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A Further Perspective
He’s Kidding, Right?
Obama to raise taxes, leave entitlements untouched.
President Obama put all his cards on the table yesterday. He made his big announcement on his response to our current fiscal crisis and festering national debt.
He wants to raise taxes (Quelle surprise!) and will not touch any entitlement program to reduce uncontrollable spending.
He has got to be kidding, right? Wrong. The President is hunkering down, pushing for a raft of new taxes, passing off more cuts in discretionary spending (necessary but hardly sufficient) and going into campaign mode for the 2012 re-election campaign.
Americans for Tax Reform, beating to quarters, excoriates the President for combining the worst of his 2012 tax increases and those also proposed by the Simpson-Bowles commission and the Gang of Six, the bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who are supposedly working on a proposal of their own.
According to ATR, the Obama plan would raise the tax revenue from 18-19 percent of the economy, the historic average, to 21 percent. Of course, this 21 percent is on top of state and local taxes which cumulatively burden workers and their families.
In addition, the President would raise taxes, oh, $1-3 trillion over the next decade. He also de-accelerates from the GOP plan put together by Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. He, Obama, supposedly cuts $4 trillion over 12 years versus 10 years as proposed by Ryan while raising taxes substantially.
There will also be tax hike “triggers,” an increase in taxes on capital gains and dividends from 15 percent to 23.8 percent and a boost in the death tax rate from 35 to 45 percent with a corresponding cut in the exemption from $10 million to $3.5 million. All this is on top of the 20 new or higher taxes that came along with Obamacare.
Besides ignoring the original Simpson-Bowles commission he established, the President now calls for another commission, a congressional one, under the leadership of Vice President Biden. This is beginning to sound like the fiscal equivalent of the Groundhog Day (1993), without the happy ending.
But the most egregious thing about the President’s plan is his complete abandonment of any kind of reform or cuts or overhaul of entitlement programs such as Medicare or Medicaid.
There are no serious policy analysts on the face of the globe who think America — or any other developed country for that matter — can escape the inexorable demographic trends that are driving these programs into bankruptcy. None. All see entitlement reform as a fiscal if not moral imperative. The status quo is unsustainable.
One might harbor the dream, nightmare really, of raising taxes sufficiently to cover these entitlement bulges, but that is a fantasy. One must assume that the President and his advisors are smarter than that. The President is taking a pass, pending his re-election campaign, without facing up to the hard choices confronting him and the nation. This is simply tragic.
But predictable. To use the current formulation, politicians of both parties have kicked this can down the road for years, which is why House Speaker John Boehner, Chairman Ryan, and, to their credit, the Tea Party caucus stand out in terms of their political courage and commitment to future generations of young Americans.
The Republicans face a titanic challenge to educate the citizenry on the fundamentals of our government finances and outline the hard choices that cannot be ignored. As former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has said, “We’ve got to resolve this issue before it gets forced upon us.”
“The only question is, is it before or after a bond market crisis? Because there’s no alternative.”
About the Author
G. Tracy Mehan, III served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the administrations of both Presidents Bush. He is a consultant in Arlington, Virginia, and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (96) | Leave a comment
More Articles by G. Tracy Mehan, III
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Robbins Mitchell| 4.14.11 @ 6:40AM
Were Cloward and Piven kidding?...was Saul Alinsky kidding?....is George Soros kidding....well,Barokeydoke is as serious as a fat boy with a plate full of fried chicken in front of him....he intends to consume all he can
Firozali | 4.14.11 @ 2:13PM
We means the new land. Not Churchill. I thank you
Kenny| 4.14.11 @ 7:10AM
A socialist does what socialists do.
A Janeite| 4.14.11 @ 7:26AM
It's willful blindness!
LarryK| 4.14.11 @ 8:55AM
No it isn't blindness, it is ideology. Obama wants the destruction of the middle class. With a 2 class system, he (the oligarchs) will lord over the poor with no avenue of escape to the extinct middle class.
The Big E| 4.14.11 @ 7:17PM
It's not just ideology (though that IS part of it). It's also pure politics. Obama's speech was a purely campaign speech directed at his base, and his base is made up primarily of people who are utterly clueless when it comes to anything economic. They spend their lives subsisting on handouts, never paying taxes, and being taught that everything in life that's not the way they want is someone else's fault. To them, reality is whatever they want at the moment. That was who that speech was directed to, and that's who Obama must remain loyal to if he wants to be re-elected - and he wants to be re-elected. He could care less if the country goes down the drain, as long he maintains his power.
