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Okay. “Open Thread.”
Here I go.
Today on my way home from work, I took advantage of the “first longer day” of 2011 (Daylight Savings Time).
I usually take the same way home. For years I’ve traveled past the same ‘side street’ dirt road while on the way.
It leads to a pond, called “Avery Pond.” I’ve been there before, just to take my son fishing.
About a 1/2 mile down the road is a small cemetery. I stopped to take a look because at the beginning of the road is a small sign that says “Avery Point Cemetery…Est 1691.”
1691. (This is in Preston, Ct.).
I looked at the headstones. Names like Briggs, Burton, Williams.
NOW THINK!
1691.
These people died in the 1690’s to 1700’s.
They were born way before that.
But even if you were one of their children, that means you were born (1691) 85 years before 1776.
You were probably dead and buried way before America really existed.
And you were born 199 years after Columbus landed down south, and 70 years after The Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock.
I sat on a rock ledge smoking a cig for a few minutes, thought about where I had been with The 75th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, and just said……………”Damn, those people had some really big balls.”
I realized that nothing I did could compare to what these people must have had to endure. What about a tooth-ache? Appendicitis? A late Frost? (A LOT OF THOSE HEADSTONES are for children and teens). And the dates seem to be clustered, as if a disease wiped out a lot of them.
I cleaned off the headstone of a “Elisah Briggs” (next to two children-Briggs graves…3 years and 5 years old) that was still readable and placed a quarter (’cause it has George Washington on the front and our Eagle on the back) into the ground to the right of the headstone, paid my respects, and left. He died just 6 years after one of his kids. That made me sad. I thought he might have died of a broken heart….but no…it was 6 years…I thought.
As I walked back to my car I thought “Some of us are still fighting for what you brave bastards came over here to fight for over 400 years ago.”
Flopping Aces is Living Proof that I was not mistaken.
Good night folks. Just remember who made it possible for you to be here, and pray…. that those who “replace you” will keep fighting for that right.
Freedom isn’t free. I never has been.
I think, when I vote next year, that I’ll cast a vote for who I think Mr. Briggs would have wanted. I think he earned that vote. Even 400 years after he died.
I also think that this summer I’m going to go and tidy up that hallowed ground, and I’ll take my son with me.
Maybe, in 400 years somebody will return the favor for me.
gregory_dittman
12 years ago
The average age of a person was 40 so 40 being over the hill really had a much different meaning. They were not talking about you hitting midlife, they meant you were an old geezer. Women had it worse. An old maid wasn’t some grey haired old glasses knitting on a rocking chair. If a woman wasn’t married by 25, she was considered an old maid.
Another point of interest is AIDS in Africa mixed with high birth rates which has dramatically lowered the age of many African countries. Very young people are running the show and don’t live long enough to get the knowledge they need to live in a modern age. The same could be said for a lot of technology. A Roman soldier from the first century was just as well armed as guys 700 years later. As people started to live longer, that’s when technology and then increased lifespans started to really feed on itself.
blast
12 years ago
Frank Buckles, the last surviving WWI veteran will be laid to rest today. We are living history, RIP.
White House Tells Supreme Court to Stay Away from Obamacare
The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Monday night it should stay away from a high-profile challenge to the 2010 health care law until after a lower court has had a chance to review the case.
Hmm. I seem to remember learning about the federal government in school, but I don’t remember anything at all about the Executive branch being able to tell the others what, or what not, to do.
Drove by this gas station today at work…check out the price:
Ivan
12 years ago
Curt:
Pitty the Republicans are too stupid to make political hay out of these rising gas-prices.
Honestly, the Republicans should go to these gas stations and hold press confrences just like the Liberals intelligently did, helping them to capture congress in ’06.
Unbelieveable. Are the Republicans really that stupid/corrupt? In the end, NPR won’t be defunded and the Republicans will own this year’s deficit numbers as they should.
Aside from a handful of Republicans, I’m disgusted with the party. Cry baby = Pelosi, only he doesn’t wear a skirt.
Nan G
12 years ago
@Ivan: Republicans will own this year’s deficit numbers as they should???
When ObamaCare passed it was strictly down the party line.
Dems OWN ObamaCare.
