by Jack (written entirely independently of Tina’s article)
Well, the worst has happened. The much feared government shutdown has arrived. Brace yourselves for some museum closures and other stuff hardly anyone will notice.
Who will win and who will lose in this political stand-off over implementing ObamaCare? So far the polling shows 4 to 1 Americans are against the delay, so Republicans are being severely damaged for taking a rare principled stand calling for a one year delay. Dr. Charles Krauthammer, one of the most respected conservative spokespersons of our time and one who was vehemently against ObamaCare, in it’s present form, believes the Republicans are making a terrible mistake by throwing up a roadblock. He subscribes to the “Silent guns of time” theory to expose the flaws of ObamaCare and let the Democrats take the blame.
Unfortunately, it’s been voted into law, it’s been challenged all the way to the Supreme Court and we conservatives lost. It’s going to happen and an attempt to delay implementation by one year only advantages the Democrats because it gives them the time to correct ObamaCare’s most glaring defects. Beyond a stand on princple, there’s not much in it, politically speaking, for Republicans.
Polling shows the better battle is to resist the debt ceiling. Americans are only 2 to 1 against this one. But, a victory here is likely to crash the economy unless it’s done with extreme skill. Has anyone in Congress in our recent history been that skillful? In either case, ObamaCare or the debt ceiling the GOP finds itself in another one of those da#$% if you da#$% if you don’t situations.
The ultimate losers in this battle are going to be the American people. We have two outcomes and neither are good. We are at high risk of collapsing the economy by printing too much money and extending the debt ceiling beyond repair. And we seem unable to reduce the spending rationally and responsibly to restrain the debt ceiling that’s destined to ruin our future generations. We’re also going to be forever burdened by a form of socialized medicine because the people have never, never, never reversed an entitlement and this latest one will be an enormous drag on our economy at the worst possible time.
Good morning Jack.
Right out of the box this morning Harry Reid stood on the floor of the Senate and said that the Republicans shut down the government because they didn’t care about America but to the Democrats this shut down represents a dastardly act, or some such BS.
Under Jimmy Carter and a Democrat controlled Senate and House the government was shut down five times.
Old Harry wasn’t around in the seventies when Carter was President but having worked his way to the top in the ranks of a party steered by Tip O Neill and later Ted Kennedy he certainly learned how to play the Democrat blame game. In all the government has been shut down 17 times.
Your conclusions are correct, Jack. The twins time bombs of social obligation that cannot be met and never ending QE is putting tremendous pressure on our economic chances for the future. Inflation is standing in wait…is there a way to avoid it?
Even when we finally rid ourselves of this administration, managing both will remain a huge challenge, difficult and dastardly with or without the willingness by Democrats to negotiate with Republicans.
Our enemies love this.
One tiny bit of light. That sequester we fought so hard for has caused a slowing in the growth of our debt…Democrats fought that too.
Three million people visit Yellowstone National Park each year, and that’s just Yellowstone. And there are also to be considered … the people who work in the parks.
Must you invite my disdain by being such repeatedly selfish people. “If it doesn’t effect you personally than it doesn’t exist” … seems to be the core principle of your political philosophy.
This is why government come to be. So the rest of us could have a civilized communal existence … in spite of you.
Today I saw a picture of WWII veterans knocking down the barrier to the WWII Memorial in DC. Are you kidding me? That is a walk by monument. Why would it be closed? It is a giant fountain that does not require staffing. If I paid money to go to DC to find those things closed I would be outraged. It cost a lot of money to take my family there a few years ago there is no reason to close that stuff and those museums should be open. Period.
There was no reason for this shutdown. Congress blew it. John Boehner is the WEAKEST Speaker of the House ever. What a pathetic idiot. And I’m not real happy with the GOP adding the birth control BS to that bill yesterday. Not all conservatives are opposed to birth control. Many of us think it should be mandatory. I’m tired of paying for endless babies. This country needs a lot more birth control, not less.
This ideology garbage needs to stop. This governing with continuing resolution is total nonsense. PASS A BUDGET. Stop adding poison pills to everything and work it out. And start actually working. These clowns make $174,000 a year and work only 137 days. Enough with the long weekends and vacations with no work product.
Get busy!
Libby put a sock in it. The leader of the country has it exactly as he wants it.
The President threw a tantrum and closed the White House and other venues in the sequester fight during which his contribution was to pout.
