Showing posts with label scamulus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scamulus. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
This is the voice of our future? our present? Another Obama voter speaks...
The "logic" behind the pundit piece from The Hill (below) is... not just scary, it's non-existent. He certainly doesn't understand what's in the so-called "stimulus" package, so I'm guessing he gets his news in soundbites from the mainstream media at best.
I'm not much older that this writer and in my opinion, this is the voice of someone who 1) thinks the world owes them something 2) thinks the world owes them something and 3) thinks the world revolves around them. Oh, and they also don't understand economics, what's going to happen when the bill comes due, that the money has to come from somewhere, that there are consequences for actions now, that debt compounds, that inflation happens, and, and, and, sputter, sputter.
I can't believe The Hill featured this one!
When Matt Hardigree grows up, if he ever does, he's going to look back on this pundit post and be embarrassed. That is if he doesn't turn into one of those blustering blow-hards who never admits they're wrong. Or if he doesn't get so wrapped up in a liberal cocoon that he never touches reality again.
He'll argue with me now, but believe me, there will be a point in the future when he is living with the consequences of the stimulus vote, and others coming on its heels, and he will wish he had been on the other side - even if he never admits it publicly.
Debt I'm OK With — It's the Bridge Collapse Death Scenario that Makes Me a Bit Uncomfortable
by Matt Hardigree
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called the stimulus package before Congress generational theft. Which is true. But I'm the generation you're stealing from and I'm giving you a pass on this one, OK? It's nice of you, being not of my generation by what we'll charitably call a small margin, to think about me, but we're all totally cool with this. You can have Cindy Google it. This is why I voted for the other guy. Is it really theft if you ask someone to take it from you?
I'm really pleased you considered me, especially since you were so happy to send my friends and family to die in a war you can't explain; you totally de-funded education so I had to work four jobs to get through college without mountains of debt; and you prioritized defense spending over transit so I've got to drive everywhere.
Being merely a quarter-centry old, and given what the actuarial tables say about my chances, I'm just the person in the crosshairs of this debt. I'll likely be paying taxes for the next five decades, which is something you can't say about a lot of the Republican decisionmakers. And with Democratic decisionmakers, you can't be sure they've ever paid taxes at all.
Even more so, the infrastructure built will be the infrastructure I use my entire life. The power grid built will provide the power I use to heat my house and recharge my iPhone. Those jobs will create my wealth and help start the companies I invest my retirement in. And because of that I can say this: I'm OK with the debt. Put it out of your mind. I'd rather inherit the debt than die in a fiery crash because you thought I was too cheap to invest in a few roads. I want bridges that don't fall apart.
More importantly, I want schools for my kids so they aren't cramped in a tiny classroom with 400 other kids. But hey, some moderate Dems and Reps came in and saved us from $16 billion for school construction, $1 billion for Head Start and an additional $40 billion to help states pay for education costs. Apparently, being a "moderate" means not giving a crap about kids.
But hey, I'll still get the middle-class tax cut. I can take my $500 share and get together with a few thousand other people and we'll build a school. Right? That's how it works? Oh, it doesn't? Bummer.
You know what's generational theft? NOT taking some money from us to invest in schools, roads and infrastructure so we'll have the same opportunities and facilities you had as adults. We, the future generation between the ages of 18 and 39, voted for the other guy by a margin of more than 2-to-1. We voted in such high margins we got a black guy from Chicago with a Hebrew first name, Muslim middle name and an inability to bowl elected president. For this.
By depriving us of what we need, and what we clearly asked for, you're stealing from my generation. Stop being a generational thief, John McCain.
Your generation got the space program funded by government investment, countless Pulitzer Prize-winning plays funded by government investment and some pretty sweet interstates funded by government investment. We've got Twilight, buckling highways and Pluto isn't even a planet anymore. You owe us one.