But the previous continuing resolution had ~100 Dems vote for it.
This continuing resolution has 85 Dems voting for it as well as 54 Republicans voting against it!
Seems like this budget compromise is truly bipartisan.
The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.
The newly installed tandem of White House Chief of Staff William Daley and Senior Adviser David Plouffe were supposed to impart a new sense of discipline and purpose to the White House. Instead, they are permitting him to showcase himself as a poorly focused leader who has his priorities backward.
This morning, as Japan’s nuclear crisis enters a potentially catastrophic phase, we are told that Obama is videotaping his NCAA tournament picks and that we’ll be able to tune into ESPN Wednesday to find out who he likes.
Saturday, he made his 61st outing to the golf course as president, and got back to the White House with just enough time for a quick shower before heading out to party with Washington’s elite journalists at the annual Gridiron Dinner.
The Party Never Stops…
“Yes, there’s still plenty of time for a No Fly Zone. I mean, sometimes the best time to operate is after the patient is dead.”
– President Obama
A note from our attorneys: This is not a real quote.
Gregory_Dittman
12 years ago
There are three strikes against favoring the Lybian rebels.
1. They cheered the return of the Lockerbie bombers.
2. They cheered on the 9-11 attackers
3. They were the largest enemy foreign force in Iraq.
Nan G
12 years ago
@Old Trooper 2:
OT2….
Wow!
Just wow!
How about them brackets????
Golf, anyone?
Comedy dinner!!
Partying with the Bulls and Bobcats.
No wonder Obama has flown the trial balloon that he needs an executive to run the US Executive Branch while he, the man ELECTED to that end plays, travels, reads speeches, campaigns and takes his wife out on the towns.
what’s next on the agenda?
St. Paddy’s Day Thursday with Taoiseach of Ireland.
Brazil on Friday.
And people doubt me when I say all Obama wants is to impoverish everyone else in the USA while expecting us to enjoy his partying vicariously.
Old Trooper 2
12 years ago
Mini Burka
Beyond The Veil – Veiled, Niqaab Women Living In The West, Force or Freedom?
OK Then. Who is Liberated?
Ivan
12 years ago
When ObamaCare passed it was strictly down the party line.
Dems OWN ObamaCare.
But the previous continuing resolution had ~100 Dems vote for it.
This continuing resolution has 85 Dems voting for it as well as 54 Republicans voting against it!
Seems like this budget compromise is truly bipartisan.
Put down the kool-aid Nan G. Shilling for the likes of Pelosi, I mean Boehner, is beneath you and any good conservative.
Boehner has the power as speak to not allow a bill to come up for a vote. He allowed this to come up for a vote because he’s for big government, not limited government. He’ll in the end cut a deal with Obama which doesn’t defund the likes of NPR, EPA, etc. and the size of government will not, as the Republicans promised, be reduced.
You’ve been had and the sooner you admit this the sooner you’ll be able to start seeing things outside the box.
That ignorant ”female” (?) in the 2nd video.
I wonder what she’d think of living in Egypt where veils and robes are no protection whatsoever?
Egyptian men laugh at women, gang up on them and sexually abuse them, veiled or not.
Yet she, in Canada, thinks veiling makes her free.
Nan G
12 years ago
@Ivan:
I prefer to look at what has really happened:
Dems OWN ObamaCare.
Both continuing resolutions for the US Government to keep running have had BIPARTISAN support.
You want to imagine what might happen and demand I buy into your imaginings.
Sorry.
IF and WHEN your prediction comes true I’ll respond to it.
So far, these 5 weeks worth of CR’s cut exactly as much as Republicans had promised they would cut for the year, prorated.
Obama, otoh, wished that $4 billion had been 1/2 of all the cuts for the rest of the year.
You would throw out the good in hopes of the perfect.
Big mistake.
The enemy of the good is the perfect.
(Of course, you really don’t mean it. You wish the cuts would stop yesterday.)
Now, personally, I don’t care if Obama votes ”present” for the next two years.
He might limit his damage in that way.
But it is funny to see a CBS reporter so exasperated over Obama’s ”dithering.”
Ivan
12 years ago
Nan G said:
IF and WHEN your prediction comes true I’ll respond to it.
