Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Damn the American economy: full speed ahead for the public sector unions!

John Hayward -- you may know him as "Doctor Zero" from Hot Air's Greenroom -- says that "the American presidency has come off the rails."

On Friday, right after his Democrat colleagues in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to kill the Cut, Cap and Balance Act without a real vote, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland before a carefully screened, very supportive audience. He said a few interesting things in this relaxed and comfortable environment.

Obama blamed divided government for the debt ceiling crisis. “I’m sympathetic to your view that this would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own,” he told a questioner who brought up the theory, fashionable in some liberal circles, that the 14th Amendment gives the President power to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally. The President went on to remark, with a chuckle, that this would give him more time to spend with his daughters.

In addition to recoiling in horror at the thought of America’s chief executive being arrogant enough to even speculate about the joys of dictatorship out loud, a thoughtful town hall attendee might ask why the Democrats didn’t balance the budget when they had total control of Washington from 2009 to 2010, and point out that they have controlled both houses of Congress since 2006. But you’re not supposed to ask questions like that.

Obama also told his audience that “it’s hard to keep up with all the different plans” for handling the debt crisis. No, it isn’t. There’s are only two real plans: the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, which enjoys the support of a huge majority of Americans, or leaving the debt ceiling where it is. There are no other plans. There are only vague outlines… absolutely none of which have come from President Obama, who has made no concrete proposals at all.

Hayward has a memorable phrase that may truly become Obama's nom de guerre: "Architect of the new Depression":

[Obama says that] “we’ve made good choices so far.” (I am not making this up. He really said that.) He also declared, “The United States of America doesn’t run out without paying the tab. We pay our bills. We meet our obligations.”

Um… Mr. President? Running a huge deficit means, by definition, that you are not “paying your bills,” and you are the one who keeps threatening that your government will not “meet its obligations,” by shutting off Social Security checks, veterans benefits, and other essential services.

Hayward asserts that there's absolutely no reason to pay attention to Obama because he has yet to produce a plan. How can Republicans negotiate with... nothing? They can't.

And the word from Capitol Hill is not encouraging. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is reported to have put together a $2.5 trillion deficit reduction package -- over ten years -- that would lift the debt ceiling until 2013.

This is a joke and the Republicans should not play ball. That figure represents only 18 months of Democrat debt; those minuscule cuts would almost certainly result in a downgrade by Standard & Poor's. They've said as much.

Do you recall what George Bush’s final deficit was? It was loudly decried as a “record-breaking” figure in the mainstream press, and it was indeed far too high. The amount was about $458 billion. Barack Obama racks up that much debt in three months... The angry President who railed against oil companies and corporate jet owners one more time on Friday is a man lost in delusions the rest of us should refuse to entertain. He’s treating an existential fiscal crisis as a political opportunity to grab some more tax money, and goose his re-election numbers a bit.

Actually, he's trying to keep the public sector unions -- which funnel money directly into Obama's campaign coffers -- fully employed and engaged in the 2012 fight. Damn the American economy: full speed ahead for the public sector unions!

That is what this fight is all about. Obama wants to continue borrowing trillions to keep the public sector unions fueled and ready; members' dues will then be laundered back into his 2012 campaign.

This power-mad man is dooming America's fiscal future in order to retain his white-knuckled grip on power.

But 2012 is coming.


President Obama unveils his deficit plan: We can only pay our bills if others will continue to lend us $125 billion a month

I'm paraphrasing of course.

The President has yet to release a spending plan. Senate Democrats have yet to release a spending plan.

The real reason Democrats have refused to publish a budget for 815 days is this: they know that the rating agencies will downgrade the U.S. if they reveal their plans to continue spending like drunken liberals.

A downgrade is likely no matter what comes out of current negotiations. Specifically, Standard and Poor's has indicated a $4 trillion deficit reduction package is necessary by Aug. 2 to avoid a downgrade...That simply is not possible given the president's aversion to genuine spending cuts -- evidenced by his failure to table concrete spending cut proposals -- and the insistence on no new taxes by many members of the Republican House caucus.

Stand strong, Speaker Boehner: the House of Representatives has done its job:

• The Republicans passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies while raising the debt ceiling.

• The Republicans passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

Any economic spasms felt as a result of this reckless spending is the fault of three people: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who piled more debt on the backs of the American people than any President and any Congress in history.

And 2012 is coming.


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Time for a Tea Party: the most fiscally irresponsible President in history blasts Congress, saying it 'should be responsible and do its job'

In trying to describe President Obama's behavior over the last few weeks, several adjectives spring to mind: "Petulant"; "Condescending"; "Arrogant"; "Un-presidential"... to list but a few.

After a tense 50-minute meeting with congressional leaders at the White House on Saturday, President Obama blasted lawmakers for "reckless political games" and reasserted his refusal to sign a temporary measure to raise the debt ceiling.

In a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney, the White House said that Obama refused again to sign a shot-term deal, saying it "would be irresponsible to put our country at risk again in just a few short months with another battle over raising the debt ceiling."

"Congress should refrain from playing reckless political games with our economy," Carney said. "Instead, it should be responsible and do its job, avoiding default and cutting the deficit."

