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Another Perspective
Can’t Read: The Tea Leaves
A “deal” that sinks, probably forever, any chance that the government could ever be reined in meaningfully.
If a guy hangs out with tough guys long enough he is
apt to get to thinking maybe he is tough himself, and by and by
other people may get the idea he is tough, and the first thing you
know along comes some copper in plain clothes, such as Johnny
Brannigan, of the strong-arm squad, and biffs him on the noggin
with a blackjack just to see how tough he is. As I say, Basil
Valentine is a very harmless guy, but after he is hanging out with
Handsome Jack a while, I hear Basil talking very tough to a bus
boy, and the chances are he is building himself up to talk tough to
a waiter, and then maybe to a head waiter, and finally he may
consider himself tough enough to talk tough to
anybody.
—
Damon Runyon, Social Error
“Why do you not hit this guy Trivett a punch in the snoot,” I say, “and tell him to go on about his business?” “Well,” Tobias says, “the reason I do not punch him in the snoot is because he has the idea of punching snoots first, and whose snoot does he punch but mine. Furthermore,” Tobias says, “he makes my snoot bleed with the punch, and he says he will do it again if I keep hanging around Miss Deborah Weems. And,” Tobias says, “it is mainly because I do not return that punch, being too busy stopping my snoot from bleeding, that Miss Deborah Weems renounces me forever.
“She says she cannot stand for a guy who has no more
nerve than me,” Tobias says. “but,” he says, “I ask you if I am to
blame if my mother is frightened by a rabbit a few weeks before I
was born, and marks me for life?”
— Damon
Runyon, Tobias the
Terrible
Boy oh boy oh boy. Every once in a long while people like you and me who believe in the Constitution make the staggeringly stupid mistake of thinking that we should push Republican lawmakers to fight for principle, to fight for fiscal prudence, to fight for a return to normalcy. We have no one but ourselves to blame when they not only fall on their faces, they actually set the cause back drastically.
After cheerleading for weeks to send the House Republicans to joust with Obama and the Senate Democrats, we have received our comeuppance in spades. They have allowed the White House and the Democrats to advance much farther than they could have on their own. They have produced a “deal” that sinks, probably forever, any chance that the government could ever be reined in meaningfully. On top of that, it will probably grease the skids for Obama to be reelected.
The next time the Republicans — if the Tea Party do not succeed in replacing them as the alternative to the Democrats — offer to go to the mat on our behalf, I suggest we all chip in and buy them Hawaiian vacations or something. Leaving them in Washington D.C. is too tempting a target for the Democrats to take advantage of; it is like leaving a punching bag near Muhammad Ali and telling him to take a rest.
First of all, they were supposed to cut spending. Anyone can see that no spending will be cut. The first cuts show up in a few years, they are not real cuts but cuts in the increase of programs, and there is a clause that the cuts can be overridden in case of emergency. As Representative Gohmert pointed out, the Obama Administration got away with classifying the cost of the census under the category of emergency, despite the fact that it was scheduled in the Constitution more than two centuries ago.
Second, they were supposed to prevent taxes from rising. Instead there is a special commission tasked to prevent deficits. This commission is certain to recommend tax increases. What will Republicans do then? One of the top Republicans sent Rush Limbaugh a note assuring him that the Republican House would never agree to the increase. What a total absence of foresight! After this elaborate process is christened by Republicans, if the commission makes a recommendation it will be nearly impossible to resist. Obama would have a field day humiliating them if they did and the public would see his point as reasonable.
Third, the deal accepts the assumption that the Bush tax cuts are costing the government five trillion in revenue over ten years. This stands on its head the idea that lower taxes equal greater economic activity, which returns all or most of the revenue lost; indeed, at a certain level of taxation the government gets more money by taxing at a lower rate. Once the false premise is accepted, then the commission is sure to warn sharply against extending the Bush tax cuts into 2013.
Fourth, this blueprint includes Obamacare, which will generate a significant amount of new revenue because of the many new taxes it includes. It will also bring huge expenses, but those have been discounted by various accounting tricks which the Democrats built into its passage. Thus, if a new President and Senate tried to repeal Obamacare in early 2013, the deficit commission would be crying foul.