So far, these 5 weeks worth of CR’s cut exactly as much as Republicans had promised they would cut for the year, prorated.
Obama, otoh, wished that $4 billion had been 1/2 of all the cuts for the rest of the year.
You’re satisfied with a mere $60 billion when February alone had a short-fall of $220 BILLION?
Let’s face it, to kill liberalism dead in it’s tracks all Boehner would have to do is say NO to an increase in the debt ceiling. Game over, liberals lose and the Republican party once again becomes what Reagan-and I supose you-intended it to become: The party of limited government.
Sorry Nan G, the Republicans are setting you up like a bowling pin-and the rest of us. They’ll pass another $TRILLIO + budget which our kids, grand-kids and great-grand-kids have to pay for.
No programs or agencies will be defunded. Lots of accounting tricks will be played, as they always are, and the Republicans will lie through their teeth to their supporters claiming they cut government.
I’m amazed how out passive conservatives have become, as witnessed here on FA, over the betrayl of the Republican campaign promises.
Instead of ripping Obama on a daily basis, which is all this site does and it’s like picking on a blind and deaf man for a fight, why not hold the Republican’s feet to the fire?
Gregory_Dittman
12 years ago
So what would a fiscal federal balanced budget look like?
23% military
24% infrastructure
20% debt repayment
5% homeland security
5% Department of Justice
7% conflicts in Iraq and Afganistan
2% NASA combined with National Science Foundation
1% for annual cost of natural disasters
3% for the State Department
2% Energy Department
5% Department of Veteran affairs
1% treasury department
1% Department of the Interior
.5% FDA
.5% the cost of running the presidency, congress and the federal courts
In 2010 the payment would be 1297 billion. So instead of getting $663.7 billion including overseas operations in 2010, it would be getting $389.1 billion to do the same job. If one wanted to keep the military just as strong, pay the debt and keep the Department of Veterans Affairs, that would cost $880.2 billion leaving $416.8 billion, leaving enough money to pay for The Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, the Treasury Department, the Department of Interior, the Department of State, Department of Energy, NASA and still have $155.7 billion for other projects such as additional infrastructure.
Boehner ……. in the end cut a deal with Obama which doesn’t defund the likes of NPR, EPA, etc. ….
Or not…..
The House Rules committee will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday at 3 p.m. on H.R. 1076, the measure “to prohibit funding of National Public Radio and the use of Federal funds to acquire radio content.”
House Republicans eliminated federal funds to public broadcasting in a larger bill they passed to continue government funding, but that measure died in the Senate.
The pending legislation is a stand-alone measure that would slash funding regardless of pending negotiations between the House and Senate on a continuing resolution.
It is unlikely the standalone bill would clear the Senate, even if passed, or that the President would sign such an initiative into law.
UPDATE: Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office has confirmed to Shiner that he will bring the bill to the floor Thursday.
So, another thing that will be all on the Dems.
The House moves it forward, DEMS in the Senate and/or Obama kill it.
Ivan
12 years ago
Nan G said:
House Republicans eliminated federal funds to public broadcasting in a larger bill they passed to continue government funding, but that measure died in the Senate.
Oh, how convenient. “We tried to defund NPR, but the Democrats in the Senate wouldn’t let us.”
Yeah, you can buy into that dog-and-pony show that the Republicans roll out for any of their “cuts”, but most rational thinking conservatives realize it’s all a game for the consumption of RNC hacks such as yourself.
You’ve bought into the “We can’t do anything about the size of government since we don’t have the Senate and we don’t have the White House” rubbish. Since ALL SPENDING ORIGINATES IN THE HOUSE the Republicans who are in the House, and CONTROL THE HOUSE, can bring it all to a nice end by simply refusing to lift the debt-ceiling.
But that would be too simple for Boehner now, wouldn’t it? No, better to play politics for the 2012 elections than do what is right for the country now.
Enough of the “It’s the Dems fault” horse manure for a change. Okay?
Look, Ivan,
Shutting down the government may yet happen.
But so far, each CR has cut exactly as much as the Republicans wanted cut for the whole year, proportionately.
There are huge downsides to allowing the government to shut down.
Obama’s propaganda machine for one.
