National Debt

The Budget Battle Over H.R. 1: Dishonest GOP, So No Further Cuts!

Ronald 1 Comment

The House Republicans claim to be working toward deficit reduction, and are threatening a government shutdown, and the answer, after looking at what they are demanding, is MAKE MY DAY! GO AHEAD AND SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN! YOU WILL BE BLAMED FOR IT AS IN 1995!

The whole discussion is dishonest, because the debate is not just over deficit reduction!

Understand that the Democrats and President Barack Obama have agreed to $33 billion cuts, while the Republicans have demanded $61 billion, and some Tea Party Movement members of the GOP still want $100 billion!

But while the Democrats have compromised, the Republicans have not, and they have an agenda beyond deficit reduction!

The conservatives are trying to promote other causes in H. R. 1, and the Democrats need to stand strong and proud and show they have some backbone!

Why is this the case? Consider the following:

The Republicans want to block funding for the Obama Health Care law!

The Republicans want to ban funding for financial regulatory reform!

The Republicans want to block the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing mercury and other pollutants from cement plants!

The Republicans want to block the EPA from reducing carbon dioxide pollution from power plants and refineries!

The Republicans want to block Department of Education regulations on for-profit colleges, which have victimized students with high debts without helping them gain employment, an extremely corrupt system!

The Republicans want to prohibit funding for a consumer products complaints database!

They also want to prohibit federal funds being used by Planned Parenthood for women’s health services!

The Republicans want to wipe out family planning programs for poor women, which includes medical and health services!

Also, the desire is to wipe out National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System gaining any federal funding!

This attempt to wipe out education, health care, environmental protection, financial reform, and consumer reform, and ignore women’s issues is an attack on basic needs of the American people, in favor of the rich and the corporations, and MUST NOT be agreed to by Democrats!

As the old saying is, the Democrats should declare that they will negotiate a fair reduction in the deficit, but will NOT agree to such outrageous demands as above until HELL FREEZES OVER!

On The Way To Armageddon: April 8 or May 16?

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The United States is on the way to Armageddon, in regards to the national budget, as the impending date of April 8 is coming upon us, whereby if there is no agreement on budget cuts, the federal government will, effectively, shut down, to the detriment of all of the American people!

Speaker of the House John Boehner is caving in to the Tea Party Movement members in his Republican Party, and refusing to compromise, with the Democrats agreeing to go more than half way, with $33 billion in cuts, as compared the GOP demand of $61 billion in cuts!

And the problem is that an even more dangerous deadline is brewing: six weeks from today, Monday, May 16, when if there is no action by both houses, the government’s debt limit will be reached, and without an extension of the debt limit, the national government will be in bankruptcy, unable to pay its bonds, likely to cause an economic disaster nationally and overseas, as the American economy and its reputation as good payers of debts will have been destroyed!

Do the Tea Party activists in both houses of Congress care about this? NO, and that includes Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, both reckless and irresponsible, along with many of their colleagues in both houses!

If either April 8 or May 16 lead to disaster, it will be the Republican party, not Barack Obama and the Democrats, who will ultimately be held responsible, just as they were in 1995 under Speaker Newt Gingrich, leading to the re-election of Bill Clinton, and the weakening of the GOP majority in both houses of Congress!

The Republican “Balanced Budget” Amendment Proposal: Preposterous As It Has Always Been!

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The Republican Party is again out on a tear promoting a so called “Balanced Budget Amendment” to solve the future problem of national debt!

This idea has been promoted on and off since the 1980s as a solution to the growing national debt! It is as preposterous an idea now as it has always been!

It puts the federal government in a “strait jacket”, unable to react to economic collapse or foreign war! Just as no family can be certain as to their expenses in any calendar year due to unforeseen circumstances, the government also cannot possibly know ahead of time what the total government expenses will be!

The proposed amendment is just an excuse to avoid the ultimate responsibility of government beyond defense of the nation: to deal with the nation’s basic needs, domestic and foreign, through TAXATION, every person’s basic commitment as a citizen to pay taxes as part of their patriotic duty!