Fifth, this was supposed to be a way to set Obama back on his heels. Instead he gets to be the hero in public for his great flexibility. The Republicans are forced to grudgingly acknowledge that he moved toward their position. And the Democrats who know the score get to laugh themselves silly as, once again, they get to punch the Republicans in the snoot first and watch them scurry off trying to stop their snoot from bleeding.
In Hebrew they say: “Lo miduvshaich v’lo mi’uktzaich.” Don’t give me your honey and don’t give me your sting. What would I use the honey for anyway, now that all the tea has been spilled?
About the Author
Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human Events. Here he speaks at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Miami on June 8, 2012.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (71) | Leave a comment
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Bill S| 8.2.11 @ 6:30AM
It insures the eventual default of the U.S. government and/or insures that the government will keep monetizing the debt. Hyperinflation here we come!
Alan Brooks| 8.2.11 @ 8:22AM
"A 'deal' that sinks, probably forever, any chance that the government could ever be reined in meaningfully."
It took you that long to get to that conclusion, Homnick? you are hopelessly behind.
massmile | 8.2.11 @ 11:11PM
If the debt deal is the best that could be done, as of now, the next years are DEFINITELY going to be worse!I am a 28 years old doctor, mature and beautiful.and now I am seeking a good man who can give me real love , so i got a username sammyshine2002 on--a'ge'l'ov'e'r.c óm--.it is the first and best club for y'ounger women and old'er men, or older women and y'ounger men,to int'eract with each other. Maybe you wanna ch'eck 'it out or tell your friends!
Congressman Wu| 8.3.11 @ 4:42AM
Dr.Massmile: I am a 28-year old congressman from Washington and am seeking a good woman who can give me real love....Are you that girl?
I have plenty of spare time, as I am resigning from Congress soon. What are your hourly rates?
Signed WuWu
Lord Karth| 8.2.11 @ 3:26PM
This bill was a joke. A really, really bad joke.
Any investments I make over the course of the next 9-10 years (the time period before Medicare and hyperinflation wipe us out) will NOT be in the United States, and preferably in places that the US central government cannot go to seize those funds.
One piece of advice for GenXers and Millennials: Start saving like maniacs. And try not to do it in 401 (k)s or anything similar. The next place the central government will look for funds is in retirement accounts and things of that sort. "Financial repression" is on its way.
You Have Been Warned.
Your servant,
Lord Karth
Cosmo| 8.3.11 @ 4:38AM
Yes, Gold & Silver went way up when this Deal was signed...Wall Street knows it will lead to inflationl
Tom| 8.2.11 @ 6:50AM
Once again the GOP betrays its base and the Constitution.
They just signed-on to a multi-trillion dollar tax increase (ultimately any $1 increase in the federal budget = $1 tax increase), institutionalizing Obamacare and making Obama's spending and deficit lurch "the new normal."
All this over yet another politically-concocted "crisis" -- instead of "financial crisis" and "health care crisis" for this round it was "default crisis" -- pushing through in hyperbolic terms what really amounted to saying "unless we borrow more from our lenders in order to continue to make payments to our lenders we'll have to start cutting spending."
Buy gold -- with this caliber of "ruling class Republican" in D.C., this can't come to a good end.
Tired Taxpayer PRM| 8.2.11 @ 7:54AM
It may be too late for gold. Buy lead!
Ned the Red| 8.2.11 @ 11:15AM
My father was a plumber and steamfitter. I have some of his old lead ingots out in the shed. I'm gonna be rich.
Tired Taxpayer PRM| 8.2.11 @ 12:17PM
They won't have any value until you melt them down and cast them.
Old Soldier| 8.2.11 @ 1:44PM
And fit them into a cartridge in front of some propellant and primer.
Mike Hawk| 8.2.11 @ 9:20AM
Not the GOP, the RIMNOs. We need to retake the GOP. Let the RINOs form a third party.
Claudia Monteverdi| 8.2.11 @ 8:28PM
Oh Jay my Darling, Thank the Lord that I am not so meanspirited as to rub into you your words not so very long ago regarding this same band of willy-nilly adventurers..but, not me, I am not a Witch, and I do NOT know all the Angles..now, no Senate and a ruinous foray which accomplished exacty what you say..greased that creature's skids,( may he get a biff him on the noggin).......Oh well, I do see signs of hope..if Berny Sanders and Mr Kucinic and the Black Caucus and Barney Frank hate the thing..maybe it ain't half bad?
