Posted on 02/20/2011 5:47:22 AM PST by statestreet
President Obama's 2012 budget is the numerical embodiment of his State of the Union address - both being systematic distractions from the main, current tasks of governing. President Obama's 2012 budget is the numerical embodiment of his State of the Union address - both being systematic distractions from the main, current tasks of governing. His plan includes, according to Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs, "no entitlement reform, no tax reform, no significant spending reform, indeed no meaningful change of direction of any sort."
All the elements of a status quo budget are present. A dependence on rosy economic assumptions to lower deficit projections. The deferral of two-thirds of deficit reductions until after 2016, when the ex-president is safely writing his third autobiography. The symbolic cuts in minor programs, attempting to obscure a national debt that will double on his watch (if he's reelected), then triple by the end of the decade.
Political courage, it's said, is contagious. But Obama is cured. His political immune system is a wonder of nature. Immune to the urgings of his deficit commission. Immune to electoral repudiation. Immune to the warnings of economists and credit markets.
Given a choice between tackling the national debt and stimulating short-term economic growth, Obama chose neither. Instead, transcending the stale options offered by reality, he proposes federal investments in technology and infrastructure to better compete with China years from now. His approach has ideological implications that are obvious on the deficit-conscious right but are also dawning on the left. The competitiveness agenda is primarily a corporate agenda. Its natural constituencies are the builders of high-speed trains, the makers of solar panels and the providers of rural cellphone coverage - not struggling Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Special election may not happen until November
Daniels does indeed remind me of Barry.
Mitch Daniels first needs to find out who his friends are (or could be) and who they are not. Pissing off Rush like he did some days ago could have been prevented. I’ll say this much, if my choice was between Daniels and Romney I’d vote for Daniels in a heartbeat.
Looks like we have our next McCain.
Just another phony politician.
Daniels has not convinced me yet that he’s not just another RINO. Of course, the top 6 or so GOP Presidential aspirants are also RINOs.
“Pissing off Rush like he did some days ago could have been prevented.”
Yea, he’s made such a fool of himself lately that I don’t even see it necessary to talk about his typical idiot moves, like (essentially) selling off Indiana’s toll road.
I’ll instead just watch his hopes wither on the vine and hopefully see DeMint fill the vacuum.
Gerson is the epitome of the DC elite ruling class. That says a lot about Daniels.
“Thinks like a prez? From last May....”
“Special election may not happen until November”
So this was May of last year, when the Republicans needed EVERY House seat possible to try to avoid, or at least soften up some of the Democrat idiocy. And he couldn’t dig up $1M for a special election, especially with the billions he had sitting in the bank after (essentially) selling off his toll road.
This tells me that, like his former boss in the White House, RAW POLITICS, as opposed to debating societies, is well over his head and the last thing the Republicans need is a third president in a row that cannot figure stuff like trying to have as many Republicans in the House when you have a mad lady running around with a pitchfork.
From George Will’s column last week:
“Daniels has practiced the lean government he preaches. Under him, Indiana has its fewest state employees since 1978, the nation’s lowest state government employment per capita, lowest effective property taxes and third-lowest per-capita spending.”
His tenure at OMB and his two terms as Governor of Indiana have shown me that he walks the walk when it comes to fiscal realism. He will disappoint on a number of social/values fronts (primarily because he will not address them in a campaign in order to attract the Reagan Democrats and independents who see the economic and national security issues as eclipsing everything else at this time). I will be anxious to see if immigration reform/enforcement is a plank in the national security platform, which I expect.
Mitch Daniels open to VAT, oil tax hike
BTW, I didn't see any one reading any of his letters to the TEA Party crowd in Madison yesterday...
Baring unforseen changes in the political climate between now and the 2012 election (and that’s a big IF) In order to win we need a candidate that brings in fiscally conservative independents. The true crisis facing our nation is the debt, the liberals are a secondary threat. If we solve the debt crisis the liberals lose and we marginalize them at the same time. The candidate needs to bring this country together under the banner of solving our debt crisis. I’m not saying that Mich Daniels is necessarily the one, but I like what I hear. I could easily vote for a Daniels/Christie ticket.
VAT
SOCIAL VALUES
...’nuff said
Do you think any one of these DC elite “favs” could draw a crowd of 50 at any time.
Probably combined they couldn’t get 50...
Sarah, on the other hand ....
Even Herman Cain can draw a crowd.
Daniels is my top pick right now, which of course means he has no chance whatsoever.
That's an amazing statistic. I wonder if there's even one other state in the country that can make the same claim. If Daniels is a "RINO", I wish they were all RINOS - less government spending, lower taxes, less government employees per capita - yeah, that's horrible /s
“Even Herman Cain can draw a crowd.”
I’d love to see him and Soetoro debate. It would be a wipeout on par with the Egyptians and the Red Sea.
“I’ll say this much, if my choice was between Daniels and Romney I’d vote for Daniels in a heartbeat.”
I’ll say this much, if my choice was between (Insert Marxist Elitist name here) and Romney I’d vote for the Commie in a heartbeat.
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