The GOP isn’t displaying boldness when they timidly propose budgets that still propel us at high velocity toward a gargantuan national debt. How did the debate become about “reducing the deficit”. In that framing, a balanced budget is an extreme solution, and an actual budget surplus isn’t one of the options. If the GOP were bold, they’d propose budgets that spend less than we take in. Zero deficit would be the starting point of discussion.

As for Obama, I think his surreal, catastrophic budget proposal is the height of boldness. Here is a man who fears nothing, and does not care if he destroys himself, his party, and the entire country, but by golly, he’s going to go full steam ahead on his awful agenda, damn the torpedoes, and dare us to try and stop him.

There’s your boldness deficit.

Kurtz, Instapundit and Powerline all get it.

This is calculated to make the GOP propose unpopular, hard cuts. Then Obama appeals to those affected by the cuts, and claims that he can restore their programs/pork and still reduce the deficit with his Magical Math.

Dems take House, keep Senate, and Obama gets re-elected. That’s the plan.

Wethal on February 15, 2011 at 11:39 AM

Everyone’s saying that, like it’s some diabolical masterstroke, a brilliant strategic move in a game of 3D chess.

But come on,he’s such a diabolical genius that the whole world sees right through his cunningly crafted budget for the transparent joke that it is? Even blind as a bat Andrew Sullivan?

Seriously, is there anybody over the age of nine blessed with even a room temperature IQ who didn’t immediately grasp the self-serving ‘strategic’ machination driving this bogus budget and instantly realize it was a campaign document instead?

If his plan was to irrefutably prove to the whole world that he’s a cynical irresponsible coward who doesn’t have even a SINGLE testicle descended far enough to lead himself out of a paper bag let alone the rest of the country out of economic ruin, then, yeah, it was deliberate alright.

But chess? As played by pre-schoolers with those giant game pieces on the lawn maybe.

Reminds me of my dog who performs an absurdly ostentatious & intricate ritual to “hide” his cookie in the corner of the room in full view.

For instance, I work in Education and think the whole department should be phased out. Why is there no talk of this? It’s nothing but income redistribution–the grants are used to fund current administrators and cronies, not to educate.

A good quick read…

elfman on February 15, 2011 at 10:53 AM

Kurtz, Instapundit and Powerline all get it.

This is calculated to make the GOP propose unpopular, hard cuts. Then Obama appeals to those affected by the cuts, and claims that he can restore their programs/pork and still reduce the deficit with his Magical Math.

Dems take House, keep Senate, and Obama gets re-elected. That’s the plan.

There’s only one reason Obama is holding a press conference this morning—his proposed 3.7 trillion budget, (the snake oil), was not received well yesterday by millions who see this his ruse as nothing other than passing on his own deficit commission’s advice while waiting for the mean Republicans to take on serious budget cuts.

Rovin on February 15, 2011 at 10:35 AM

He got panned by his prior fans, NYT, WaPo, and even the Atlantic’s Resident Obstetrician, Andrew Sullivan.

Obama is worried what will happen if the MSM turns on him, and start subjecting his politics to the same scrutiny that Bush got. Not that likely, considering how much of their “credibility” was invested in the One.

I hate the press.

Obama: “Democrats and Republicans need to come together to reform entitlements”

Translation: This is not my job, I do the spending.

The Republicans need to stop preaching about political realities and do the hard jobs.

Here is a political reality for them, if the Republicans don’t get this fiscal situation in order immediately, the next elections may be moot. We are on the precipice of economic disaster the likes of which hasn’t been seen in anyone’s lifetime.

If they can’t force the votes, up or down, and let the American people see who is serious about each cut, then they aren’t leading and they are ensuring – in fact RESPONSIBLE FOR – the impending disaster.

I hear these things all the time, well most of them, and getting them voted up or down would not be impossible for a speaker of the house. Does he have the guts to:

a) Throw out the tax code immediately and replace it with ANYTHING that can be understood by a man of average intelligence and fit on fewer than 20 pages
b) Pass a law requiring all US Govt Accounting follow the same Generally Accepted Accounting Principles that US Corporations must follow. It is currently impossible for anyone to make any sense of the US Budget least of all voters. It is time the Govt was accountable.
c) Forget the Balanced Budget Amendment and pass a balanced budget.
d) Remove all non-retiree’s from Social Security – if they must be paid, group them into a new program and at least be honest about who is being paid and why. Social Security was not meant to handle that and it distorts the problems facing the system. Adjust the age of social security based on actuarial tables from previous after the 4th census of a person’s life. Between their 40th and 50th Birthday they’ll be told what age is their work-life-expectancy. This alone will ensure the solvency of the system.
e) Move all govt medical programs to vouchers, open medical insurance to cross state lines and cap punitive damages on torts. These will make medicare/medicaid solvent
f) Lay off 5% of the US Govt workforce. The American people can not afford them.
g) End public unions. There are good reasons why govt employees weren’t allowed to unionize for many years. It’s time to remind the people. Unions are great for corporate protection, but not for the US Tax payer.
h) End omnibus spending bills. Break all budget and spending into at least 3 dozen votes. Protect us from complete shutdowns this way and protect the american taxpayer from pork this way.