Hysterical: the most profligate, reckless spender in world history is calling the Republicans "reckless" for passing the most responsible piece of legislation in recent memory.

The Republicans passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies while raising the debt ceiling. The Republicans have passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

In fact, two-thirds of the American people favor a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

And the Democrats still have no written plan. The President has no written plan. Nothing. Just talk. Because that's all he's capable of doing.

The progressive left represents the outliers, the kooks, the fringe, the cult. We are the American people, fortified by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, our highest law.

Speaker Boehner, it's time for an up-or-down vote in the U.S. Senate on Cut, Cap and Balance. Don't pass anything until the Senate votes on it.

Time for a Tea Party


Sue emails the following for those who live in the Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky tri-state region (near John Boehner's district):

Brown County, Liberty Alliance of Cincinnati, Cincinnati East, West Chester, Glendale, Anderson in Ohio and a Northern KY Tea Party group all responded YES to joining in and organizing a rally.

The earliest effective rally would be Monday 7/25, gathering around 4:30 pm and taking letters in around 5 pm, prior to local offices closing at 5:30.

The idea is to get tea party members to bring hand delivered/signed letters to John Boehner.

This would give the weekend for people to compose letters. For anyone who cannot attend the rally, they could email their letters to Tea Party leaders/members attending for hand delivery.

Seems like now we need to rally at John Boehner’s office with the message for him hold firm, he controls the gavel. John Boehner needs to tell Senate that not one bill will be brought to the House floor until the Senate votes up or down on the Cut Cap and Balance, to have the decency to vote on the bill, and not just table it. If the government shuts down, it is because the Senate did not vote for an Amendment that Americans want.

John Boehner holds the power here.

Boehner's West Chester Office
7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B
West Chester, Ohio 45069

If you don't live in the area, Boehner's office numbers are (513) 779-5400 (West Chester, OH), (937) 339-1524 (Miami, OH), and (202) 225-6205 (Washington, DC).

Make your voice heard: according to a CNN poll, 66% of the American people favor a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Tell John Boehner that we want a vote in the Senate on 'Cut, Cap and Balance' and we want it now. We have a would-be dictator in the White House and his agenda of fiscal destruction must be stopped.


Update: Yep, a would-be tyrant all right: 'This would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own'.


Linked by: Protein Wisdom. Thanks!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Podhoretz blisters Obama: "Perhaps for the first time in American history, this president is [trying] to create a financial panic"

Writing at Commentary Magazine, John Podhoretz is shocked and appalled at the President's press conference this evening.

The President Is Actually Trying to Talk the Markets Into a Panic.


An enraged Barack Obama just took to the nation’s airwaves to announce his effort to strike a deal with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner has fallen apart. Perhaps for the first time in American history, this president is literally using this press conference to create a financial panic over the weekend about the opening of the markets on Monday. He is warning of disaster on Monday. Clearly, he wants to use this as leverage to frighten the GOP into passing the plan proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which will push the debt ceiling problem into 2013, but it’s still an entirely new and astonishingly reckless gambit.

...He says Republicans said they would accept a dollar in higher taxes (or “revenue”) for every four dollars in cuts, which isn’t exactly saying “no’” to everything. For their part, Republicans in the House passed their cut, cap and balance bill on Wednesday, and it included an increase in the debt ceiling, so even by his own account his criticisms of the GOP are not accurate.

In other words, he lied. As usual.

Other reactions to Obama's careless, irresponsible demagoguery:

A New York Times reporter, of all people, says Obama sounds "impotent and frustrated".

Bryan Preston live-blogs, "...he’s getting angrier and angrier. Are we about to see the President of the United States crack up before our eyes? All I can say is, thank goodness the markets are closed. This rant might rock them."

• Oh, and Preston adds this gem: "Funniest line of the presser: Obama said 'Sometimes if you wanna be a leader, you have to lead.' And then in typical Obama fashion, he walked out of the room... Some leader. We’re seeing what happens when someone with zero executive experience gets elected to the most difficult job in the world. Barack Obama is in over his head."

Who could have predicted such a thing?

As an aside, you can keep tabs on reactions to President Petulant's press conference at Memeorandum and TrendingRight.


Stating that "We've run out of time" to avert a debt crisis, workaholic president summons peasants to White House... at 11am tomorrow

Citing a growing concern that his direct line to the taxpayers' wallet may be shut off, a petulant and narcissistic President Obama demanded that Congressional leaders show up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to bang out a deal. Or at least sometime around 11am. Let me guess: he's got an early tee time Saturday.

President Obama unleashed a tirade of frustration, anger and disappointment toward Republicans Friday after House Speaker John Boehner announced he was withdrawing from negotiations with Obama.

The president, in possibly his most emotional and stern appearance to date, said in no uncertain terms that he is summoning congressional leaders to the White House on Saturday morning.

“I want them here at 11 o'clock tomorrow,” Obama said. “We have run out of time, and they are going to have to explain to me how it is we are going to default.”

Obama’s fury toward Boehner was on full display as he several times accused the Speaker of walking away from the talks... “I think one of the questions the Republican Party is gonna have to ask itself is can they say yes to anything,” Obama said.

...The president repeatedly used words like “inexcusable” and “irresponsible” to blast House Republicans, saying Democrats had stepped up and been willing to sacrifice on entitlements.