By the way, Patrick Buchanan has a good article today about why there will be no budget deal, and what the consequences of that may be.
beebop| 4.15.11 @ 5:21AM
His base is more than the narrow slice you describe. As the economy finally begins to visit upon the public unions that which the private sector has had to withstand, there is hell to pay. A relative is a school teacher and honestly LAMENTS that her pension and income will be "cut in half" by the current wave of conservative governors (think Walker). God forbid! So long as they are willfully ignorant of the true financial circumstances, they are happy clowns sending their union dues to the dumb democrats (sorry for the redundancy) who continue to promise them what they know is now an extinct economic model. But. Where else can they reap a "legal" slush fund for democrat candidates?
D.Lukas| 4.14.11 @ 5:22PM
Twenty dollars says the republicans will kick & scream and vote for the increases.
Mimi| 4.14.11 @ 7:28AM
WOW ..... We have a choice !
The American Plan.....BY RYAN
The Commie Plan...... BY SKIN - FLINT BAROKE
Intelligent Design| 4.14.11 @ 7:51AM
Obama is a moron. Obviously Professor Kingsfield was not grading his papers at Harvard Law School.
Firozali | 4.14.11 @ 2:16PM
Who chose him. He is happy with his Noble Prize
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 4.14.11 @ 7:55AM
It's the Chicago-Commie way!! You propose lowering Taxes, and they respond as always, let's Tax the Rich!! You want to make serious changes to Medicare/Medicaid, and they say to hell with all that, Cut Defense!! We have to vote out all the Democrats in 2012, otherwise Groundhog Day will never end. There is no negotiating with them, when they refuse to see the truth, and the truth is, 14 Trillion and counting!! Do you think there will be "any" Medicare/Medicaid left for anybody, once we hit 20 Trillion? Vote every Commie out in 2012!! Then it'll be just some Islands of Blue, in a Sea of Red, and then we can storm the beaches of those Islands one by one.
daddio| 4.14.11 @ 12:57PM
It's not enough to vote out all the Democrats, we need to get rid of most of the republicans as well, for they are as much of a problem as the other party.
Impeach Don't Wait| 4.14.11 @ 3:56PM
Like I say: Democrats are not fit (or appropriate) to govern the United States. They need to be replaced. The new two-party system should now become: Republicans vs. Tea Party. Or something like that. There is no place for a socialist party IN POWER!!
saleboter| 4.14.11 @ 8:09AM
Demos are fvraming this issue as the choice between reality and a free lunch. If they get away with that the free lunch will win until we are totally broke.
Ned| 4.14.11 @ 11:19AM
... keeping in mind that nearly all of the 47% who pay NO income taxes now, and the similarly sized group who are rent seekers and net consumers of tax revenue, plus 98% of the black population will ALL vote to continue down this road, keeping Barry Bull$hit in office, I'd say we're screwed...
Wayne | 4.14.11 @ 10:53PM
Most of that 47% will not vote form him. Most are really retirees, and they see him as the one who wouldn't have let his 87 year old grandmother get a hip replacement and the one who cut 500 Billion dollars out of medicare.
WRTolkas| 4.14.11 @ 8:12AM
Let's face the facts, Barry the Red has ascended to the apex of the Peter Principle. Our community organizer-in-chief is well suited to lead a mob of over-weight welfare mothers to protest the grease in McDonald's fries is now thoroughly out of his element, out of his mind and over his head. G_d help the Union. G_d help us.
daddio| 4.14.11 @ 12:57PM
+1
beebop| 4.15.11 @ 5:38AM
You either have to think that he is clueless or he is all about revolution. Either one is dangerous. What he is proposing -- especially in a virtually unfettered (shudder) second term -- will have worse consequences than the Civil War (a/k/a the war between the states). The fundamental difference is that there will be no easy demarcation for the split. But. He is eroding families and creating rancor between brothers and sisters not in unions or on the dole and those who have prospered on the basis of their own two hands. The battle is not far off and he has aided and abetted those who have their hands out.
davelnaf| 4.14.11 @ 8:16AM
It’s a lot worse than the author lets on. We’ve had losers in the Oval office before, but garden variety moral shortcomings or being a little too dumb to be there was the worst that could be said about most of them.
Obama brings to office another category of loser: a person for whom the presidency is a reflection of what he believes he is. This might be called the “I am Monarch” syndrome and His Highness Obama doesn’t get it any better than Louis XVI did, and is about as oblivious of the possible consequences.
Like the old French the aristocracy the Democratic Party is about to be swept away with its monarch. One would like to believe that they understand this and are stoically accepting their fate. But it’s more likely that an entire political party has now become losers. There is really no other way to explain their continued walk toward the scaffold as if they are on their way to get a haircut.
Mike D.| 4.14.11 @ 8:40AM
Comrade Obamao and his cohorts pretty much put it on the table, Marxism or freedom. That was one of the most twisted renditions of American History I have heard.
USSAlabama| 4.14.11 @ 9:24AM
We all heard he was 'brilliant' but I never saw any evidence of that and haven't yet.
