A Budget That Can't Be Balanced!

Sequestration: The Big Lie

You know what really annoys me about all of the Obama administration rhetoric is that spending cuts will occur.  That's the lie.  Sequestration isn't about spending cuts...it's about FUTURE GROWTH of spending.  That has nothing to do with spending cuts now.  It means that Congress (should) bind itself to an agreement they made in 2011. Unfortunately, no Congress has EVER kept a promise to not increase spending.  At least not since the 1920's.

Sequestration: Stop the Madness!

Here's a few ideas I had on how to fix the budget issues that are now facing America..  They're fairly basic, but they would eliminate the deficit AND allow us to start paying back our grandchilren's legacy that we've stolen from them.

1. Eliminate the Fed Dept of Education (it has failed to meet any of the goals set for when founded). Education is a state matter, not a Federal one.
2. Eliminate the TSA. Turn over airport security to the airlines. Make them liable (in civil court) for ANY terrorist acts that occur on their airlines.
3. Eliminate Dept of Homeland Security.
4. Eliminate the Dept off HHS
5. Eliminate Dept of HUD
6. Cut back ALL Federal spending by 25% (40% would be better...that's how much the Dem's racheted it up after they took control of Congress in 2006).
7. Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution.
8. Repeal ObamaCare...government doesn NOTHING efficiently...and this act has already increased the costs of health care by 25%.
9. Have 37 states pass an amendment to the US Constition requiring ALL laws passed by Congress to APPLY to Congress (no more exemptions)
10. Eliminate ALL exemptions from the tax code. Pass a flat tax for ALL individuals AND businesses. No more subsidies for "green jobs" or oil companies or...the auto industry.
11. Eliminate ALL government subsidies to business and agriculture.

If we could do this, we would be able to begin paying off the debt within 4 years...but our political class consists of cowards, rogues and thieves. They don't have the will to make the tough decisions that are required to save our Republic. We have just about run out of other people's money. It's time to face facts, we've been borrowing from our great grand children for more than 70 years. They're going to demand payback very soon. What can't go on, won't...

 

Deficit Crisis Explained!

I found this on Don Surber's blog it's by Kate @ Small Dead Animals...and it's a great way to explain just what the recent "deficit deal" was about, and how it cuts spending...in the future, but not today:

America's Fiscal Reality 

A friend of mine in Texas republished some recent financial numbers:
U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Most people glaze over such numbers so he then equated it in simpler terms:
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Total budget cuts: $385
Finally, he wrote: "This is an impossible way for a family to survive. Bankruptcy is the only way out. This family is headed for complete failure."

P.S. Keep in mind that anyone who "dares" suggest that much more should be done to get America's fiscal house in order: is mentally unstable, wants to destroy their country, is a terrorist, and/or is a right-wing extremist. So says Obama's foot soldiers in government and in the MSM.

Now...does that make things a little easie to understand?  Or...to put them in Mr. Surber's words:

If anyone is wondering why we are in financial straits as a nation, consider that the president we elected in 2008 spent more money than anyone has ever spent in any election anywhere — 50% more more than John McCain — just to finish 6 points ahead on Election Day. President Obama is not exactly a penny-pincher or even a Benjamin-pincher. A Democratic Congress gave Obama a boxload of blank checks. The amount of misspending by this administration is nearly impossible to comprehend for most of humanity, and so Kate at Small Dead Animals put federal spending in terms of a family’s spending, but the numbers she described were rather lowball.

She gave the annual income of this family as $21,700. But the median household income in 2009 (the point where half earn less and half earn more) was $50,277. So I will adjust her figures accordingly.

Family income: $50,277.
Family spending: $88,506.
Added to the credit card: $38,229.
Outstanding credit card debt: $330,646.
Proposed cuts: $829.

That $829 cut means we will borrow another $37,400 next year.

But some will say it is a mortgage not a credit card. If so, we just took out a home equity loan of $38,229 last year on a house that is already underwater.

Barack Obama may do things this way. But not the rest of us.

