Gridlock in Washington

[Kung Wu]

Let me guess she was sexually abused by her father and the emotional distress drove her to alcohol and drugs.She later married her biker boyfriend (who beat her regularly)and had 3 children(one of each) who all were weened into a life of crime and prostitution at the age of six and above. One night a burglar broke in and stabbed the husband 136 times while the wife lay asleep next to him. The burglar was so good he/she used bleach to clean off any fingerprints and dna. If it werent for the detective skills of Joe Kenda "Homocide detective" and the keen sense of Nancy Grace no one would have seen the life insurance policy pointing the finger at the common law wife. She planned with her lesbian lover (the mistress of the late boyfriend) to collect big time and use the proceeds to start new lives, which were now available due to reasonable healthcare care costs and the and the gay marriage amendment in the state where they now lived after availing themselves of the discounts on priceline.com .

The trial went on for months. It even topped Honey Boo Boo in the ratings. The wife was charged with manslaughter for rolling over on her lover. She received 5 years(paroled in 2). She moved in with Casey Anthony and lives a life of quiet solitute in a location unknown. The wifes lover will be featured on "Lockup" and "Women behind bars" this Sunday on MSNBC

LMAO!

[Kung Wu]

Again he can pull the tapes, theres nothing there. First off your political forum doesnt go back that far and even if it did I wouldnt support this type of behavior by either party and neither should you.

Bah, you are SO lucky!

[shock]

Let me guess she was sexually abused by her father and the emotional distress drove her to alcohol and drugs.She later married her biker boyfriend (who beat her regularly)and had 3 children(one of each) who all were weened into a life of crime and prostitution at the age of six and above. One night a burglar broke in and stabbed the husband 136 times while the wife lay asleep next to him. The burglar was so good he/she used bleach to clean off any fingerprints and dna. If it werent for the detective skills of Joe Kenda "Homocide detective" and the keen sense of Nancy Grace no one would have seen the life insurance policy pointing the finger at the common law wife. She planned with her lesbian lover (the mistress of the late boyfriend) to collect big time and use the proceeds to start new lives, which were now available due to reasonable healthcare care costs and the and the gay marriage amendment in the state where they now lived after availing themselves of the discounts on priceline.com .

The trial went on for months. It even topped Honey Boo Boo in the ratings. The wife was charged with manslaughter for rolling over on her lover. She received 5 years(paroled in 2). She moved in with Casey Anthony and lives a life of quiet solitute in a location unknown. The wifes lover will be featured on "Lockup" and "Women behind bars" this Sunday on MSNBC

[SB Shock]

well costs and raise rev and you wont have to charge it.

I like your logic.

Time to pay the house payment, ooops credit card is to the limit. Call credit card company - can you raise my credit limit so I can pay my house payment and increase it enough so I take out a loan on a vacation home in Florida? I can, great! All is good.

[RoyalShock]

Is Thomas Sowell ever wrong?

Inarticulate Republicans

[pinstripers]

Is Thomas Sowell ever wrong?

Inarticulate Republicans

Well, perhaps, but I cannot think of one single example.

[RoyalShock]

In an ideal world I agree with kc when it comes to this whole debt ceiling thing. Pay your bills now and get the spending under control. But there's a problem with that ideology: it doesn't work.

Without a balanced budget amendment there is no accountability. With no accountability, there isn't enough incentive to get a majority of both houses to even out spending with revenue every year. So we're left with only extraordinary measures, like not raising the debt ceiling and forcing Washington to decide what bills are most important to pay.

As has already been pointed out here, Senator Barack Obama agreed with me. Of course, there was a Republican in the White House.

I find it funny, in a sad way, that anyone thinks this country can get put onto the right track without all Americans feeling the pain. We are all at least partly responsible for letting it get this far. The day is going to come, hopefully, where not getting into a national park or waiting a couple extra weeks for a government check will be the least of anyone's worries.

[wu_shizzle]

Is Thomas Sowell ever wrong?

Inarticulate Republicans

"Democrats, by contrast, are all talk. They could sell refrigerators to Eskimos before Republicans could sell them blankets."

So why are Republicans weak on argument?

There are many reasons, but I think there are 2 main reasons. For beltway establishment types, they know enough "conservative" lingo to get elected but they don't really believe in freedom and liberty. They have to be told what to say, so nothing passionate or persuasive comes through.

Then there are conservatives who keep quiet to stay away from the arrows of the press. Do you ever see Pat Roberts or Jerry Moran advancing an agenda that could be criticized? If they just stay quiet, the Eagle, the LWJ, the KC Star and the local TV news will ignore them. It makes their lives a lot easier, but the Progressives are running full speed ahead while these guys are just trying not to get run over.

[CBB_Fan]

In an ideal world I agree with kc when it comes to this whole debt ceiling thing. Pay your bills now and get the spending under control. But there's a problem with that ideology: it doesn't work.

It seems to work fine for virtually other country in the world (only Denmark has a debt ceiling, and it is set significantly higher than their national debt to avoid affecting fiscal policy). While the US does need to lower spending, using the debt ceiling as a tool for politicians to grandstand and make empty rhetoric is not the correct solution.

