This has nothing to do with my topic today, but I am proud to announce that the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has just nominated me to be one of their "Righteous Gentiles"! Git down! Just thought my Jewish friends would like to know in case you never thought of me as a righteous dude.
O.K., so it seems President Obama is so scared of what Sequestration is going to do to the American people, he is now equating it with a decision of whether to "cut funding for the disabled kid...or the poor kid...or close a Navy shipyard". Honest to goodness, he said that. Are you kidding me? So far, all we have done is to keep a bunch of kids from taking a tour of the White House over Spring Break as far as I can see. And that didn't have to happen, they just did it to make the lead for the six o'clock news. His question is like asking your best friend, "Have you stopped beating your wife yet...yes or no?" There does not appear to be an acceptable answer. But I have never.....ah ah ah, yes or no!
Just so you don't think I am out to bash just the Dems, the Republicans are not doing much better. They keep sending out these insanely biased surveys hoping to get your dander up along with your wallet so they can refill their severely depleted coffers before 2014. Here is one of their "Yes" or "No" questions: "Are you in favor of lower income taxes and fewer special loopholes and deductions?" I know what lower income taxes are. In the long run, they stimulate the economy and ease the burden on all American taxpayers. They also will increase our federal debt in the short run. Which is worse? I am not sure what "special" loopholes and deductions are. Are we talking about deferring cost-of-living adjustments for Civil Service Retirement System annuitants (which can save $ 2.8 billion over five years) or eliminating the home mortgage deduction? Gosh, let me think? Yes or No....all or nothing?
My point here is it is rarely an all or nothing proposition under any circumstances. There has got to be compromise and a willingness on the part of both the American people and our elected government officials, whether it be Obama's petty political claim of dire circumstances or the GOP with their one-sided positions, to take the hard hits as painful as they may or MAY NOT be. What do I mean by that?
Go to a website operated by Citizens Against Government Waste. www.cagw.org
This is a bi-partisan organization which monitors all government spending and publishes an annual Prime Cuts Report detailing line items in the budget which could be cut, should be cut and will be cut if we make our feelings and strong support known to our representative in Congress. This organization is not out to "hurt children" or "benefit the well-off and well-connected" as Obama so often frames the debate. Instead, in its just released report, the CAGW details $ 1.8 TRILLION in wasteful spending that can be eliminated over the next five years. We are talking about eliminating $ 22 Billion by repealing oil and gas company tax preferences. Let's see, Exxon Mobil made more than that in PROFIT in the last two months alone. We are talking about eliminating $ 30 Billion by terminating the Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund, an entity which insures the loans our government makes through various public organizations to farmers and farm cooperatives. Many of these borrowers are larger than the organizations making the loans. I could go on and on, but go read it for yourself.
I am not saying it is an all or nothing deal, but it is a start towards normalcy for the United States of America.
Comments?