And just remember that it was under Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush that the national debt multiplied, with SEVEN TRILLION out of the $10 Trillion national debt in 2008 being due to Reagan ($2 trillion) and Bush ($5 trillion)!

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels: The “Phantom” Republican Candidate For President

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Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has been gaining a lot of newsprint lately, hailed by George Will and David Brooks as the “best” candidate that the Republican Party could run for President.

Daniels has been coy about such a candidacy, saying that his family is not thrilled about his running, and that he has an important job facing him, as he continues as Governor of the Hoosier State.

But let’s look at Daniels and see what his positives are, to an outside observer.

Daniels has correctly brought attention to what he calls the new “Red Menace”, the term used in the struggle against Communism in the past. The new “red” is red ink, he declared, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, in what was called the best speech given by anyone at that gathering.

Daniels also suggested that the Republicans stop pursuing their social agenda on gay marriage and abortion, and focus on the economic crisis the nation faces, an idea which turned off social conservatives.

Daniels came across at that conference, and has otherwise, as rational and reasonable, and has avoided controversial statements and actions, unlike many of the other potential GOP candidates for President. He is, obviously, an intelligent, thoughtful man, which is a definite plus.

However, he has negatives as well as positives, including:

1. He lacks charisma, is not photogenic, and is only 5 feet 7 inches tall, none of it really important, but can be perceived as negatives for a Presidential candidate.

2. As Indiana Governor, as far back as 2005, he ended collective bargaining in the state by executive order, an action which is now seen as a negative in the middle of the controversy going on in several Midwestern states, most notably Wisconsin, but which has created new problems in Indiana, with demonstrations and demands for change on that issue.

3. As Budget Director under George W. Bush, the budget went through the ceiling because of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus an unfunded Medicare prescription plan, so his credentials on budgetary matters is compromised, when he speaks out on that issue now.

This whole discussion may be just an academic exercise, if Daniels decided not to run. In any case, were he to enter the race, it would, at the least, raise the level of intellectual discussion in the Republican Party, which right now has a list of potential candidates who seem more interested in controversy and confrontation than serious discussion of the important issue facing the nation, with the exception of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman!

The Budget Crisis And “False” Solutions: Earmarks, Space, And Foreign Aid

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As the debate continues over how to deal with the national deficit and the national debt, we hear simple but false solutions, which demonstrate the total ignorance, or the total demagoguery of those who profess those solutions!

We hear so much about “earmarks”, the awarding of federal money to congressional districts and states, brought about by Congressmen and Senators who are bringing home the “pork” or the “bacon”. We are told that such expenditures are a pure waste of taxpayer money, even though such spending is part of the lifeblood of American politics, the expectation that those who are elected to represent us have a responsibility to promote substantial improvements to the infrastructure, and which help to create economic growth and development. This is, in fact, one of the most important roles of a member of Congress until now, but apparently such earmarks will not be allowed over the next two years, something that will not please voters and citizens of our congressional districts, likely to lead to discontent and possible defeat of those who refuse to do what is the whole basis of the political system!

The point is one would think inordinate amounts of funds go to earmarks, when in actuality, it is only between one and two percent of the entire national budget!

Then we have those who condemn any investment in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the space program, failing to see the scientific advances promoted by such investment. But it is part of the anti-science mentality of many, who however are only too willing to give tax breaks to churches and synagogues and allow clergy to avoid paying taxes. It is part of the KNOW NOTHING mentality, that science is unimportant, next to the all powerful force of organized religion gaining subsidies. And the reality is the space investment of the US government is one half of one percent, as so emphasized by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist and leader at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.

Additionally, we have complaints that we are giving away taxpayer money to foreign governments, including Israel and Egypt, as well as other nations around the world that we wish to create a stable influence on, to promote American national security and defense, but one must understand there are those who would wish to put America into an isolationist foreign policy. In any case, the total foreign aid budget is no more than one percent annually, but one would get a different impression from those who decry any foreign aid investment.

