Posted on 04/09/2011 3:52:23 PM PDT by Qbert
(CNSNews.com) - The federal debt increased $54.1 billion in the eight days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.
The debt was $14.2101 trillion on March 30, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and $14.2642 on April 7.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
“Is this actually a done deal? Or does the House and Senate still have to vote on this?”
I read an article about Rep. Allen West- who is a firm NO on the vote (thankfully!)- and it said the vote is next week.
Maybe there’s still time to put some sticks in the rest of the Repubs’ spokes...
“Whether this is victory or defeat will be determined by events yet to occur. If this is the start of a long and sustained trend toward fiscal sanity - that is; If this “deal” marks the “moment” that the “sea of debt began to recede” and the “heated spending began to cool” - it will indeed be a victory.”
Quite honestly, the whole thing in Congress is going to stand or fall upon one person: Paul Ryan. Sure, he’s cast some votes in the past that Conservatives have disagreed with, but I don’t have much faith in any of the other leadership members.
If the other members were going to instill confidence in us, we would’ve some signs of life already. I mean, this is like rooting for the Chicago Cubs here...
Well technically that makes it just slightly under 100% of our total GDP,if it keeps increasing we’ll turn into Greece with a gigantic debt and a huge deficit every year.
By the time the GOP takes charge and starts passing harsh measures,the left will be in the wing waiting to take over after people find these measures uncomfortable.
“If this is the start of a long and sustained trend toward fiscal sanity”
How can it be? I mean, assuming the $38 billion dollars was a “cut” and actually meant something, the proposed Pub cuts, coming as they did off an electoral landslide, were measely by anyone’s standards. Nevertheless, Dems, while barely lifting an apocalyptic rhetorical finger (despite a few scattered warnings about the tragic fates of women/children/the elderly/minorities), were able to face down a clear mandate to get the measely proposal cut by a third. All they’ll have to do in the future is whisper “shutdown.” The precident has been set.
It was set back in ‘95, actually, despite the fact that I can’t discern any longterm damage it did to the party. Maybe it killed Newt’s higher ambitions, but who cares? We have all seen how great he turned out.
Pubs, meanwhile, behind shouts of victory, obviously know how pitiful is the situation. Which is why they complain about lacking the Senate and White House. But we all know what good they did when they had them.
Profanity Warning.
At some point we have to get past the current budget debacle and focus on Ryan’s new 2012 budget...that is where the real fighting will take place.
The real cause of the near-shutdown is the failure of the last Democrat Congress to even submit a budget much less pass one. We need to swallow hard and do what it takes for now, and get on with the real job ahead.
Let’s move on and stop bashing the Speaker.
The sad think is that the debt numbers at the government site are admittedly rigged.
They are already using money from an emergency fund(200 billion) in order to prevent us from hitting the ceiling. We actually have already hit(and exceeded) the limit if you do not count that.
You will notice that the debt number has hardly risen in the last couple of months. This is why. Of course we as a country have just used up all of our emergency funds.
Once they raise the debt limit(and the GOP will be just fine with that) then you will see a huge immediate jump in the amount of debt(Shown) as that fund is “Payed” back with the newly borrowed money.
If you divide it all out using 1.3 trillion as the yearly debt then I think you get about 3.56 billion a day of borrowed money on average.
The bond markets aren’t so easily fooled.
I thought it still needed to come up for a vote but, wasn’t sure. My guess is there are many that will vote no next week. Will it be enough? Only God knows. We need to be praying for a miracle. I think at this point we are going to need one.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
Why should today be any different?
“At some point we have to get past the current budget debacle and focus on Ryan’s new 2012 budget...that is where the real fighting will take place...Let’s move on and stop bashing the Speaker.”
—I have great respect for Paul Ryan, and I hope for the sake of our nation that he is immensely successful in his efforts. I have no qualms in backing him completely in the upcoming fight.
OTOH, I do not appreciate the Speaker sending his minions out to trash Tea Party supporters in Pullitico, playing games with military pay, and misleading a trusting public with budgetary numbers. I expect such dishonesty from the man-child POTUS; I do not expect such behavior from a Republican “leader”. I hope for his sake, that he takes heed.
“How can this be?”
Quite simply. If the Republicans choose to move forward by demanding reductions-not increases on every budget issue. This is “incrementalism” - and its how the Dems have grown the Government for 60 years.
I hope it doesn’t take 60 years to get back to Constitutionally limited Government and fiscal sanity. But if it does, it will only happen if people keep the pressure on Congress, and by this time next year- we’ll only have 59 years to go!
I guess my point is, when you’re heading in the wrong direction, turning around is more important than going fast. If this is the point that marks a turn around in the direction federal spending - it will be a success.
If we declare defeat, fold the tent, and quit pushing for more cuts during the debt ceiling debate, and even more in the Ryan 2012 budget debate - then it will indeed be a catostrophic failure.
BTTT
Thanks for the ping, Nachum. I’d have missed this thread otherwise. DC has been, and ***continues to be*** the problem. It’s like they all flunked first grade math, or something.
Not just here, my friend... been screaming this at the boobtube for I don’t know how long...
Right now, it’s about public image and the next election. The Republicans come away looking like they were reasonable. The DemocRATs lost this battle- public wise.
The RATs wanted the shut down and Republicans are getting incremental cuts with every week. I know there is a lot of gnashing of teeth by conservatives over Boehner’s tactics but IMHO they are working.
“Right now, it’s about public image and the next election.”
Why is it that everyone forgets ‘96 was a Pub victory (not presidencywise, but come on, that had nothing to do with the shutdown), despite the supposed historical disaster of ‘95?
“This is ‘incrementalism’ - and its how the Dems have grown the Government for 60 years.”
It never has worked in the opposite direction, so far as I know. Certainly it has failed in the aftermath of the so-called Reagan Revolution. So we have a “new normality” of tax reform and deregulation that would’ve seemed beyond hope in the 70s. Big deal. Does anyone—and I mean anyone, conservative, liberal, or what have you—think the drift of the past few decades has been away from centralization? Is the federal government better or worse off than it was 30 years ago?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ragging on Reagan. I’m just saying, Boehner’s realignment is a pin drop to the thunder clap of Reagan. Incremental Reaganism hasn’t worked, why should I expect any different from Boehnerism?
“I hope it doesn’t take 60 years to get back to Constitutionally limited Government and fiscal sanity. But if it does, it will only happen if people keep the pressure on Congress, and by this time next year- we’ll only have 59 years to go!”
Given such a mindset, I can see your point. I don’t want to be a pessimist declinist or, worse yet, an apocalypsist. However, we simply don’t have 59 years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.