COMMENT ON THIS POST
-ab
I'm not much older that this writer and in my opinion, this is the voice of someone who 1) thinks the world owes them something 2) thinks the world owes them something and 3) thinks the world revolves around them. Oh, and they also don't understand economics, what's going to happen when the bill comes due, that the money has to come from somewhere, that there are consequences for actions now, that debt compounds, that inflation happens, and, and, and, sputter, sputter.
I can't believe The Hill featured this one!
When Matt Hardigree grows up, if he ever does, he's going to look back on this pundit post and be embarrassed. That is if he doesn't turn into one of those blustering blow-hards who never admits they're wrong. Or if he doesn't get so wrapped up in a liberal cocoon that he never touches reality again.
He'll argue with me now, but believe me, there will be a point in the future when he is living with the consequences of the stimulus vote, and others coming on its heels, and he will wish he had been on the other side - even if he never admits it publicly.
Debt I'm OK With — It's the Bridge Collapse Death Scenario that Makes Me a Bit Uncomfortable
by Matt Hardigree
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called the stimulus package before Congress generational theft. Which is true. But I'm the generation you're stealing from and I'm giving you a pass on this one, OK? It's nice of you, being not of my generation by what we'll charitably call a small margin, to think about me, but we're all totally cool with this. You can have Cindy Google it. This is why I voted for the other guy. Is it really theft if you ask someone to take it from you?
I'm really pleased you considered me, especially since you were so happy to send my friends and family to die in a war you can't explain; you totally de-funded education so I had to work four jobs to get through college without mountains of debt; and you prioritized defense spending over transit so I've got to drive everywhere.
Being merely a quarter-centry old, and given what the actuarial tables say about my chances, I'm just the person in the crosshairs of this debt. I'll likely be paying taxes for the next five decades, which is something you can't say about a lot of the Republican decisionmakers. And with Democratic decisionmakers, you can't be sure they've ever paid taxes at all.
Even more so, the infrastructure built will be the infrastructure I use my entire life. The power grid built will provide the power I use to heat my house and recharge my iPhone. Those jobs will create my wealth and help start the companies I invest my retirement in. And because of that I can say this: I'm OK with the debt. Put it out of your mind. I'd rather inherit the debt than die in a fiery crash because you thought I was too cheap to invest in a few roads. I want bridges that don't fall apart.
More importantly, I want schools for my kids so they aren't cramped in a tiny classroom with 400 other kids. But hey, some moderate Dems and Reps came in and saved us from $16 billion for school construction, $1 billion for Head Start and an additional $40 billion to help states pay for education costs. Apparently, being a "moderate" means not giving a crap about kids.
But hey, I'll still get the middle-class tax cut. I can take my $500 share and get together with a few thousand other people and we'll build a school. Right? That's how it works? Oh, it doesn't? Bummer.
You know what's generational theft? NOT taking some money from us to invest in schools, roads and infrastructure so we'll have the same opportunities and facilities you had as adults. We, the future generation between the ages of 18 and 39, voted for the other guy by a margin of more than 2-to-1. We voted in such high margins we got a black guy from Chicago with a Hebrew first name, Muslim middle name and an inability to bowl elected president. For this.
By depriving us of what we need, and what we clearly asked for, you're stealing from my generation. Stop being a generational thief, John McCain.
Your generation got the space program funded by government investment, countless Pulitzer Prize-winning plays funded by government investment and some pretty sweet interstates funded by government investment. We've got Twilight, buckling highways and Pluto isn't even a planet anymore. You owe us one.
COMMENT ON THIS POST
-ab
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Why I oppose the "stimulus"
I had a comment on an earlier blog which chided me for not realizing the strong need for a stimulus package. A quick stimulus package. They noted the unemployment figures and other data which could be fixed or helped with a stimulus package.
For me, the operative word is 'could'. Who knows if it will help.
We rushed through TARP 1 and it did nothing. It was a waste of billions of dollars. In fact, they can't even figure out where $78 billion ended up. Tomorrow, Monday, they'll be asking for TARP, part 2. I understand there's a TARP three in the works, too. Not to mention the huge omnibus package of even MORE spending totaling in the neighborhood of $410 billion. That's $410 BILLION above and beyond TARP and the trillion dollar stimulus package.