What I don't understand is how our current political elite can justify continuing spending at this rate?  Are they stupid?  Retarded?  Do they think that the bills just won't come due?  They're coming due at a rapid rate...and we just can't continue spending like this.  The GOP & Democratic leadership had better understand, that the time for insane spending is over.

Wal-Mart vs. The Morons

I didn't write the following, but the facts are correct...

AN interesting read that's for sure, no matter what your political
affiliation.

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day.
2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer, and most speak English.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years.
8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.
9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.
11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.
You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans, EVERYONE!! To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:

A. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.
B. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.
C. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. (...and corrrupt former politicians who ran it in the last 20 broke the US and world economies...)
D. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.
e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.
f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.
g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.
You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.

By the way; since the Eisenhower era there have been over 200 taxes added to our taxpaying citizens so during the times of government run agency’s failures they had more tax money income that ever.

And you took over the Mustang Ranch in Nevada because they didn't pay their taxes, and now it is closed. You could not even run a house of prostitution.

AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ??

I know what's wrong. We have lost our minds to "Political Correctness"

Someone please tell me what the HELL's wrong with all the people that run this country!!!!!!
We're "broke" & can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless etc.,???????????
In the last months we have provided aid to Haiti , Chile , and Turkey .. And now Pakistan .....home of bin Laden. Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!

Our retired seniors living on a 'fixed income' receive no aid nor do they get any breaks while our government pours Hundreds of Billions of $$$$$$'s and Tons of Food to Foreign Countries! We have hundreds of adoptable children who are shoved aside to make room for the adoption of foreign orphans.

AMERICA: a country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry, elderly going without 'needed' meds, and mentally ill without treatment -etc,etc.

YET......................They have a 'Benefit' for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations, ships and planes lining up with food, water, tents clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies. Imagine if the *GOVERNMENT* gave 'US' the same support they give to other countries. Sad isn't it?

...and we entrust these several thousand legislative buffoons with our hard earned treasure...

BUDGET CUTS

I hope you're sitting down reading this because here is a short list of some of the proposed "extreme" cuts that the GOP House of Representatives would like to cut.  Read to the

end.

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.
• Save America's Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings.
• International Fund for Ireland . $17 million annual savings.
• Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.
• National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
• National Endowment for the Humanities.  $167.5 million annual savings.
• Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings.
• Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.
• Eliminate duplicative education programs. H.R. 2274 (in last Congress) , authored by Rep.
• McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
• U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.
• Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.
• Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.
• John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.
• Community Development Fund. $4.5 billion annual savings.
• Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid. $24 million annual savings
• Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half. $7.5 billion annual savings Trim
• Federal Vehicle Budget by 20%. $600 million annual savings.
• Essential Air Service. $150 million annual savings.
• Technology Innovation Program. $70 million annual savings.
• Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. $125 million annual savings.
• Department of Energy Grants to States  for Weatherization. $530 million annual savings.
• Beach Replenishment. $95 million annual savings.
• New Starts Transit. $2 billion annual savings.
• Exchange Programs for Alaska , Natives Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical  Trading Partners in Massachusetts . $9 million annual savings
• Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants. $2.5 billion annual savings. Title X Family Planning. $318 million annual savings.
• Appalachian Regional Commission. $76 million annual savings.
• Economic Development Administration. $293 million annual savings.
• Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings.
• Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings.
• FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. $200 million annual savings.
• Energy Star Program. $52 million annual savings.
• Economic Assistance to Egypt . $250 million annually.
• U.S. Agency for International Development. $1.39 billion annual savings.
• General Assistance to District of Columbia . $210 million annual savings.
• Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. $150 million annual savings.
• Presidential Campaign Fund. $775 million savings over ten years.
• No funding for federal office space acquisition. $864 million annual savings.
• End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services. Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act.
• More than $1 billion annually.
• IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget. $1.8 billion savings over ten years.
• Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees. $1 billion total

 

Some savings...add up the totals...there there are these proposals for the next ten years.

• Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees. $1.2 billion savings over ten
• years.
• Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of. $15 billion total savings.
• Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress. Eliminate Mohair Subsidies. $1 million annual savings.
• Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
• Change. $12.5 million annual savings
• Eliminate Market Access Program. $200 million annual savings.
• USDA Sugar Program. $14 million annual savings.
• Subsidy to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). $93 million annual savings.
• Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. $56.2 million annual savings.
• Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs. $900 million savings.
• Ready to Learn TV Program. $27 million savings..
• HUD Ph.D. Program. Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.

TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years

 

But the real question is just what were these items doing in the budget in the first place?  We're out of other people's money and it's time to pay as we go.  What we need to do is return to the 2006 budget, the one that had $150 million or so deficit and cut that by  30% across the board.  Eliminate several departments...and eliminate bureaus, offices and departments that duplicate their efforts. 

 

Doorbell: You Owe Us Money

here's a great video via Instapundit:

Democratic Control Of Congress

For the most part since 1932, the Democratic party has controled Congress.  Not just one house occasionally, but both, as well as the office of the Presidency.  From the comments section on "what the little people think" about the recent downgrading of US debt by S&P.  The article the comments come from is linked here.

Iceman, the Dems are not blind, or stupid. They just want job security: their own. Carville says in his book that the Dems will rule for 40 years. The Dems have been the dominant party since 1930. Here's some facts on that since 1930:

The Democrats controlled the House:
1930-46
1948-52
1954-94
2006-present
R-16 years, D=60 years

The Democrats controlled the Senate:

1932-46
1948-52
1954-80
1986-94
2000 (a week)
2001-02
2006-present
R-21 years, D=55 years

The Democrats controlled the Presidency
1932-52
1960-68
1976-80
1992-00
2008-present
R-36 years, D-40 years.

There has been Democratic control over both houses of Congress and the Presidency:

2008 to present
1992-94
1976-80
1960-68
1948-52
1932-46.
That is, 28 years in the lifetime of most Americans.

There has been Republican control over both houses of Congress and the Presidency:

1952-54
Jan. 20-June 6, 2001
2002-06.

See what I mean. And don't forget, Congress makes the budget, not the President. If it wasn't for Brown's election, followed by the November 2010's election, this Country would be closer to bankruptcy than it is now, the Constitution would be a memory, and our Democratic government would take care of everyone, via taxes, and the beginning of our new socialist form of living, like eastern Europe.
Don't think the Dems are blind, or stupid. They know what they're doing

What Democrats are truly afraid of is that "the little people" will finally figure out that the vast majority of US debt stems from Democratic party policies that were passed and larded upon through their control of Congress...and that they will be blamed, rightly, for what we are now going through.

After all, from January of 2007, when the Democratic Party took control of Congress, they passed the largest of "Bush's" deficit budgets ($400 billion dollars)...once Mr. Obama took over the White House,  the deficit spigot became gusher, and they have in the past several years added fully 1/3rd to the US debt...it's so bad, that in 2010, neither the House of Representatives, under Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) or the Senate under Harry Reid (D-UT) passed a budget bill, because they were terrified of what would happen to their rather slim majorities if they did...they're still playing politics...and We The People will end up paying for this.

National Debt Road Trip

Here's a great video:

The Budget: How I Would Pare Down The Deficit

If I were president...(fat chance that, ed.) I would take the last GOP congressional budget, which what was considered to be a huge deficit...$400+ billion dollars, and I would make across the board cuts...of  30% in every single program, across all departments.  Additionally, I would layoff 30% of all federal workers.

I would also require means testing for Medicare, Medicaide and Social Security.  I  would also submit a bill to Congress that would repeal ALL of ObamaCare, as well as a bill that would:

propose the following as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

28th Amendment to the United States Constitution
The purpose of this amendment is to restrict the duration and number of consecutive terms any President, United States Senator and Congressman may serve consecutively.  It will additionally limit the number of days Congress may meet and so designate the meeting times of those sessions.

1. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the House of Representatives to more than four (4) consecutive, two (2) year terms to office.
2. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the United States Senate for more than two (2) consecutive, six (6) year terms of office. 
3. No citizen of the United States shall receive any retirement benefits from serving in either the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.
4. The term of office of the President of the United State shall be for one (1), six (6) year term and he may not succeed him or herself.
5. Congress shall not exempt itself from any laws of the United States of America, in whole or in part. 
6. Congress shall be in session for a period of not less than 60 consecutive days in the Spring, and 60 consecutive days in the Summer of each year. Each sitting of Congress may be extended by the President for a period not to exceed 15 days. The Spring session shall start on the first Monday of March. The Summer session shall begin on the first Monday in August. An additional 15 day session to begin on the 2nd Monday of December may be called by the President if so deemed necessary by declaration of a national emergency and voted so by a 2/3rds majority of the sitting Congress and may not be extended. 

as well as this one:

29th Amendment to the United States Constitution
The purpose of this Amendment is to provide that the Congress of the United States will not spend monies that exceed those taken by the IRS and Treasury Department.

• Section 1. Prior to each fiscal year, the Congress shall adopt a statement of receipts and outlays for that year in which total outlays are no greater than total receipts. The Congress may amend such statement provided revised outlays are not greater than revised receipts. Whenever three-fifths of the whole number of both Houses shall deem it necessary, Congress in such statement may provide for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a vote directly to that subject. The Congress and the President shall ensure that actual outlays do not exceed the outlays set forth in such statement.
• Section 2. Total receipts for any fiscal year set forth in the statement adopted pursuant to this article shall not increase by a rate greater than the rate of increase in national income in the last calendar year ending before such fiscal year, unless a majority of the whole number of both Houses of Congress shall have passed a bill directed solely to approving specific additional receipts and such bill has become law.
• Section 3. The Congress may waive the provisions of this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect by affirmative vote of two-thirds..
• Section 4. The Congress may not require that the states engage in additional activities without compensation equal to the additional costs.
• Section 5. Total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States except those derived from borrowing and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States except those for repayment of debt principal.
• Section 6. This article shall take effect for the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification.
• Section 7. If Congress fails to pass a balanced budget, then both chambers will be disolved and a Special election will be held in 90 days following the recess without passage of a bill. This election will be fore the remainder of the current session of Congress.

 In 2007, Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, and Harry Reid, as Majority Leader of the US Senate increased spending by 30 percent.  Once Barack Obama assumed office, that rate was excellerated...until the deficit in each of the last 3 years has been FOUR TIMES the size of the last GOP controlled Congress.  They have added one-third to othe national debt...and have set the country on the course to financial ruin. 

It's well past time that the Constitution be amended to first, eliminate the "professional political class," and secondly, force Congress to do what every one else must do...not spend money we don't have except in times of emergency.

I'd also eliminate the Dept of Energy (there's no energy policy derived from there...failed dept), Homeland Security (isn't that what the dept of Def is for?), Education (that's a function of the states and counties), HUD, Transportation (beyond their investigating plane, train accidents, and broad planning regime, the rest is a function of the states), HHS, BATF, and a whole host of other alphabet "security" agencies...as well as several other departments. Suggestions on what else to cut? 

The Numbers They Are Aweful!

From Steven Green of VodkaPundit, via Instapundit...these numbers speak for themselves.  I don't often reproduce entire blog posts, but these...speak for themselves...

“The numbers, they are awful.”

