Tag: debt

Sheila Jackson Lee says the debt ceiling battle is raaacist

We knew sooner or later someone would say it. It was just a matter of who and when.

We knew sooner or later someone would say it. It was just a matter of who and when. The results are in and those of you who had Sheila “Today we have two Vietnams side by side” Jackson Lee (D-Mars) in the pool, come claim your winnings.

The Hill has the story:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on Friday strongly suggested that members of Congress are making it difficult for President Obama to raise the debt ceiling because of his race.

“I do not understand what I think is the maligning and maliciousness [toward] this president,” said Jackson Lee, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Why is he different? … In the minority community that is question that is being raised. Why is this president being treated so disrespectfully? Why has the debt limit been raised 60 times? Why did the leader of the Senate continually talk about his job is to bring the president down to make sure he is unelected?”

We realize the Democrats don’t know much civics – for example, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-Fantasyland) thinks the 3 branches are President, House and Senate – but the debt ceiling debate is a legislative issue to be decided between the Democrat and Republican legislators, not Obama and the raaacists.

As for the leader of the Senate thing… Harry Reid did work tirelessly to bring President Bush down, but they were from different parties. But since President Obama is from Harry’s party … maybe Harry’s just a raaaaacist.

– Written by Bonfire of the Absurdities

Source: The Hill

Stand back, the President said, and let the professional politicians handle this debt crisis thingy

Best damn press conference ever. EVER! Because President Obama had several moments where the mask dropped away and revealed the face of his elitism.

Best damn press conference ever. EVER! Because President Obama had several moments where the mask dropped away and revealed the face of his elitism.

Like this one where he said that “professional politicians” understand the debt crisis better than the mere members of the public.

Now hold on just a minute, Mr. President. Wasn’t it the professional politicians who got us into this mess in the first place?

Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis? Obama says “Government has to start living within its means”

In a similar vein, Dear Leader’s weekly radio address to the nation focused on the need to reduce the nation’s deficit.In the words of the late fiscal zen master Gary Coleman, “Whatchu talkin’ about, Barry?”

When the Editor was a young advertising copywriter, he was asked to give a speech about creativity. He called his first creative director and asked for some samples of funny radio commercials to play during the speech.

A few days later a box of tapes arrived along with a note that said, “It is almost Zen-like that you’re going to speak on that which you have not yet mastered.”

In a similar vein, Dear Leader’s weekly radio address to the nation focused on the need to reduce the nation’s deficit.

In the words of the late fiscal zen master Gary Coleman, “Whatchu talkin’ about, Barry?”

Right now, there are a lot of folks who are still struggling with the effects of the recession. They’re wondering how they’d deal with an unexpected expense if their car breaks down. They’re worried about layoffs. They’re not sure if they can help their kids pay for college. And for many families, these challenges were around long before the recession hit in 2007.

I ran for President because I believed in an America where ordinary folks could get ahead; where if you worked hard, you could have a better life. That’s been my focus since I came into office, and that has to be our focus now. It’s one of the reasons why we’re working to reduce our nation’s deficit. Government has to start living within its means, just like families do. We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing, and give our businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs.

“Government has to start living within its means, just like families do.”

Remember that this comes from a guy whose family ran up tremendous debts and hovered on the edge of bankruptcy until the money started rolling in from his first book.

We’d say this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but someone would surely accuse us of raaaacism for doing so.

CNN’s new White House correspondent mocks Obama, implies he’s a liar

Based on her first question to President Obama, we don’t think Jessica Yellin will keep that front row seat in the White House press briefing room much longer.

Based on her first question to President Obama, we don’t think Jessica Yellin, CNN’s new White House correspondent, will keep that front row seat in the White House press briefing room much longer.

She might have couched her question in polite terms, but there’s no doubt that she was mocking the president. Maybe even calling him a liar.

Go to the 4:15-ish mark.