All this man has ever had is a head full of dreams!
That is all hope is! A dream for the future.
This man is a hopeless dreamer.
tallMel| 4.14.11 @ 12:27PM
hapless schemer ?
daddio| 4.14.11 @ 12:59PM
Teleprompter reader. I wonder what he'd do if someone hacked the teleprompter and put in a speech from Ron Paul. Think he'd keep reading?
Wayne | 4.14.11 @ 10:50PM
Dave, you make a good point. Obama et al have made some huge tactical blunders, and are likely to continue. By not including Republicans in the ObamaCare discussion, they have no by in, even from the squishy moderates. By being hyper-partisan and even down right insulting, Obama has pushed the GOP right into the direction of the Tea Party. He and the Dems have adopted a bunker mentality, its them vs us. All they have is the demogoguing, and the race, class warfare cards, with a complicit media.
They are tightening the noose, right around themselves, marginalizing everything to 35 percent of the electorate. The other 65% have figure Obama out or are about to. What they are seeing is a mean-spirited man, with little regard for anyone who disagrees with him. One not interested in solving problems or taking responsibility, but one very keen on grabbing authority. One with a nebulous past. Obama could bring down the entire party. And the rest of us can finally start getting on with our lives again.
beebop| 4.15.11 @ 5:42AM
No one triangulates more efficiently than he does. He's the abusive spouse the media warns women against. But, truth be told, most Americans are not getting any facts from the press and so they get a new new every 24 hour cycle. There have been so many versions it is hard to keep up.
USSAlabama| 4.14.11 @ 9:21AM
Damn! They LOVE triggers.
Hard to believe Obama kept re-phrasing the "ask seniors to pay for it" line.
Is that all they have to rely on?
Truly, the content of the whole speech, where and when he staged it, was all just intellectually weak and for anyone (msm) to make more of it than that is the same.
PJ| 4.14.11 @ 9:46AM
Mr G Tracy Mehan,
If you want to make yourself credible, please never, ever quote Former Fed Alan Greenspan to prove your point on anything. Greenspan is a major contributer to the current, financial mess of this country. I even think he's one of those few select who's getting immensely wealthy because of it!
G. Tracy Mehan, III| 4.14.11 @ 10:11AM
PJ: the quote from Greenspan was too tempting to not include it. But I take your point.
Firozali | 4.14.11 @ 2:28PM
Greensapn is gone is he not?
simon templar| 4.14.11 @ 10:25AM
No, he is not, has not been. Why is this even a question?
Dixie Pixie| 4.14.11 @ 10:40AM
I have a few question for the TAS readership to gnaw and chew on.
One...What happened to the Green Genie and Innovation Fairy that Obama claimed would reinvigorate the economy and fix the public debt problem.
Two....Why has one one connected the dots from Obama's policies and the rerun of the Great Depression those policies caused.
Three....Why has the Republican leadership not blamed Obama and the Democrats for the economic damage they caused.
Obama speech was a ringing endorsement and reaffirmation of the failed Krugman / Keynesian economic policies that tanked the dollar, destroyed the economy, buried job growth and flatten most markets.
Almost no one is making money these day and Obama's solution is to take what little the government leaves us.
Obama must not understand that governmental spending has risen to such levels that the only way to cover the overspending is to tax everyone at 100% of income.
That is if anyone would willing embrace governmental slavery and could live on nothing.
Why has no one pointed out that when taxed at over 50% of income you are a governmental slave.
It is a mystery why the Republican Party has done so little with so much.
Impeach Don't Wait| 4.14.11 @ 4:19PM
"Two....Why has one one connected the dots from Obama's policies and the rerun of the Great Depression those policies caused.
Three....Why has the Republican leadership not blamed Obama and the Democrats for the economic damage they caused."
Dixie Pixie:
The dots have been connected. Republicans are blaming Obama, etc. The problem: There's no mechanism to get rid of these people (other than the next election). Lord knows impeachment for killing the country's economy is out of the question. Without a crime to accuse these people of, there's no will to act. We are only left to "negotiate" and sit back and watch our country transformed into something the founders never intended it to be. America's weak point is, as in so many other cases, greed. Take the money from other people, give us the freebies, and we'll vote for ya.
Butch | 4.14.11 @ 5:41PM
America's real weak point is that the right to vote has been extended to people the founding fathers never wanted to enfranchise.
RCV| 4.14.11 @ 7:14PM
That's right! Where do these women and non-white non-property owning males think they get the right to vote like wealthy white plantation owners? God? Do they think that people are created equal? Endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights? Where would they get such nonsense, Butch?