I saw a bit today where one of the Senators showed a graphic of a trillion dollars stacked, not end to end flat. It would wrap around the globe, the world, thirty-nine, 39, times. You've probably heard that if you spent a million dollars a day from the day Jesus was born until now that you STILL wouldn't hit a trillion dollars.
We're talking real money here. It's hard to grasp. It's even harder to imagine what printing up that much money with nothing to back it up will do to our economy a few years down the road.
Economists are split over whether this stimulus package will help, hinder or be neutral when it comes to alleviating the current problems we face as a nation. Those who think it might help are split over whether it will help enough, is overkill or timely.
It stands to reason that if the best minds of our day don't know the impact, Congress sure doesn't. If they don't know, rational thought would beg that they go slow. Another few days isn't going to put the economy over a cliff.
The stimulus package is full of programs that have nothing, nada, zip, to do with stimulating the economy.
Why not split out all the controversial stuff? Vote on those programs separately. Why not implement the things that 75% or more of the Senate can agree upon? Why not stick to Mr. Obama's own requirements of targeted and fast working (my paraphrase)?
The stimulus bill is full of NEW government programs that will have even more of the country on some form of "welfare". I don't think more government intrusion into our lives is the answer, I think it will create problems.
So much of what is being funded in this bill will require long-term maintenance. Most of it is not self-supporting projects, they do not create revenue, they need to be on continual life-support.
Almost everyone agrees this is going to create run-away inflation and when the bill comes due for the stimulus, we'll be in an even bigger hole.
I think we need some help. I just disagree with the help that's being offered. We do NOT need MORE government. The jobs being created should be private sector jobs, not government jobs. We don't need to fix up lawns, fund research, or do a large, large percentage of the things that have been stuffed into this gargantuan Christmas package.
I also think that what is REALLY going on here is that we're in the "honeymoon" period and the Democrats know this is the time to ram everything through they want. They have the perfect cover given the urgency of our economic problems. A month, two months, six months down the road the public will be watching and it will be hard to slide some of the things in this "stimulus" package past us.
If you'd like to find out more about what's in the stimulus package to here:
www.readthestimulus.org
Go here to take action against the stimulus package:
www.nostimulus.com
http://www.tcunation.com/ - links to the three Republicans who are voting FOR the bill
http://moveovermoveon.posterous.com - info on all Senators, info on the bill and ways to get involved in stopping
For me, the operative word is 'could'. Who knows if it will help.
We rushed through TARP 1 and it did nothing. It was a waste of billions of dollars. In fact, they can't even figure out where $78 billion ended up. Tomorrow, Monday, they'll be asking for TARP, part 2. I understand there's a TARP three in the works, too. Not to mention the huge omnibus package of even MORE spending totaling in the neighborhood of $410 billion. That's $410 BILLION above and beyond TARP and the trillion dollar stimulus package.
I saw a bit today where one of the Senators showed a graphic of a trillion dollars stacked, not end to end flat. It would wrap around the globe, the world, thirty-nine, 39, times. You've probably heard that if you spent a million dollars a day from the day Jesus was born until now that you STILL wouldn't hit a trillion dollars.
We're talking real money here. It's hard to grasp. It's even harder to imagine what printing up that much money with nothing to back it up will do to our economy a few years down the road.
Economists are split over whether this stimulus package will help, hinder or be neutral when it comes to alleviating the current problems we face as a nation. Those who think it might help are split over whether it will help enough, is overkill or timely.
It stands to reason that if the best minds of our day don't know the impact, Congress sure doesn't. If they don't know, rational thought would beg that they go slow. Another few days isn't going to put the economy over a cliff.
The stimulus package is full of programs that have nothing, nada, zip, to do with stimulating the economy.
Why not split out all the controversial stuff? Vote on those programs separately. Why not implement the things that 75% or more of the Senate can agree upon? Why not stick to Mr. Obama's own requirements of targeted and fast working (my paraphrase)?