Your open admiirer,
Claudia
John Daniel| 8.2.11 @ 7:07AM
To quote a great Virginian, the late Robert Whitehead of Lovingston, "The lightening flashed, the thunder clapped, and a chigger died."
Timothy L. Pennell| 8.2.11 @ 8:01AM
As I recall, the Republicans were the MINORITY in the House. They had been, since 2007.
As I recall, they had NO CHANCE of EVER getting their Majorities back. That's what people were saying.
They did the right thing, when NONE OF THEM (not even Hatchet Face Snowe or Clueless Collins) voted for the Street Organizer's SLUSH FUND, or his Soviet Style Health Care Plan.
The people were intrigued. Who were these Republicans? I mean, they all stuck together?
So, we got encouraged. Then we got our Courage up, thinking, HEY, maybe we can stop this Mussolini wannabe. Then we got BUSY.
We went to the Town Halls. We went to the Rallies. We got our Friends BELIEVING, again. We campaigned. We sent Money. We VOTED for FREEDOM and LIBERTY. And we gave the Republicans a new LEASE on their Political lives.
Which they are, promptly, PISSING AWAY.
They had the biggest MANDATE, ever. An Historic TSUNAMI. The biggest Mid Term Election ROUT, in the Nation's History.
We only asked for one thing, in return: CUT SPENDING.
NOT - Make deals with the Democrats. NOT- Make deals with Jeremiah Wright's Boy.
Simple, right?
Somewhere, along the way, something went terribly wrong. The Old Guard lost their minds. (Did you hear McCain?)
Boehnor and McConnell, apparently thought that we wanted THEM back? They seemed to have a MENTAL BLOCK, about what the Election was all about. The people didn't want Raw Spending Cuts. They wanted a NUANCED approach, where DEALS are made IN SECRET, and BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. They wanted the OLD GUARD to do, the only thing they know how to do: LOOK SCARED.
Make any Deal. Cut any corner. Go back on any PROMISE that you might have made to your Constituents. The Deal may do NOTHING to save this Country, and our Children's futures. But, that's okay. It doesn't have to. All it has to do, is keep US, from getting BLAMED for something.
Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a LOT of work to do. ALL of the Old guard must be REMOVED, come 2012. I've said it, for a long time: The next time we see Boehnor CRYING, it won't be because he's Speaker. It'll be because HE'S NOT!
Boehnor 1-202-225-6205
Cantor 1-202-225-2815
Ryan 1-202-225-3031
And don't you DARE be polite.
It also might be time to start thinking about going to their HOMES, like Obama's boys do, and letting them know how we feel, from their FRONT LAWN.
We're sick and tired, and we're not gonna take it anymore!
TrueBlue| 8.2.11 @ 5:03PM
Been saying it for years, everyone in Congress needs to go. Don't allow any of them to run for re-election, require an entirely new group of people that cannot have any contact with the "Old Guard" beyond the letter next to their names (and even that part I'm iffy on).
Louis Jenkins| 8.2.11 @ 8:09AM
Did you see her, Gabby Giffords on the floor voting for the deal!! If it had been a Republican, well you can imagine the pundits speaking about how unfit, unable, etc., that he/she was to vote. The Democrats pulled every punch in the book, and the Republicans let them. We are at the river folks, and in it up to our hips. There will be no retrieval of our debt. Buy gold, silver, and lead. In a very few short months or years we will need it. Learn a trade, learn to be self-sufficient, learn to live on your own. We are in trouble and our leaders haven't a notion of what they have done.
Have you considered| 8.2.11 @ 8:37AM
Funny, I actually read the Boehner Power Point presentation that he used for Sunday night's conference call to sway his fellow Republicans to sign on to this deal.
It sure did not have an item that said there was an "emergency" override provision. This to me is a material omission.
A link to this PP presentation is what we citizens were told summarized "the deal". With this omission, we were lied to.
I wonder if he verbalized this in the call ...if he did not, he most assuredly lied to all the representatives on the phone as well.
Once again, We The People got hoodwinked.
