions over the past year have made me hedge on this. Her reality show, her daughter on DWTS, her whineyness when attacked by the MSM, has shown, to me anyway, something of her that I am not fond of. She needs to blow off the attacks on her AND her children. We know what the MSM is. The vile filth that comes from the gutters of lofty east coast universities and we take them for what they are. She needs to be stronger like she was during her run with McLame. Calm down Sarah. Pray for grace and don't let them bait you.
As for you Bobby, keep shouting at us, or at me anyway, to keep us aware of what we are up against and that the Boheners and Cantors are no better than Pelosi and Reid. We deserve better.

Anthony| 3.15.11 @ 1:24PM

I think Ms. Teaghan you have proven my point. Palin has been criticized for being a "quitter". Yet, John Edwards "quit" the senate by not running for a second term because he knew he would lose and he wanted to maintain his political viability, which he did.
Edwards paid no price for this self serving calculation and it was hardly mentioned when he ran for V.P.
Palin's motivations were far more statesmen-like, she did it for the sake of Alaska's government, that was under an avalanche of politically motivated "ethics" complaints. She gets no credit for this and her critics maintain the "quitter" cant to this day.
Palin has "demeaned herself" with her T.V. show and her children's participation on other shows. While, I've only seen snippets of Palin's show, it seems pretty tame, very Americana, and pro America. Yes it kitchy America, just what the snobs hate. Yes she made money on T.V., yet other pols, while not having T. V. shows per se, have used the media to sell their "brands".
Clinton has made millions using T.V. to market himself. Again, not a word of criticism. Same with Gingrich and Huckabee using FOX as a forum.
Dare I mention Senator Al Franken and his SNL vulgarity? Apparently, not too unsenate- like for the folks of MN.
"Palin is a bit touchy and needs to tone it down". I love this one. Many have forgotten that several years ago Bill Clinton had a meltdown with Chris Wallace on live T.V. Clinton was red faced and constantly jabbed his fat finger in Wallace's face over a tepid criticism of him. Wallace was so wide-eyed shocked, he was almost speechless.
Clinton had other meltdowns as well, but again, none of this is ever mentioned. Clinton is seen as "president of the world" despite his temper. McCain got a similar pass, but being a R, the LSM couldn't help itself.
At least Palin was defending her children and her pro America policies, Clinton and McCain were defending their egos.
Palin is asked to tone it down, yep, she's to roll over and let the LSM crush her like a bug.The classic R response. That worked real well for Bush and his "new tone", didn't it?
So when we finally get a R with guts, who fires back and sends Obozo and the left reeling, she's too provocative, too confrontational.
Sorry some of you Palin critics, I see a big double standard here.The question is, do you?

Occam's Tool| 3.15.11 @ 5:29PM

Again, West and Bolton sound good, don't they?

vtwin| 3.15.11 @ 2:53PM

Anthony, it’s starting to look like the reactors in Japan didn’t hold up as well as you though they would.

Anthony| 3.15.11 @ 3:38PM

Got your finger's crossed eh vtwin? There's still hope vtwin, the fallout cloud you're hoping for is heading for San Fransisco, maybe L.A. You see vtwin, every cloud does indeed have its silver lining.
The Japanese will manage far better than the denizens of San Fran, or South Central L.A. That will be a real bloodbath.

Dracovert| 3.15.11 @ 10:55AM

Among your several items, "the Iraq adventure, the Wall Street bailout, the stimulus package, the monetary policies that helped inflate the housing bubble, and virtually every major federal undertaking with the possible exception of Prohibition", only Iraq has clear Constitutional authorization and, whatever else you think about Iraq, Iraq is an island of relative stability and declining violence in a broad area of war, terrorism, destruction, and death. All these other items were specifically left to "the states, or to the people," by the Constitution, that largely ignored document that Democrats (primarily) bypass when they wish to spend our money foolishly.

And that is why the Tea Party is gaining traction, and why the Flee Party is collapsing, along with the Unconstitutional mandates and entitlements that the Democrats have used to take our money for their constituents, and particularly, for themselves.

Wayne | 3.15.11 @ 11:18AM

The Flee Party, I like the term. I will also be using it from now on ;-)

Wayne | 3.15.11 @ 11:16AM

One of the problems which is very evident today is the desire to substitute statistics, spreadsheets, computer models and data mining for knowledge and expertise. It is the reason the federal reserve failed to recognize the coming housing disaster. It lacked the data, and ignored experts and common sense.