The stimulus bill is full of NEW government programs that will have even more of the country on some form of "welfare". I don't think more government intrusion into our lives is the answer, I think it will create problems.
So much of what is being funded in this bill will require long-term maintenance. Most of it is not self-supporting projects, they do not create revenue, they need to be on continual life-support.
Almost everyone agrees this is going to create run-away inflation and when the bill comes due for the stimulus, we'll be in an even bigger hole.
I think we need some help. I just disagree with the help that's being offered. We do NOT need MORE government. The jobs being created should be private sector jobs, not government jobs. We don't need to fix up lawns, fund research, or do a large, large percentage of the things that have been stuffed into this gargantuan Christmas package.
I also think that what is REALLY going on here is that we're in the "honeymoon" period and the Democrats know this is the time to ram everything through they want. They have the perfect cover given the urgency of our economic problems. A month, two months, six months down the road the public will be watching and it will be hard to slide some of the things in this "stimulus" package past us.
If you'd like to find out more about what's in the stimulus package to here:
www.readthestimulus.org
Go here to take action against the stimulus package:
www.nostimulus.com
http://www.tcunation.com/ - links to the three Republicans who are voting FOR the bill
http://moveovermoveon.posterous.com - info on all Senators, info on the bill and ways to get involved in stopping
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Obama: Pork Happens
FRC: Last year, Sen. Barack Obama proposed more than $331 million worth of earmarks to the Appropriations Committee on Illinois's behalf. As CNN says, that was last year. On January 6, 2009, the President-elect pledged to change his ways. He vowed to the American people that the stimulus plan would be pork-free. "We are going to ban all earmarks," he insisted.
What a difference a month--and some public resistance--make. Realizing that his recovery package wasn't headed toward a fairy-tale ending, Obama did what mortal politicians do. He broke his promise. During his speech to the House Democrats' retreat yesterday, Obama returned to politics as usual. "[T]here's the argument, well, this is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one," he said to applause. "So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill--this is a spending bill. What do you think stimulus is?"
In his must-read column today, "The Fierce Urgency of Pork," Charles Krauthammer highlights the President's warning that if Congress doesn't act on the stimulus, the crisis would become "a catastrophe." "So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared 'we have chosen hope over fear.' Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill."
Although Republicans have tried to strip some excess from the stimulus, Democrats had a small victory of their own yesterday, defeating Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) amendment to ban religious discrimination from the bill by a 43-54 vote. Only Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) deserted the GOP to side with her liberal pals in opposing the provision.
To hear more about the stimulus--straight from the elephant's mouth--please tune in to Washington Watch Weekly for my one-on-one conversation with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). He'll help us break down the bill. Later, our own Dr. Pat Fagan will discuss Obama's socialized health care plan. For a station listing, show schedule, or to subscribe by podcast, visit www.frcradio.com.
Additional Resources
The Washington Post: The Fierce Urgency of Pork
From Family Research Council, www.frc.org
What a difference a month--and some public resistance--make. Realizing that his recovery package wasn't headed toward a fairy-tale ending, Obama did what mortal politicians do. He broke his promise. During his speech to the House Democrats' retreat yesterday, Obama returned to politics as usual. "[T]here's the argument, well, this is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one," he said to applause. "So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill--this is a spending bill. What do you think stimulus is?"
In his must-read column today, "The Fierce Urgency of Pork," Charles Krauthammer highlights the President's warning that if Congress doesn't act on the stimulus, the crisis would become "a catastrophe." "So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared 'we have chosen hope over fear.' Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill."
Although Republicans have tried to strip some excess from the stimulus, Democrats had a small victory of their own yesterday, defeating Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) amendment to ban religious discrimination from the bill by a 43-54 vote. Only Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) deserted the GOP to side with her liberal pals in opposing the provision.