John Navratil| 8.2.11 @ 8:59AM
This bill is a howler. Literally:
"It will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status" - Krugman
"the bill is enough to chop some 1.5 percent of growth from 2012" - The Economist
"We will only find success when a majority of Americans agrees with us that government is something worth fighting for." - Jared Bernstein
“there’s a limit to how much faith one can place in a man [Obama] who has so badly misjudged his political opponents time and time again.” - Jonathan Chait, The New Republic
"revenue increases are the only thing that will help the underlying deficit mess at this point" - Andrew Sullivan
There is a lot of carping going on about how bad this is. Ask yourselves what you could have gotten passed today. If nothing, then ask what wonderful treats would await us when King Obama decides which bill to pay and which not to. The man is dangerous.
I'm not happy either, but that hardly makes me unique. I am convinced that this problem will NOT be solved until after an election delivers the Senate, at least, if not the White House as well.
The Big E| 8.2.11 @ 1:51PM
"I am convinced that this problem will NOT be solved until after an election delivers the Senate, at least, if not the White House as well."
If you think that's what it will take to solve the problem, then you, my friend, are a fool.
Take every Dem out of the House and Senate, replace them with a Rep. Take the slimeball in chief out of the White House and replace him with, well, any Rep of your choice. Then come back and check on things in a decade. You really think you would be able to tell any difference? I doubt it.
We have ALL allowed ourselves to be fooled over, and over, and over. This latest fiasco is merely the most recent chapter. Seriously, did anyone, and I mean ANYONE, really think this would end any way other than what it has? Are any of us really that stupid?
The answer to our ills does not lie in the Houses of Congress. It does not lie in the White House. It lies in OUR HOUSE. All of our houses. Look at the personal financial situation of most Americans, their financial house, as it were - drowning in debt, producing little or nothing of substance themselves, and being urged to spend ever more money they do not really have on things they do not really need. Strong economies are not built solely on lending each other money, giving each other advice, and providing each other services.
We are kidding ourselves if we think that people who cannot even get their own financial houses in order can elect people capable of insuring that the nation's financial house is in order. Our country is only as sound and as strong as the people who make it up. And right now, we all look like fools.
John Navratil| 8.2.11 @ 5:36PM
The Big E,
Thanks for calling me a fool. I suppose I won't be seeing you at the voting booth then.
The Big E| 8.2.11 @ 7:02PM
I called us all fools, and I include myself in that number.
Yes, I will be voting, and I'm so ignorant as to do something foolish like vote for a hopeless third party candidate and thus assist in the re-election of the current Idiot in Chief.
But I also have no illusions about what's going on in this country or why, and neither should anybody else.
The Big E| 8.2.11 @ 7:03PM
Should have said "not so ignorant as to do something foolish." Significantly different meaning. Sorry for the typo.
Melvin| 8.2.11 @ 9:10AM
"Budget Experts Hail the Debt Ceiling Plan. It is just a drop in the Ocean but it is a start." !Hold the phone! for starters the Budget Experts are exactly the ones along with they're handlers in the Congress are the ones who got us into this financial quagmire. This isn't something that just happened a couple of years ago, this financial gimmickry has been going on for years now.
"Its a start," The Conservatives have been screaming at the top of they're lungs, stop this reckless spending till they have been blue in the face. Neither Party listened, while they continued their orgy of spending.
Now both sides are acting like super financial heroes, "We''re here to save the day."
This is all horse squeeze, and all it will ever amount to his bull squeeze. The ruling elite have no intention of controlling or cutting back. They're going to use our hard earned tax dollars so GE doesn't have to pay income taxes, give trillions away to foreign banks.
The Speaker of the House the tanned one John Boehner has lied to the fiscal Conservatives for three times now. Each time he say, "We'll get more cuts the next time." "Guess what you fake tanned pompous nincompoop, we don't have any more next time."
TrueBlue| 8.2.11 @ 5:15PM
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
Ronald Reagan
john dubose| 8.2.11 @ 9:38AM
In case you guys had not noticed. The Dems still have way more statutatory authority than the Reps. The members of the house and the senate have to live with that fact. It will take at least one more election to change anything. Deal with it !
The Big E| 8.2.11 @ 1:58PM
The Republicans may have lacked the power to pass beneficial legislation, but they certainly had the power to stop detrimental legislation from passing. But they do that. Instead, they were more concerned about making a deal, regardless of how bad the deal was.
A default is a bad thing. Putting it off will only make it worse. This legislation does NOTHING to prevent default, it only delays the day when default will occur. It has made NOTHING better, and has only insured that the consequences of the coming default - not the one manufactured by the idiots in Washington - but the real one that is coming - the one that will someday occur when we have a failed bond auction - it has only insured that consequences of THAT default will be far, far worse than what they otherwise would have been.