Obama: Jessica Yellin. Congratulations, your first question here.
Yellin: Thank you, Mr. President.
Obama: No pressure. You’re going to do great. (Laughter.)
Yellin: Thank you. Your administration has laid out four different dates by which you’ve said that the debt ceiling must be raised or the U.S. would face potential dire consequences. Three of those dates have come and gone and we haven’t faced financial calamity. Some of your critics have argued that these are then scare tactics to force a deal. So why should the American people believe that the August 2nd deadline is the final deadline by which a deal must be raised? And would you also spell out for us what you believe will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised by that date?

The President who cried, “Wolf!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhw9G5EKnhw

Swami Tim Geithner says we’ll have a double dip recession if debt ceiling isn’t raised

You have to give Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner points for creativity even if you can’t give him points for honesty.

You have to give Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner points for creativity even if you can’t give him points for honesty.

He’s peered into the official Treasury Department crystal ball and seen a double dip recession in our future. So instead of admitting that Obamanomics has failed, he’s laying the groundwork to blame it on the people who want to reverse those failed policies.

tim-geithner
A photographer was on hand to capture Tim Geithner choking on the truth

The National Journal covers Geithner’s preemptive butt covering:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said if Congress fails to lift the debt ceiling and the U.S. defaults on its obligations “this abrupt contraction would likely push us into a double dip recession,” painting the most explicitly dire prediction to date of the consequences of inaction.

In a heavily-anticipated response to Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who asked Geithner to document the economic and fiscal impacts of failing to lift the statutory debt limit, the Treasury secretary detailed a chain reaction that would cripple the economy, costing jobs and income.

A default would inflict catastrophic far-reaching damage on our nation’s economy, significantly reducing growth and increasing unemployment,” said Geithner in the letter to Bennet which was dated May 13. “Even a short-term default could cause irrevocable damage to the economy.”

Of course, this is nothing more than Geithner delivering the Obama administration’s agreed upon message:

“The failure of our policies is someone else’s fault.”

Source: National Journal

Obama’s debt ceiling dilemma: Americans oppose increasing it by a 2-1 margin

What’s a socialist President to do? He needs to raise the debt limit to keep spending, & the debt limit for his political base, but the public will punish him for doing it.

Hoo boy, what’s a socialist President to do? He needs to raise the debt limit so he can keep spending, needs to increase the debt limit to satisfy his political base, but a new poll indicates that he’d be punished in the polls for doing it.

obama-debt
Want more money? Just crank up the printing presses and let 'er rip!

CBS News reports Obama’s awkward situation:

Despite Obama administration warnings that failing to do so would devastate the economy, a clear majority of Americans say they oppose raising the debt limit, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.

Just 27 percent of Americans support raising the debt limit, while 63 percent oppose raising it.

Eighty-three percent of Republicans oppose raising the limit, along with 64 percent of independents and 48 percent of Democrats. Support for raising the debt limit is just 36 percent among Democrats, and only 14 percent among Republicans.

Note that 48% of Democrats oppose raising the debt limit. That means the President is appealing only to the extremists in his own party when he says, “This has worked so well that we should do it again.”

To tell the truth, we’re not actually sure they the extremists. They may actually be morons.

Source: CBS News

Just little reminder: Republican Congressman wants debt clock displayed in House

While we admire New York Republican Tom Reed’s concept, even he must know that his colleagues on both sides of the aisle are unlikely to agree.

While we admire New York Republican Tom Reed’s concept, even he must know that his colleagues on both sides of the aisle are unlikely to agree to anything that might give them pause before they piss away more of our money.

tom-reed
New York Republican Tom Reed, a big man who hates big debt

The Hill has the details of a great idea that’s going nowhere:

Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) last week introduced a resolution that would place a clock measuring the U.S. debt in the House chamber as a “visual gesture” that reminds members of the need to reduce spending.

“We are currently borrowing $58,000 per second,” Reed said last week. “We borrow at least forty cents of each dollar we spend. That is unsustainable. The debt clock will be a distinct reminder that our national debt must always be our first consideration as we continue to spend money that we do not have.”

Reed noted that the total U.S. debt reached $1.5 trillion in the U.S.’s first 193 years, but said the country will add that much in red ink in the current fiscal year.