Remember what Obama said (LIAR THAT HE IS) just a few weeks ago?*
(And most of the media passed it on to the public no questions asked.)
*OBAMA:
And I think people should be careful about being too loose in terms of talking about a government shutdown, because this has — this is not an abstraction. People don’t get their Social Security checks.
LAW:
While Obama had said that if there’s a government shutdown, “people don’t get their Social Security checks,” the reality is that the law provides significant leeway for employing federal workers to carry out Social Security functions during a shutdown, which allowed most checks to go out in 1995.
HISTORY:
According to Social Security’s official history on its website, 4,780 employees remained at work at the start of the four-day 1995 shutdown, while the other 61,415 were furloughed. But this cut “significantly impacted the Agency’s service to the public,” the account said, and on the second day, additional employees were recalled to work.
For the second shutdown, 1995-6 — which lasted three weeks, the longest in history — the agency deployed 55,000 employees and operations remained close to normal. (Experts told us it’s possible that the agency could get by with fewer employees today than in 1995 because today, many Social Security benefits are paid electronically.)
Why let this liar go into spin mode?
Heck, he might even skip a golf game to spin full-time!
(What am I smoking????)
Still it might happen.
I’m just not going to be expecting Republicans to come out looking good if it has to.
And neither are you, Ivan.
You want to destroy the Republican momentum.
Ivan
12 years ago
Look, Ivan,
Shutting down the government may yet happen.
But so far, each CR has cut exactly as much as the Republicans wanted cut for the whole year, proportionately. There are huge downsides to allowing the government to shut down.
Obama’s propaganda machine for one.Remember what Obama said (LIAR THAT HE IS) just a few weeks ago?*
(And most of the media passed it on to the public no questions asked.)
Look Nan, I could care less about the “Propaganda machine” and what they say. I care about defeating liberalism and big government. You, on the other hand, are more concerned with the politics and implications of 2012 than doing the right thing, as evident by your concern over what the machine will say.
We saw this happen in 1995. The Republicans came is saying they would cut X,Y and Z and in the end collapsed like a house of cards to Clinton and his “machine.” And what did that get us? Bigger government and and expansion of liberalism to every corner of our society.
Wouldn’t you rather that the Republicans put the stake in the heart of liberalism with the failure to liff the debt ceiling, which Boehner could do, than go along with Obama and the liberals?
You remind me of the Scottish nobles who fought with William Wallace only to betray him in his hour of need because Long Shanks made them a better deal.
Piss on 2012. We either are differnent, or we’re just like them.
@Ivan: Instead of ripping Obama on a daily basis, which is all this site does and it’s like picking on a blind and deaf man for a fight, why not hold the Republican’s feet to the fire?
Hope you’re sitting down, but I couldn’t agree with this statement more and, in general, share the same exasperation as Ivan with the current crop of GOP. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only about 50 some odd GOP House members who are bold enough to stand up and say “no”, as evidenced by their vote. And while a continued Dem rigor mortis grip over Congress would be abhorrent, I have been less than impressed with what the GOP has done with their record midterm turnover.
Indeed, more time should be spent holding their feet to the fire than whining about Obama’isms that we’ve become accustomed to. We know he enjoys the perks, and delegates the work to others. This is a surprise? We know he’s a deer in the headlights as a CiC? This is another surprise, or needs to be pointed out to us on a daily basis?
Nor am I looking for failures that can be blamed on the Dems. I’m looking for success in turning this mess around, and for that I’m looking to the GOP.
Looks like I’d better continue “looking”, because the traditional and established GOP leadership are utterly spineless. Where it would have been great to be posting daily about the new Congressional accomplishments, or attempts at accomplishments, they are giving us little to crow about.
My point is whining about Obama’s (or the Dems) deplorable (lack of) leadership is fruitless and petty. The only way to return this nation to fiscal responsibility is to do what was done last Nov… kick the bums out and replace them with those who will actually do their Constitutional duty.
Now that’s had a good start, it’s time to remind those who benefitted from the midterms that being Dem-lite is not going to impress conservatives, nor will it wrest power from Obama’s hands in 2012.