...To that end, Obama asked Republicans “how serious are you” about wanting to address debts and deficits.

Uhm, Mr. President, the Republicans have passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies.

Mr. President, the Republicans have passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

Hell, by a 2-to-1 margin, adult Americans support a Balanced Budget Amendment!

Democrats have proposed nothing. Nothing at all. For an inexcusable 813 days, unprecedented in American history.

Where's the budget, Democrats?

Hold firm, Republicans. Any default, any economic catastrophe, any fiscal constipation -- beyond that which Obama has already levied upon us -- will be the Democrats' responsibility alone.


Thursday, July 21, 2011

The only 3 conditions under which Republicans should support raising the debt ceiling

Under what conditions should conservatives support raising the debt ceiling?

That's a question I've been asking myself for a while.

Here's my take.

The 111th Congress and President Obama put in place the largest deficit spending package in world history. They created a "stimulus" program -- only six percent of which was spent on infrastructure, by the way -- and then refused to pass a budget for 812 days (and counting). That was their way of institutionalizing the "stimulus" package as part of the baseline budget -- putting that huge, unconscionable loan from our children on autopilot.

It is this insanity that led rating agencies the world over to either downgrade -- or threaten to downgrade -- America's credit rating.

Never before, in all of American history, has a political party set the nation on such a course. It is literally economic suicide. And yet that is precisely what the modern Democrat Party has done.

It's been 812 days since the Democrats have even proposed a budget. And now President Obama claims he wants "balance". Balance? Balance? You mean balance like Obamacare, which was stuffed down the American people's throats -- replete with secret negotiations, thousands of pages no one bothered to read, passed at midnight, and that slashed half-a-trillion dollars from Medicare? You mean balance like that?

In that spirit, here are my "balanced" conditions for raising the debt ceiling. Pick one, Marxists:

• The Senate ratifies the Cut, Cap & Balance Act already passed by the House; the President signs it; and ***voila*** the debt ceiling is raised.

• The Senate passes the Ryan plan; the President signs it; and ***voila*** the debt ceiling is raised.

• The House and Senate cut annual, discretionary, non-defense spending by $1 trillion -- and that, by the way, is basically the amount of the failed "stimulus" program -- the President then signs it; and and ***voila*** the debt ceiling is raised.

Those are the only conditions under which the House should yield on the debt ceiling.

Here's the political reality:

• Where is President Obama's budget?

• Where is the Democrats' budget?

This crisis is entirely of Obama's making. The deficit spending. The failure to produce a budget. The failure to lead.

It's all in Obama's hands. And he is, as usual, "leading from behind".


Comment o' the Day: The Democrats' answer to Cut, Cap and Balance

The prolific commenter named "Anonymous" offers this observation:

I hear tell that the Donkocrats DO have answer to Cut, Cap, and Balance:

It’s called Gut, Grab, and Unbalance.

Yeah, they want to Gut the private sector, Grab whatever they can and Unbalance the economy.

Ya see, they want their little Marxist utopia and they are determined to get it whether the people want it or not. They don’t care if they have get it though a Cloward-Piven collapse of the economy or if they can fool enough people into voting for it.

Ahywho, that’s their response to fiscal sanity, keep it under your hat.

Will do.


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Holy Shnikeys! How Obamacare destroyed job growth

Nancy 'Stretch' Pelosi hardest hit:

Expect the post-ObamaCare trendline to start heading south, too. This looks like it's getting worse, not better.

Oh, and independents want ObamaCare repealed by a two to one margin...

Why aren't we forcing Obama to talk about this? What little-d democratic argument can possibly support a law which was barely passed in the first place -- via a technicality to boot -- and was unpopular at the moment of its creation and so unpopular it caused a revolt against the party passing it?

Why are we not forcing Obama and the media to explain how this travesty continues?

I'll tell you why: because we've got hapless, mush-mouthed leaders like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner in leadership positions rather than, say, Marco Rubio and Allen West.

We need leaders with cojones (not necessarily male, mind you, but possessing intestinal fortitude).


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Allen West metaphorically b****-slaps Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

And a well-deserved metaphorical b****-slapping it was (brought to you courtesy of the DNC public relations arm known as Politiho).

Florida GOP Congressman Allen West this afternoon dispatched a scathing personal email to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, calling her "vile, unprofessional ,and despicable," "a coward," "characterless," and "not a Lady," and demanding that she "shut the heck up."

Wasserman Schultz, in whose neighboring South Florida district West lives, provoked his tirade with remarks after he left the House floor today, in which she responded -- without naming him -- to the Tea Party freshman's support for "Cut, Cap, and Balance" legislation to raise the debt ceiling.

"The gentleman from Florida. who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a Member from South Florida," Wasserman Schultz said, saying the legislation "slashes Medicaid and critical investments essential to winning the future in favor of protecting tax breaks for Big Oil, millionaires, and companies who ship American jobs overseas."

Her criticism of the legislation -- more or less what most Democrats are saying today -- provoked a furious response. West copied members of House Republican and Democratic leadership on the email, as well as his chief-of-staff, Jonathan Blyth.

From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz

Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!

I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.

You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!