Rancid Contemptible Vile| 4.14.11 @ 8:48PM
I don't worry about the nation founded as a Constitutional Republic by founders who rightly condemned Democracy as a form of tyranny when sanctimoniously opining on Constitutional matters.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 4.14.11 @ 8:55PM
And I don't bother with silly ABORTION trivialities when sanctimoniously pontificating on unalienable rights endowed by our Creator with LIFE matters.
Real Christian Virtue| 4.14.11 @ 8:59PM
RCV
12.7.10
6:27 pm
"At least, skippie, I belong to a party that cares about human beings AFTER they're born."
Repugnant Corrupt Venality| 4.14.11 @ 9:06PM
I don't worry about sanctimoniously showing what an ass I really am while exposing my ass sanctimoniously alleging nonsense on sanctimonious make an ass of myself nonsense matters.
Real Constitutional Values| 4.14.11 @ 9:02PM
RCV
10.23.10
9:30 pm
"I abhor sanctimonious conservatism of the tea party brand, an ideology wholly lacking in intelligence or a shred of real Christian love or compassion."
Louis Jenkins| 4.14.11 @ 10:42AM
Of course Obama starts out his speech with full list of America's PAST accomplishments. How are we going to do the medical research when ObamaCare will cut it back? How are we going to hire people, when the truth is, no on is really getting hired? I listened to his speech, something I rarely do, as couldn't help but wonder "what planet is this man living on?" But you see, and God forbid me to bring it up, the blacks love this man and he can do no wrong. The uber-liberals love this man and he can do no wrong. And while he may compare himself to Lincoln, well, he's a bit short on that too. The bottom line-he brings up the same old worn out phrase that the Democrats love to give-raise taxes. The only solution! How about some cut backs Mr. President? I have to, why can't the Federal Government?
beebop| 4.15.11 @ 5:48AM
I think Bill Ayers was threatening to tell the girls on The View that he in fact wrote those two horrid "books" unless 0bama did as he was told. But hey .... look how quickly he comes back the next day and asks for civility? Yeah. What a great guy.
Marianne | 4.14.11 @ 10:47AM
Tracy is spot-on. Obama isn't just mortgaging our children, he is mortgaging all Americans right now. Entitlements are the hugest part of the budget; taxes create obstacles to job creation and destroy incentives to work harder. I pray that Boehner, Ryan, and the rest of our elected officials can derail this plan.
Lois C| 4.14.11 @ 10:53AM
Show of hands; anyone surprised at the proposals? Nobody....maybe just one or two in the back surprised at how awful the proposals turned out to be.
How appalling, not only does he refuse to address the real issue of entitlement spending he has the gall to suggest triggers that automatically increase taxes instead of reducing spending. This "president" has absolutely no clue what makes a budget work and an economy healthy. It's not taking from one to give to another or spending your way out of debt. What a loser we have in office, our spender-in-chief is totally lost on how to help the economy.
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 11:25AM
EVERYTHING THIS A**HOLE TOUCHES TURNS TO S**T FOR AMERICA.
LET'S IMPEACH NOW OR FORGET ABOUT IT.
Cuffs| 4.14.11 @ 11:27AM
Obama was in full campaign mode doing his best
to energize his lefty base. He says whatever it
takes.He is the quintessential con man.
He is an unmitigated, habitual liar.
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 11:27AM
IMPEACH NOW!!
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 11:27AM
IMPEACH NOW!!
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 11:27AM
IMPEACH NOW!!
Dixie Pixie| 4.14.11 @ 12:25PM
Chill out Gene.
Harry Reid's Senate would exonerate Obama of clubbing baby seals to death.
Besides, Harry Reid would never find any fault with anything Obama said in his speech.
howard lohmuller| 4.14.11 @ 11:28AM
Actually, Mr. Obama did not lay all his cards on the table in yesterday's campaign speech. He cited no real numbers to measure either his supposed spending cuts or his promised tax increases and said nothing of entitlements. The thoughts of most pundits this morning are that he doubled down on his present glide path to financial ruin.
Mean while employment does not seem to be going down as the Department of Labor claims it is, wages are weakening, and inflation via food and oil are not reflected in GDP growth which is actually 1 to 1 1/2 percent less than reported.
Mr. Obama is going to weasel out of the box Republicans think they have him in by switching the argument from jobs, spending cuts and entitlement reform to WAGE AND PRICE CONTROLS, probably later this year. His staff will then spend most of 2012 generating phony numbers and Republicans will spend their time debunking Obama's new approach to solve the economy's problems. And if folks catch on to his tricks, he will start a war somewhere or declare a national emergency. That is what the Left will do to win an election.
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 11:28AM
IMPEACH NOW!!
Dixie Pixie| 4.14.11 @ 12:26PM
Chill out Gene.
Harry Reid's Senate would exonerate Obama of clubbing baby seals to death.
Besides, Harry Reid would never find any fault with anything Obama said in his speech.