So while it is fine to waste money on many defense programs, and give tax breaks to the wealthy, many corporations, and religious institutions, we should go ahead and fail to improve the physical plant and infrastructure of the nation, dismiss the importance of promoting science, and take a utopian view of the world and bring ourselves back to pre 1941 mentality!

It is the unfortunate stupidity and ignorance of many that leads to these ridiculous beliefs and promotion of a world view that will set America back to the 19th century! 🙁

The GOP And Tea Party War On Cities And Quality Of Life In America! :(

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The Republican Party and the Tea Party Movement have declared war on American cities and the quality of life in America, with their insane call for massive cuts in spending, while continuing to promote a tax policy that will add to the already massive redistribution of wealth to the top two percent of the American people at the expense of everyone else! 🙁

When we are faced with loss of police, firefighters, sanitation workers, teachers, nurses, social workers, librarians, prison guards and other essential public service workers, and are ready and willing to add millions of people to the unemployment rolls, that is a crime against humanity, and particularly those living in cities!

When the cuts will endanger everyone and cheat the poor, the sick, the young, the elderly, and the quality of life for all of us on a daily basis, that is a crime against humanity!

When the bulk of the loss will be visited against the “blue” areas of America–with the biggest assault against New York City, Chicago, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco, it is clear that this attack on the deficit is just a political assault by the Republican Party against Democratic strongholds!

If these and other cities and major metropolitan areas are to suffer losses that will impact everyone’s life in a massive way, then the country is not just losing temporarily, but is being fundamentally harmed for decades and generations long term!

What the GOP is trying to do, in league with the Tea Party Movement, is return America to the 19th century, to a time before this nation became an urban, modern society! The Gilded Age time of maldistribution of wealth and exploitation of minorities and immigrants is returning after decades of real progress toward social justice!

The government has been starved from tax revenue by policies of Republican Presidents and Congresses, who have been very willing to add to the national debt instead, rather than make those who have more to pay more as a part of the responsibility of success and opportunity that this country has offered them!

The “American Dream” is being destroyed by those who never have cared about the middle class, the poor, and the vulnerable in our society. They think mouthing about “Christian values” replaces real commitment to practice what one preaches.

This has all been done in the image of promoting religion but forgetting the basic teaching of Jesus Christ that we are our “brother’s keeper”.

Buyer’s Remorse: Second And Third Thoughts On Tax Deal Between Barack Obama And The GOP! :(

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The tax legislation negotiated between President Barack Obama and the Republican leadership this week has had much reaction from all sides of the political spectrum, and it has been a long week of serious reflection on the value of the arrangement.

Originally, the author called this a “Pearl Harbor” event, and then was swayed by many commentaries that called it a sign of bipartisanship, and switched his view to support.

Upon further reflection this weekend, and after a great discussion with my son David, who has worked on Capitol Hill or with people on Capitol Hill for the past four and a half years, I must now express what I call second and third thoughts on the agreement, and withdraw my support of the deal, sorry to say! 🙁

While bipartisanship is important as a concept, it is unrealistic to expect that there will be any truthful cooperation between the GOP in the House and the growing Republican minority in the Senate with President Obama.

What it comes down to is that the wealthy received a continuation of a tax cut which is what has created the tremendous national debt growth since 2001. What was the so called “Bush tax cuts” are now the “Obama tax cuts”! 🙁

While it is true that unemployment compensation was allowed to be extended for another 13 months, the reality is what will happen in a year when unemployment will still be very high, and the Republicans in the House will refuse to promote a bill that will extend it? 🙁

What will those millions of people, many of them middle aged or older, with little education, no money to do job training, already losing their homes, unable to support their families on minimum wage jobs if they could get them, be expected to do to survive? Are the Republicans going to give a damn what happens to these families, including single mothers with children, and not just minorities, but millions of whites as well, when they now argue that many people on unemployment compensation don’t want to work? 🙁