9.2% — unemployment rate for June.
0.1% — increase since May.
16.2% — underemployment rate for June.
0.4% — increase since May.
8% — conventional wisdom for the maximum allowable unemployment rate to win reelection.
15 — remaining BLS reporting months before Election Day.
255,000 — net jobs that must be created each and every month to reach 8%.
18,000 — net jobs created last month.
44,000 — downward revision to April and May job creation.
3,825,000 — total net jobs needed before Election Day.
2,100,000 — jobs created in the last fifteen months.
11.2% — unemployment rate if the labor participation rate was as high as it was in January, 2009.
290,000 — best monthly net jobs gain during Obama administration.
231,000 — real best gain, minus temporary Census hiring.
14 — months since best monthly gain.
1% — decrease in DJIA in the opening minute of trading, day that jobs figures released.
$1,200,000,000,000 — cost of ARRA “stimulus,” with interest.
1,900,000 — net jobs lost since ARRA was signed.
2 — quantitative easing programs since 2008.
~$2,000,000,000,000 — total of first QE program during Great Recession.
$600,000,000,000 — total of second QE program, just ended.
40% — increase in federal debt since January, 2009.
30% — increase in annual federal spending since January, 2009.
20% — decrease in federal revenues since January, 2009.
12% — decline in value of US dollar since January, 2009.
37% — increase in number of Americans on food stamps since January, 2009.
62% — increase in Misery index since January, 2009.
800 — days since the Senate passed a budget.
1.9% — last quarterly GDP increase.
2.5% — consensus projection for last quarterly GPD increase.
2.7% — official White House projection.
3.0% or better — GDP growth needed to dent unemployment.
3.6% — official White House GDP growth projection for 2012.
2.7% — IMF GDP growth projection for 2012.
30% — federal debt held by public as percentage of GDP, 2005.
60% — federal debt held by public as percentage of GDP, 2010.
180% — federal debt held by public as percentage of GDP, CBO estimate, 2035.

0% — odds of current path being sustainable.

Then toss in this graphic that shows that the recovery from the current recession is the slowest-worst in modern times:

and then this:

...and then think about our "elite political leaders" in Washington argueing whether or not to raise the debt ceiling!  They are quibbling over fake "spending cuts" (which aren't really cuts at all as has been demonstrated in the past few months) that at best cut fractions of a percentage point, while our economy struggles along, it's time to dump the leadership in the GOP, and start fresh.  They don't have the courage to do what needs to be done.

$1,000,000,000

I received this one from a reader too.  It's about perspective:

This is too true to be funny. The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the politicians spending YOUR tax money.

 

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

• a billion seconds ago it was 1959.
• a billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
• A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...let's take a look at New Orleans ...It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (Dem) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number... What does it mean? Well ..

• If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) You each get $516,528.
• If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets$1,329,787..
• Or... If you are a family of four....Your family gets$2,066,012.

 Washington , D. C ...Are all your calculators broken??

 

Here's a list of taxes that didn't exist 100 years ago:

• Building Permit Tax
• CDL License Tax
• Cigarette Tax
• Corporate Income Tax
• Dog License Tax
• Federal Income Tax (Fed)
• Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
• Fishing License Tax
• Food License Tax
• Fuel Permit Tax
• Gasoline Tax
• Hunting License Tax
• Inheritance Tax
• Inventory Tax
• IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
• IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
• Liquor Tax
• Luxury Tax
• Marriage License Tax
• Medicare Tax
• Property Tax
• Real Estate Tax
• Service charge taxes
• Social Security Tax
• Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
• Sales Taxes
• Recreational Vehicle Tax
• School Tax
• State Income Tax
• State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
• Telephone Federal Excise Tax
• Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
• Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
• Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
• Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
• Telephone State and Local Tax
• Telephone Usage Charge Tax
• Utility Tax
• Vehicle License Registration Tax
• Vehicle Sales Tax
• Watercraft Registration Tax
• Well Permit Tax
• Workers Compensation Tax

 (And to think, we left British  Rule to avoid so many taxes)

 

Honestly, do you really think this is funny? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago.....

• And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
• We had absolutely no national debt....
• We had the largest middle class in the world.....
• And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

 

What happened? Can you spell: 'POLITICIANS!'  And I still have to Press '1' For English.

Yet, the Democratic Party would have you believe that merely returning spending levels to pre-2007 (when they took control of Congress) would be the biggest spending reduction in history.  What they're not saying is that they set in motion the largest, non-war related, spending increase in history.  One that only excellerated when Mr. Obama was elected president in 2008.  They have managed to double our national debt in FIVE YEARS!!!!