As far as Nan G’s observation that there are “…huge downsides to allowing the government to shut down”, I might point out there are worse repercussions to allowing this nonsense to continue, and raising the debt ceiling. And it’s not like the Obama liars spin isn’t already a mainstay in politics already. Let him make a fool of himself. And when the social security checks are received during a shutdown, we can replay Obama’s idiotic statements.
There’s a CRS study on the effect of government shut downs. Most of it meant to scare the tar out of everyone and avoid it as an event. Then again, does the fact they are non essential government employees themselves have much to do with that attitude?
I don’t see one thing in these repercussions that I believe is unendurable in order to stand up for fiscal responsibility.
I will say that federal employees, able to receive their backpay when returning, is quite annoying. Prior to shut down, I’d say they ought to slide a bill thru that when federal employees are laid off during shutdowns, they don’t get that money for not working from the taxpayer later. This molly coddling of government employees simply has to stop. Period.
Ivan
12 years ago
Mata said:
Hope you’re sitting down, but I couldn’t agree with this statement more and, in general, share the same exasperation as Ivan with the current crop of GOP.
May The Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Ivan… LOL! But I don’t need no stinkin’ parties. Just an adamant independent with a set of values to base opinions upon. Never been much of a herd or group mentality, myself. “political parties” and I are not harmonious….
But if you’re speaking of Libertarian, I’ve always been a combo of conservative/libertarian in foundation. That’s why I’ve never been much as a good GOPbot, nor a PaulBot.
Okay. “Open Thread.”
Here I go.
Today on my way home from work, I took advantage of the “first longer day” of 2011 (Daylight Savings Time).
I usually take the same way home. For years I’ve traveled past the same ‘side street’ dirt road while on the way.
It leads to a pond, called “Avery Pond.” I’ve been there before, just to take my son fishing.
About a 1/2 mile down the road is a small cemetery. I stopped to take a look because at the beginning of the road is a small sign that says “Avery Point Cemetery…Est 1691.”
1691. (This is in Preston, Ct.).
I looked at the headstones. Names like Briggs, Burton, Williams.
NOW THINK!
1691.
These people died in the 1690’s to 1700’s.
They were born way before that.
But even if you were one of their children, that means you were born (1691) 85 years before 1776.
You were probably dead and buried way before America really existed.
And you were born 199 years after Columbus landed down south, and 70 years after The Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock.
I sat on a rock ledge smoking a cig for a few minutes, thought about where I had been with The 75th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, and just said……………”Damn, those people had some really big balls.”
I realized that nothing I did could compare to what these people must have had to endure. What about a tooth-ache? Appendicitis? A late Frost? (A LOT OF THOSE HEADSTONES are for children and teens). And the dates seem to be clustered, as if a disease wiped out a lot of them.
I cleaned off the headstone of a “Elisah Briggs” (next to two children-Briggs graves…3 years and 5 years old) that was still readable and placed a quarter (’cause it has George Washington on the front and our Eagle on the back) into the ground to the right of the headstone, paid my respects, and left. He died just 6 years after one of his kids. That made me sad. I thought he might have died of a broken heart….but no…it was 6 years…I thought.
As I walked back to my car I thought “Some of us are still fighting for what you brave bastards came over here to fight for over 400 years ago.”
Flopping Aces is Living Proof that I was not mistaken.
Good night folks. Just remember who made it possible for you to be here, and pray…. that those who “replace you” will keep fighting for that right.
Freedom isn’t free. I never has been.
I think, when I vote next year, that I’ll cast a vote for who I think Mr. Briggs would have wanted. I think he earned that vote. Even 400 years after he died.
I also think that this summer I’m going to go and tidy up that hallowed ground, and I’ll take my son with me.
Maybe, in 400 years somebody will return the favor for me.
The average age of a person was 40 so 40 being over the hill really had a much different meaning. They were not talking about you hitting midlife, they meant you were an old geezer. Women had it worse. An old maid wasn’t some grey haired old glasses knitting on a rocking chair. If a woman wasn’t married by 25, she was considered an old maid.
Another point of interest is AIDS in Africa mixed with high birth rates which has dramatically lowered the age of many African countries. Very young people are running the show and don’t live long enough to get the knowledge they need to live in a modern age. The same could be said for a lot of technology. A Roman soldier from the first century was just as well armed as guys 700 years later. As people started to live longer, that’s when technology and then increased lifespans started to really feed on itself.
