Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Eat Those Peas Mr. President
Townhall.com ^ | August 1, 2011 | John Ransom

Posted on 08/01/2011 4:56:11 AM PDT by Kaslin

Hope those peas taste good.

After trying with all his might to raise taxes and demonize the “rich,” Obama finally has to accept a debt and budget deal that severely hampers his ability to get reelected because he couldn’t raise taxes on CEOs and corporate jets.

I love the taste of those peas in the morning.

As I wrote on July 2nd, in any budget and debt negotiation Obama was going to come out a loser if he didn’t raise taxes. Well, check and checkmate.  

The reason?

Because the GOP already enjoys the high ground in the debate. And they will continue to enjoy it because voters know that federal spending and debt are out of control. Forget that the GOP took it on the chin with the public playing the heavy in the debate. The GOP “brand” isn’t running for reelection. Members are and so is the president.

Forget also that the budget deal doesn’t come close to really cutting spending or debt by the order of magnitude that the country needs. We have an election coming up that will solve that problem one way or another.

Right now here are the numbers that really matter:

A “national telephone survey finds that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters are worried more that Congress and President Obama will raise taxes too much rather than too little in any deal to end the debt ceiling debate,” reports Rasmussen. The survey also found a strong majority were worried that the deal wouldn’t cut enough in spending.

Voters know now that Republicans: 1) stopped tax increases and 2) wanted bigger spending cuts.

On the two major issues that voters care about, the GOP was on the right side of the debate: Check. And checkmate.  

Despite what voters say about favoring a debt and budget approach that raised taxes and cut spending, few politicians have successfully run for reelection on a platform of raising taxes.

It’s doubtful that even Obama could pull off a “Vote for me, I raised taxes” campaign.

Members in swing states and swing districts were never going to try it.

The best Obama could have hoped for was dividing the GOP significantly.

With the debt deal agreed to by the White House, the Senate and the House leadership on Sunday evening, you find a GOP differing only by shades of gray. Significant shades most certainly, but nothing that will bother us Hobbits too much.

The most important victory is that the agreement ensures that a balanced budget amendment is going to get a seat at the grown up table during the presidential campaign.

It’s likely that between now and the presidential election that at least one balanced budget provision will come before Congress. Most states already have balanced budget provisions.  

The balanced budget amendment is big because it most directly constrains Obama’s and the progressives’ Big Government ideas. If you can force them to raise taxes every time they pass laws spending money on rainbows and unicorns you’ll find progressives will become as rare as the unicorn.      

“I’m gonna tell you, this has been a long battle – we’ve fought valiantly – and frankly we’ve done it by listening to the American people,” said Boehner according to Politico. “And as a result, our framework is now on the table that will end this crisis in a manner that meets our principles of smaller government.”

And that’s really bitter food for a president who challenged the Congress to eat only the Big Government peas that he was serving to the rest of us.

Eat that, Mr. President.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: foxfriends; trump
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-105 next last

1 posted on 08/01/2011 4:56:12 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

bump


2 posted on 08/01/2011 5:01:48 AM PDT by Christian4Bush (PSA. As of 8/01/11, 463/538 days 'til we vote out/take out the trash. (Nov 6 2012))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
OBAMA GREENGIANT
3 posted on 08/01/2011 5:05:11 AM PDT by FrankR ("If you can't make them see the light, let them feel the heat." - R. Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I like to visualize whirled peas.


4 posted on 08/01/2011 5:05:14 AM PDT by LoveUSA (You don't notice the night light until it gets dark.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Aaah, I love the smell of Obama eating his peas in the morning.


5 posted on 08/01/2011 5:07:45 AM PDT by Kharis13 (That noise you hear is our Founding Fathers spinning in their graves.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Don't be so quick to declare victory. 0bama schooled Boehner and McConnell, avoided a nasty election issue, and all in time for him to celebrate ramadama ding dong. He's just done an end run on these simpletons, who were too anxious to get a deal done. Taxes will be coming when his committee is formed.

Take Back AMERICA!
FUBO GTFO 2012 !

6 posted on 08/01/2011 5:10:05 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (Psalm 109:8 Let his days be few and let another take his office. - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

7 posted on 08/01/2011 5:10:35 AM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
"It’s doubtful that even Obama could pull off a “Vote for me, I raised taxes” campaign."

No, but he can run on "his" success in cutting taxes. And he will try. Watch.

8 posted on 08/01/2011 5:13:21 AM PDT by Hatteras
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

This is a pretty reasonable argument. Something I fear we lose sight of is that this was a major battle that we won. Battles are not campaigns, campaigns are not wars.