MSpector| 8.4.11 @ 1:32PM
The other, and I think more important, thing the Republicans could have done was take a stand, cross their arms and say "No". Tell everyone we want the debt ceiling frozen, no more new spending, bring the deficit under control. That way, if nothing else, the American public would have known the GOP had a clear vision and was willing to go to the mat for it. Instead, all the public now knows is that Boehner is always ready to carry Obama's coat and his "team" is always ready to say "well, at least he's doing something".
old white guy| 8.2.11 @ 10:12AM
john dubose. they could have said no and forced the issue. anyone who believes the u.s. would have defaulted just is not looking at things realistically. this stupid move by the repubs will cost them at the ballot box. that being said, i don't think there is a snowballs chance of the problems being worked out at the ballott box.
howard lohmuller| 8.2.11 @ 10:39AM
The problem with Mr. Homnick's thesis is that he believes the spending/debt ratio problem can only be cured by a government plan. The debt problem will be cured by the private economy growing and supplying jobs. The growth rate of GDP will have to be greater than the growth rate of the debt. But is it possible to get the GDP growing at a rate of,say, 7%?
Yes but it will depend on winning the Presidency and control of the Senate in 2012. The new Conservative government will then be able to harvest the hundreds of years supply of oil, natural gas and coal in North America worth trillions and trillions of dollars and build 100 new nuclear power plants. We can produce enough oil and coal to export to the rest of the world providing a reliable supply of cheap energy. And we can continue to produce technologically advanced products for export. China and India, about 40% of the world population, which is growing at the rate of one billion people every 15 years, will continue along with other Asian nations to manufacture products with cheap labor, dollars a day compared to hundreds of dollars a day in the U.S.
It would be helpful to have a government budget plan that accounted for baby boomers on Medicare growing from 35 million to 70 million during the next 6 years and 30 million more on Medicaid. Repealing Obamacare for a market driven voucher type plan would help us through the increased entitlement spending. If GDP expanded at 7.2% for ten years, the size of the economy would double surpassing the rate of growth of the debt. Remember that Ronald Reagan's economy proved our economy can grow at 5% to 9% again.
cjelephant| 8.2.11 @ 11:01AM
The patient is officially dead, but he contracted the disease in 1988 when rather than nominating a limted government conservative, the GOP chose G.H.W. Bush.
That was the beginning of the end.
There was hope that the patient might yet lick the disease of giganticgovernmentitis when the new House was elected. But, alas, it is one nasty bug.
And so Paul Ryan joined hands with Boehner and lied repeatedly yesterday. In fact, there is no one in congress who more disgusts me than Paul Ryan who had the nerve to call this a spending cut yesterday.
It is all over. Let death come quickly to this disease riddled mess; R.I.P. GOP.
John Navratil| 8.2.11 @ 12:01PM
To be replaced with what?
simon templar| 8.2.11 @ 1:23PM
An organized, awake, and educated majority of Americans who pay the taxes, pay the bills, create the wealth, give contributions to political parties, and purchase most goods and services and who have had enough and are willing to do something creative, bold, and smart.
Do not lose hope or nerve. We had even more to worry about, more against us, and more cynicism in 2010. What happened? A revolt in the electorate and historical landslides. Do it gain in 2012, start today..start organizing, join the Tea Party, drag someone there with you.
John Navratil| 8.2.11 @ 5:34PM
simon templar,
Of course! It appeared that cjelephant was seeing dead elephants. I've been cajoling since Carter was in office but consider talk of replacing the Republican party to be lunacy of the first order. It needs to be changed and the old guard retired. Remember when Jack Kemp was a "young turk". The process must be repeated.
Martin Owens| 8.2.11 @ 11:11AM
I'm reminded of the story about the medieval clerics who set out to drive away the bubonic plague when it hit Europe. They would organize a holy procession, bearing the relics of the local saint from the town Cathedral. Thus armed with the divine power, they would march around the city walls to vanquish evil.
It was a wonderful theory; in practice about half of them keeled over and died from the plague, often in the middle of the procession.
And that's all we've got going here. A ritual to influence things that none of the celebrants understands or is willing to deal with. The thing to do now is either make friends with the rats or leave town.