KML| 4.14.11 @ 11:55AM
I agree with just about everything you said except for when you grouped Speaker Boehner in with Paul Ryan. Boehner was a complete disgrace and showed absolutely no political courage when confronting Obama on the 2011 budget. Right about now, Obama and his allies are either laughing in disbelief at how they got Boehner to go along with everything the Libs wanted, or they know when it comes down to it, Boehner is a big government Republican. Not to mention a coward. Either way, the American people lose. I truly hope there is a Tea Party candidate who will challenge Boehner the next time he is up for re-election.
Maybe some day the Republicans will grow weary of losing to the Democrats. Right now, Boehner and his colleagues should be embarrassed.
Martin Owens| 4.14.11 @ 12:19PM
A quite from THE FOUNTAINHEAD best answers your rhetorical question:
" We're after power, and we mean it."
irish19| 4.14.11 @ 12:26PM
Agree with KML. Boehner and the rest of the so-called leadership keep reading the MSM and buying the lies wholesale. They just can't wrap their squishy heads around the fact that the MSM has been lying about the mood of the country. They are much too insulated there inside the Beltway. They need to get out-like to their constituents-more.
Lori Aronsohn| 4.14.11 @ 12:32PM
You make all these statements...that he's going to raise taxes, that he's going to keep entitlements...but, you've given no specifics. Just your own rhetoric
Mark | 4.14.11 @ 1:49PM
Buuuwaaaahaaaaa.....you can't be serious, eh?
John| 4.14.11 @ 12:38PM
I'm a staunch rock-hard conservative and backer of the Tea Party. But I don't think those who retire with a yearly retirement income or pensions above $100,000 a year should be eligible for Social security or Medicare. They most likely have great retirement health benefits also. That in itself would save countless billions, even hundreds of billions.
Mark | 4.14.11 @ 1:47PM
Good point, means-testing or something equivalent to that, SHOULD absolutely enter into any serious reform discussions.
Prester John| 4.14.11 @ 3:02PM
Careful now, what do you mean by "retirement income"?
It's one thing to take into account actual pensions, but do we really want to punish people who showed a little bit of discipline and invested in their retirement accounts over 30-40 years so they could maintain their standard of living after they stopped working?
cuban pete| 4.14.11 @ 5:23PM
Well said,Sir.
beebop| 4.15.11 @ 5:56AM
Let those who would otherwise receive these benefits decide where they should go. Who is to stop any private citizen from donating his/her own dollars to worthy causes within our own structure? Believe in NASA? Well, then send it to them. Want more in the way of library availability in poorer neighborhoods? Write a check to them. It shouldn't come as a surprise to those of us who believe in putting our money where our beliefs are, but to those niggardly (no racial intentions) democrats who donate the pittance a la Joe and Dr. Biden, I know this is a new concept. Apparently they are only aware of Bono and Gates and perhaps (just perhaps) Warren Buffet donating any portion of their private fortune.
John| 4.14.11 @ 12:50PM
Cutting specialy programs would be easy. The ones who have paid into it, collect it. The illegals, generation after generation abusers, program collecting liars, etc. dont collect any longer. We need to cut the fat anyway from all the abusers of all governmental and state programs. Its time to pee in a bottle, its time to say "we will pick you up at 7:00AM to do community service, its time to be penalized for having more kids for the collecting of bigger checks. The older generation which helped build this country and the ones who have paid into it their whole working life collect the benefits. The ones who fall on hard times need to help themselves first before asking for help, then they collect for a time period only. The biggest problem are the ones running this program, they do nothing but hand out paychecks, we need case workers and case investigators.
Dixie Pixie| 4.14.11 @ 12:52PM
Gene...At the risk of setting you off again, did you hear Nancy Pelosi latest outburst?
Pelosi said"....Republicans want to kill Medicare and give the money to the Oil Industry..."
The 2012 election cycle has not started and the Democrats are that desperate to lie that blatantly this early.
daddio| 4.14.11 @ 1:08PM
Will someone find out what kind of weed that old bat is smoking? Or is she just batshit crazy???
Mike D.| 4.14.11 @ 1:47PM
She is batshit crazy. She is one dillusional lunatic, clinical.
skip| 4.14.11 @ 3:36PM
Mike D.
Pelosi truly believes what she says. She is harmless.
The dillusional lunatics are the citizens who actually really vote her into office. They are a menace.
As the 'official' alterego of MikeD., have you any news?
Mike D.| 4.14.11 @ 3:59PM
The people that vote her in are voting themselves money and they know it. Paychecks in the mail from the US government are the biggest dillusion of them all and so easy to sell to the useless class.
As far as her goes, she's only harmless when shes sitting in some park somewhere mumbling to herself and stroking those jumbo ball bearings she wears around her wrinkled neck.