Steadfast and Loyal

Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)

Wasserman-Schultz is -- provably -- a Marxist hack. She is unconcerned with her constituents and seniors in particular. According to its Chief Actuary, Medicare is set to collapse in just ten short years. Instead of working to save it, this ludicrous excuse for a politician instead demonizes Paul Ryan's courageous plan and the heroic Rep. Allen West.

Instead of working to save Medicare, she intones platitudes like "shared sacrifice", "winning the future" and "giving tax breaks to big oil and millionaires."

Hey, idiot: it's not "big oil and millionaires" that destroyed Medicare: it's you. You're an embarrassment, Debbie. And I can't wait until Allen West is House Speaker; I hope he puts your office in the basement with Melvin and his red stapler.


Hat tip: Ace o' Spades.

Can you guess what's different about Andrew Cuomo? [R.B.]

R.B. writes:

Andrew Cuomo took on the public employee unions -- and forced concessions from them -- in order to balance the New York State budget with spending cuts and without tax increases. Chris Christie (New Jersey), Scott Walker (Wisconsin), and John Kasich (Ohio) did pretty much the same thing in their states

But only Cuomo emerged from his battles with the unions lauded by media for his actions. Can you guess what made Cuomo different from the others?

Party Affiliation Determined Coverage of State-Union Battles


Jonathan S. Tobin 07.19.2011 - 12:59 PM

During the last several months, the governors of three states have gone toe-to-toe with powerful state unions in order to undo the harm done by their predecessors’ capitulations to state workers on wages and benefits. In Wisconsin and New Jersey, Republicans Scott Walker and Chris Christie were subjected to unprecedented abuse by the unions and their supporters. Yet in New York, Andrew Cuomo not only overcame union resistance, he managed to do so without much negative press, let alone the deluge of insults and demonization his colleagues suffered...

...Lacking the same political leverage their colleagues in Wisconsin and New Jersey possessed, the New York unions were forced to meekly bow to Cuomo’s dictates and accept drastic changes in compensation and benefits. Instead of being branded as a polarizing figure as was the case with Walker and Christie, Cuomo gets to play the state’s fiscal hero.

...as much as he deserves the praise for taking on a tough situation, the main lesson of this story is to show just how biased is the coverage of the not dissimilar confrontations elsewhere. As much as the collective bargaining issue helped generate sympathy for Wisconsin unions which refused to accept responsibility for the state’s parlous financial health, Walker’s goals were very similar to those of Cuomo. It should also be noted that like Cuomo, Christie didn’t touch the collective bargaining issue. Yet, he was branded a “Nazi” by rabble-rousing union thugs just like Walker, a slur never aimed once at the governor of New York.

The moral of the story is that unions and their cheering section in the liberal mainstream media can call a fiscally responsible Republican any name in the book and make it stick. But Democrats with the same intent get to play by different rules of engagement that can allow them to get tough with unions without being smeared...

This theme aligns perfectly with the spectacular new book Left Turn, which quantitatively measures the liberal lens through which Americans are forced to view events.


Gang of Six Reactions From Around the Web: It "Raises Taxes by $3 Trillion" and "It's based on dishonest Washington budget math"

The "Gang of Six" bipartisan plan to "reduce our nation's deficits" has touched off a wide range of reactions. My personal highlights:

• The Washington Examiner's Conn Carroll: "Gang of six plan raises taxes by $3 trillion - they are using a CBO baseline that assumes the AMT continues as written today and that the current Bush rates expire. Last August, the CBO said those policies would amount to a $4.8 trillion tax hike. Which means the the Gang of Six plan probably raises taxes by about $3+ trillion over current rates."

• Daniel J. Mitchell: "The entire package is based on dishonest Washington budget math. Spending increases under the plan, but the politicians claim to be cutting spending because the budget didn’t grow even faster."

• The Foundry: "The Gang of Six promises — an unenforceable promise — that some time in the next six months Congress will enact a second law with all kinds of Christmas presents for everybody - The Gang of Six circulated a plan that has Congress enact a law now whose principal elements (1) make unspecified spending cuts and unspecified tax increases to yield a $500 billion reduction in the federal deficit, and (2) impose spending caps on discretionary spending, but not on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and welfare programs that are the main cause of out-of-control spending."

• At Americans for Tax Reform, John Fund: "Gang of Six Tax Hikers - The problem is a majority of Republicans ... have signed an anti-tax pledge... but if you’re going to get rid of tax credits or tax deductions, you have to balance it with tax cuts on something else so you don’t have a net tax increase. And of course in a weak economy as we have now, I think a net tax increase would be a real mistake; and it would be a clear violation of the pledge for any Republican that signed it."

• The American Spectator's Joseph Lawler: "Perhaps the reason the Gang of Six plan is politically viable is that is mostly a promise to make cuts in the future, rather than a measure to cut spending now." Not good.

Politiho: "President Obama praises 'Gang of Six' debt ceiling plan - President Barack Obama hailed a proposal offered Tuesday by Republican and Democratic senators as “a very significant step” that represents “the potential for bipartisan consensus” on resolving the impasse over cutting the deficit and lifting the debt ceiling." Double not good.