John Navratil| 8.2.11 @ 12:02PM
Martin Owens,
Or bring in the cats. Unfortunately we are stuck with the rats until 2012.
james wilson| 8.2.11 @ 12:01PM
This Congress, this President, and our ruling classes in politics, finance, and education are making default, bankruptcy, and depression look like necessary and useful developments.
Where would Democrats be without Republicans? That is why the Harlem Globetrotters hired the Washington Generals. You've got to have somebody to beat to the basket, or the game is too suspicious.
Ken| 8.2.11 @ 1:01PM
Why are you all worrying? Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate, tells us that the solution is simple; We are not spending enough money.
That initial stimulus was much too small. Just pass more stimulus and let the rich people pay for it. They can afford it you know. (and since I'm not rich, what do I care?).
simon templar| 8.2.11 @ 1:14PM
Little Kenny, I would suggest you take a course in economics and a few in business, then come back here and you can talk with the adults. I could answer that question but I do not have the time nor the space to teach you the basics of economics and business finance. Grow up, buy a few books, read them, use the brain you have been given.
Slacker| 8.2.11 @ 1:23PM
I think he was speaking in jest
simon templar| 8.2.11 @ 1:25PM
Perahaps, but I have seen this many times out here before and it was real, kingoftheliberalIdiots coming to mind, for one.
Drunken Sailor| 8.2.11 @ 3:52PM
Speaking of Libtards have you noticed that lately the likes of him, purpleguy, and Alan have avoided any talks about this whole sorry mess? Could it be because even they know they don't have any legs to stand on?
Ken| 8.2.11 @ 2:55PM
Yes, I was being sarcastic. It doesn't come across very well in a post.
That being said, a part of me wants the left to get its way just so I can say "I told you so" as our economy founders under unbridled spending and we're pushed around and threatened as the result of the gutting of defense so that another senior citizen can get a scooter (courtesy of Medicare) that "doesnt' cost him anything!"
Bill| 8.2.11 @ 4:21PM
You mean to say the government can't really pay the national debt by taxing only the rich? What's that all about? It doesn't seem very fair to me. I though they were gonna...
What about President Obama paying my mortgage?
shermbodius| 8.2.11 @ 1:13PM
Alas my friends, the collapse is close at hand and all we are left with is the American version of Pravda. (cbs, nbc, abc, etc...)
CalMark| 8.2.11 @ 1:40PM
Goodness, Homnick. So we're doomed, are we? Maybe we should all just give up and drink the Jamestown Kool Aid.
For crying out loud, shut up. There is always hope. Lots of people are doing the right thing, not to mention praying for the country--eventually (hopefully) Providence will deign to listen.
The Big E| 8.2.11 @ 2:02PM
There is plenty of hope. It does not lie in Washington.
CalMark| 8.2.11 @ 2:38PM
We won the Revolutionary War.
Maybe it's time for another one.
The Big E| 8.2.11 @ 7:09PM
Personally, I do not believe we are at that point, but I do think that if Washington is to be reigned in, it will have to be done from the 50 State Capitols. Somehow, we need to find a way for the States to reassert their proper roles in our Federal system. Originally, they were supposed to serve as checks on Federal power, just as the three branches of the Federal govt. itself were supposed to serve as checks on each other. In 1913, with the enactment of the 17th Amendment, that check was removed. I don't know how to restore that balance, but if we do not find a way, then we are doomed to either tyranny or revolution.
John K| 8.2.11 @ 8:48PM
1913 was a bad year: the Senate was destroyed as the Founders wanted it, the Federal Income Tax was imposed, and the Federal Reserve was created. Taken together, these malign developments took less than 100 years to destroy the Republic. It was a noble creation. RIP.
Slacker| 8.2.11 @ 1:45PM
I have to agree. Well, I guess it was a fun ride. I think the time has come to throw in the towel and watch the train wreck happen. The paranoid libertarian right has been vindicated. I frankly didn’t expect it.
axbucxdu| 8.2.11 @ 7:21PM
Oh jeepers slacker, we're not paranoid, but unlike progs we can count. When we do, we see that something's gaining on us all.
simon templar| 8.2.11 @ 2:14PM
The author is correct. The govenment will not reduce spending or taxation. Does this really surprise you? It did not reduce it in 1770 nor does it today. Our founding fathers warned us and made it clear that WE need to our duty to throw off such government. Are you willing? That is the question and the only relevant question. I am guessing, No, for many of you. Some, Yes, when it comes down to the nitty gritty and the day of reckoning. The fact is aside from all the whining, cynicism, and helplessnes..it is up to you..always has been, always will be.