What about the reality that the so called “99ers” do not get any extension at all now, and apparently never will, and will be living on the streets, or in their cars if they are not dispossessed? What about the harm being done to millions of children who are victims of this economic mess? 🙁

Beyond the unemployment compensation issue, by lowering the Social Security tax by two percent for two years, the Social Security system is being harmed, and when Obama calls for a return to the original 6.2 percent tax for Social Security in 2012, the Republicans will call it a tax increase and work to prevent it, therefore undermining the whole social safety net that Social Security represents. 🙁

It is clear that if it is left up to the Republican Party, the social safety net represented by Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be destroyed over time, and that will make the country even more stratified, whereby by 2050, half the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of the top one percent, instead of the present 24 percent, brought about by the massive tax cuts to the wealthy since 2001! 🙁

Also, supposedly the government is committed to prevention of increase of the national debt, but has now agreed to legislation which will add nearly a trillion to the debt, which the GOP will blame on Obama in 2012.

So while Charles Krauthammer might say that Obama has improved his chances of winning a second term in 2012 by making this deal, the question is even if that were to be true, what is most important is NOT whether any person wins the Presidency in 2012 (although Obama would be the best choice available), but how it affects the welfare of the American people for the long term!

While obviously the liberal Democratic base cannot expect to win all that they want to occur, for Obama to have alienated them to the point that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid absented themselves from the signing ceremony for the tax deal, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was present, is disturbing!

Has Obama made a deal with the “devil” and turned against the “angels”? It could be that is the case! 🙁

Of course, some might say in refutation, that Obama wanted to avoid pain and suffering for the unemployed and for middle class taxpayers, but it seems more than ever that by what he agreed to, he may just have delayed the pain and suffering, and wounded the Social Security system and the social safety net to boot! 🙁

It may very well be that the long range effect may be more harmful than the short term gain, whatever it might be seen as being! 🙁

Tenth Anniversary Of Bush V. Gore Supreme Court Decision: Its Effect On America! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court intervention in the 2000 Presidential Election, the infamous case of Bush V. Gore.

The Republican majority Supreme Court took an unconstitutional action, unprecedented in American history, when it interfered in the vote recount in Florida to declare George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore by the measly margin of 537 votes despite a substantial popular vote lead of Gore, throwing the 25 electoral votes of Florida into the Bush camp, and making him the closest winner of the Electoral College since the 1876 Presidential Election, when Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the electoral college by one vote, despite a popular vote lead by Samuel Tilden.

There was nothing in the Constitution that provided for such a Supreme Court intervention, and for a Court with Antonin Scalia preaching “originalism”, it was a shocking abuse of power, but with no recourse by Gore or anyone else, as the old adage of Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes reverberated: “The Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is!”

The effects of eight years of the George W. Bush Presidency have been massive, most of it bad, and one has to wonder how the nation would have been under eight years of Al Gore.

Of course, conservatives and Republicans will be praising the fact that Al Gore never made it to the White House, but it is clear that in many ways, life would have been different in America had Gore taken the oath of office.

Among the differences:

1. The war in Afghanistan would have been on the front burner, not on the back burner, and Osama Bin Laden would likely have been captured or killed, instead of being allowed to escape.
2. The Iraq War would likely have not been waged, and instead the problem of Iran likely would have been addressed in a way whereby Iran would not be the major menace it is today in international affairs, as the Iraq War only strengthened Iran in the Middle East.
3. The reaction to Hurricane Katrina would have been far different, and New Orleans would be further along toward recovery with far less loss of life at the time of the tragedy.
4. The national debt would not have been doubled, as it was from 5 to 10 trillion under Bush, as the massive Bush tax cuts would not have occurred, and the massive spending on two wars at the same time would not have been done.
5. The Medicare Part D legislation would not have occurred, but if it developed in any form, would have been paid for, not adding massively to the national debt.
6. Torture would not have been endorsed by President Gore as it has been by President George W. Bush.
7.We would not have witnessed the abuse of power by Vice President Dick Cheney, who scarred the Vice Presidency’s reputation.
8. There never would have been a second time in the Defense Department for Donald Rumsfeld, who served earlier under President Gerald Ford, and that would have been good for the military who go into our combat operations.
9. Movement on the environment, particularly on global warming and climate change, would have been further accomplished than it has been.
10. The issue of poverty, which was being pursued as a future subject for consideration by Bill Clinton in his last year as
President, would have been a major agenda item by a President Gore.
11.The Gore Presidency would have been, generally, another age of progressive reform, more the true successor to the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, than the comparatively disappointing Presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in the eras of domestic reform.
12. Health care reform would likely have been passed years earlier than it has been under President Barack Obama.