Mitchell concludes with some serious questions:

1. How fast will discretionary spending rise or fall under the caps? Will this be like the caps following the 1990 tax-hike deal, which were akin to 60-mph speed limits in a school zone? Or will the caps actually reduce spending, erasing the massive increase in discretionary spending of the Bush-Obama years?

2. What does it mean to promise Social Security reform “if and only if the comprehensive deficit reduction bill has already received 60 votes.” Who defines reform? And why does the reform have to focus on “75-year” solvency, apparently to the exclusion of giving younger workers access to a better and more stable system?

3. Will federal spending under the plan shrink back down to the historical average of 20 percent of GDP? And why aren’t those numbers in the summary? The document contains information of deficits and debt, but those figures are just the symptoms of excessive spending. Why aren’t we being shown the data that really matters?

This plan is outrageous. This is another hack job by Beltway insiders bent on preserving the status quo, massive deficits and, eventually, complete economic collapse.

It does nothing to solve the real problem. Government is just too damn big.

We need Cut, Cap, Balance. And that is all we need. As Michelle Malkin says, "Make your voices heard: Congressional switchboard number – 202-224-3121."


Update: Hugh Hewitt has precisely the right idea.

Linked by: Protein Wisdom and The Tatler. Thanks!

Gang of Six Details in Plain Text

Uncle Ben relays the full plan in plain-text:

A BIPARTISAN PLAN TO REDUCE OUR NATION’S DEFICITS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This bipartisan, comprehensive, and balanced plan consistent with the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission that will:
• Slash our nation’s deficits by $3.7 trillion/$3.6 trillion over ten years under CBO’s March 2011 baseline, or $4.65 trillion/$4.5 trillion under the original fiscal commission baseline (which used the President’s 2011 budget request as the starting point for discretionary spending).
• Stabilize our publicly-held debt by 2014.
• Reduce our publicly-held debt to roughly 70% of our economy by 2021.
• Impose unprecedented budget enforcement.

A COMPREHENSIVE AND BALANCED PROPOSAL
The plan uses a two-step legislative process: (1) an initial bill that makes immediate cuts; and (2) a process for a second bill to enact comprehensive reform and put our nation on a stable fiscal path. The plan would:

Immediately implement aggressive deficit reduction down payment

• Cut deficits by $500 billion.

Dramatically cut discretionary spending

• Cut nonsecurity and security discretionary spending over 10 years.
• Maintain investments that encourage economic growth, strengthen the safety net for those who truly need it, and preserve a strong national defense.

Carefully strengthen the solvency of our most important entitlement programs

• Spend health care dollars more efficiently in order to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid, while maintaining the basic structure of these critical programs.
• Fully pays for SGR (the “doc fix”) over 10 years.

Fundamentally reform our tax code

• Reduce marginal income tax rates and abolish the $1.7 trillion Alternative Minimum Tax.
• Encourage greater economic growth.
• Enhance the competitiveness of American businesses and workers against global
competition.
• Reform spending through the tax code to eliminate investment distortions and tax gaming.
• Change the debate about taxes in America from rate levels and carve outs to
competitiveness, fairness and growth.
• If CBO scored this plan, it would find net tax relief of approximately $1.5 trillion.

Strictly tighten the government’s budget processes

• Impose spending caps and security/nonsecurity firewalls.
• Sequester accounts at the end of the year to recoup any excessive spending by Congress.
• Restrict the use of emergency designations that circumvent the spending caps.
• Prevent Congress from exceeding the caps by requiring a stand-alone resolution subject to a 67-vote threshold, in order to isolate that vote to increase the deficit from any other policy items.

Reform Social Security for future generations

• Ensure 75-year solvency of Social Security and provide for a decennial review of the program to ensure it remains solvent.
• Reform Social Security on a separate track, isolated from deficit reduction – any savings from the program must go towards solvency.

AN AGGRESSIVE PLAN THAT INVOLVES THE WHOLE CONGRESS
The plan would be implemented through an open, aggressive two-step legislative process led by committees of jurisdiction and involving the American people by:
Enacting a $500 billion down payment that would secure immediate deficit savings, while establishing a fast track process for the committees in Congress to specify further savings
• Impose statutory discretionary spending caps through 2015.
• Implement numerous budget process reforms.
• Shift to the chained-CPI (a more accurate measure of inflation) government-wide starting in 2012, along with the following specifications for Social Security: (1) exempt SSI from the shift for five years, and then phase in the shift over the next five years; and (2) provide a minimum benefit equal to 125% of the poverty line for five years. (According to CBO, the shift to chained-CPI would result in the annual adjustment growing, on average, about 0.25 percentage points per year slower than the current CPI.)
• Repeal the CLASS Act.
• Enact concrete policy changes that lock-in additional savings, including freezing
Congressional pay and selling unused federal property.
• Require GAO and the Department of Labor to report to Congress on establishing a more effective unemployment insurance trigger.