Frank Buckles, the last surviving WWI veteran will be laid to rest today. We are living history, RIP.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/frank-buckles-americas-last-world-war-i-veteran-laid-to-rest-031511
Hmm. I seem to remember learning about the federal government in school, but I don’t remember anything at all about the Executive branch being able to tell the others what, or what not, to do.
Drove by this gas station today at work…check out the price:
Curt:
Pitty the Republicans are too stupid to make political hay out of these rising gas-prices.
Honestly, the Republicans should go to these gas stations and hold press confrences just like the Liberals intelligently did, helping them to capture congress in ’06.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/15/6274913-54-gopers-buck-leaders-as-short-term-budget-bill-passes-house
Unbelieveable. Are the Republicans really that stupid/corrupt? In the end, NPR won’t be defunded and the Republicans will own this year’s deficit numbers as they should.
Aside from a handful of Republicans, I’m disgusted with the party. Cry baby = Pelosi, only he doesn’t wear a skirt.
@Ivan: Republicans will own this year’s deficit numbers as they should???
When ObamaCare passed it was strictly down the party line.
Dems OWN ObamaCare.
But the previous continuing resolution had ~100 Dems vote for it.
This continuing resolution has 85 Dems voting for it as well as 54 Republicans voting against it!
Seems like this budget compromise is truly bipartisan.
President Obama’s Trivial Pursuits
The Party Never Stops…
“Yes, there’s still plenty of time for a No Fly Zone. I mean, sometimes the best time to operate is after the patient is dead.”
– President Obama
A note from our attorneys: This is not a real quote.
There are three strikes against favoring the Lybian rebels.
1. They cheered the return of the Lockerbie bombers.
2. They cheered on the 9-11 attackers
3. They were the largest enemy foreign force in Iraq.
@Old Trooper 2:
OT2….
Wow!
Just wow!
How about them brackets????
Golf, anyone?
Comedy dinner!!
Partying with the Bulls and Bobcats.
No wonder Obama has flown the trial balloon that he needs an executive to run the US Executive Branch while he, the man ELECTED to that end plays, travels, reads speeches, campaigns and takes his wife out on the towns.
what’s next on the agenda?
St. Paddy’s Day Thursday with Taoiseach of Ireland.
Brazil on Friday.
And people doubt me when I say all Obama wants is to impoverish everyone else in the USA while expecting us to enjoy his partying vicariously.
Mini Burka
Beyond The Veil – Veiled, Niqaab Women Living In The West, Force or Freedom?
OK Then. Who is Liberated?
Put down the kool-aid Nan G. Shilling for the likes of Pelosi, I mean Boehner, is beneath you and any good conservative.
Boehner has the power as speak to not allow a bill to come up for a vote. He allowed this to come up for a vote because he’s for big government, not limited government. He’ll in the end cut a deal with Obama which doesn’t defund the likes of NPR, EPA, etc. and the size of government will not, as the Republicans promised, be reduced.
You’ve been had and the sooner you admit this the sooner you’ll be able to start seeing things outside the box.
@Old Trooper 2:
That ignorant ”female” (?) in the 2nd video.
I wonder what she’d think of living in Egypt where veils and robes are no protection whatsoever?
Egyptian men laugh at women, gang up on them and sexually abuse them, veiled or not.
Yet she, in Canada, thinks veiling makes her free.
@Ivan:
I prefer to look at what has really happened:
Dems OWN ObamaCare.
Both continuing resolutions for the US Government to keep running have had BIPARTISAN support.
You want to imagine what might happen and demand I buy into your imaginings.
Sorry.
IF and WHEN your prediction comes true I’ll respond to it.
So far, these 5 weeks worth of CR’s cut exactly as much as Republicans had promised they would cut for the year, prorated.
Obama, otoh, wished that $4 billion had been 1/2 of all the cuts for the rest of the year.
You would throw out the good in hopes of the perfect.
Big mistake.
The enemy of the good is the perfect.
(Of course, you really don’t mean it. You wish the cuts would stop yesterday.)