“The voters of the 29th district of New York elected me to get our spending and borrowing under control,” Reed said. “We must never lose sight of that fact that our children and grandchildren will quite literally pay tomorrow for the decisions made today.”

What? Only $58,000 per second? C’mon, Congress, don’t let that impertinent New York Congressman get in your way. With a little effort you can get that up to $60 or $70 thousand in no time.

Source: The Hill

Government union calls Republican plan a “mistake for America.” Translation: “Oh, crap.”

The National Treasury Employees Union called passage of the republican Path to Prosperity resolution a “mistake for America.”

House Republicans passed a common sense bill on Friday. In light of the trainload of fiscal disaster racing down the tracks toward us, they voted to freeze federal employees pay for three years and to allow 10% of the federal workforce to wither away through attrition.

fat-cat-federal-worker
Typical federal worker

As you might imagine, it makes a lot more sense to us than it does to federal workers.

Federal News Radio has the details:

The House passed a fiscal year 2012 bill today that freezes federal pay for three years and cuts the federal workforce by 10 percent through attrition.

The budget plan by House Republicans – called the Path to Prosperity – also requires federal employees to pay for half of the defined benefit they receive at retirement.

The GOP plan proposes a plan that promises $6 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade compared with the budget President Obama unveiled in February.

The final vote in the House was 235-193.

The National Treasury Employees Union called passage of the resolution a “mistake for America.”

“Apart from the broad social changes the resolution seeks to make, its anti-federal employee provisions would result in federal agencies having great difficulty not only in retaining the highly-skilled, dedicated employees they now have, but in recruiting new talent to the government,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement.

Colleen, honey, you seem to miss one very important point: We don’t need to recruit any more of that great talent to the government. We need to cut it to the bone.

The same bone you’re using on the American taxpayers.

H/T: CO2Insanity

Source: Federal News Radio

Top 25 reasons Joe Biden fell asleep during President Obama’s deficit speech

Yup. Ol’ Joe chose what some extremist Republicans are calling an inappropriate time to catch a catnap – right in the middle of his boss’ speech on the debt and the deficit.

Yup. Ol’ Joe chose what some extremist Republicans are calling an inappropriate time to catch a catnap – right in the middle of his boss’ speech on the debt and the deficit.

But the Vice President had a really good excuse. Twenty-five of them, in fact.

  1. Up late last night trying to come up with something incredibly stupid to do while President spoke.
  2. In his dreams, the President is serious about deficit reduction.
  3. He made the mistake of counting members of the mainstream media lining up like sheep to back Obama’s plan.
  4. All those zeros… Zzzzzzeros.
  5. Hey, Gore slept through the 90s and nobody said anything about it.
  6. He was tired from a long day of making sure that only China could have coal plants.
  7. He stayed up all night trying to figure out a good comeback for that smartass at the ice cream shop.
  8. The way the government has been spending money, taking a 20-minute map is like stickin’ it to the man for $4 million.
  9. It’s the Biden Sleep Deficit plan.
  10. That’s not just a nap, that’ fucking serious sleep!
  11. “Barry told me to go ahead, take a nap, and he’ll wake me up when he needs me to add something intelligent.”
  12. Being a word genius is tiring work.
  13. Even the dimmest of bulbs need to be turned off to cool down once in a while.
  14. Up late last night making up phrases that rhyme with “Boehner.”
  15. Nice sunny day, gentle breeze from Barry’s mouth, the endless droning on and on of Barry’s speech … you do the math.
  16. His son Beau put music on Joe’s MP3 player and he fell asleep listening to the unofficial lib lullaby: Ten Years After’s I’d Love To Change The World:

    “Everywhere is freaks and hairies
    Dykes and fairies, tell me where there is sanity
    Tax the rich, feed the poor
    Till there are no rich no more

    I’d love to change the world
    But I don’t know what to do
    So I’ll leave it up to you

    And it’s somehow Bush’s fault.”

