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« on: August 03, 2011, 06:12:08 PM » |
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________________________________________ The Patriot Post Chronicle 8-3-2011 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription ________________________________________
The Foundation
"No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt." --George Washington
Editorial Exegesis
"After months of talk about the nation's runaway debt, lawmakers managed to agree on a plan that, at most, will cut spending by a mere 5%. Is it any wonder federal spending is out of control? ... According to IBD's analysis of available budget numbers, the deal's $2.4 trillion in 10-year cuts amounts to a mere 5% trim off total projected federal spending during that time. It's like a 400-pound man boasting that he plans to drop 20 pounds over a decade, while his doctors warn about the risks of losing weight so fast. Even calling these 'cuts' is a bit of a stretch, since spending will continue to increase, just at a slightly slower pace. ... By 2021, federal spending would still equal 22% of the nation's economy, above the post-World War II average of 20%. Not really a cut, is it? Plus, in the short term, these 'deep,' 'sharp,' 'slashing' cuts would still leave the federal government spending roughly 4% more in 2012 than it did in 2010, and 20% more than it did in 2008. Shorn of all the hyperbole, what this agreement really demonstrates is why it's so hard to get federal spending under control. Both sides routinely use budget gimmicks to exaggerate spending cuts, while armies of special interests swarm Washington to make sure their pet programs don't get touched. All the while, spending marches upward. And reporters too dumb, lazy or biased to understand how budgets work keep falling for this nonsense." --Investor's Business Daily1
Essential Liberty
"It is true that the Tea Party has 'won' within the context of what constitutes a political win in Washington. But have they accomplished enough to change our future? No, by this deal, they have not. To have a chance at actually changing our future, Washington would have to risk shocking and unpredictable change that might rock, temporarily, the financial prosperity of the nation. The establishment is not ready for that. To wit: Whether to risk radical change now or not is the measure of whether to support the deal. Thus, Washington politicians and politically alert citizens across the country can be broadly divided into those who fear losing the status quo and those who fear losing the future." --columnist Tony Blankley
Upright
"Federal outlays now make up a quarter of the total national output. Federal spending is up 46% in the last decade while the economy has grown by just 14% (inflation adjusted dollars). In other words, government is growing over 3.5 times faster than our ability to sustain it. Normally, spending numbers are lost on much of the voting public, but the debt ceiling offers a chance at national reflection over what we have purchased and what we've committed to buy. Instead of framing the debate around government freebies, as in the case of the federal budget, the debt ceiling shows Americans how much it all costs. It is the difference between the euphoria of a credit card-financed shopping spree and the realism [of] the next month's Visa statement." --columnist Joseph Ashby
"If the debt-ceiling had not been raised, the government would have been forced to choose between spending initiatives. The debt-ceiling would have provided a hard cap; it would have prevented President Obama from being able to press for new spending initiatives. Now, with the 'Super Congress' ... in charge of cutting the deficit, we can expect a new push for higher taxes, especially since reports are that the constituency of the Super Congress will be 'moderate.' ... If someone sets a hard date, we can fairly guarantee that the doom-saying is nonsensical. Never in history, has a non-mankind-created hard date turned out to be disastrous. No Kal-El prediction of the sun exploding has ever been accurate. ... The only apocalypse that will occur is the one our scaremongering politicians bring down upon us." --columnist Ben Shapiro
"The political class predicted 'disaster' if Congress didn't raise its debt limit. I think that was a scam to get more money. See, the poor politicians don't have enough, and they need to borrow more. We taxpayers are cheap. This year we'll give them only $2.2 trillion. They want to spend $3.8 trillion." --columnist John Stossel
Insight
"No government is respectable which is not just. Without unspotted purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to political society." --U.S. senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
"If you are afraid to speak against tyranny, then you are already a slave." --author John "Birdman" Bryant (1943-2009)
The Demo-gogues
He should take his own advice: "[This debt-ceiling deal is] an important first step for ensuring that as a nation we live within our means. ... [But the economy] didn't need Washington to come along with a manufactured crisis. It's pretty likely that the uncertainty surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling -- for both businesses and consumers -- has been unsettling, and just one more impediment to the full recovery that we need. And it was something that we could have avoided entirely. Voters may have chosen divided government, but they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government." --Barack Obama
Pity party: "If I were a Republican, I would be dancing in the streets. I don't have any idea what the Republicans wanted that they didn't get." --Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Government is great: "[Some] of us ... believe that government has a role for positive achievement in society along with the private sector doing things only government can do. ... I don't like this deal. But I think it would have been worse. ... Tax cuts are fun, but I never saw a tax cut put out a fire. I never saw a tax cut make a bridge. We need to have to make the case for positive government." --Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Hating the Tea Party: "As result of the Tea Party direction of this Congress these last few months has been very, very disconcerting and very unfair to the American people." --Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
"The Tea Party acted like terrorists in threatening to blow up the economy." --Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA)
"They have acted like terrorists." --Joe Biden, repeating and approving the line
Gun grabbers: "The easy availability of high-capacity ammo magazines in the U.S. has once again helped enable a large-scale massacre. ... This is another tragic example of our lack of common-sense gun laws failing us with deadly consequences, allowing a cold-blooded killer to easily acquire the tools of mass murder even from another country. How many more innocent people need to die before we realize that some simple, common-sense gun safety laws in the United States could actually save lives?" --Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) on the Norway massacre, while her pals call conservatives "terrorists"
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