Dixie Pixie| 4.14.11 @ 5:37PM
Greetings Skip
As the former Majority Leader and now Minority Leader, she anything but harmless.
She is the main reason the US is in so much economic trouble.
skip| 4.14.11 @ 5:53PM
Mike D. and Dixie Pixie
I am aware you are both on the side of might and right and are solid posters.
My point is ultimate responsibility rests on the voters who elected her.
If voters didn't vote that despicable crone into office that delusional lunatic would be harmless.
If voters didn't vote other despicable politicians into office who voted the despicable crone a majority or minority leader she would be more harmless than she is.
If voters understood our nation is a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy than many voters who vote these despicable politicians into office would not be allowed to vote per the Constitutional Republic this nation is.
Citizens get the government they deserve.
The real menace to America is the people not the politicians.
Ultimate responsibility for this mess is the voters not that despicable delusional lunatic crone who bottom line is only doing what the despicable crone's constituents elected her to do.
Mike D.| 4.14.11 @ 6:43PM
I hear what your saying. there is a solid 40% that will vote Socialist no matter what. These people are already institutionalized and basically government wards and will be for the rest of their lives, they are lost causes. That problem is decades deep. Its the 5-10% of votes of the so-called "independents" whatever the hell they are that bought this red teleprompting reading clown's BS to get him elected. The ones who can seem to grasp which side of the line they want to be on. If this guy isn't voted out in two years we are in big trouble. I also believe that if it looks like he is on his way out, his union thugs and communist stool pidgeons will take this to the streets before that happens.
Dixie Pixie| 4.14.11 @ 9:21PM
Eloquent points Skip and Mike.
But I have a firm rule, I will not blame you for Barney Frank, if you don't blame me for Nancy Pelosi.
The problem is a Congressman is elected locally but has national influence.
So I, who has never voted for the "Mad-Bat of San Fran" has to pay for her spending plans and live under her rules (AKA... ObamaCare).
Also I have been inflicted with Harry Reid for the next 6 years, yet have less than no control over him and never will.
I am at a loss on how to fix the problem of a locally elected lunatic inflecting their madness on the general public without that publics approval.
Do you have any ideas?
PS....Thank You Webmaster for the return of the (Reply To) function.
beebop| 4.15.11 @ 6:00AM
Citizens get the government they deserve.
Not those who vote after arming themselves with knowledge of issues and candidates and find themselves on the wrong side of the union money.
Is this the government you feel you deserve? I don't feel like I have done anything to deserve it. I wish that Trump would spend less time on the birth certificate and more time trying to pry open the vault of college records. Americans really don't like cheaters and liars. 0bama is a good measure of both.
skip| 4.15.11 @ 11:33AM
Dixie Pixie & beebop
Your points are precisely why the Founding Fathers established a Constitutional Republic.
And condemned Democracy for what it is: tyranny.
The best you can do to counter a locally elected lunatic is to elect the local representative in your district who promises to negate and more that lunatic.
The best you can do after arming yourself with knowledge and truth is to arm with knowledge and truth as many other voters as possible.
Beyond this, in a society where no two are alike, and everyone has their own interests, is to keep perspective, that in the end we will exist for all eternity together in a society where everyone will be happy and content.
With the exception of those types of idiots who are currently causing the most problems in the here and now.
Mark | 4.14.11 @ 1:45PM
Once again the fact that liberalism is a disease surfaces. To ignore the realities surrounding the economy and spending is either delusional or malicious. I suspect with Ogabe's case is a bit of both. The major challenge we have, and one that's plagued the GOP for decades is communication. Seeing the poll numbers showing incredulous naivete from the electorate about entitlements is the biggest symptom of this. It's hard to imagine that the average Joe is adamant that we should never touch social security, medicare/medicaid, etc. in light of the current fiscal crisis. The Left wants them ignorant and open to demagoguery and the Right is afraid to educate them honestly. This fear permeates pretty much everything we hear from our leadership. Fear that the electorate might blame them for X or Y. That MUST end. We need honest leaders, that have the ability and cojones to communicate the facts as they are.
Fear of the electorate lets that Bread and Circuses 47% run the country de facto. That's an immense challenge. That group has NO liabilities for tax consequences and even more, no interest in losing ANY of the free (to them) stuff they get. They can be easily led and manipulated by the left and have been for 50 years or more. They react to sound-bites, bumper sticker sloganeering and demagoguery. Their one and only interest is "what's in it for me?". The left has done their job well, they created a large portion of the population that believes they are owed something and could care less about where it's coming from. Remember the silly sow with "obama's gotta stash"? That's what we're up against. The left in it's endless addiction to obtaining and expanding power, has created a Brobdingnagian monster, by brain washing millions of sheeple.
