Obama saying he will halt spending is like a woman saying she's only a little bit pregnant.
- Mark Steyn (Rush Limbaugh Show)
The State of the Union is tomorrow and the talk today is all about Obama's announcement to freeze spending. Initially I think, okay, great! Now that is what I'm talking about! But then I read the fine print...
Check the exclusions:
Check the exclusions:
- Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and foreign affairs
- Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security
- Job Creation spending
- A follow-up stimulus bill
- Health Care spending
Is it just me or does it appear the only programs left are federal port-a-potty cleaners and IRS lunch ladies?
And, my friends, there is no cutting going on here. This is simply halting spending for these programs at their existing levels for three years. It's obvious to anyone with half a brain this plan won't make a dent in our current $12 trillion debt (which is continuing to skyrocket). The Obama administration promises a savings of $250 billion over the next 10 years. Really? That's all you've got? That's about .058% of the budget...roughly half of one percent of the federal budget over that same time period.
IT WON'T HELP. As Mark Steyn said today, we are spending our children's and grandchildren's future. They won't understand the term "The American Dream" because there won't be one.
I love this quote: "Spending is a means of control...Spending is a liberty issue. Every time Obama takes money from you to spend on something the government does, that's a dollar that the state decides how to spend and the citizen doesn't."
Government does not get smaller, as evidenced by the lack of actual/physical/calculable cuts. It only gets bigger. And with each increase we see a little piece of a our liberty fly away, which is one of my main beefs with health care reform.
Even the mainstream media outlets are suggesting the freeze will have minimal effect on our national debt. Newsweek today said:
Is it just me or does it appear the only programs left are federal port-a-potty cleaners and IRS lunch ladies?
And, my friends, there is no cutting going on here. This is simply halting spending for these programs at their existing levels for three years. It's obvious to anyone with half a brain this plan won't make a dent in our current $12 trillion debt (which is continuing to skyrocket). The Obama administration promises a savings of $250 billion over the next 10 years. Really? That's all you've got? That's about .058% of the budget...roughly half of one percent of the federal budget over that same time period.
IT WON'T HELP. As Mark Steyn said today, we are spending our children's and grandchildren's future. They won't understand the term "The American Dream" because there won't be one.
I love this quote: "Spending is a means of control...Spending is a liberty issue. Every time Obama takes money from you to spend on something the government does, that's a dollar that the state decides how to spend and the citizen doesn't."
Government does not get smaller, as evidenced by the lack of actual/physical/calculable cuts. It only gets bigger. And with each increase we see a little piece of a our liberty fly away, which is one of my main beefs with health care reform.
Even the mainstream media outlets are suggesting the freeze will have minimal effect on our national debt. Newsweek today said:
"Sure, it adds to the image of a president who's committed to reducing the deficit [REESE sidenote: Ummm...not sure what image Newsweek is referring to...in my humble opinion, I would say Obama has shown very little committment to reducing the deficit. Hello?], but it feels more like a gimmick than a realistic solution, particularly with a Congress more concerned about protecting its immediate political interests...than engaging in a cooperative attempt to tackle long-term economic issues.
Source:
Newsweek article
Mark Steyn on Rush
White House Briefing
Is it just me or does Obama get a lot of flack on this blog? This nation always has and will have a deficit. It is how the global economy works. If you remember the country just went through some pretty bad economic times (during the Bush years) and has begun it's slow recovery. Not surprisingly that takes money. You want job creation? That takes money! You want to fight two wars (one of which was completely unnecessary. Thanks Bush!) That takes money! I am sure Obama is acutely aware of the rising deficit and is doing what he can without pushing our country further down the depression road. Maybe our focus should be recovery and taking care of our floundering countrymen (by giving then health care for example.) And then once we have recovered we can focus on reducing the deficit which has been and will always be a balancing act. No more fear mongering and finger pointing, more solution finding and supporting effort.
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