It’s amazing how the deficit got so big, the Bush tax cuts take up a huge portion of our recent debt and of course Bush’s wars.
Let’s call this an open thread, what are you all doing this weekend. Anything fun? I have my 30 year High School reunion. Yeee haaa!
As Rachel Maddow has been saying for a long time, Republicans have no shame….none at all. They will go on television, radio or whatever and blatantly contradict themselves, lie, mislead, insinuate falsehoods and vilify innocent people and institutions with no second thought. The ironic part to me has always been their preaching out of the other side of their mouths about Christian values and morality while they lie, lie, lie. If there is a god, these fuckers sure ain’t going to be hanging with him when they cross over. And if there is a hell, these fuckers will be in the area with no air conditioning…you can bet on it.
When President Obama and the Democrats won in 2008, almost immediately we heard Boehner, Ryan and the whole lying bunch immediately start preaching about fiscal responsibility. My first thought was, yeah, now you care about fiscal responsiblity after George W. Bush ran up our debt by giving it all to rich people, Haliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater and the rest of their rich buddies. They did this with no shame whatsoever. And the dumb ass media just let them spew it, didn’t challenge them, didn’t point out the inconsistencies….they just played along with it like they usually do. E.J. Dionne has an excellent piece that speaks to this tactic that Republicans have been using for many years. Go read the whole piece, it is most excellent. Here is my favorite part…
Where were the moderate deficit hawks in all this? They have a very bad habit. When conservatives blow up our fiscal position with their tax cuts, the deficit hawks are silent – or, at best, mumble a few words of mild reproach to have something on the record – and let the budget wreckage happen. Quite a few in their ranks (yes, including some Democrats) actually supported the Bush tax cuts.
But when it’s the progressives’ turn in power, the deficit hawks become ferocious. They denounce liberals if they do not move immediately to address the shortfall left by conservatives. Thus, conservatives get to govern as they wish. Liberals are labeled as irresponsible unless they abandon their own agenda and devote their every moment in power to cutting the deficit.
It’s a game for chumps. The conservatives play it brilliantly. By winning their tax cuts and slashing government revenue, they constrain what liberals can do whenever they get back into power.
Pretty slick little game they have going. It fits well with their lying, philandering, cheating, stealing, lining their pockets and all the other very moral things they do collectively as a party. And of course it is only going to get worse in light of the Citizen’s United ruling that will put an end to American democracy in short order, in my humble opinion.
My thoughts on the President’s proposed budget are mixed. I’ll be honest and tell you that I won’t spend much time worrying about it because it is a long process and there will be many ups and downs along the way. Steve Benen continues to be the best blogger out there and since I frequently agree with him, I’ll just let him say it for me.
But Obama’s preferred approach is about making him appear reasonable against GOP extremism. As the fight progresses, the president will tell the public, “I presented a budget plan with deep cuts, even to programs I care about, which will lower the deficit considerably. Instead of working on a sensible compromise, Republicans are going too far and now want to shut down the government.” The point is to push the GOP into fighting the White House to do some very unpopular things — things the president and his team suspect Republicans will drop when push comes to shove, for fear of a public backlash.
Since the GOP won the House in November, I’ve been wondering how the budget process, including this current years budget, would work out. Republicans have been in “stupid” mode for two years, just saying anything they want, not proposing anything themselves, shooting at a big target presented by the mess left by the Bush administration. Someone had to get us out of the mess and it sure wasn’t Republicans stepping up to the plate and I guess since they were out of power, they had every reason to play the game that way. But now that they control the House and are responsible for writing the budget and passing laws, well, it’s time for them to step up to the plate.
I know some left bloggers are pissed at the President for comparing the government budget to a family’s budget, saying they are like apples and oranges. That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that the family budget analogy can’t be used to help the general public understand it. I think his tact is dead on, especially with so many village idiots entering the political process. If he doesn’t explain it in a way that the general population understands, he leaves himself open with Republicans using every trick they can to appeal to these folks. Education is the key to fighting against the Republicans tactics.
I’ll just wrap up this post with the idea that during the campaign, President Obama talked about being fiscally responsible and taking on tough issues including spending. I’m sure a large part of the progressive wing didn’t hear that or didn’t believe him, thinking he was just saying it to get elected. Well, just like with Afghanistan, he meant what he said and is doing exactly what he said he would do. I may not like it, but I knew it when I voted for him, so I’m dealing with it.
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