In general if you lack situational knowledge, you don't know what you don't know. You lack the ability to anticipate and run scenarios. Obama brought with him a slew of data miners. These are the college types who think they are smarter than the rest of us because they don't get their hands dirty with actual facts and experience. So EVERY decision they make is based on experience, and they have too much arrogance to understand the feedback that makes it clear they were wrong.

Worse they have trillions to play around with. Government at best is a necessary evil, at worst it is a disaster in which it destroys the productivity gained by the private sector.

Now is the time to scale it down before we have a melt-down.

Kurt| 3.15.11 @ 11:34AM

I believe Palin would do best as head of the RNC, but Michelle Bachman is by far the best candidate for president. There is just something about her that mesmerizes me and I can't get enough of her! She is the real deal and can back it up better than Palin. I totally think she could could deal with all the BS from the media and get this country heading in the right direction! Girlie man Romney is so plastic and fake all I want to do when I have listened to his BS is want to toss my cookies! He reminds me of Bill O'reilly and that is definitely NOT a good thing!!!

Albert| 3.15.11 @ 11:47AM

There are old sayings,
"Those who can't do, teach."
"Those who can't teach, teach gym."
and my favorite, "Those who can't teach gym, go into politics."
Politicians as a class are generally inconsequential people who are incapable of success outside the confines of government. People with absolutely no demonstrable knowledge, training, or experience in economics, are trying to micromanage the US economy under the auspices of government. Lenin attempted this in the 1920's in Russia, based on Marxist economic "theory", and President Bozo is attempting the same thing now. People in government think they can just order prosperity through "mandates" and that the economy will respond. Lenin micromanaged Russia's vast farmlands into repeated national famines. No orders, no dictates, no declarations could change the simple economics of supply and demand, and as a consequence, millions of people starved to death. But never did anyone in government actually understand that it was their own dictates that undermined food production and caused the famines. Today, the economy is stalled and faltering from massive government spending with no appreciable benefit, except votes for politicians that are bought with taxpayer money. Politicians will never admit their policies are the cause of the failing economy, they will never understand that massive deficit spending is not "stimulus" but rather a drag on the economy, and they will never stop buying votes with other people's money. They can't. Their life's purpose depends entirely on the adoration and sycophancy of ignorant voters who have been bought with other people's money. Without the prestige of public office, politicians totally lack purpose in life, something that their egos simply will not allow them to accept. They are capable of nothing else and to live a life of inconsequence and ordinariness is not an option for such people. Hence, they live for politics and only politics, the only arena where they themselves prosper, at the expense of the prosperity of millions of other people who pay for their egos and their follies. A wise man once said, "The only way to look at a politician is DOWN." As long as the ignorant, the stupid, and the bought, look UP to politicians as defacto "heroes", politics will continue to be dominated by the career politician who is demonstrably incapable of success or leadership in the real world.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.15.11 @ 12:41PM

Why did God create politicians? To give used-car salesmen some self-esteem..

Oldefarte| 3.15.11 @ 1:23PM

W. James: I'm not sure I understand the connection, if any, between Morning Joe/Mika's picture heading your editorial/title, but maybe I haven't had enough coffee today. Anyway, IMO this country is slowly and historically being led down the path to destruction. The politicians elected by their constituents typically head to DC to party, get drunk, go to Mardi Gras balls, etc all NOT UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF THEIR BOSSES BACK HOME. As the old saying goes, to EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY! There should be serious discussions going on presently concerning the extreme defecit/debt; but Obama plays golf every day; the Democrats scream about Republicans robbing the poor of their God-given rights to welfare; the Republicans are too busy trying to be civil while crawling into bed with Democrats [when the taxpayers are the eventual screwees]; the unionized-morons are busy driving their tractors to Madison [and sending the children without teachers to hell and a handbasket] instead of DOING THEIR GD JOBS THAT TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING THEIR SALARIES TO DO; and the imbicilic voters are so enamored with Obama's blackness/smile/bullexcremet, that they vote for/allow a Muslim with a disguised life history to become PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES on 11/2/08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

simon templar| 3.15.11 @ 2:09PM

Just shows how strange are the times we live in....
forty years ago your comment may have been taken as a partisan exaggeration or political rhetoric that some could claim as a cynical exaggeration. IT IS NOT! It sadly is the truth as bizzare as it all seems. These morning joe jerks are actually very relevant as they are excellent examples of a large portion of the electorate and the kind of people running this country. The new motto of this country and this generation is, "Hey, I got mine...so I don't EVEN Care".