Firozali | 4.14.11 @ 2:11PM
No it is the fast race to cahnge without the oar and the boat
BillS| 4.14.11 @ 2:03PM
Greg Gutfeld hit the nail on the head when he gave the President a “B” for BRAZEN during the recent 2011 budget negotiations. I had never seen more shameless, arrogant, elitist, petulant and narcissistic behavior than his late night victory dance and pontification at the Lincoln memorial the next day until his performance last night. I hope the American public have not been so dumbed down by years of an education system taken over by the liberals, that they cannot see the emperor has no clothes.
MikeH| 4.14.11 @ 2:08PM
One thing we now know: Obama's 2012 Campaign Slogan- "Winning the Future" We'll be hearing that a hundred times a day from now until election day.
Charlie Sheen should sue!
Firozali | 4.14.11 @ 2:10PM
President Barack Obama’s plan to cut the federal deficit is nothing more than a “sales pitch” for the expansion of government and a rewrite of history to prove America’s greatness stems from the redistribution of wealth, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh charged.The conservative broadcaster was commenting on Obama’s afternoon speech at George Washington University that laid out his plans for cutting the deficit.Obama called for lowering deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years through reductions in the growth of Medicare spending, defense cuts, and changes in the tax system to eliminate loopholes.“So basically what we’re getting from the regime is a sales pitch and history revision,” Limbaugh said. “We are hearing that America’s greatness only began with the redistribution of wealth; Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid … and a sales pitch to can this government get even bigger because he is now defining economic prosperity as more and more government involvement in everybody’s lives.”He added that “if we don’t succeed in stopping this, and the next real opportunity to stop it obviously is the 2012 election, if we don’t succeed the country is going to unravel.”
I thank you Firozali A.Mullar
Oldefarte| 4.14.11 @ 2:49PM
This folks is classic liberalism, Democratic Party style, but completely/radically brought out of their socialism closet by this Chicago community organizer, turned Harvard law-degreed president. Why, oh why is this surprising to all of you? This has been occurring, although under the carpet and mildly disguised until now, for my entire substantial lifetime. Kennedy-Johnson did it with the GREAT SOCIETY and their WAR ON POVERTY of the 1960's. It's the true middle class [translation, ANYONE WITH INCOME] against the indigents [translation, the downtrodden, the sadly poor, the misfortionate, the mistreated, the abused; and now all due to RACISM, DISENFRANCHISEMENT, DISCRIMINATION, GENTRIFICATION, etc]. We are all to blame FOR ELECTING THESE DEMOCRATS, and especially the current WH occupant. He/they didn't capture the presidency, the Senate majority, the state of California/Massachusetts/Washington/NY etc; WE ELECTED/PUT THEM INTO OFFICE. We, get it? You, me, our families, friends, co-workers,church members, etc. Why? Simple, because this country is STUPID, that's why. These radical Democrats and their government dependent constituents will constantly play to the heart strings of society in order to extract more and more of our combined, hard-earned incomes so that they can sit upon their collective backsides, collect government benefits, not have to work for their living, and force us taxpayers to foot the bill. There is never, nor will their ever be any talk of their lack of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, about their needing to KEEP IT IN THEIR PANTS or to DUCT TAPE THEIR LEGS TOGETHER in order to NOT PRODUCT/BIRTH CHILDREN THAT THEY PERSONALLY CANNOT FINANCIALLY AFFORD TO PAY FOR/RAISE. No, they will go on have children that are essentially DOA, that will be emotionally/physically/sexually abused and/or killed within their decrepid environment; and they wil continue to proclaim their RIGHTS to do so, and to extract more of your incomes in governmental taxiation in order to pay for their needs [and rights]. Don't complain, because the MSM/HOLLYWOOD will hourly/daily beat you over your head with GUILT from being so mean-spirited and selfish in wanting to protect/keep what rightfully belongs to you since YOU EARNED IT THROUGH HARD WORK. No we all must do the POLITICAL CORRECT THING and continue giving [ie being taxed to Hades and back] in order to DO THE RIGHT/DEMOCRAT THING by these downtrodden souls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bayan sohbet | 4.14.11 @ 4:38PM
very nice blog admin
Pat| 4.14.11 @ 4:51PM
Gridlock, we have it now, but how long will it last? Yes, Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich, great campaign promise, the voters in Detroit and Chicago liked hearing that, but then they will vote for Obama anyway in 2012. But can he actually raise taxes, can he avoid cutting the federal budget further? Probably not before the next election, he knows it and so his media friends obligingly provided him with a campaign contribution in the form of free air time.
But Conservatives are still out-numbered among the voting class, the Democrats retain their nuclear arsenal, armed and still as deadly as ever. The 100 megaton Promise – the “We’ll take money from the rich, we’ll give it to you, the rich won’t miss it and, if they do, who cares”? Whenever we manage to impose legislative gridlock or even force the Dems to beat a hasty retreat, they’ll always come back – they have that ultimate weapon - The Promise – and it always prevents their complete annihilation and provides a welcome path back to power.