It's time for a change, and the GOP leadership in Washington DC isn't listening.  We The People need to actually do something about this.  Find candidates who will give ALL the sitting GOP members a primary challenge.  Men and women who have never been contaminated by the "political process" who will actually DO something about the quagmire that has become Washington, DC.

Boehner Sells Out (again...)

Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-OH) has indicated that he will raise the debt ceiling.  In doing so, he will be flying in the face of what he promised last year, substantive, substantial cuts in the both the federal budget, but the huge deficit as well.  Bloomberg is reporting that,

House Speaker John Boehner said “it’s clear” the U.S. must raise its debt limit, responding to President Barack Obama’s efforts to secure backing to extend the government’s borrowing authority.


“At some point it’s clear to me that we have to increase the debt ceiling,” Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said yesterday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And as we do, we’re going to do it in a way that addresses America’s long-term fiscal challenges.”

Yet again, proving that the GOP leadership in Congress are "going along to get along."  They, the GOP leadership are part of the problem and not part of the solution. This goes along with the betrayal when we were promised that there would $100 billion dollars cuts immediately...what we got was $38 billion, and that was hailed a a huge cut...until you consider that this years deficit tops $1,700,000,000,000.00...  That comes to less than .38% cut.  Nothing, not even a drop in the bucket.

Now, we're being told that we must permit this spendthrift president to continue taking the country down the road to financial ruin, and the GOP will just help him along. 

We've been told that if the Chinese, who hold huge amounts of US Treasury bonds were to reduce their holdings, that would be catastrophic to the US economy.  Guess what...the Chinese have, for the 5th straight month, reduced  their holdings of US Treasury bonds.

China, the biggest buyer of U.S. securities, trimmed its holdings for a fifth straight month.  The Treasury Department said Monday that China cut its holdings by $9.2 billion to $1.14 trillion.

Instead of cutting the deficit, we're gettinng Kabuki Theatre...just going along to get along.  Mr. Boehner, you were given a majority in the House of Representatives to substantially cut spending.  Paul Ryan (R-WI) has given you a plan to do so...so dammit, start working on real substantive cuts NOW!  We can't afford not to.

Mr. Boehner, if you don't follow up your words of last year, next year will so the GOP thrown out of office in records numbers.  Just as the Democrats were turned out wholesale.

The Real Cost Of Illegal Immigrants

This is submitted by a teacher in Southern California, who asked for anonymity...to protect her job.  Furthermore, more than 900 teachers were recently laid off from the Los Angeles Unified School District. They are $650,000,000 over budget. These figures should make everyone stop and think about how the money there is spend, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park , etc.. where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program.When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten.  (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones.The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls(some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing

funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America ...(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" (whores ) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care, etc, etc, etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled not only to be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

Americans, We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and anAmerican culture that has become so weak and worried about"political correctness " that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know including your Congressmen and Senators.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage.  Consumers don't want expensive produce. Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth , a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

• Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children,

• He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return,  he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

• He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.
• He qualifies for food stamps..
• He qualifies for free (no deductible), no co-pay) health care.
• His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.
• He requires bilingual teachers and books.
• He qualifies for relief from high energy bills...
• If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense .
• He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills AND his.
The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people!

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!'

This kind of this can be found at EVERY level of government.  The federal government has dozens of programs that overlap, and none of which operate at any level of efficiency.  I think that the time has come to force our governments to start thinking like business, instead of working on someone else's dime...the taxpayers are waking up and beginning to demand accountability. 

It's the Economy STUPID!

A reader asked me how long a bounce Mr. Obama would get from the killing of OBL...I predict 2 weeks.  That's about how long the MSM will be able to wind this out.  The love fest was evident on ABC tonight with their "news breaks" on "late breaking news."  What'shername, the ABC evening news anchor, just gushed about "our brave seals."...

