Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Pay Go a Go Go

So Eric is worried about the banks and the insurance industry. Says our country is heading in the wrong direction.


Rich bitches a lot about the deficit, says it is the Republicans fault. Says tax cuts are to blame, but we also need entitlement reform. Don't worry, Rich says, the adults are in charge.

Now little me, I keep saying we are going broke, we have promised too much and the government is involved in too much of our lives. I keep saying that.

I use lots of news articles to make my points, most of them are from conservative publication because they...agree with me.

So...Jim B, the evil one, won't let poor folks get their unemployment benefits. I know this because I watched MSNBC last night and they said so. That is right, the Senator from KY is now being portrayed as having a mental disorder because...he wants to enforce Pay-Go, the very program Rich cites when crowing about the 90's surplus.

I have said, many times, that the Republicans tried, tried, to bring some fiscal discipline and sanity to government spending but their efforts were demagogue by the Democrats. I have even posted examples, mostly ignored.

Like I tell my patients, to quite smoking you have to quit smoking, you can't just talk about it. (advice I would give our President).  To quit spending, we need to quit spending.  Duh

But, because of the Democrats and their...lying...we can't get a damn thing don't.

Our only alternative is to tax more to spend more. Rich, you keep saying we need to spend more now to stimulate the economy then reign it in later. Bull----, YOUR PARTY WILL NOT EVEN LET AN ISSUE PASS WITHOUT MANIPULATING IT AGAIN FOR POLITICAL GAIN, WHICH ENFORCES A RULE JUST PASSED, WHICH WOULD HAVE NO REAL EFFECT ON THE UNEMPLOYED.

9 comments:

Eric Martin said...

I understand; watching cable television makes me crabby too.

Maybe Rich the Democrat, and me, Eric the Libertarian, could chip in and get you a subscription to the Economist. It is very conservative; I've been reading it all morning. It is so well written and reasonable that it doesn't make the reader feel cantankerous.

Maybe we could also get a subscription for any of the Senators that actually like to read something other than spy novels.

I wonder how many of them have actually read that book about the Senate written by JFK. I have.

Baxter said...

Doc -

Your points, though oft-repeated, are weak. When challenged, you have not been able to identify just where you would cut spending. Lengthy cut and pastes from IBD are not a good way for you to make a particular point. I remind you that it was the Dems that courageously cut the growth of spending and maintained pay/go in 1993. Why do you always forget this FACT?

It was the GOP that broke the bank throughout the 2000s. Period. FACTS IS FACTS. That did not happen because the Republicans were valiantly trying to cut spending but were thwarted by the Dems in the wilderness. "We didn't pay for things as a matter of course", said Orrin Harch. The only thing that the GOP did effectively was cut taxes and it was ruinous.

Obama tried to create a deficit cutting committee with real authority that would have provided for a lame duck, December 2010 vote, up or down, on the recommendations. This vote failed because it could not gain Republican support. Worse - 7 Republicans who co-sponsored the bill, reneged at the last minute in the Senate, depriving the legislation of the necessary 60-vote super majority.

With that kind of childish and unreliable behavior, how are we to go about touching a host of "third rails"? You all talk about bi-partisanship, but your team walked away from this ideal opportunity. That speaks volumes.

Truth is - the Ganem wing of the party could care less about balanced budgets. "Deficits don't matter," said your Patron Saint Dick Cheney. You all simply want lower taxes, deficits and future generations be damned. You had your chance and you showed your colors.

Eric Martin said...

Jim/Bax:

You guys are always fighting the old partisan fight. Your comments invariably refer to purported past accomplishments of the respective parties.

In my opinion, that argument multiplied by 100 million IS THE PROBLEM.

Seriously. How does the US get past this merciless political logjam?

Baxter said...

With all due respect, Eric, both parties are not equally to blame. The past twenty years paint a very damning picture of Republican supply side policies and make an excellent argument for a Democratic, Keynesian approach.

The GOP dug the hole, the Dems dug us out before and they will do it again. if we could only combine Democratic policies with GOP discipline and political skills, we could solve these problems and lead the world for another fifty years or so...

Baxter said...

Time prevents a more complete post, but I will point out that our logjam has been present and growing for years. It is one more reason to dump the Filibuster. Jim's erroneous complaints about the Democratic demagoguery would be all the more feeble if his folks didn't need 60 votes in the Senate to get things done when they had the power. Ditching the rule will simply attach full responsibility to the party in power leaving room for no excuses.

I would be just fine waiting for any changes to take effect with the next Congress. Who knows what the complexion of the body will be?

The Dems Filibustered Bushes court nominees. The Republicans are blocking everything they can. We are on our way to second class status unless/until the SYSTEM changes. Our slow moving Senate, which once meant stability, now means that we are sclerotic and the nimble are passing us by.

Just look at our relationship with China has changed over the eight years Bush was in office. We have really been emasculated by our debtor status.

Jim G. said...

Crazy Rich writes:

You have a short memory. Bush brought us to financial disaster..remember the Clinton surplus?

Big government is a cliché the Republicans love to use…but none of them..(or the Dems) have the balls to discuss cutting entitlements..how about you? Are you willing to take less in Medicare payments? How about drug treatment only (no angio ) for people over 80? Everyone wants to cut the deficit, nobody wants to lose their cut of the pie.

Time to face facts..the system is broken..the American people have been brainwashed to believe they can continue to borrow indefinitely without consequences, I see very difficult times ahead.

RM

Jim G. said...

That did not happen because the Republicans were valiantly trying to cut spending but were thwarted by the Dems in the wilderness.

YES IT DID!

How many articles do I need to post?

River in Egypt.

Don't worry, I'll keep posting.

Jim G. said...

Eliminate ear marks, which I am sure my friend Eric will support because it not only is expensive but corrupting.

Raise the retirement age.

Increase patient responsibility for Medicare payments.

Return unspent money from Tarp and the Stimulus.

Quit spending more.

Not bean bag.

Baxter said...

The Republicans have not attempted to materially cut or reduce the growth of spending since they failed with the government shutdowns over Medicare in 1995 (and I was on their side). To claim otherwise is truly to be in denial. Ironically, they are now assailing Obama for proposing $500B in Medicare cuts over ten years.

Your list of money savers did not allocate just how much each category would save or what timeframe. Perhaps, it would help if you looked at the budget.