Conservatives realize by now the deck is stacked against us – the Dems can further open the floodgates and bring in more immigrants, many of whom understand just enough English to grasp what The Promise means to them. So, the usual Conservative drumbeating in preparation for the next election probably won’t help, those Republicans we have no choice but to support are basically incompetent Democrats, statists-in- training who will earn their chance to lick the spoon so long as they don’t rock the establishment boat.
Perhaps it’s time Conservatives realized we may be outnumbered in belly buttons but not in terms of asset ownership or productive wealth. There must exist non-violent ways to use our collective wealth to fight back – and not in the form of campaign contributions, but in other ways which will open a trickle in the dam’s wall - ways that can widen a small trickle into a rushing flood. We won’t defeat the siren call of The Promise with logic, but maybe we can find other ways us “rich” folks can drive Robbing Hood from Sherwood Forest - permanently.
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 6:31PM
Hey Dixie Pixie,
No need to worry about setting me off......I just think if we could mount a nationwide effort to impeach this butthole, the dems would have to go on record to defend him...that's something, besides, I believe the House could do it whether the Senate convicts or not. It 's worth the publicity.
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 6:34PM
pelost, by the way is a wacked out MANIAC........WORTHY OF COMMITMENT!
GENE HAUBER| 4.14.11 @ 6:35PM
WHAT CESSPOOL DO THESE DEMS SLITHER OUT OF?
LET'S CLOSE IT NOW.
Trinacria| 4.14.11 @ 6:51PM
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What you are witnessing is the classic consequence of Affirmative Action in practice, applied in this case on a grand (perhaps the grandest) scale. Take an individual with no discernable qualifications and award him a job because, presumably, it will level the playing field (or in the present case, level the rising tides and allow the earth to begin to heal). Inevitably, however, the unqualified recipient reveals himself to be entirely unprepared to meet the challenges of the job and, rather than paving the way for others like him, reinforces the very perceptions that place them at a relative "disadvantage".
Pity.
Pete| 4.14.11 @ 7:06PM
Direct hit. This clown has set back serious minority politicians by 3 decades at least.
blackknights1802| 4.14.11 @ 8:09PM
This just in folks, $38 billion turns out to be $350 million? This, according to the CBO. This guy needs to be impeached, along with the rest of the phonies in congress.
Wayne | 4.14.11 @ 10:39PM
Too bad nobody educated Greenspan on the economy. Greenspan suffered from what so many academics suffer from. A disdain for the expertise people have in the marketplace, and an overwhelming commitment to unproven computer models and fantasy calculations.
Because of this he left interest rates too low for too long and let the housing bubble grow, then burst. When asked about this before congress in 2009, he admitted that if he only had 30 years of housing data in his computer model instead of 20 years he would have predicted the housing crash. So, don't use common sense or talk to experts, but just trust some model and be so ignorant as to not know you don't have enough data.
Common sense would say that prices in California could not continue to rise 40 percent every year. But nope, Greenspan's model didn't measure the risk due to rising prices.
The academic arrogance is a big part of the problems we have today.
Rick| 4.14.11 @ 11:21PM
Your a rasist!
Trinacria| 4.15.11 @ 1:32PM
My Dear Sir,
I do believe the proper term is "you're". Might I infer from your (not you're) grammar that you, too, are a product of Affirmative Action?
The Bruce| 4.15.11 @ 2:21AM
Obama's just pandering to his base as usual. An bill increasing taxes is completely DOA in the House.
Or as Rahm Emanuel would say, "dead, dead, dead."
Dee See| 4.15.11 @ 11:01PM
Laughable denial everywhere inside the ceremonial shell that is the POST American
federal government.
In all this no mention of the criminal Federal Reserve, no calls for audits much less abolition.
No calls for tariffs on slave labor wampum from
the U.S. taxpayer created 'miracle' RED China.
No call, or even address, of the 1.2 quadrillion in
fake derivatives.
Remember kids, USURY is mightily condemned
in scripture for creating something out of nothing
and thereby mocking God Almighty himself.
Note too, the third generation EUGENISTS
who lurk behind ALLLLL our foundations and
capstone financial set-ups also gave us abortion
culture in which something that is almost nothing,
and the source of everything human, and certainly of God, is exterminated in the
name of 'cost' 'choice' 'convenience'
---and EUGENICS.
Mockery from the opposite engle ----and, again,
from the same people and the same playbook.
You might call it full-spectrum abomination.
-Surely even 'atheists' are begining to discern the mystical body of the Anti-Christ by now.
HUAC meets NUREMBERG ----2012
Creative Recreation | 8.10.11 @ 10:20PM
is good