The progressives just expended a great amount of energy in a battle that they should have cut from. For now, they are done. The next battle is the budget starting in September. Conservatives are in excellent position for that battle.


9 posted on 08/01/2011 5:20:08 AM PDT by Hawk1976 (It is better to die in battle than it is to live as a slave.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Love the article....but we all must remember this.

It won't be the stain's "mentality" we'll be fighting. Were that the case, it would be an easy victory indeed.

NO...what we're fighting is the dem/lib/prog/pop/msm and the alinski manual.

This is most assuredly NOT the time to be resting on any laurels. We should be loudly and vociferuously attacking any point in this budget/debt battle that seems to have gone the way of the enemy. We should be out in the media stressing over and over again how we fought against the "wrongs", but they passed anyway.....because we care more about the country (true) than about beating the enemy (well...equal levels of caring anyway).

This is not the time to be silent.

Let's watch and see how our new Republican conservative freshmen members do when this mess comes up for a vote in the House!!

10 posted on 08/01/2011 5:20:11 AM PDT by Logic n' Reason (The stain must be REMOVED (ERADICATED)....NOW!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Gee.

Some of us wanted real reductions in government spending. As for myself, I would rather like to have seen substantial cuts in the number of bureaucrats. But as far as I can tell we got business as usual instead.

ML/NJ

11 posted on 08/01/2011 5:21:03 AM PDT by ml/nj
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
After trying with all his might to raise taxes and demonize the “rich,” Obama finally has to accept a debt and budget deal that severely hampers his ability to get reelected because he couldn’t raise taxes on CEOs and corporate jets.

Everyone seems to forget that it's the very people sitting in Washington who passed those "loop holes" in the tax code, probably to fill their reelection coffers. The best thing this country could do is scrap the IRS Code and put a 17% flat tax on income.

And PLEASE, don't even think about a VAT tax. If you think there's bureaucracy now, if you pass a tax that is levied at every stage of production, think about the number of people required to track that. As Friedman pointed out years ago, if there are 67 stages of production in producing a loaf of bread and someone has to watch every one of those steps, what happens to a 787 which has millions of parts going into it. God save us from that.

12 posted on 08/01/2011 5:22:20 AM PDT by econjack (Some people are dumber than soup.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

-——It’s doubtful that even Obama could pull off a “Vote for me, I raised taxes” campaign.-——

The man has it all wrong

He did not intend to campaign on “I raised Taxes”

He intended to campaign on I took money from those that have and redistributed it to those who have not. The fair share for some, the few who have too much was adjusted in favor of the many who have too little. .


13 posted on 08/01/2011 5:22:48 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 ....Flash mobs are trickle down leftwing REDISTRIBUTION))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin; Christian4Bush; FrankR; LoveUSA; Kharis13; The Sons of Liberty; PBRSTREETGANG; Hatteras; ...
The best Obama could have hoped for was dividing the GOP significantly.

Which he did masterfully. Of course, it's not that hard to create circular firing squads on the right.

14 posted on 08/01/2011 5:30:10 AM PDT by sam_paine (X .................................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Peas be upon you, Mr. _resident.


15 posted on 08/01/2011 5:31:21 AM PDT by Fresh Wind ('People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook.' Richard M. Nixon)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
....a debt and budget deal that severely hampers his ability to get reelected...

From your pen to God's eyes!!!

16 posted on 08/01/2011 5:34:35 AM PDT by GoldenPup
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ml/nj

Business as usual would have been a rubber stamp raise of the debt ceiling, more and more massive spending, and zero discussion of reducing spending or the debt. We owe the TEA Party our gratitude for holding Boehner and McConnell’s feet to the fire. They didn’t get as much as they (or we) wanted, but they are off to a great start. Look at this deal as the beginning and not as the end. We are making good progress and hopefully after next November we can right this floundering Ship of State.


17 posted on 08/01/2011 5:35:30 AM PDT by csmusaret (The only borders Obama has closed is a bookstore.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: FrankR

18 posted on 08/01/2011 5:41:51 AM PDT by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: bert
That is correct Bert. He creates the “haves” and the “have-nots” and then says “Let's go get them!”. That isn't the same unpopular mantra as raising everyone’s taxes by any means. It is much more shrewd and puts the burden of recovery on the “other guy”, a very popular idea in the age of entitlement.
19 posted on 08/01/2011 5:44:06 AM PDT by ThirstyMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ThirstyMan

Pure Alinsky.
Pit the havenots against the haves, proclaim yourself to be the good guy “helping” the havenots,

and achieve incredible power over everyone.


20 posted on 08/01/2011 5:49:30 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter knows whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-105 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson