…has blown up a bi-partisan plan. Because reelection is more important to him than saving the economy, or country.
[Update a few minutes later]
Our petulant and inept president.
It’s a bad combination. And I think that more and more people are starting to recognize it.
[Tuesday morning update]
Is Barack Obama a has been? I think he’s a never was, and people are finally starting to figure it out.
[Update a few minutes later]
Thoughts on the Obama plan:
As the president faced the nation on Monday evening, he knew his economic legacy was on the line. Historians will judge him for his economic stewardship.
The assessment will not be good. Going deep into his presidential term, he presides over a country that suffers from high unemployment, record home foreclosures, and a no-growth economy. But when the most pivotal issue of our decade emerged — a $16.8 trillion debt crisis — where was the “Obama plan”?
The sad truth is there is no Obama plan and there never has been a plan. The president gingerly approached the debt crisis as he has approached other issues: intellectually, coolly, passively, and with great detachment.
Bill Clinton never had a plan to balance the budget, either. It didn’t happen until the Republicans took over. But not having grown up a red-diaper baby, he was more ideologically flexible than Barack Obama.
[Update mid morning]
Remembering the golden age of Clinton. Accurately, unlike the Democrats who think that the boom was a result of tax increases.
The adult:
We have run out of time. And they are going to have to explain to me how it is that we are going to avoid default.
Gee, you’ve been President now for 3 years and have yet to provide a budget that even your party would vote “yea”; and you’re wondering why you’ve run out of time?
And they can come up with any plans that they want and bring them up here and we will work on them. The only bottom line that I have is that we have to extend this debt ceiling through the next election, into 2013.
Why? The debt limit increased 3 times between 2006 and 2008. Personally, I’d support having to approve a debt limit increase/decrease every April 15th or November 1st.
Well of course it is. But that in itself is not a serious complaint, any more than is the complaint that it’s more important to Chevron to make a profit than Save The Planet.
The problem is that this President can’t think of a way to get himself re-elected and save the economy, or country. Since doing so isn’t all that hard — plenty of Presidents have managed it — that means the real problem here is that Obama is stupid.
As a libertarian, I’m usually one to say, “A pox on both their houses,” but in this case, I think the Republicans generally see what a serious situation we’re in and that continued spendathons are unsustainable. I’d like to see them get radical about cutting spending across the board, but at least they see the need to get things under control.
The Democrats–especially the president–seem to be treating this as merely a political battle. In other words, business as usual. I’m amazed at how out of touch with reality the party leadership has become.
September 30. End of each fiscal year, at which time the previous ceiling expires regardless of whether a new one has been set to succeed it.
It amazes me when the media talks about certain things being “politically impossible.” So holding office is more important than the well-being of this nation, and that’s okay? I’d slash and burn and be damned to the political consequences if I were in office. It’s not like an ex-Congressperson can’t get a high-paying job after he gets booted.
they are going to have to explain to me how it is that we are going to avoid default.
We are supposed to believe that the President and his coterie of Goldman-Sachs employees cannot do third-grade arithmetic?
They’re all idiots and the people that support them are idiots including the media idiots that keep proclaiming truths that are not and don’t call out when we are lied to.
This is a consequence of using terms in ways to fool constituents and accepting such. We hold no truth to be self evident…
The debt ceiling does not have to be raised and will not cause the end of the world and obligations can be paid. The truth shall set you free.
Another condescending speech from the hot air in the White House. The man has no shame.
Todays presidential lies…
“Recession required us to spend more”
“Republicans want no revenue at all”
“Both parties agree on the amount of cuts”
“We all want a government that lives within its means.”
“No tax increases to those under $250k”
He’s the new Reagan?!
“Raising the debt ceiling does not mean more spending”
“Default…” THE BIG LIE. We could only default if Obama breaks the law. we have enough income to not default.
“Credit downgrade…” is because of debt ceiling rather than too much spending!
“FAIR…fair…fair…fair…progress…fair…”
“many want govt. to live within its means” Not including this president.
“balance approach…” means let president have his way (Now he’s Jefferson.)
Kumbaya… from the East Room.
So the sainted Ronald Reagan signed-off on 17 debt limit increases in 8 years, which by my math is an average of about every 6 months. But BHO says a mere 6-month increase now will be the end of truth, justice, and The American Way (and the end of grandma, college students, home ownership, you-name-it). I guess I’m one of those idiot voters that just doesn’t get the point or can’t do math, or something. 🙂
You left out a few, to wit: every single other word Obama said, including “and” and “the.”
Giving BO the benefit of the doubt (now I’m O’Reilly!) I didn’t consider “and” or “the” to be lies. 😉
I used to hear people say “if America is the best country in the world, why do they have to borrow money from the rest of the world?” At some point that became a little too sensitive to complain about.. and I guess that’s when the denial set in.
I wish Boehner had done the math for the President. There isn’t enough gross income among those making over $250,000 to close the deficit. That is, even if you raised their taxes to 100% you would still be short. In fact, you’d still be short by more than the amount of “cuts” the President proposes (which are actually just slowdowns in increases in spending).
This is just Father Coughlin with more melanin.
What’s a little creepy is that the President certainly knows that his nostrums won’t work. Standing there and looking right in your eye and lying about it is off-putting. Well, the best political operatives of the 20th century said the Big Lie is the way to go.
Money has a time value. Borrowing is a way of taking advantage of that. Borrowing is only wrong when it’s done for the wrong reason. The only right reason for borrowing is that your return on the borrowed amount is greater than the cost of the loan. For politicians this isn’t even a consideration.
ken, yes. The example I gave earlier today was borrowing money to buy a car which will allow you to land a job that pays more. But borrowing money just because you want something now, instead of saving and delaying your gratification.. why, that’s the American dream!
On the other hand, there was once a time when borrowing money to buy a house was *vastly* more sensible than paying rent.. so much so that it was seen as an investment and saving wrapped up into one. The financial markets destroyed that though. 🙁
Using the Bush-era Republican Congress as the benchmark for “normal,” Obama is engaging in a decade’s worth of borrowing every year. It’s like the debit half of the government’s income sheet is in 2011 and the credit half is at around 2035. We need to cut a trillion from the annual budget, for starters.
We also need someone to take a close look at the government impositions on job creators, see what we can get rid of and what we can make more efficient and less costly. On the latter note Sarbanes-Oxley comes to mind. The whole idea behind SOX was to ensure against corporate accounting fraud. Why all the complex Rube Goldberg machinery? Aren’t there simpler alternatives, other than hiring James O’Keefe to make surprise visits to accounting departments?
I just found this which supports my idea of how a social security trust fund should be done…
http://blogs.forbes.com/merrillmatthews/2011/05/12/how-three-texas-counties-created-personal-social-security-accounts-and-prospered/
Sometimes I suspect I’m not as stupid as I think I am. :0
BHO’s speech reminds me of Clevon Little in “Blazing Saddles”. He’s holding a gun to his head and saying, “Vote my way or the Nigger gets it”. Only this time the townfolk ain’t buying it.
Wish I had big brass ones like Orville.
“But BHO says a mere 6-month increase now will be the end of truth, justice, and The American Way (and the end of grandma, college students, home ownership, you-name-it).
Wow this was a failed attempt to flip the argument. If you can actually do the math a 6 month increase will in fact not take you out past the next presidential election. An extension out past the next election is what Obama has been negotiating as his bottom line all along. You see, unlike the other presidents who have had to deal with bi-yearly/yearly debt limit talks (and still find ways to get reelected) Obama knows another budget debate will crimp his record-setting campaign fund collecting town hall schedule. But anyways, it all a moot point in my opinion because I was getting pretty upset with all the increases under Bush as well.
I saw little of the speech. My ire for him at this point is so high, I almost spit when I see him. But I did see his ‘saunter’ to the podium. He looked like George Jefferson! Chest out, shoulders back, chin stuck out. Or was it just his Mussolini walk? Again.
The last time I saw an African-American guy, walk toward me like that, he ‘asked’ for my wallet!!!
Oh, wait…
And, is it me, or is he losing his (all to thin for my liking) veneer of educated, ‘liberal white-guy approved’, gentility. When he walked to that podium, I was waiting for some South-Side of Chicago, street lingo.
“…WTF do you crazy WHITE MFers think you doin’, tellin’ ME no!? I’m B’rack HusSEIN Ohhh-BAMA!!! You cain’t tell me NO!! I’m the GD Presiden’ of da’ United STATES!…”
I’ve never seen anything to top him, that’s for certain.
I have to conclude that the democrats have redefined “default” to mean “we can’t keep spending at the expected budgeted levels”, as opposed to “we can’t afford to pay legal obligations.” Then again, muddled theftist thinking may think “expected budgeted levels” is a legal obligation.
Re: “politically impossible”, there is an infestation of parasites in this country who care more about their regular meal of blood than the health of the host. And the parasites vote for whoever they expect to deliver their meal. Democrats can’t afford to lose that vote, and like the parasites care more about keeping power than the health of the country. Time to salt the leaches.
How about “of”?
“Aren’t there simpler alternatives, other than hiring James O’Keefe to make surprise visits to accounting departments?”
I can’t believe the balls on this guy. For his next sting he will have someone named Mothra trying to get the feds to sue his employer Godzilla for having a hostile work environment.
McGehee, I’m still trying to catch up with ‘what the meaning of is, is.’ Slick doesn’t even begin to describe these liars. Clinton at least was a skillful liar. Obama is just stupid. This actually being about how low the media has fallen. Well, and how stupid his followers are for accepting his drivel.
But my biggest disappointment isn’t even with the media. They couldn’t get away with it were it not for republican eunuchs. This is like blaming Bill Gates for all the problems in the software industry when the actual problem is how bad the competition is.
Principles matter. Those in power need to figure out two things. What their principles are and how to communicate them. Like her or not, Sarah is effective at having and presenting principles. People stand up and cheer when she speaks because she has a way of expressing her principles in a Reaganistic way (she’s isn’t Reagan, but who is… Obama??? Yeah, I almost fall over every time they trot that one out.)
O’Keefe is the Beldar Conehead of journalism. He’s got the most preposterous aliases, but they fool everyone he’s trying to fool.
Maybe he can use an iPhone app to simulate the tiny Mothra priestesses.