Enacting a comprehensive deficit reduction plan that includes discretionary and
entitlement savings as well as fundamental tax reform


• Require committees to report legislation within six months that would deliver real deficit savings in entitlement programs over 10 years as follows:
• Finance would permanently reform or replace the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate
formula ($298 billion) and fully offset the cost with health savings, would find an
additional $202 billion/$85 billion in health savings, and would maintain the essential health care services that the poor and elderly rely upon.
• Armed Services would find $80 billion.
• Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions would find $70 billion.
• Homeland Security and Government Affairs would find $65 billion.
• Agriculture would find $11 billion while protecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
• Commerce would find $11 billion.
• Energy would find $6 billion and may propose additional policies to generate savings that would be applied to the infrastructure deficit or to reduce the deficit.
• Judiciary would find an unspecified amount through medical malpractice reform.
• Require the Finance Committee to report tax reform within six months that would deliver real deficit savings by broadening the tax base, lowering tax rates, and generating economic growth as follows:

• Simplify the tax code by reducing the number of tax expenditures and reducing individual tax rates, by establishing three tax brackets with rates of 8–12 percent, 14–22 percent, and 23–29 percent.
• Permanently repeal the $1.7 trillion Alternative Minimum Tax.
• Tax reform must be projected to stimulate economic growth, leading to increased revenue.
• Tax reform must be estimated to provide $1 trillion in additional revenue to meet plan targets and generate an additional $133 billion by 2021, without raising the federal gas tax, to ensure improved solvency for the Highway Trust Fund.
• If CBO scored this plan, it would find net tax relief of approximately $1.5 trillion.
• To the extent future Congresses find that the dynamic effects of tax reform result in additional revenue beyond these targets, this revenue must go to additional rate reductions and deficit reduction, not to new spending.
• Reform, not eliminate, tax expenditures for health, charitable giving, homeownership, and retirement, and retain support for low-income workers and families.
• Retain the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, or provide at least the same level of support for qualified beneficiaries.
• Maintain or improve the progressivity of the tax code.
• Establish a single corporate tax rate between 23 percent and 29 percent, raise as much revenue as the current corporate tax system, and move to a competitive territorial tax system.
• Require the Budget Committee to report legislation within six months that would:
• Extend discretionary caps and enforcement mechanisms through 2021.
• Ensure Congressional action to reduce the deficit if the debt-to-GDP ratio after 2015 has not stabilized.
• Review total federal health care spending starting in 2020 with a target of holding growth to GDP plus one percent per beneficiary and require action by Congress and the President if exceeded.
• Achieve program integrity savings of $26 billion in entitlement programs to curb fraud, abuse, and other wasteful spending government-wide.
• Create a working group to provide updated budget concepts for CBO and OMB.
• Provide expedited floor consideration for a consolidated bill meeting these instructions:
• If any committee fails to report entitlement program savings, impose across the board cuts to programs in that committee’s jurisdiction as necessary to achieve the required savings. To protect programs that benefit low income families, exempt from across the board cuts those most in need.
• Allow a group of at least five senators from each party to introduce a resolution in lieu of the non-reporting committee.
• If a resolution receives 60 votes on the floor, those recommendations will be added to the comprehensive bill.
• If the Senate does not agree to those recommendations, the comprehensive bill cannot come to the floor under the special procedures established in the first (down payment) bill.
• Bar substitute floor amendments that upset the revenue/spending balance or any amendments that make the deficit worse, but place no other limits on debate or the substance of amendments.
• Allow the Majority Leader and Minority Leader to limit debate and the number of amendments, or impose other substantive restrictions by agreement, so that the Leaders can manage the bill with a process that satisfies 60 Senators and the process cannot be held up by a small group on either side. If the Leaders cannot agree, the bill is considered under the regular order.
• Hold any such comprehensive bill that receives 60 votes at the desk pending consideration of the Social Security bill.

Enacting Social Security reform if the comprehensive deficit reduction plan has passed

• Consider Social Security reform, if and only if the comprehensive deficit reduction bill has already received 60 votes.
• Reform must ensure 75-year solvency of the program and provide for a decennial review to ensure it remains solvent. Any savings from the program must go towards solvency, not deficit reduction.
• If Finance fails to report Social Security reform meeting the instructions, allow a group of at least five senators from each party to introduce a resolution with recommendations that meet the committee’s instructions.
• Bar substitute amendments that worsen the solvency of Social Security.
• Combine any qualifying Social Security reform bill that receives 60 votes on final passage to the comprehensive bill at the desk before being sent to the House as a single bill.
• Vitiate the vote on the deficit-reduction bill if the Social Security reform bill does not receive 60 votes.

Uncle Ben adds, "It seems like a reasonable approach to me, and the fact that the market went up 80 points after word got out about the proposal suggests that Congress just needs to get something done."

I'll reserve judgment until I have a chance to digest it. If Democrats are for it, my first tendency is to oppose it.


Update, digested: Gang of Six Reactions From Around the Web: It "Raises Taxes by $3 Trillion" and "It's based on dishonest Washington budget math"

Monday, July 18, 2011

The real reason Democrats have refused to release a budget for 800 days: they know that S&P will downgrade the U.S. if it passes

In an act unparalleled in modern American history, Democrats have refused to release a budget for more than 800 days.

The most profligate and irresponsible spenders in world history know that rating agencies like Standard & Poor's will downgrade the United States -- irrespective of the debt ceiling issue -- if massive spending cuts are not enacted. And real spending cuts are anathema to the Soros-controlled, hard left Marxist Democrats.

