http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/02/09/gop-announces-first-round-proposed-spending-cuts#
This article from Fox News shows a sign that the GOP in power is doing what we wanted them to do. I'm not sure what will come from all this or if anything will even happen but it does tell me that our elected republicans are doing what they ought to do.
"Never before has Congress undertaken a task of this magnitude," said Rogers in a statement. "The cuts in this CR will represent the largest reduction in discretionary spending in the history of our nation."
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I am still waiting for John Connolly to be taken from our contributor list. He hasn't contributed anything.
ReplyDeleteDone.
ReplyDeleteCrunch time for the GOP. So far, they're not disappointing us, but I don't think they're thrilling us yet either. But keep it up, guys!
I think this is a 1st STEP towards doing something about the debt, but this is far far far far far ..... short and completely meaningless.
ReplyDeleteFrom the article above,"There are alternative ways to calculate as to the total dollar figure in the cuts. One price tag is $58 billion, compared to what President Obama proposed to spend on domestic programs. The figure rises to around $74 billion once defense reductions are considered." I could not find the actual dollar amount that the government adds to the deficit each day, but I know it is is the billion[s] dollar range. The government borrows around 47 cents on every dollar that it spends. These proposed cuts are a tiny tiny drop in the bucket and are worthless.
PAINFUL and very painful and impossible to make cuts to social security and other entitlements need to be made as part of reforming these programs to the purpose of eventually ending them gradually. The GOP is not doing it nor proposing it and they can not never ever think about actually doing it. That would mean political suicide and probably actual death for those that dare touch social security. Just look at the recent reaction over proposed cuts to social security that will affect people that are not even born yet. When shit hits the fan is the time when anything will be done to deal with this crisis.
If this is a sneak peak of what is to come, then I can take this as good news. But the fact is that this is meaningless and does not do anything to resolve the looming debt crisis that is headed America and the World's way. The true nature of the situation needs to be grasped. This is meaningless. Honestly I got taken in by this whole Obama deficit commission and talking about reducing the deficit. So I can completely understand how you got fooled. It happened to me. Then I looked into it and realized it means nothing. America is headed toward a financial crisis. The crazy CBO http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/27/cbo-director-trillion-dollar-deficits-risk-fiscal-crisis/#ixzz1CJSDE2VS
and the Pew Patterson Research Institute are 2 of the crazies that said this. When meaingful cuts are made you will know it by the economic pain you will be feeling: the economy will go into a necessary but short depression.
Yeah, Jeff it looked like they weren't going to step up to the full $100B they had talked about earlier, but then pressure from newly elected Conservative Republicans forced them to go all the way. The changing electorate and those they elect are moving things in the right direction:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259426/peace-comes-house-gop-leadership-agrees-100-billion-cuts-now-kathryn-jean-lopez
You're right that this is a baby step, but like the earlier baby steps during the lame duck session, it is moving in the right direction. "A billion here, a billion there, after a while you're talking real money!"
I think this is a good step and like I said I got fooled and believed this talk about reducing the deficit. But at the end of the day it is meaningless and a false hope. To prevent the looming debt crisis, very painful and serious cuts have to be made. Cuts and reforms that are not even being talked about and can't be made.
ReplyDeleteLets see. The government adds 3-4.5 billions dollars to the national debt each day. At 3 billion dollars a day 100 billion is about the amount of new debt the Nation will incur in 1.5 months. In reality it is the amount of debt added each day is 4 billion. The total national debt is 14 trillion. The CBO says 6 trillion will be added to the ND over the next decade. 30,70, or100 billion is insignificant compared to the total ND and insignificant compared to the amount of new debt added each day.
When I see politicians that are willing to send the economy into a necessary depression, make painful cuts, willingness to tell the public that these are necessary and pain must be endured, and a population that is mature and capable of handling this without causing riots and destroying the social cohesion of our Nation, a change in the very culture of people read "Closing of The American Mind"; after seeing this I will say the tide has changed and the looming economic crisis has a chance of being adverted. This won't happen, so people better get educated about the situation and steel themselves for what is coming in the decades ahead: not like in the movie "Escape from LA" with Kirk Russel like end of the world nor a world taken over by robots as in Terminator nor even the Great Depression, but a transformative global economic crisis that will change the international order and how individuals relate to their government and the international governing bodies.
I am in agreement of the inevitable (only because of the lack of huevos anyone has) crisis that is looming. I agree that most Americans don't truly believe it is coming nor will they allow themselves to take on the economic hardships necessary to avoid the final straw.
ReplyDeleteMy post is just a glimmer of hope. I guess though, it could even be taken as a glimmer of doom since it shows they aren't willing to take the actual appropriate steps. But maybe it will be the reverse concept of a soft tyranny. It will be a soft liberalization of the economy (not the bad liberalization). It could be the necessary PC steps that need to be taken in order to slowly turn this thing around. Probably not though.
My student body government had a rally today with the anthem of "let us be heard". It is an attempt for the students to say that they had a say in the current labor talks between the faculty and the administration. Evidently the teachers may strike if something isn't done first.
ReplyDeleteI sat and watched our elected student reps talk and chant and I don't think I heard a single sentence with substance. It was more like, "We deserve to be heard!" "What about us!", "We have a voice too!","The students are the corps of this institution!".
It just showed me that our students have been educated to get up and speak but deliver no real message. It is the Obama way.
I think the Republicans are disappointing. They never had a chance to make any real reforms because it is politically impossible.
