So Obama goes to the Repub Retreat and knocks 'em around so bad that Cluster Fox has to cut away from their live coverage.
Now he's planning to go to the National Prayer Breakfast, and the lefties are semi-indignant and saying he's lending credence to a bunch of fratfucks like The Family. Roll tape:
I'm interested to see if Obama will call these guys out too. He runs the risk of being labeled preachy, but he gets that from a lot of wingers anyway, so that's a wash. But he could score some real points with 'moderates and independents' who haven't paid much attention to these kinds of seriously sketchy power groups that operate in the shadows. It'd be good for all of us if he shines a nice bright light on The Family and it's direct ties to some really shitty things going on in politics. Could be fun.
But the real, real story here is probably that Obama is busily working behind the curtain - he's got all his guys on the phones, calling all the wingers in the database, telling them that he feels perfectly comfortable smackin' the shit out of 'em in their own kitchen (and on camera) unless they dial down the bullshit and start working with him. I think we'll know how it's going by what he says at the event. If he hits 'em over the head with a chair like he did with the Repubs, then he's trying to give them some additional schooling. If he's warm and fuzzy, then he prob'ly got some level of commitment from them at least to ease up on the knee-jerk obstruction crap.
Feb 2, 2010
Feb 1, 2010
The Spending Freeze
Cutting the budget by demanding cuts in "discretionary spending" always sounds like a great idea until you realize you're not likely to find the biggest number of wasted dollars in the smallest of the budget items.
I haven't looked at Obama's new budget proposal yet, but does anybody really believe there's gonna be a whole lotta change in the percentages? So here's the basic layout in a package totaling $3.8 Trillion:
$906 Billion = Defense, DHS, VA
$790 Billion = Social Security
$418 Billion = Safety Net Programs
$760 Billion = Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP
$304 Million = Debt Service
--------------
$3,178,000,000,000.00 (subtotal)
$622 Billion is what we have left for everything else (Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce, Labor, Education, State, Justice, Transportation, Interior, HUD, Energy). So go ahead - cut the crap out of it. Don't just freeze it and not let it grow with inflation; cut it back by 10%. No, let's cut it by 20%. If that's all that happened, it looks like we'd make up the current deficit in about 15 years. Unfortunately, drastic cutbacks actually have the opposite effect on an economy. If you take a lot of money out of the economy, then you make it harder for everybody to make any headway. The truth is that while you can spend your way to oblivion, you can't save your way to prosperity.
It's all pretty fucked up, guys. We're not gonna fix anything until we step up and take a long hard look at all of the budget, including Defense and Medicare and Social Security. No sacred cows allowed. It's painful and the ramifications will be felt deeply for a long time.
I haven't looked at Obama's new budget proposal yet, but does anybody really believe there's gonna be a whole lotta change in the percentages? So here's the basic layout in a package totaling $3.8 Trillion:
$906 Billion = Defense, DHS, VA
$790 Billion = Social Security
$418 Billion = Safety Net Programs
$760 Billion = Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP
$304 Million = Debt Service
--------------
$3,178,000,000,000.00 (subtotal)
$622 Billion is what we have left for everything else (Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce, Labor, Education, State, Justice, Transportation, Interior, HUD, Energy). So go ahead - cut the crap out of it. Don't just freeze it and not let it grow with inflation; cut it back by 10%. No, let's cut it by 20%. If that's all that happened, it looks like we'd make up the current deficit in about 15 years. Unfortunately, drastic cutbacks actually have the opposite effect on an economy. If you take a lot of money out of the economy, then you make it harder for everybody to make any headway. The truth is that while you can spend your way to oblivion, you can't save your way to prosperity.
It's all pretty fucked up, guys. We're not gonna fix anything until we step up and take a long hard look at all of the budget, including Defense and Medicare and Social Security. No sacred cows allowed. It's painful and the ramifications will be felt deeply for a long time.
We Are So Fucked
We get a taste of things to come from a story in The Denver Post today.
In spite of the obvious to the contrary, this gives the Grover Norquists of the world another chance to spin it out as further 'evidence' that any and all government is worthless and should be discontinued.
In spite of the obvious to the contrary, this gives the Grover Norquists of the world another chance to spin it out as further 'evidence' that any and all government is worthless and should be discontinued.
Jan 30, 2010
Ten Years Of Hell
Maybe this is why I still feel shitty even tho' we got good news about GDP growth.
(click for larger image)
(click for larger image)
It Came From Davos
It's not likely to get any traction here because we're having a really hard time getting out of our own way, but the consensus emerging from Davos is that economies need guidance, and that free markets need supervision if they're to stay free.
But hey - ever hopeful. Read this: David Ignatius, WaPo
But hey - ever hopeful. Read this: David Ignatius, WaPo
The Teleprompter Meme
Via FactCheck.org, Obama's addiction to the teleprompter isn't quite what the wingers want us to believe. Well, I'm shocked - y'mean the wingnuts would actually make shit up!?!
The picture circulating thru the blogosphere:
The picture circulating thru the blogosphere:
The reality of the part of Obama's visit that was spent with the 6th graders:
Jan 29, 2010
SOTU 2010
A few items:
Obama took a shot at the Supreme Court's decision in favor of corporate campaign spending, and the "conservatives" have their panties in a bunch. When he started the job as President, he didn't stop being a citizen - the guy has an opinion; he gets to tell us what it is.
"you're here to serve the needs of your constituents, not your own political ambitions"
Obama may have tricked the Repubs on the jobs thing. He says employment is the top priority for 2010, which of course gets everybody on their feet, and then he tacks on the bit about wanting a Jobs Bill on his desk ASAP. I'm thinkin' the Repubs need to be seen as favoring employment, but they don't wanna be in favor of a Dem effort to get The Gummint to provide jobs for people.
The best part tho' was when Obama talked about the proposed Transaction Fee to get some of our bailout money back from the banks. All the Dems were up and applauding, while all the Repubs were sitting on their hands. True or not; stereotyping or not - the image was pretty stark. Obama wants the banks to pay us back, and Repubs just wanna keep giving tax dollars to their rich buddies on Wall Street.
Obama took a shot at the Supreme Court's decision in favor of corporate campaign spending, and the "conservatives" have their panties in a bunch. When he started the job as President, he didn't stop being a citizen - the guy has an opinion; he gets to tell us what it is.
"you're here to serve the needs of your constituents, not your own political ambitions"
Obama may have tricked the Repubs on the jobs thing. He says employment is the top priority for 2010, which of course gets everybody on their feet, and then he tacks on the bit about wanting a Jobs Bill on his desk ASAP. I'm thinkin' the Repubs need to be seen as favoring employment, but they don't wanna be in favor of a Dem effort to get The Gummint to provide jobs for people.
The best part tho' was when Obama talked about the proposed Transaction Fee to get some of our bailout money back from the banks. All the Dems were up and applauding, while all the Repubs were sitting on their hands. True or not; stereotyping or not - the image was pretty stark. Obama wants the banks to pay us back, and Repubs just wanna keep giving tax dollars to their rich buddies on Wall Street.
Jan 28, 2010
What If
We rearrange the borders of the states to reflect changes in population - the way we do it with Congressional Districts. (click on the picture to enlarge)
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