  17. Honoring those Latino citizens who made this country great by partaking in the traditional siesta!
  18. He lost a significant amount of sleep worrying over the results of Barrack’s AIDS test.
  19. The inside of Biden’s eyelids look just like the long, dark chasm that has been the Obama presidency.
  20. The anesthesia hadn’t completely worn off after an earlier trip to the hair clinic.
  21. His alien radio control implant was temporarily blocked by the lead paint in the rotunda.
  22. Late night panty raid in the Freshman dorm.
  23. He couldn’t get any coffee that morning because he didn’t have an Indian accent.
  24. Brainwashing Side Effects include: drowsiness, prolonged grinning, hair loss, and delusions of grandeur.
  25. Time for a nap – I’ve heard this all before from that peanut farmer guy … what the hell was his name? His brother made some great beer … where am I?

Contributors: Sven Waring, Perlcat, JJJRO

Obama: “You know those things I said against raising the debt limit back when Bush was President? Never mind.”

A very John Kerry-like Barack Obama was against raising the debt limit before he was in favor of it.

A very John Kerry-like Barack Obama was against raising the debt limit before he was in favor of it. It’s all excusable, of course, because he was against it when George Bush was for it, which is like a Papal dispensation to Democrat flipfloppers.

The Associated Press tells the story of the President’s press secretary twisting himself into knots in an attempt to explain away the Presidential contradiction:

The White House says President Barack Obama regrets his vote as a senator in 2006 against raising the debt limit.

A fight over raising the debt limit is looming, and the White House is trying to explain away the apparent contradiction between Obama’s previous opposition, and his position now that it must be increased.

Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Obama believes his vote was a mistake. He said Obama now realizes that the debt ceiling is too important to be trifled with.

Can we all accept this as an admission that he trifled with it back in 2006?

Source: Associated Press

Shut ‘er down: 57% of likely voters OK with government shut down if it leads to deeper cuts

Would someone please send the results of this new Rasmussen poll to John Boehner and the rest of the cowardly Republicans in Washington, DC.

“Drill, baby, drill” now has a doppelgänger known as “Cut, baby, cut.”

Would someone please send the results of this new Rasmussen poll to John Boehner and the rest of the cowardly Republicans in Washington, DC:

budget-chainsaw-massacre
Budget Chainsaw Massacre, starring Rand Paul, coming soon to a theater near you

A majority of voters are fine with a partial shutdown of the federal government if that’s what it takes to get deeper cuts in federal government spending.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters think making deeper spending cuts in the federal budget for 2011 is more important than avoiding a partial government shutdown. Thirty-one percent (31%) disagree and say avoiding a shutdown is more important. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure.

Republicans want to make more spending cuts in the current budget than Democrats do, but 36% of voters think it would be better to avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at a level most Democrats will agree to. Fifty-seven percent (57%) would rather have a shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on deeper spending cuts.

Everyone in Washington is addicted to spending and there’s only one way to cure it:

Cold turkey.

Source: Rasmussen

Great news: President Obama slashes future deficits by $2.3 trillion

The Congressional Budget Office that made Obama look like a fool by announcing that his estimate of future deficits was off by massive $2.3 trillion.

We take back all the horrible things we’ve said about President Obama. He’s a damn miracle worker. He made the Republicans look like fools yesterday by cutting a massive $2 trillion (with a T) from future deficits.

Oh, wait. Looks like we misread the story. Turns out it was the Congressional Budget Office that made Obama look like a fool by announcing that his estimate of the deficits was off by massive $2.3 trillion.

barack-obama-angry
"The Congressional Budget Office said what?"

The Hill has the details of the deficit:

The Congressional Budget Office on Friday released its analysis of President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal and found it does less to rein in deficits and the debt than the administration had estimated.

CBO estimates Obama’s plan would produce 10 years of deficits totaling $9.5 trillion. By 2021, it would increase the debt held by the public to 87 percent of gross domestic product.

The administration, using different methods, estimated budget deficits would total $7.2 trillion over the next 10 years under the 2012 budget. It forecast that total debt in 2021 would be 77 percent of GDP.