Pickwick| 8.2.11 @ 2:17PM
Everyone here needs to get a grip. For God's sake, did you people really think, with a Harry Reid-led, Democrat-controlled Senate and Obama in the Whitehouse, that any serious budget cutting was going to happen? That was never in the cards and anyone who thought so is hopelessly naive.
What this whole bit of political theater did is position Republicans as the more fiscally responsible party in preparation for 2012. It is a bonus the Obama looked like a bumbling doofus.
Nothing in this deal is enshrined in the Constitution. As soon as one side or the other has the political clout to change it, they can and doubtlessly will. That is why the 2012 election is the real critical point to concentrate effort. The Republicans need to be leaned on hard to continue further in the direction they are starting to head, and fiscal conservatism should be the over-riding focus. While I consider myself a strong social conservative, in 2012 I am willing to put those issues aside and concentrate on the critical need to get our financial house in order.
While there is a great deal to worry about, the sky is not falling in the next 16 months. There will be plenty of time to panic after the next election if we cannot rouse ourselves as a nation to do the right thing, but for now I think it is counterproductive to give in to despair. Quit whining, get active, work for and donate to fiscally conservative candidates, and put a team in place in 2012 that will get serious about spending.
simon templar| 8.2.11 @ 3:18PM
Pickwick, you make some excellent points. I would just add that we must continue to remove the old guard and replace them with true conservatives and Tea party candidates. I am not confident that a republican controlled government would do much better. We had one. You know that story. This progressive government must be thrown off. It does not represent the will of the majority of the nation nor has it's interest at heart. It is clearly out of the control of the people and acts only in its interest not the nations. Let us not pretend that this is just about elections. The ruling elites and the media will not just roll over. There will need to be a fight and resistance never seen before in this country since its founding. A far as the sky falling in the next 16 months, I hope you are right that it will not. However, all indications are that this just might happen. If it did, it would serve their purposes as they 'conceded so much' to the extremist Tea Party as the narrative is being told. The Left thrives on crisis and manufactures it.
Bill| 8.2.11 @ 4:24PM
I am getting a large charge out of the complaints from the Dems about the lack of willingness of compromise during the debate over raising the debt ceiling.
While all this complaining about an unwillingness to compromise being so terribly destructive to the political process, it called to my mind the year-and-a-half debate over Obamacare, and the passing of the bill into law.
Mike Daly | 8.2.11 @ 4:36PM
The commission won't recommend repealing the Bush tax cuts because Obama himself conceded they work and they have zero evidence repealing them can ever work - especially after the spectacular failure of Obamanomics.
JR| 8.2.11 @ 4:53PM
"The commission won't recommend repealing the Bush tax cuts because Obama himself conceded they work and they have zero evidence repealing them can ever work - especially after the spectacular failure of Obamanomics."
Are you kidding, Mike? A commission made up of handpicked Democrats and RINO's? There won't be a Tea Party Rep on that commission!
TrueBlue| 8.2.11 @ 5:44PM
Especially after Boehner sold us out.
CalMark| 8.2.11 @ 6:26PM
Boehner is treacherous scum. No one is this stupid. This must be willful and intentional.
...And who knows what "riders" they'll add to the bill for "freebie" passage.
Amnesty? Cap & Trade? Gun control?
God help us.
emo| 8.2.11 @ 8:00PM
Actually the 2001 Bush Tax Cuts are a monstrosity. Very little in rate reductions, lots of increased deductions and rebates, such as an increased personal deduction, child tax credit and elimination of the marriage penalty. These do ZILCH for growth because they dont impact incentives to produce, save and invest. . They did virtually nothing for growth. Bush's 2003 Capital Gains tax cut produced more growth in 3 months than the 2001 cuts did in 2 years prior to 2003.
Repeal ALL the Bush 2001 tax cuts and keep the capital gains rate at 15%.
Skippy| 8.2.11 @ 6:29PM
Reader comments at the NYT Ed. page indicate the liberal elite are furious about this "Obama sellout."
They think he was weak and got steamrolled.