A downgrade is likely no matter what comes out of current negotiations. Specifically, Standard and Poor's has indicated a $4 trillion deficit reduction package is necessary by Aug. 2 to avoid a downgrade...

...That simply is not possible given the president's aversion to genuine spending cuts -- evidenced by his failure to table concrete spending cut proposals -- and the insistence on no new taxes by many members of the Republican House caucus.

The modern Democrat Party -- authors of a traitor's greatest hits like "This war is lost" and "General Betray-Us" -- is so far removed from the party of Truman and JFK that it must be politically obliterated in 2012 for this Republic to survive.

And 2012 is coming.


Well, THESE look like good investments for the Social Security Trust Fund™, or Lockbox, or whatever the Democrats call their Ponzi scheme now

It would appear that the shell game known as the European Union is nearing an end. Please consider: "Greek Two-Year Note Yield Surges 213 Bps to Record 35.19%, More Italy Stock Suspensions".

It's getting very scary out there. First there has been an unsubstantiated rumor that Spanish PM has resigned based on an El Pais editorial, and then we have the fact that Greek 2 year bonds have just collapsed by another 2% to an all time record 35.19%. The cherry on top are reports that Intesa Sanpaolo and some other volatile bank shares are suspended after continuing their last week plunge. One day soon the entire European stock market will just shut down and not reopen (which will naturally simply be an excuse for the US HFT lobby, which now feels unfairly attacked for being a malicious parasite, to levitate the Russell 2000 to unseen levels).

As usual, this is worth a thousand words:


In short, the market believes that Greece's promises to pay its immense debts are worth roughly the value of the Zimbabwean trillion-dollar note.

Kind of like Social Security's promises to pay. Which reminds me:

How is it that Bernie Madoff is in prison for life, but the enablers of a Ponzi scheme three orders of magnitude larger -- Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer among them -- are not only free as birds, but still grasping onto the reins of power with white-knuckled death grips?


Change You Can Grieve In: US Misery Index Hits 28 Year High

The President's perfect record remains intact: another day, another record for economic malaise shattered.

This must be another one of those things that accompany the American economy one year into the recovery (Tim Geithner ©):


But, Melvin, he's so historic!


Sunday, July 17, 2011

A Brief History of the Obama National Debt

Courtesy of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI):

January 20, 2009 - President Obama sworn into office
Debt Held By Public = $6.31 trillion

February 17, 2009 - President Signs into Law the Spending Stimulus
Debt Held by Public = $6.48 trillion

February 26, 2009 - President Issues FY2010 Budget
* Debt Held by Public = $6.58 trillion

March 11, 2009 - President Signs FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act
Debt Held by Public = $6.66 trillion

April 29, 2009 - Congressional Democrats Pass FY2010 Budget
Debt Held by Public = $6.85 trillion

February 2, 2010 - President Issues FY2011 Budget
Debt Held by Public = $7.85 trillion

March 23, 2010 - President Signs Health-Care Overhaul Into Law
Debt Held by Public = $8.18 trillion

April 15, 2010 - Congressional Democrats Decide Not to Do a Budget for FY2011
Debt Held by Public = $8.39 trillion

July 21, 2010 - President Signs Financial Regulatory Overhaul Into Law
Debt Held by Public = $8.69 trillion

February 14, 2011 - President Issues FY2012 Budget
Debt Held by Public = $9.45 trillion

April 13, 2011 - President Delivers Speech on Deficit Reduction
Debt Held by Public = $9.65 trillion

April 15, 2011 - House Passes FY2012 Budget Resolution
Debt Held by Public = $9.68 trillion

April 18, 2011 - S&P Issues Credit Warning on U.S. Debt
Debt Held by Public = $9.68 trillion

May 13, 2011 - Medicare and Social Security Trustees Issue Warning of Looming Insolvency
Debt Held by Public = $9.67 trillion

May 25, 2011 - Senate Unanimously Rejects President’s FY2012 Budget; Vote is 97-0
Debt Held by Public = $9.72 trillion

June 23, 2011 - CBO Director Further Discredits President’s Fiscal Record
Debt Held by Public = $9.74 trillion

July 8, 2011 - Unemployment Hits 9.2%; Day 800 Since Senate Democrats Last Passed A Budget
Debt Held by Public = $9.75 trillion

July 11, 2011 - Senator Conrad Gives Budget Speech on Senate Floor
Debt held by Public = $9.75 trillion

July 15, 2011 - President Holds Press Conference: “We’re Running Out of Time” to Deal with Debt
Debt Held by Public = $9.75 trillion

Speeches. Not budgets. Not tangible plans to improve American society. Speeches. And golf.


Saturday, July 16, 2011

S&P Raises State of Ohio's Credit Rating; Cites GOP Governor Kasich's Whining About His Predecessor and His Budget, But Mostly His Budget

By electing a fiscal conservative, Ohio is moving in the right direction when it comes to economic vibrancy.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded Ohio's debt rating just one day after it put the United States on "creditwatch negative" on what it calls a rising risk of policy stalemate in the debt limit negotiations.

For Ohio, the rating was revised from "negative" to "stable" after Gov. John Kasich signed a new budget the ratings agency says will essentially balance the state's finances for the next two years. S&P also said Ohio is experiencing a modest economic recovery which has stabilized revenue.