To hear more about the stimulus--straight from the elephant's mouth--please tune in to Washington Watch Weekly for my one-on-one conversation with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). He'll help us break down the bill. Later, our own Dr. Pat Fagan will discuss Obama's socialized health care plan. For a station listing, show schedule, or to subscribe by podcast, visit www.frcradio.com.
Additional Resources
The Washington Post: The Fierce Urgency of Pork
From Family Research Council, www.frc.org
Thursday, February 05, 2009
ALG President Urges Senate to Reject “Stimulus” as Public Turns against Trillion Dollar Spending Bill
Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged members of the Senate to vote against the trillion dollar spending bill currently being considered amidst public opinion polls showing increased opposition to the legislation's measures.
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to ram the bill through before support drops to the single digits. It's a race,” Wilson said.
Rasmussen Reports released a poll yesterday showing only 37 percent of the American people supporting the legislation, with 43 percent now opposed. This follows an increasing wave of opposition to the bill, which passed the House last week with a price tag of $819 billion, or $1.2 trillion over a decade with interest.
“This trillion dollar spending spree by Congress to claim they 'did something' for the economy is a rotting carcass,” said Wilson.
“The public is growing wise to what their Congress is up to, and they know it stinks,” Wilson added.
Wilson noted that even if the legislation does pass the Senate today, it will not reach the President's desk until next week the earliest.
“The House and Senate still would need to reconcile their two bills in a conference committee,” Wilson said. “And if past experience is any indication, the bill, which already contains plenty of wasteful provisions that will not stimulate sustainable economic growth, will only get worse.”
The bill contains provisions to balance state government budgets, expand Medicaid, boost education spending, food stamps and unemployment benefits, build federal buildings, provide more for public housing, construct climate change supercomputers, erect trade barriers overseas, create refundable tax credits, and other provisions that Wilson believes are “nothing more than special interest handouts.”
Yesterday, 18 free market and limited government leaders released a joint letter critical of provisions in the legislation already passed by the House of Representatives.
“They need to know that there is still time to tell their Senators to vote 'no', and that even if the bill passes today, there will still be yet more time to tell both the House and the Senate to vote 'no' on the conference report,” Wilson added.
Wilson believes that by that time, public opposition and protest against the legislation will reach a fever pitch.
“Time is not on Congress' side right now. And there will undoubtedly be political consequences for anyone that votes for this trillion dollar turkey,” Wilson concluded.
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to ram the bill through before support drops to the single digits. It's a race,” Wilson said.
Rasmussen Reports released a poll yesterday showing only 37 percent of the American people supporting the legislation, with 43 percent now opposed. This follows an increasing wave of opposition to the bill, which passed the House last week with a price tag of $819 billion, or $1.2 trillion over a decade with interest.
“This trillion dollar spending spree by Congress to claim they 'did something' for the economy is a rotting carcass,” said Wilson.
“The public is growing wise to what their Congress is up to, and they know it stinks,” Wilson added.
Wilson noted that even if the legislation does pass the Senate today, it will not reach the President's desk until next week the earliest.
“The House and Senate still would need to reconcile their two bills in a conference committee,” Wilson said. “And if past experience is any indication, the bill, which already contains plenty of wasteful provisions that will not stimulate sustainable economic growth, will only get worse.”
The bill contains provisions to balance state government budgets, expand Medicaid, boost education spending, food stamps and unemployment benefits, build federal buildings, provide more for public housing, construct climate change supercomputers, erect trade barriers overseas, create refundable tax credits, and other provisions that Wilson believes are “nothing more than special interest handouts.”
Yesterday, 18 free market and limited government leaders released a joint letter critical of provisions in the legislation already passed by the House of Representatives.
“They need to know that there is still time to tell their Senators to vote 'no', and that even if the bill passes today, there will still be yet more time to tell both the House and the Senate to vote 'no' on the conference report,” Wilson added.
Wilson believes that by that time, public opposition and protest against the legislation will reach a fever pitch.
“Time is not on Congress' side right now. And there will undoubtedly be political consequences for anyone that votes for this trillion dollar turkey,” Wilson concluded.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