simon templar| 3.15.11 @ 2:50PM

This is just for the record since everyone else is on a bitch fest and has a theory as to what went wrong with this Republic.
As predicted by our founding fathers, we got lazy, distracted, and lost our moral moorings by periods of intense success and prosperity. Corruption of politicians has always existed and was expected by our founding fathers...thus the form of government of checks and balances. We stopped believing our founders warnings and advice starting around the turn of the 19th century into the twentieth. Subsequent economic and social upheavals gave us more doubt and we looked to government ( or more correctly politicians) to save us. We created a ruling class of lifer professionals dedicated to their survival, not ours. Thus the wave of bread and circuses that followed and mob rule by constituent lobbies, minorities and interest groups. So, the disconnect grew as the big all powerful government grew to massive proportions demanding more, creating more programs, offices, departments, laws, regulations. So, much that one of its offices conservatively estimates 200 billion of waste, fraud, and duplication of effort each year. The right hand not only does not know what the left hand is doing but even that it exist. Now, we have a sizable population of public employees that expects..demands..riots if necessary. Another portion of the electorate is so tired, battered, and confused it does not know what to do. THAT is the most dangerous, tragic, and damaging aspect of all of this. Yes, the entitlements are a problem, the size of government is a crisis, the borrowing, the spending, and everything else mentioned in this thread. The most critical aspect of this tragedy is the lost belief in self government and the "We, the People of the..." We are now all standing here impotent, exhausted, and cynical. We don't believe in the dream anymore.....Rome once had a dream...

Mimi| 3.15.11 @ 5:03PM

I STILL DO . & I AM NOT ALONE !!

simon templar| 3.15.11 @ 5:29PM

Excellent, MIMI! Thank you for responding, You are a gem and a Great American!

Pat| 3.15.11 @ 7:10PM

There is no government, there are only those people who work in Washington and various state capitols - people who insist on making a good living from their fellow taxpayers. We have to personalize the problem, not frequently curse some abstraction – it’s specific people, not those ugly granite buildings which has let us down.

Where blame must be fixed on an abstraction, fix it squarely on the First Amendment, we’re allowed to talk all we want about “government” in this country; praise it, curse it or complain about it. However, the Founders added a Second Amendment to remind the citizenry there is also a right to take positive action – and they were extremely familiar with today’s problem of “government”; only, in their time, they called it the “Crown”.

Planning and carrying out a revolution, our Founders were on intimate daily terms with fellow colonists who talked a bold game when it came to rights, but bowed their heads in submission and respect when the Crown’s servants rode by. Hard to imagine Washington or Jefferson saying: “The First Amendment is all we’ll need to insure liberty – we should give ourselves the right to freely assemble and complain loudly – that should be enough”. The Second Amendment implies a mindset which wasn’t worried exclusively about home invasion and hunting pheasants. If the constant string of disappointing results recently isn’t enough motivation for us, then we have a problem – taxing our decaf lattes or our tea is no longer an issue which can inflame passions.

Speedypete| 3.15.11 @ 9:07PM

Didn't Greenspan just today say that government regulations are stifling or slowing the recovery? I am no fan of Greenspan ("I found derivatives interesting") but he is spot on and it goes unreported, as usual. Obama has hired federal OSHA inspectors to double inspect over the sovereign state inspectors. Not so sovereign I guess. These feds are swarming over industry leveling more fines and double dipping. Will these companies stay viable? Maybe if they take more jobs somewhere else.

watches| 3.16.11 @ 4:43AM

So while Boeher and the boys sell us out in Washington because they are afraid of what the media will say if the government is shut down, Palin and Bachmann are doing their best to buck these cowards up. The other contenders, Newt, Romney, et al are all hiding in the tall grass.
The only real leaders we have are being chewed up by their own and Obozo http://www.watch07.com/ and the left are besides themselves with glee.

Fred| 3.17.11 @ 9:43AM

There are many things that Congress can do to balance the Federal Budget, but the real problem is that the lobbyists representing special interest groups are doing everything they can to keep things as they are.

There is a lack of courage to cut spending no matter how foolish the spending is. The Congress over the last ten years have made a lot of mistakes. They include the major tax cuts during the Bush's administration, the invasion of Iraq based on a lie, the Patriot Act, and many other items as well. President Obama compounded the problem by continuing the war, increased spending, and the Health Care Plan.

Former President Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton also made a lot of mistakes as well. Yet, no effort is made to undo the mistakes. That is why this country is in a state of decline.

Right off hand, I can think of several ways to cut spending and increase taxes to balance the Federal Budget, but there isn't sufficient space to all of list them. Here is just two examples. Repeal the earned income credit and that will produce 44 billion dollars in additional revenue.
Second, remove all the old people from collecting Social Security pension benefits who never paid a dime into that trust fund. They were brought here by their immigrant children or as refugees. The savings would be 20 billion dollars a year.