It is clear that America today would be a very different country had only the Supreme Court stayed out of the Presidential Election of 2000, and the nation today suffers from the tragedy of eight years of George W. Bush! 🙁

Economic And Political “Pearl Harbor” For Progressive Cause: The Surrender Of Barack Obama! :(

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Today, December 7, marks the 69th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing this nation into World War II!

Today also marks the first day waking up and realizing that Barack Obama has surrendered to the Republican Party and the conservative movement by his so called “compromise” to prevent a rise in taxes on the middle class and to allow unemployment compensation extension for 13 months!

Obama came into office declaring no more tax cuts for the super wealthy, but now he has caved in, sadly, and will likely see many progressives and liberals abandon him, perceiving him as weak, ineffective, wimpy, lacking “cajones”! 🙁

There was no easy answer, of course, and one must realize that the nation overwhelmingly repudiated the Democrats in the midterm congressional elections!

But the hope and promise of the Obama Presidency seems to have been spent, and he seems unlikely to accomplish much more in the next two years! 🙁

Meanwhile, another estimated $900 billion will be added to the national debt, only worsening the long range prognosis for this nation’s economy! 🙁

We are rapidly moving toward the possibility of economic bankruptcy, but the super wealthy will not be harmed by it, only the middle and lower classes! 🙁

The country is being “raped” by the upper class elite, and the danger is that when the middle and lower classes finally “get it”, there could be bloodshed and violence as a result, and the nation could rapidly decline as a super power and defender of freedom around the world! 🙁

So this is a moment to mourn, not only for the losses at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but for our long term losses economically and socially in future years, because of what the voters in November stupidly did, and the “surrender” by President Obama last evening! 🙁

Barack Obama And The Bush Tax Cuts: If Extended For The Rich, A Political Disaster For The Democratic Party! :(

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President Obama will meet next week with Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress after his return from his Asian trip, and he MUST stand strong against the GOP demand for continuation of tax cuts for the top two percent of Americans, who already have too much of the entire national income!

Just because the Democrats lost approximately 60 seats in the House of Representatives, the most since 1938, does not mean that we need a Democratic Party which acts as if it is the step sister of the Republican Party!

If Obama caves in on this matter, he will lose much of the base of his party, and endanger future economic recovery, and cause the likelihood of a challenge in the Democratic Presidential primaries in 2012!

If that happens, while Obama would almost certainly win the nomination–as William Howard Taft did in 1912 over Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford did in 1976 over Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter did in 1980 over Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown, and George HW Bush did in 1992 over Pat Buchanan–it would certainly weaken him for the election campaign, and likely cause his defeat, as it did for all four of the above Presidents challenged in the past century for the nomination of their party!

No one can seriously consider that Obama intends to do anything about the burgeoning national debt, if he permits an additional $700 billion to be added to the debt over the next ten years, just to keep “peace” with the Republican party, as that party has no interest in cooperation, and has made clear their major goal is to cause Obama to be a one term President!

So, Mr. President, show some guts and courage, and do NOT cave in to the GOP! Refuse to go along with tax cuts for the wealthy who do not need it! Show principle and conviction, and know that loyal Democrats will be there defending you, and know that the average middle class American, including many Independents, who are struggling to survive and keep his or her employment and housing, will regain their senses by 2012, and reward you and your party for being truly the party of the middle class, unwilling to continue the GOP plot to enrich the top two percent at the expense of the rest of the population!