White House Obliterated at Briefing; ‘Doesn’t There Come a Point Where You Have to Make a Decision?‘
Dang!
Now, personally, I don’t care if Obama votes ”present” for the next two years.
He might limit his damage in that way.
But it is funny to see a CBS reporter so exasperated over Obama’s ”dithering.”
Nan G said:
You’re satisfied with a mere $60 billion when February alone had a short-fall of $220 BILLION?
Let’s face it, to kill liberalism dead in it’s tracks all Boehner would have to do is say NO to an increase in the debt ceiling. Game over, liberals lose and the Republican party once again becomes what Reagan-and I supose you-intended it to become: The party of limited government.
Sorry Nan G, the Republicans are setting you up like a bowling pin-and the rest of us. They’ll pass another $TRILLIO + budget which our kids, grand-kids and great-grand-kids have to pay for.
No programs or agencies will be defunded. Lots of accounting tricks will be played, as they always are, and the Republicans will lie through their teeth to their supporters claiming they cut government.
I’m amazed how out passive conservatives have become, as witnessed here on FA, over the betrayl of the Republican campaign promises.
Instead of ripping Obama on a daily basis, which is all this site does and it’s like picking on a blind and deaf man for a fight, why not hold the Republican’s feet to the fire?
So what would a fiscal federal balanced budget look like?
23% military
24% infrastructure
20% debt repayment
5% homeland security
5% Department of Justice
7% conflicts in Iraq and Afganistan
2% NASA combined with National Science Foundation
1% for annual cost of natural disasters
3% for the State Department
2% Energy Department
5% Department of Veteran affairs
1% treasury department
1% Department of the Interior
.5% FDA
.5% the cost of running the presidency, congress and the federal courts
In 2010 the payment would be 1297 billion. So instead of getting $663.7 billion including overseas operations in 2010, it would be getting $389.1 billion to do the same job. If one wanted to keep the military just as strong, pay the debt and keep the Department of Veterans Affairs, that would cost $880.2 billion leaving $416.8 billion, leaving enough money to pay for The Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, the Treasury Department, the Department of Interior, the Department of State, Department of Energy, NASA and still have $155.7 billion for other projects such as additional infrastructure.
@Ivan:
Or not…..
So, another thing that will be all on the Dems.
The House moves it forward, DEMS in the Senate and/or Obama kill it.
Nan G said:
Oh, how convenient. “We tried to defund NPR, but the Democrats in the Senate wouldn’t let us.”
Yeah, you can buy into that dog-and-pony show that the Republicans roll out for any of their “cuts”, but most rational thinking conservatives realize it’s all a game for the consumption of RNC hacks such as yourself.
You’ve bought into the “We can’t do anything about the size of government since we don’t have the Senate and we don’t have the White House” rubbish. Since ALL SPENDING ORIGINATES IN THE HOUSE the Republicans who are in the House, and CONTROL THE HOUSE, can bring it all to a nice end by simply refusing to lift the debt-ceiling.
But that would be too simple for Boehner now, wouldn’t it? No, better to play politics for the 2012 elections than do what is right for the country now.
Enough of the “It’s the Dems fault” horse manure for a change. Okay?
@Old Trooper 2:
OT, go easy on him, he’s busy:
Look, Ivan,
Shutting down the government may yet happen.
But so far, each CR has cut exactly as much as the Republicans wanted cut for the whole year, proportionately.
There are huge downsides to allowing the government to shut down.
Obama’s propaganda machine for one.
Remember what Obama said (LIAR THAT HE IS) just a few weeks ago?*
(And most of the media passed it on to the public no questions asked.)
*OBAMA:
And I think people should be careful about being too loose in terms of talking about a government shutdown, because this has — this is not an abstraction. People don’t get their Social Security checks.
LAW:
While Obama had said that if there’s a government shutdown, “people don’t get their Social Security checks,” the reality is that the law provides significant leeway for employing federal workers to carry out Social Security functions during a shutdown, which allowed most checks to go out in 1995.
HISTORY:
According to Social Security’s official history on its website, 4,780 employees remained at work at the start of the four-day 1995 shutdown, while the other 61,415 were furloughed. But this cut “significantly impacted the Agency’s service to the public,” the account said, and on the second day, additional employees were recalled to work.