In making the upgrade, the agency also assigned a "AA+" long-term rating to Ohio's $416.75 million general obligation bonds... "After a significant decline through the recession, Ohio's economy is steadily recovering," according to S&P's statement issued Friday.

The agency listed factors such as Ohio's unemployment rate has stabilized and fallen to 8.6 percent through May 2011 from a peak of 11 percent in March 2010. The also state experienced positive employment growth in 2010 and through the first quarter of 2011...

In S&P's statement Thursday about the U.S., it said it placed its 'AAA' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings on "CreditWatch with negative implications."

The action means there is a "substantial likelihood of it taking a rating action within the next 90 days." ...

Unlike President Obama, Kasich actually took proactive steps to reduce the size of Ohio's government and improve business conditions for the private sector. Plus he didn't blame his predecessor, demonize his political opponents, or say "I" and "me" all the time.


Linked by: Instapundit, Weasel Zippers and Memeorandum. Thanks!

The crucial debt ceiling story legacy media seems to have 'missed': U.S. could see downgrade in ratings even if ceiling lifted

Tim Geithner hardest hit:

This is one of the most important messages for us to repeat until people get it.

Liberals treat raising the debt limit as if, with the stroke of a pen, we can simply authorize ourselves to spend and spend and spend more money than we have.

That's not true... Our current debt-to-revenue ratio is, in economic terms, totally f***ed.

The President and his allies in the media wish to pretend these credit rating warnings are only about the risk of default due to a failure to raise the debt limit... They're not, as S&P makes clear:

A 50 percent likelihood that the U.S. will lose its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s even if Congress reaches agreement on raising the debt ceiling left markets little changed.

...The U.S. will lose the AAA credit rating it has held since 1941 if New York-based S&P finds that a “credible solution” to the nation’s rising debt burden isn’t likely for the foreseeable future, the firm said yesterday. Borrowing will continue to rise unless a $4 trillion fiscal consolidation plan is agreed on, S&P said.

Let me propose the new narrative the GOP must press at every opportunity:

The President says he's trying to preserve our credit rating. He is not. Absent showing the markets some serious reforms that will put us on a sustainable path, our credit rating will be downgraded, not due to a debt-ceiling imposed default, but simply due to the fact we cannot pay the bills we are accumulating.

...We're the ones trying to save our credit rating, and that can only happen when Washington brings its spending priorities in line with what the public is actually willing to pay for government.

They're not willing to pay 25% of GDP for government. They have been willing, historically, to pay 18-21%. We must bring spending to that level.

Anytime we try to spend more than that, we always do simply by borrowing from our children. And we have now maxed out the possible debt we can lay on our children, and we have followed that up with going to 90% of the max of what our grandchildren can pay.

Let's liken the United States to the following household -- we'll call it the Obama family.

• The household brings in $100,000 a year.
• The household's annual spending, however, is $160,000, so it's been forced to borrow heavily to cover those bills
• When Daddy Obama began running the household in 2009, it had accumulated about $300,000 in debt.
• But only two-and-a-half short years later, the Obamas are now in debt for $520,000.

Now, in the real world, would any banker loan the Obamas money with a $60,000-a-year budget shortfall?

What would its FICO score (credit rating) be?

It's true: under Barack Obama, we're a subprime country. He and the Democrats built an unaffordable, failed "Stimulus" program into the baseline budget. And he is bankrupting the U.S., debt ceiling or no.


"If social security payments are not made in August, it's because Barack Obama has directed Timothy Geithner not to pay them."

So says Mark Levin who links to a MarketWatch post detailing federal revenue and payments:

Despite all the rhetoric and posturing we see in the media and in Washington D.C., it is safe to say categorically that the U.S. Treasury will not default on its debt after August 2nd, even if the debt ceiling is not raised. Not only will the Treasury be able to pay interest on U.S. debt obligations, but there is money for other essential programs as well. However, there will be some serious cutting that has to happen because spending clearly exceeds revenues...

Q: How much revenue does the Treasury take in on average in a month?
A: Roughly about $200 billion.

Q: Are you saying the Treasury could pay interest on its debt 10 times over (or more) from monthly income?
A: Yes. Therefore the likelihood of not paying interest on its debt is zero.

Q: Why then do Treasury Secretary Geithner and others in government make such apocalyptic statement about the horrors of default?
A: I’m afraid Secretary Geithner and others in government are doing the moral equivalent of yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater and they are doing so for political reasons rather than financial reasons. They simply do not want any interruptions in the bloated spending underway in Washington and they want to scare Americans into thinking the end of the world is nigh unless the gravy train keeps chugging along.

President Obama has not even proposed a budget. And there is more than enough money to pay not only debt service, but Social Security, Medicare, active duty military, etc..

What Obama, Geithner and their Wall Street buddies fear is an end to the gravy train for investment banks and public sector unions.

I know this is difficult for the likes of Mitch "Jello" McConnell and John "Weepy" Boehner, but: You. Must. Not. Yield.

Send a budget to the Senate that prioritizes spending for the revenues received. And then let the Democrats sort it out.


Photos: the Obama Depression Series Redux

Next time, it's sure to work.






Unsurprisingly, Goldman Sachs just downgraded Obamanomics.