After 2 weeks, reality will return, and people will see the cost of gasoline rise above $4.50...and begin it's inexorable climb to the $5 dollar rung.  Of course, pretty much our entire economy is tied to the price of fuel.  Very soon, we'll see real inflation rates approach 10%.  The current system for measuring inflation doesn't count the cost of energy or food...both of which require intensive use of petroleum products to reach market, not just to grow.  Thus, the GAO continues to insist that there is no inflation...but then, they don't do any grocery shopping.
Mr. Obama claims he can't do anything about the cost of gasoline in the immediate future (the next few months).  While technically, that's correct, we as a nation, have some of the largest reserves of oil in the world.  We are continually finding new oil fields.  What this government has refused to do is permit new drilling.  The reason that the deep water BP spill happened at all is that environmentalists have successfully blocked the exploitation of newly discovered (over the past 20 years) of  oil fields located on the continental shelf (The CS lies in waters from 0 feet to approximately 500 feet deep).   This has forced us to exploit very deep water fields.  But now, even that's off limits.

But not for Brazil.  We gave Brazil's Petrobaz (spelling?) $2,000,000,000.00 to exploit  a new field discovered in deep water off the south east coast of Brazil.  Now, just who holds the largest block of privately held stock in that partially publically (Brazillian government) owned company?  Why George Soros, one of the huge contributors to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Then throw in Mr. Obama's faux "deficit reduction plan" (which budget is still 25% larger than the largest signed by Mr. G. W. Bush)...that has markets in flux, and has caused Stardard & Poors, among other bond rating agencies to down-grade US Treasury bonds...plus the Chinese have started to sell off  US T-Bills (one common indicator that an attack on the dollar is imminent)...and IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID!

Now, the real question is...will Washington listen?

Time to Raise the Ceiling Again!

HT Don Surber

10 Ways to Reduce Government Spending

 Here are 10 suggestions to reduce the deficit produce a balanced budget.

1. Eliminate all ethanol subsidies (and ALL farm subsidies).
2. Eliminate all windmill subsidies.
3. Cut EPA’s budget 50%.
4. Eliminate the FCC.
5. Eliminate the NEA.
6. Eliminate public broadcasting money.
7. Eliminate the Dept  of Education.
8. Across the board 20% cut in funding.
9.  
10.  

I'm leaving spots 9 and 10 open for your suggestions.  Here are a couple of more.

But the best suggestion of all is that if (when) Congress fails to pass a balanced budget by the first day of the federal fiscal year, hold a special election 90 days later to replace all 535 of the worthless sonsabitches.  Another would be to end the full-time, year-round Congress.   Because they're there all year, they waste endless amounts of money.

Michael Moore: Take From The Rich...

It's taken a number of years, but Michael Moore has finally admitted that he's a communist at heart.  He desires to seize the assets of the 400 wealthiest Americans to service the deficit.  Seriously, he wants to steal the wealth of Americans and use it "for the national good."  That's what communists do.

Recently, in a Huffington Post column, he's taken to advocating,

Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.  Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.

Of course, this goes completely against, not just our democratic heritage, but American tradition of each person being able to achieve the pinnacle of success...by their own hard work.  Here's a video of Mr. Moore, expounding on this theme.



Of course, he's wrong.  By seizing the assets of the wealtiest of Americans wouldn't ease the recession, it would in fact push the country over the brink into a full blown depression.  Those companies that are owned by these people would become so devalued as to be worthless....

Mary Katherine Ham has a far better rebuttal and does it in under 2:30!



Here's the money quote (emphasis is mine): 

The grand total of the combined net worth of every single one of America’s billionaires is roughly $1.3 trillion. It does indeed sound like a “ton of cash” until one considers that the 2011 deficit alone is $1.6 trillion. So, if the government were to simply confiscate the entire net worth of all of America’s billionaires, we’d still be $300 billion short of making up this year’s deficit.