The “different methods” include sprinkling pixie dust over the budget and flat out making crap up. Marc Goldwein of the CBO tells why:

He explained that the difference between the CBO’s $9.5 trillion estimate and OMB’s $7.2 trillion estimate comes from two sources: rosy economic growth assumptions by OMB and offsets for the Medicare doc fix as well as transportation spending OMB did not specify in the budget and which CBO will not factor in.

In other words, they overestimated the good stuff and underestimated the bad stuff.

And in other other words, they lied.

Source: The Hill

Stephanopoulos nonsense: “Americans want more debt and these record deficits are all Bush’s fault”

ABC host George Stephanopoulos showed up on O’Reilly’s show Monday night with a news flash: Americans want more government spending. And, oh, by the way, that staggering debt is all George Bush’s fault.

We were just beginning to think that liberals had finally put the “It’s George Bush’s fault” meme out to pasture. But then ABC host George Stephanopoulos showed up on O’Reilly’s show Monday night with a news flash:

Americans want more government spending. And, oh, by the way, that staggering debt is all George Bush’s fault.

Embarrassing. Absolutely embarrassing.

H/T: Gateway Pundit

The liberal elite vs. the rest of us: 71% of Americans oppose raising the debt ceiling

Woe be the republic if we clamp a lid on spending. Or so the liberal elite says. But it looks like the Keynesians are standing out there alone on this one.

Woe be the republic if we clamp a lid on spending. Or so the liberal elite says. But it looks like the Keynesians are standing out there alone on this one.

titanic
"Full speed ahead," shouted the Keynesian captain.

A new Reuters poll tells the tale:

Some 71 percent of those surveyed oppose increasing the borrowing authority, the focus of a brewing political battle over federal spending. Only 18 percent support an increase.

The poll underscores the tough task ahead for U.S. lawmakers as the debt nears its current ceiling of $14.3 trillion. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week warned that a failure to raise the borrowing limit in the coming months could lead to “catastrophic economic consequences”.

Republicans, who won control of the House of Representatives in November on a promise to scale back government, hope to pair any debt-ceiling hike with a commitment from President Barack Obama to reduce long-term spending.

The liberal elite, on the other hand, do not comprehend the concept of cutting back.

“There’s an iceberg on the horizon, Captain.”

“Full speed ahead.”

Source: Reuters.com

How dumb are MSNBC viewers? This dumb.

Jealous of the attention its competitor was getting, MSNBC this week went out of its way to show that it thinks its viewers have the intellectual development of second graders.

Last week liberals intentionally misinterpreted a new study that seemed to indicate that Fox News viewers are dumber than viewers of other networks. Jealous of the attention its competitor was getting, MSNBC this week went out of its way to show that it thinks its viewers have the intellectual development of second graders.

Debt ceiling. Two simple words, one simple phrase. It’s not all that difficult a concept to comprehend. Unless, apparently, you’re a viewer of MSNBC in which case it has to explained to you in excrutiatingly simple terms.

In this clip MSNBC reporter Richard Lui plays the role of “spending” and acts out what would happen if the debt ceiling is raised. After watching his remarkably nuanced performance, we can’t decide if he’s using the Stanislawski Method or the Strasberg Method.

The only conclusion we can draw from this clip is that the M in MSNBC must stand for Moron.

Source: National Journal, WorldPublicOpinion.org

Pelosi ad absurdum: “Deficit reduction has been our mantra”

At her final press conference as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.” The numbers tell a different story.

The word “shameless” comes to mind. But then so do the words “lying sack of excrement.”

FOX Nation has the details of Nancy Pelosi’s clumsy attempt to rewrite history:

At her final press conference as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.”

The numbers tell a different story.

When the Pelosi Democrats took control of Congress on January 4, 2007, the national debt stood at $8,670,596,242,973.04. The last day of the 111th Congress and Pelosi’s Speakership on December 22, 2010 the national debt was $13,858,529,371,601.09 – a roughly $5.2 trillion increase in just four years. Furthermore, the year over year federal deficit has roughly quadrupled during Pelosi’s four years as speaker, from $342 billion in fiscal year 2007 to an estimated $1.6 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2010.