If I were trying to cut government spending, I would do the following:

#1. Reduce the number of redundant programs and agencies (See pg. 30 for a brief summation)

#2. Eliminate the income tax, replace with FairTax or similar program

#3. End the war on drugs

#4. Switch healthcare system to either a single payer system or a Swiss-style private insurance system. Additionally, remove any employer obligations for healthcare and allow insurance to be purchased across state lines.

#5. End all federal student loans (not directly going to save money, as students subsidize the government, but eliminating loans would make education more cheap and provide a more educated workforce)

#6. End or reduce the following subsidies: Farm subsidies, food subsidies, rural subsidies, telecom subsidies, student aid, DHS state/local grants, end rental assistance, end community development subsidies, end public housing subsidies, DoJ state/local grants, cut foreign aid

Some of these things are considered liberal, while others are considered extremely right-wing. However, I try not to let political prejudices stop me from considering plans from both sides. These were chosen because I think they would drastically cut government spending while actually improving social services (whereas many plans would drastically cut social services, which IMHO often leads to an underdeveloped population and economic problems in the future).

[MoValley John]

To begin, in theory, KC is right, we should pay our bills, on time. But the way our country is designed to work, it isn't that simple. There are two principals at work here, the first is majority rules. You here Democrats shouting this at the top of their lungs, they passed Obamacare, and want to establish their majority rules on the issue.

But minority rights is also at work. The government shutdown and the potential of a default are all a byproduct of the principal of minority rights. Yes, the majority does rule, but cannot and should not be able to run roughshod over the minority. Debt ceilings and budgets must voted and passed, and minority rights demands that Democrats include Republicans in the negotiations.

For the last four and a half years, Obama and the Democrats have ignored, marginalized and pushed aside all Republican input. Obama's "ride in the back" comment rings loud and clear. Obama has stated over and over, he and the Democrats won't budge. John Stewart beat the hell out of Kathleen Sebelius on not delaying the mandatory start for individuals. That could be a starting point for Democrats, but they will not budge.

Comparing this to HW's "Read my lips, no new taxes" we see, once again, Republicans being forced to cave and Democrats not budging. Not one inch. Bush's concession was one of the biggest political gaffes in ages. It was also some of the ugliest, dirtiest, partisan politics in ages. If you are looking for the downfall of the Republican Party, look no further. This is the wedge. This also became the Democrats best play in the playbook. It cost Bush the presidency and have Democrats gains in Congress. At different levels, this is how the Democrats have played ever since.

What happened with Bush is simple, he was facing a govt shutdown, and just like Obama, the debt ceiling was just a few miles down the road from shutdown. The Democrats would not pass any budget without a tax increase. The stated goal was to help balance the budget, the real reason was to force Bush to break his primary campaign pledge. Bush, unlike Obama, put the country first and raised taxes in order to keep the government running. There was no shutdown, the debt ceiling was raised, but the political fallout was devastating.

The Republicans have been ignored, they aren't a point where in order to claim their minority rights, they have no choice but drastic measures. Unfortunately, Obama and the Democrats are not willing to sacrifice their "legacy" in the spirit of compromise. They have good reason, they know how devastating their similar move was to the Republican Party.

This is why we are where we are at right now.

[RoyalShock]

Interesting "man on the street" report on the University of Colorado campus, asking students who they blame for the shutdown. It was done by CampusReform.org.

[MoValley John]

Interesting "man on the street" report on the University of Colorado campus, asking students who they blame for the shutdown. It was done by CampusReform.org.

I don't buy it. But if this is truely how it went down, maybe I need to give the youth more credit. In the last 5 years, Obama has said over and over that he won't negotiate, he has made it abundantly clear leading up to, and during the shutdown, that he will not negotiate. I have just assumed, as always, the Republicans would be blamed.

[RoyalShock]

It is a TIFWIW video. I had never heard of CampusReform before so I found their website to read the about page before I posted the video here. I'm not saying they are unbiased, but they don't appear to be some right-wing group either. But who knows.

[RoyalShock]

I learned something new about Reagan today. In 1981 he asked Republicans in Congress, who had been guarding against raising the debt limit ($1 trillion at the time), to raise it just this one time, to pave the way for a balanced budget. By the time he left office the debt was $2.5 trillion.

I do think Reagan was our last great president, but when it came to federal spending, he sure could feed at the trough.

[1979Shocker]

As we debate this and as we make our final vote, let us not punish our seniors, let us not punish our elderly, let us not punish our military just to score political points. If the debt ceiling is not increased, America cannot pay its bills. We cannot meet existing obligations. We will not ultimately have the cash on hand to pay Social Security benefits, military retirement, Medicare benefits, unemployment benefits and other trust fund obligations. As raw as this recent election was, as bitterly contested as it was, with hurt feelings all around, we need to work together as Americans to take responsibility for our bills.Let us not default on our obligations. Let us not stop the checks to our needy who are counting on us. Let us not use our elderly as political pawns in trade for a seven second sound byte back home. They deserve better. We have a responsibility to pay our bills.

The above quote was from Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) asking his colleagues in the House to vote for an $800 billion increase in the debt ceiling limit back in 2004. He joined 205 other Republicans in passing the bill.