ReplyDeleteAll students know how to do is to hate profits, capitalism, America, Western culture, etc., and to have a entitlement attitude. There is talk about reducing benefits to the HOPE scholarship that is funded by the GA. lottery, and one student's response was that we should stand up and fight for what is rightly ours. Listening to students in History class is sad and scary. A college student I know with enough credits to have a degree, so we has been in the system for a while, only knows how to hate profits and capitalism and has a deformed mind. I found one of his favorites slogans quoted almost word for word on the Communist party USA website. All students know to do is to respond to slogans and certain words as an animal would to an animal trainers whistle. The whistle blow is profits, capitalism, and America and their trained response is to respond negativetly to such words by turning into snarling beasts full of hatred chanting slogans that they have no ideal why they are saying them because they were taught to emote as opposed to think: Why are profits bad? Because people should come before profits. How can a business stay in business and provide jobs for people without making profits? What do profits represent? Greed!! Who is to determine what is too much profits if it is not the free market? Blank out. The answer is supposed to be a central planning authority. The education system does not teach people to think for purpose of creating an army of blind followers.
One guy at work asked if he was going to get holiday pay. I asked him if he was going to work on that holiday. He said no. Then I asked why would you get holiday pay for not working on a holiday. He said it was a holiday and I should get paid for it. Little examples like that is why America is done.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe true level of the proposed budget cuts by the Republicans is actually 32 billion due to baseline budgeting. "Then we have their attempt at cutting the budget. They announce a figure in the neighborhood of $75 billion. Then some reporters, including our own. Jamie Dupree, point out that the Republicans are using the old baseline budgeting trick. That is, they're announcing the budget cut not from present spending levels but from projected increased spending levels in future years. Now that's partially budget cut and partially reductions in future spending increases. This is not the sort of gamesmanship that the tea party voters signed up for last November. The real figure for Republican budget cut proposals? That would be somewhere in the $35 billion range; about one half of what they were trying to pass off to the voters as their grandiose attempt at cutting the federal budget. http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/index.html
ReplyDeleteI had a very interesting conversation in my History class today.
ReplyDeleteThese two girls were trying to empathize with my "limited government approach" on our economy. We were particularly talking about the healthcare system and I was asking why citizens should be rewarded for incompetence and people who earn a living are punished. They tried to act like they understood and said that hand outs should be given but free loaders shouldnt get them. One of the girls said, "Yeah, if people are trying to get a job they should be helped but people shouldnt be allowed to take advantage of it." She went on, "Like me, I have a son who is on the Oregon Health Plan but I'm in college getting education. So its not like I'm not trying to better myself." (fucking amazing, I know)
I said,"I disagree. They should do away with the Oregon Health Plan. If there was no social insurance for people to fall back on, maybe they would think twice before spreading their legs and putting their own lives in to economic turmoil." I then, very respectively of course, said,"no disrespect".
After clowning on the GOP's lack of accomplishment, Boortz comically ended with:
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, you tea partiers, where are you? Your job isn't done yet. Are you back to your innocuous television programs and your jock sniffing? Was last year's election. Just some sort of a lark for you? Did you wipe your hands on your shirtsleeves and say " I'm finished. Look what I've done! Now, where's my sixpack."
Good article Jeff.
You guys expect too much too fast. Give the guys a chance. $100B is a good start. Their goal is to return to the pre-Obama 2008 level (which of course is still too high), and then work from there.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party did their job in getting as many conservatives elected as possible. Now it's up to the congresspersons to do their job. If they don't, the tea party will be back, this time with a vengence (ie 3rd Party).
I would say that if they can't get the budget back to pre-Obama by this time next year, and also to have made serious proposals for getting the entitlement disaster under control, then we can say that it's time for the Tea Party to go back to the trenches.
Sounds to me like Boortz is the clown. Now, leave me alone while I enjoy my sixpack.
Well, if everything that Jeff predicts comes true, which I agree that it is not out of the question at all, then Boortz is definitely not a clown.
ReplyDeleteThose who indulge in an EPICUREAN lifestyle during the time for action are just as guilty as the liberals in power.
(I was dying to use a word from my Classical Greek philosophy)
The reason Jeff's predictions are worrisome is that he is predicting what will happen if politicians and everyone else take the easy choice at every turn. I think the tide is turning and politicians are and will be able to have more support for the harder decisions. More support for hard choices as time goes on, not less. The Republican leadership tried to sleaze out of their $100B commitment and they were forced back. This hasn't happened before. So far, so good. It's a start.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party did their job during the last election. Time to take a break and do their real jobs for a bit. And drink some Henry's. I suppose Hefeweizen would be living the Epicurean lifestyle.
I think Americans will do what is needed. I think cultures generally avoid driving off the cliff, though I think Greece is a good test case. Both finanically and demographically (of course they're related) they may be driving off the cliff.
Bud-D "The Republican leadership tried to sleaze out of their $100B commitment and they were forced back." The actual amount of the proposed cuts is actually around 30 billion taking into consideration that the Republicans are using the "base line budgeting trick". Most of their cuts are coming from future spending increases. An analogy is that instead of spending a 100 dollars they decided to cut it back to spending 70 dollars.
ReplyDeleteVery dramatic changes need to be made. If they happen, then it will change the conclusion that I came to. I don't see that happening. The tea party doesn't do it. But maybe people will wake up and create a real and meaningful reaction against the out of control government spending.
Bud-D, your are absolutely correct in stating that it is time to drink. http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/11/visual-aid-how-insignificant-are-those-big-gop-budget-cuts-we-keep-hearing-about/
ReplyDeleteEven tea party people aren't willing to cut social security or make the necessary cuts. The tide has not changed.