This must be the perfect "compromise"
Everybody thinks it sucks.
Who Knows?| 8.2.11 @ 6:34PM
Buy gold.
If the debt deal is the best that could be done, as of now, the next years are DEFINITELY going to be worse!
Work and hope for the best, but---
emo| 8.2.11 @ 7:53PM
""They have allowed the White House and the Democrats to advance much farther than they could have on their own.""
One of the stupidest comments in any column I have ever read at Spectator.org
Comment| 8.2.11 @ 11:01PM
Once again the GOP betrays its base and the Constitution.
http://www.summer-products.com
http://www.jerseys-hats-store.com
apple| 8.2.11 @ 11:04PM
As I recall, they had NO CHANCE of EVER getting their Majorities back. That's what people were saying.
http://www.ainibag.com
http://www.honey-gifts.com
POST American| 8.2.11 @ 11:28PM
------------------BOTTOM LINE--------------------
"Bankers ABOLISH Congress"
-ALEX JONES
"Understand, there's absolutely NO
reason why ANY country should be borrowing
money ---EVER. Least of all the USA."
-ALAN WATT
"We are using MASSIVE third world
immigration to destroy British culture
once and for all ---FOREVER."
-TONY BLAIR
While probably the greatest world de-op
op in history, the GE Fukishima global
nuclear disaster pumps on
And just days after an obviously FREEMASONIC
mind control set up wreaks calculated and
demoralizaing horror in Norway
-with Globalist media framing the event with leads like
"'Christian Terrorist' ---the world debates"
----------------------and just today---------------------
"Were Lesbian Heroes IGNORED in Norway?"
-a FINAL reality check from ALAN WATT:
"Understand, 'Free Trade'
(ie monopoly CAP-It-ALLLL-ism)
Globalism, EUGENICS (--and of
course TREASON) are ALWAYS intertwined.
ALWAYS. ALWAYS."
-ALAN WATT
SO, once again ---
HUAC the second chapter, for America
NUREMBERG, the final chapter --for the world!
REALLY
TRULY
H. Rider Haggard| 8.3.11 @ 1:28AM
How can you people not get it?!? YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY!!
Tea Party patriarch Dick Armey and subsequent studies of his "Armey Curve" have pointed this out repeatedly: too little government spending fails to set up society for economic growth, while too much government spending saps resources needed for growth. THERE IS A HAPPY OPTIMUM!! For the USA, that optimum is combined state and federal spending at 33% of GDP. (http://www.springerlink.com/content/mxtp6l2l7w67p505/fulltext.pdf).
Anyone being taxed at a rate less than 33% of his income is not pulling his own weight. It's time both the left and right to take the bull by the tail and face that situation.
axbucxdu| 8.3.11 @ 9:40PM
The government's need to borrow exponentially larger amounts of cash indicates that the "MAKE MONEY" return from all that "YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY" input has long been negative.
In other words, it should be quite clear to anyone that can count that this outrageous spending is making our current troubles worse. The question that needs to be answered is "How can YOU
peoplenot get it?!?"H. Rider Haggard| 8.4.11 @ 2:51AM
But the answer to our budget woes is so damn simple.
The 2011 deficit is $1,645 Billion, 26.7% of the total fed+state+local budgets. All we have to do is
1) Increase tax revenues by 7.43 % to hit the Armey optimum tax rate. That decreases the deficit by $458 Billion to $1,187 Billion.
2) Cut the War Department budget by 2/3. That reduces the deficit by another $643 Billion to $544 Billion
3) Outlaw private healthcare insurance. This reduces the healthcare burden nationwide by the amount of the lost administrative costs of private insurers, reducing the roughly $1,200 Billion private healthcare costs in the USA by roughly 30%, or $360 Billion, an amount which goes direclty into the pockets of consumers with a multiplier to economic growth of roughly 1.5, meaning $540 Billion new dollars enter the productive private capitalist system. The resulting economic growth quickly wipes out the remaining deficit.
It's all simple and obvious.
Craig Purcell| 8.3.11 @ 2:39PM
Why won't our media tell us the truth about cutting the rate of increase? Given these are not cuts and our language has been corrupted what chance have we to discuss the finer points of where we need to go as a country? It is all so very Orwellian and even the wars are sounding like Orwell's depiction as we continually get cowed to move in directions by fear of the other.