Political reality is that most of this will crash and burn, but fiscal reality is the budget would be balanced – for real. Real jobs would be created. Real growth would occur. And real freedom would be protected. If they can’t get those votes onto the floor, pass or fail, and then FIGHT during election season on the fact that their opponents were not serious about our future – then they don’t deserve to be there.

Republicans are about to lose me forever, and i’m conservative. Where will I go next? I don’t know, but it won’t be either of the current two disasters on the hill.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259774/where-obama-leading-us-stanley-kurtz

onlineanalyst on February 15, 2011 at 10:46 AM

A good quick read…

Spin….bush

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259774/where-obama-leading-us-stanley-kurtz

1) Determine the percentage that we are over-budget, 30% for example.

3) Spend the rest of the year fighting over what remaining money to take from where in order to shore up what.
But no, we want to legitimize ourselves as politicians, bloggers or commentators with our blind insistence on placing blame or promoting our “brilliant insights” and agendas before balancing the freak’n budget first.

I just had a custom made bumper sticker made:
“Our Children are the Future
Owners of our Debt.”

This if freak’n insane what we’re doing to them. We’re putting them in debt more than a trillion dollars a year while we chip away at the amount. We are blind as bats for doing this.

No more federally mandated snake oil.

maverick muse on February 15, 2011 at 10:21 AM

There’s only one reason Obama is holding a press conference this morning—his proposed 3.7 trillion budget, (the snake oil), was not received well yesterday by millions who see this his ruse as nothing other than passing on his own deficit commission’s advice while waiting for the mean Republicans to take on serious budget cuts.

How Obama intends to spin this even further in his presser will be interesting to hear. I expect Bush’s name to come up several times during this latest sale of snake oil. And the public isn’t buying it.

“Hey Tim, whats the cheat code for more money? I’m getting my butt whipped in SimCity.”

No more federally mandated snake oil.

A new factor distinguishing the Tea Party Congressional Conservatives 2010 from the Republican Revolution of 1994 is the formal caucus rallying organization via Bachmann/Paul.

Conservative electoral victories have been sabotaged by progressive liberals of the Republican establishment that perpetually promotes “bipartisanship” meaning more socialism.

Having a Republican “compassionate conservative” socialist doesn’t hold in check government spending. Adding federal bureaucracies and programs only expands the “need” for more taxes and more borrowed funds from China. And temporarily holding taxes down or providing gimmick “rebates” that must be paid back is no solution to our nation’s growing deficit and national debt that matches production, with interest on debt overwhelming whatever production would be.

So the only question now is whether neoconservatives will join ranks with top-down budget cuts.

Given everyone’s vested interests, across the board leaves a valid coalition basis, omitting cuts from our troops. But our Military craft fleets and aeronautic fighters are yet relying on the expired ships and aircraft still in use. And we have no supply of parts for EVERYTHING, old craft and new. And the required craft for refueling in air are not in supply. And the new craft ordered built with tax funding are perpetually negated after only a small portion are built, with the next proposal put on design/assembly. Our Military is in jeopardy from its own Joint Chiefs and recent Sec./Defense agendas to downsize our Military so as to only be able to function on two fronts simultaneously. With America’s top kickback Brass, administrative Cabinet members, and legislators transferring upon retirement into the military industrial complex, their specific problematic “leadership” need be curbed. We need an abrupt about face for effective military budgeting to provide our troops with congruent means of effectively delivering national security while protecting our troops from administrative fraud.

Electorate to President Obama—NO MORE GOVERNMENT “INVESTMENTS”!

Malice? Maybe. But incompetence fits, too.

iurockhead on February 15, 2011 at 9:56 AM

Combine the two and you get a budget designed by — if not children, than at least by a bunch of spoiled teens who think they’re smarter than they are and that nobody will figure out what they’re doing.

Since even folks like Andrew Sullivan and the op-ed writers at the Washington Post are on the side for the moment, the Republicans really need to hammer home the message to swing voters over the next few days that this is an unserious budget and a recusal by Obama from making tough choices, while that sentiment has bi-partisan support. If the swing voters can be alerted to the idea that the president is refusing to do the job he was elected to do in order to use the deficit as a “gotcha” game, and if future polls show that all but the hard-line Democrats have come to feel that way, it will force Obama to come back and make some sort of move, instead of waiting for the Republicans to go first so their plan can be demonized.