Obama created this mess rather than write a budget that even Harry Reid and his Democrats would give their blessing.
Harry Reid has not passed a budget during Obama’s Presidency in breach of the law.
We have all of this garbage going on because the Democrats won’t admit to their profligate spending and big government designs! Putting their intentions in black and white would subject them to public scrutiny, criticism…and blame.
Their own childish blame game is all the real ammo they have. their ideas, when understood fully, are detrimental to all Americans.
The federal government did not “come to be” so Democrats would have an open ended publicly funded checkbook.
Let them shut down all the extras they lavish on themselves…let them shut down the pork they shovel to their campaign donors…let them shut down the corporatist government loans they give to fly by night green energy firms…let them shut down the bailouts and set asides they secretly write into bills as quid pro quo for campaign donations.
The federal government was created to defend the individual states and act as arbiter in disputes between the states.
A bunch of WWII vets ignored our nutless wonder boy president and visited OUR WWII monument. Turns out they didn’t need Obama to hold their hands and they are doing just fine.
I am thinking if 3 million people want to go camping, they to will be unharmed.
Princess, I love how you give Obama and the Dems a pass. LOL
This will cause 900,000 government workers to be awarded a short vaca (back pay for lost work days will be forthcoming; nothing lost).
These 900,000 workers are deemed nonessential by our government and therefore not necessary…do we really need this big bureaucracy?
EVERY TAXPAYER HAS LESS MONEY IN HIS POCKET FOR A NONESSENTIAL BUREAUCRATIC BEHEMOTH!
What could you do with your share of the money that funds the non essentials of government (Most of which are not included in this shut down)?
During this long non-recovering recovery of high unemployment and sluggish growth the people with jobs in our government have not suffered one bit…they have prospered!
Shame!
“EVERY TAXPAYER HAS LESS MONEY IN HIS POCKET FOR A NONESSENTIAL BUREAUCRATIC BEHEMOTH!”
Yeah, yeah, yeah … but when we ask you which soldiers, sailors and/or park rangers you wanna quit paying … you got nothing!
Toby I do give the Dems a pass on this because the Senate should have rejected it. I don’t agree with defunding the Affordable Care Act. It is a crap law, but it is a law. Instead of dragging their feet for years, the House COULD have been bothered to actually FIX the parts that are total crap. Instead, they pull the crap they pulled yesterday.
I am a very conservative person, but I support the people who want cheap birth control 100% of the time. I am so pissed at Republicans for putting that in the bill yesterday I am spitting. Look around Chico at all of the total wastes of skin camping out all over the place. We need the most birth control possible and it should be free and mandatory.
Libby: “Yeah, yeah, yeah … but when we ask you which soldiers, sailors and/or park rangers you wanna quit paying … you got nothing!”
Liar. When Republicans had control they spent money to fend everything and you did nothing but complain.
But stay tuned…and watch how your precious Democrats, who illegally and irresponsibly refused to pass a budget in the first place, continue to pout and refuse to do their jobs. It should be hilarious.
Princess: “…the House COULD have been bothered to actually FIX the parts that are total crap.”
Are you kidding. The Senate, controlled by Democrats would never have agreed to anything they passed AND DIDN’T!
Laws are not written in stone! Owning slaves was once lawful! Abortion was once illegal!
“I am a very conservative person, but I support the people who want cheap birth control 100% of the time.”
Birth control pills can be obtained cheaply at WalMart…the pills are under $10.00 a month.
It doesn’t make any sense to create all of this chaos and expense for the masses so that a few can save a couple of bucks…not sure that’s going to happen anyway. Early reports are that the co-pays and deductibles, even on the cheapest plans, will mean greater out of pocket expense for a lot of people.
Those street people won’t be buying a plan; they will not be paying the fine; they will fall through the cracks!
Nothing has been gained and much has been lost!
When you are done spitting do some thinking and research.
I agree that wild birthing is not a good thing…Obamacare is not the answer!
Now, let’s not come unhinged.
I ask you again … which actual nuts & bolts, which actual services provided by government employees do you want to abolish.
We want a list. And then we want to see if you can get your elected representatives to work with the other side to arrive at some sort of compromise.
But you will not (and FINALLY the man is showing some spine) be allowed to blackmail your fellow legislators, or your executive in chief into submission … I don’t think … we’ll have to see.