There’s an old saying, Nancy, that history is written by the winners. You, unfortunately, are the loser so you have been officially stripped of the golden quill and magic ink well with which the last decade’s history will be written.

H/T: Breitbart.tv

House Democrats stand to applaud themselves for bankrupting the nation

The House of Representatives voted 233-187 to increase the debt limit by another $1.9 trillion dollars. That’s trillion with a “t.” As soon as the vote total was announced, they stood to applaud themselves.

The House of Representatives voted 233-187 to increase the debt limit by another $1.9 trillion dollars. That’s trillion with a “t.”

Every one of the 217 votes in favor of marching headlong toward national bankruptcy was cast by a Democrat.

As soon as the vote total was announced, they stood to applaud themselves.

Is November here yet?

Source: Bluegrass Pundit

Obamanomics: Elevating the circle jerk to an art form

obamanomics, copyright IHateTheMedia.com

Bad news for American workers and taxpayers. That auto bailout isn’t quite working the way they hoped it would.

According to a leaked document, GM plans to sell Chinese-manufactured cars to American consumers as soon as 2011.

Here’s how Fox News reports it:

General Motors is currently the best-selling foreign automaker in China, and Buick is number one brand overall, part of the reason that the nameplate was saved during a recent round of cuts that included the elimination of Pontiac. As an example of the growing influence of that marketplace on the company, the interior of the upcoming replacement for the Buick LaCrosse sedan was designed at a GM studio in Shanghai.

According to the report, GM plans to sell nearly 18,000 Chinese-made vehicles in the US in 2011, with that number rising to over 50,000 by 2014.

The chart above shows exactly what a circle jerk this is.

China buys US government debt. The US government uses that money to bailout General Motors. General Motors manufactures cars in China which it then sells in the United States. Americans buy those cars which gives GM the money to pay back the government which then pays back China.

The end result: The Chinese get the jobs. The Chinese get the money. And the only thing Americans get is the shaft.

Source: Fox News via BluegrassPundit.com

Help pay off Hillary’s campaign debt, win tickets to American Idol (you can’t make this stuff up)

This space now available. C'mon, Hillary, this could be the most valuable advertising space in Washington, DC.
This space now available. C'mon, Hillary, this could be the most valuable advertising space in Washington, DC.

Hillary’s still buried in debt from her failed presidential run. She needs to pay Bill back for the millions of dollars he loaned to her campaign. So James Carville sent this remarkably cheesy email to Hillary’s supporters.

The bottom line is simple: Send Hillary $5 and you could win one of three fabulous prizes. What kind of prizes? Well, Carville describes them as “truly once in a lifetime.” Decide for yourself:

  • A day with President Clinton in New York. (Visit the Harlem office he himself rarely visits. Learn his pick up technique in a downtown Manhattan bar. Listen to him tell stories of his days in the oral office.)
  • Lunch with James Carville and Paul Begala. (Yes, the ever modest Carville actually described having lunch with him as “a once in a lifetime” prize. Our guess would be that he has lunch every day.)
  • Tickets to the finale of American Idol. (The gay guy is really terrific and will undoubtedly win).

Unbelievable. Bill Clinton has made hundreds of millions of dollars since he left office and his wife is begging you for $5 donations. But we think they could easily offer some additional prizes. Such as:

  • A session with Hillary’s personal Botox specialist.
  • 90-seconds in the Lincoln Bedroom (pro-rated from the standard $100,000 per night)
  • Six months worth of advertising space on Paul Begala’s forehead (perfect for today’s cash-strapped business looking for a creative way to advertise)

Click thumbnail to enlarge Carville's pathetic email
Click thumbnail to enlarge Carville's pathetic email

C’mon, James, show a little creativity here. The money will come rolling in.

Now, don’t tell anyone over at the Hillary campaign website, but one of our staff here is on the Hillary Clinton Campaign mailing list and received one of these emails yesterday. We’d done image capture of it and you can see it by clicking on the thumbnail on the left here.

Source: WilshireAndWashington.com via Time

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