That’s before we even get to dealing with the long-term debt of $14 trillion, which if you’re keeping score at home, is between 10 to 14 times the entire net worth of all of the country’s billionaires, combined. That includes the all-powerful Koch brothers ($40 billion between them), the all-powerful George Soros ($14.5 billion), all the Walton family (of the Wal-Mart fortune), Steve Jobs, Oprah (at a paltry $2.7 billion), the Google Founders, Michael Bloomberg, and the Mars family (of the candy bar empire).

When Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, the national debt stood at $9,000,000,000,000.00.  Between them, Mr Obama, Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid added $5 trillion to the national debt...and Democrats in Congress are literally screaming at cutting a mere $150 billion from this years budget.  Where is the sanity?  There ain't none.

Democrats are trying to drive this country into insolvency by spending our great-grandchildren's unearned wealth...today, and taking from those who work, and giving to those that don't, or won't.

Obama's Idea of Deficit Reduction

If you take Mr. Obama's words from his SOTU address last week, his idea of reducing the deficit is...miniscule.  He proposes a SPENDING FREEZE, instead of substantive cuts.  This way, he'd save (and this sounds like a lot on it's face) $400,000,000,000.00 over ten years.  That amounts to a whole $40 billion a year in savings.

That's just a drop in the bucket.  This years deficit alone is $1,500,000,000,000.00, which is 4 times the entire amount, and more than 30 times as much.  The entire federal budget was more than 85 times that amount.  Mr. Obama in his first 2 years of governing has run up a debt of more than $3,000,000,000,000.00 alone.  $40 billion dollars doesn't even amount to a "drop in the bucket."  Charles Krauthammer calls it a "spillage error."

Last November's election saw record losses by the party that has added $5 trillion dollars to the debt in 4 years.  Voter's gave the Democratic party's majority a well deserved  spanking after they ran in 2006 and 2008 as a party of fiscal responsibility. 

The November election sent a clear message to Washington: less government, less debt, less spending. President Obama certainly heard it, but judging from his State of the Union address, he doesn't believe a word of it. The people say they want cuts? Sure they do - in the abstract. But any party that actually dares carry them out will be punished severely. On that, Obama stakes his reelection.

No other conclusion can be drawn from a speech that didn't even address the debt issue until 35 minutes in. And then what did he offer? A freeze on domestic discretionary spending that he himself admitted would affect a mere one-eighth of the budget...And of course, once again, there is the magic lure of a green economy created by the brilliance of Washington experts and politicians. This is to be our "Sputnik moment," when the fear of the foreigner spurs us to innovation and greatness of the kind that yielded NASA and the moon landing.

Apart from the irony of this appeal being made by the very president who has just killed NASA's manned space program, there is the fact that for three decades, since Jimmy Carter's synfuel fantasy, Washington has poured billions of taxpayer dollars down a rat hole in vain pursuit of economically competitive renewable energy.

While the dream of alternative fuel sources is fresh, think about the Spanish disaster.  They blew $800 million dollars (a huge amount to their stuggling economy that's about  1/20th the US') on a disasterous attempt to shore up it's "green economy."  Then, there's the $6 billion ethonol stupidity that was supposed to reduce the cost of fuel and has only increased world wide food costs.  Even Al Gore now admits that that was a mistake.

He served up an insignificant spending cut, yet another (if more modest) stimulus, and a promise to fight any Republican attempt to significantly shrink the size of government.

Indeed, he went beyond this. He tried to cast this more-of-the-same into a call to national greatness, citing two Michigan brothers who produce solar shingles as a stirring example of rising to the Sputnik moment.

"We do big things," Obama declared at the end of an address that was, on the contrary, the finest example of small-ball Clintonian minimalism since the days of school uniforms and midnight basketball.

From the moon landing to solar shingles. Is there a better example of American decline?

This president will fight any attempt by the GOP to actually cut spending in any significant amount. This will hurt the country profoundly.  I can only hope that in 2012, he is defeated, but I'll not under estimate the ability of the GOP to FUBAR things up between now and then.

Balancing The Budget...

Here's a video on how to balance the budget without increasing taxes...