Libby you know as well as I that the spending has to stop. Where are your ideas? When will your guys negotiate with Republicans?
When, in fact, will ANYONE hold Democrats responsible for anything?
They have had their way, growing government and creating programs, for seventy some years. the programs are unsustainable. they promised things they KNEW by the 1980’s would create massive debt…and in all this time they have fought doing the responsible thing tooth and nail.
Now they have done it again.
Don’t tell me Republicans aren’t willing to negotiate…that’s exactly how the federal government grew to the massive size it is.
Blackmail…Democrats invented it, used it to get the last votes needed to pass Obamacare:
How about giving staffers a subsidy for healthcare?
How about bribing big business with waivers?
Republicans were in DC today ready to negotiate. They sent representatives to a meeting they arranged to so that the Democrats could sit down with them to negotiate…Harry Reid and others thumbed their noses for the photo op and then the Democrats left town.
We will see but not everyone will see what is actually going down.
What American does not have is a leader:
The President’s Shut Down
“Libby you know as well as I that the spending has to stop.”
Tina, the above is not a list. Do you have one or not? If not, say so … and stop sniveling … and stop trying to change the subject.
Shut down the entire thing…America will survive.
Oh…don’t get your panties in a bunch…
We could cut a lot at the federal level:
Department of Transportation (end)
Department of Education (end)
EPA (a skeleton crew)
NEA (Arts and Humanities Endowments could go – the arts community would do a better job)
Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, Department of Energy (consolidate and reform)
Department of Homeland Security (cut or reform drastically)
Department of Labor (cut-states would do better)
In 2010 Sen. Coburn (R-Okla.) proposed an amendment that would have saved taxpayers $120 billion “by consolidating more than 640 duplicative government programs, cutting wasteful Washington spending, and returning billions of dollars of unspent money,” per the language in the amendment.
Libby we have discussed these and ways to reform medicare and social security as well.
Please knock it off.
I’m sorry (again), but Tina, your list is vague, ill-considered, and downright irrational.
We’ve had a Department of Transportation for quite some time. It’s built, among other things, the interstate highway system. You couldn’t do commerce without one.
If you’re actually proposing to abolish it, you’re amply airing your ignorance of what makes an economy work efficiently, and no one will take you seriously.
You want me to go through the rest of the list? Or do you want to come up with some concrete, sensible proposals?
I especially liked the proposed skeleton crew at the EPA … reminded me fondly of a former head of the Butte County Taxpayers Association who dutifully attended meetings, and railed against every expansion of government services … until … he discovered his drinking water was full of nitrates.
That was fun.
I’m sorry too Libby; try to keep up, it will make our discourse a lot easier.
“We’ve had a Department of Transportation for quite some time. It’s built, among other things, the interstate highway system. You couldn’t do commerce without one.”
Sure we could. Turn the national highways over to the various states…they won’t vanish. We built them as a nation; we can care for them as individual states. The Federal DOT is just another unnecessary cash cavity.
“If you’re actually proposing to abolish it, you’re amply airing your ignorance of what makes an economy work efficiently, and no one will take you seriously.”
I see…you think you know more than I do and that you also speak for everyone. I doubt with an ego like that not too many people will take you seriously.
“You want me to go through the rest of the list? Or do you want to come up with some concrete, sensible proposals?
By now? You can stick the list in your ear for all I care. You asked. I delivered. Instead of discussing the possibilities and merits of each all you can do is toss insults.
You are not a serious person. Like most of your commie cohorts you are only interested in getting your way and you don’t have a clue about the consequences of such economic folly even though you are witnessing it right before your eyes.
“reminded me fondly of a former head of the Butte County Taxpayers Association who dutifully attended meetings, and railed against every expansion of government services … until … he discovered his drinking water was full of nitrates.”
You know, I’ll bet he was educated in our California schools where helplessnes, dependency, and reliance on government (like it was god) is all that’s taught.
However do you think our forebears survived, thrived, and saw their children go on to solve some of the most challenging problems the world has ever seen?
I know…you think they just sat in the corner and cried screaming, “Do something …whaaaaaaaaaaa!” until finally, Al Gore and Matt Rodrigues rode to their rescue.
Methinks the thing with our liberal/progressive/ communitarian friends is that they never grow up and need that mommy and daddy. Like children of about four, they also think they should boss everyone around!