For the second shutdown, 1995-6 — which lasted three weeks, the longest in history — the agency deployed 55,000 employees and operations remained close to normal. (Experts told us it’s possible that the agency could get by with fewer employees today than in 1995 because today, many Social Security benefits are paid electronically.)
Why let this liar go into spin mode?
Heck, he might even skip a golf game to spin full-time!
(What am I smoking????)
Still it might happen.
I’m just not going to be expecting Republicans to come out looking good if it has to.
And neither are you, Ivan.
You want to destroy the Republican momentum.
Look Nan, I could care less about the “Propaganda machine” and what they say. I care about defeating liberalism and big government. You, on the other hand, are more concerned with the politics and implications of 2012 than doing the right thing, as evident by your concern over what the machine will say.
We saw this happen in 1995. The Republicans came is saying they would cut X,Y and Z and in the end collapsed like a house of cards to Clinton and his “machine.” And what did that get us? Bigger government and and expansion of liberalism to every corner of our society.
Wouldn’t you rather that the Republicans put the stake in the heart of liberalism with the failure to liff the debt ceiling, which Boehner could do, than go along with Obama and the liberals?
You remind me of the Scottish nobles who fought with William Wallace only to betray him in his hour of need because Long Shanks made them a better deal.
Piss on 2012. We either are differnent, or we’re just like them.
Hope you’re sitting down, but I couldn’t agree with this statement more and, in general, share the same exasperation as Ivan with the current crop of GOP. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only about 50 some odd GOP House members who are bold enough to stand up and say “no”, as evidenced by their vote. And while a continued Dem rigor mortis grip over Congress would be abhorrent, I have been less than impressed with what the GOP has done with their record midterm turnover.
Indeed, more time should be spent holding their feet to the fire than whining about Obama’isms that we’ve become accustomed to. We know he enjoys the perks, and delegates the work to others. This is a surprise? We know he’s a deer in the headlights as a CiC? This is another surprise, or needs to be pointed out to us on a daily basis?
Nor am I looking for failures that can be blamed on the Dems. I’m looking for success in turning this mess around, and for that I’m looking to the GOP.
Looks like I’d better continue “looking”, because the traditional and established GOP leadership are utterly spineless. Where it would have been great to be posting daily about the new Congressional accomplishments, or attempts at accomplishments, they are giving us little to crow about.
My point is whining about Obama’s (or the Dems) deplorable (lack of) leadership is fruitless and petty. The only way to return this nation to fiscal responsibility is to do what was done last Nov… kick the bums out and replace them with those who will actually do their Constitutional duty.
Now that’s had a good start, it’s time to remind those who benefitted from the midterms that being Dem-lite is not going to impress conservatives, nor will it wrest power from Obama’s hands in 2012.
As far as Nan G’s observation that there are “…huge downsides to allowing the government to shut down”, I might point out there are worse repercussions to allowing this nonsense to continue, and raising the debt ceiling. And it’s not like the Obama liars spin isn’t already a mainstay in politics already. Let him make a fool of himself. And when the social security checks are received during a shutdown, we can replay Obama’s idiotic statements.
There’s a CRS study on the effect of government shut downs. Most of it meant to scare the tar out of everyone and avoid it as an event. Then again, does the fact they are non essential government employees themselves have much to do with that attitude?
I don’t see one thing in these repercussions that I believe is unendurable in order to stand up for fiscal responsibility.
I will say that federal employees, able to receive their backpay when returning, is quite annoying. Prior to shut down, I’d say they ought to slide a bill thru that when federal employees are laid off during shutdowns, they don’t get that money for not working from the taxpayer later. This molly coddling of government employees simply has to stop. Period.
Mata said:
May The Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Welcome to the party, Mata.
Ivan… LOL! But I don’t need no stinkin’ parties. Just an adamant independent with a set of values to base opinions upon. Never been much of a herd or group mentality, myself. “political parties” and I are not harmonious….
But if you’re speaking of Libertarian, I’ve always been a combo of conservative/libertarian in foundation. That’s why I’ve never been much as a good GOPbot, nor a PaulBot.