Posted on 10/27/2008 12:13:53 PM PDT by BGHater
With news this week that Congress is poised to consider a new stimulus package, I am forced to again ask a question that seems silly in Washington: How will we pay for this?
While a few Members of Congress have raised the issue, it certainly was not the primary concern of the House Budget Committee when they interviewed Ben Bernanke on Monday. And, when they did direct this question to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, his answer was the standard rhetoric about how Congress needed to make tough choices. Needless to say, not many specifics were discussed.
One of the most liberal members of the House, Barney Frank, has at least volunteered something of a suggestion: We can let Iraq take care of itself. This, of course, goes in the right direction, but hardly far enough.
We need to declare the facts and their obvious consequences. The deficit of the United States is now spiraling out of control, and the recent bailout package has only made it worse. Our crushing federal debt is one key reason behind our current economic turbulence.
As Congress begins to consider the third stimulus package of the year, we need to realize it is time to start setting priorities. Priority number one should be cutting spending in foreign countries. This does not simply mean Iraq, but everywhere.
The next stimulus package is likely to include money for infrastructure. While these investments are, constitutionally speaking, supposed to be made by state and local governments, it is not likely that Congress will suddenly begin to pay heed to the document we are all sworn to uphold. Still, we need to acknowledge the fact that the current Congress and Administration are rushing the nation toward bankruptcy.
This being the case, we could hope they would at least come to their senses regarding our debt and foreign spending sprees. Our nations foreign-held debt is at record highs and moving ever higher. Continuing to borrow money from Red China and others in order to pay dues to the United Nations and run Plan Colombia makes no sense at all.
Our whole carrot-and-stick approach to foreign policy makes no sense. The US government simultaneously gives money to Israel, and to Egypt. We send AIDS money to Africa while AIDS clinics in America shut down. Millennium challenge funding goes to countries which enact market based reforms as we push our own country further and further into a centrally planned economy.
Economic recovery will only come through financial prudence, savings and getting back to producing things of value again. But it seems to be a foregone conclusion that we are about to enact another government initiative to stimulate the economy. Instead, there should be some serious talk about cutting all of these foreign giveaway programs. But, alas and again, we should not hold our breath. Congress is still not close to being serious about ending its addiction to debt and spending, and is again faced with the deadly temptation to attempt to spend us out of a recession. We should not forget that in the 1930s those types of efforts gave us the Great Depression.
Uh-huh. And then Paul expects people to take him seriously, supporting a preacher from Pensacola, Florida for President.
There are a lot of people like me that will not vote for the lesser of two evils again.
On Dec. 6, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft informed the Senate Judiciary Committee, To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and give ammunition to Americas enemies.
To which Benjamin Franklin would reply, “those who give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither and will lose both,”
Firstly he’s not a truther.
Secondly everyone has the right to speak regardless of what you think their credibility is.
I don’t follow your point.
I’m not all that keen on Ashcroft’s point there, if that’s what you’re getting at.
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The very people who call Ron Paul advocates, “truthers”, “leftist loonies” and the like, will be the same people who after the election — if Obama wins — claim that Ron Paul people were really “Republicans who lost McCain the election” — never once noticing the absolute contradiction between those two claims.
Me too !!!!
Ditto !!
Yep, your type is the reason the dems took over in 2006. No more crying, you are part of the problem.
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“Yep, your type is the reason the dems took over in 2006.
...and virtually nothing changed.
Sorry, I won’t be held hostage by crooked big government R (or D) politicians.
It’s very simple. If conservatives don’t want socialism or liberalism from their elected representatives, DON’T VOTE FOR THEM. PERIOD.
“Well Ron Paul, if you are this concerned why don’t you come out for McCain?”
Because McCain is anti-gun (GOA F-rated), is anti-free speech (McCain Feingold), will do nothing meaningful to end abortion, is not conservative in any way, voted for the Wall Street bankster bailout AKA destruction of the US dollar, and is generally a big government R socialist.
IOW, he stands for virtually nothing that Ron Paul stands for.
“The very people who call Ron Paul advocates, truthers, leftist loonies and the like, will be the same people who after the election if Obama wins claim that Ron Paul people were really Republicans who lost McCain the election never once noticing the absolute contradiction between those two claims.”
Right.
I’m more interested in what we will say to them, when McCain loses, blames conservatives (including his own running mate), and joins the party of his friend John Kerry.
McCain is for cutting spending? News to me... IIRC, he voted for the massive bailout bill just last week.
How about, "You were right!"?
How is that worse than a globalist pro amnesty candidate?
Ron Paul can't win. He has some excellent ideas but he can't win.
We do not need another Perot that will get Obama elected.
McCain is not all we would like to have but he is better than Obama.
We need to build the Republican party back up with Reagan Conservatives, that won't happen with Obama in office and the Dems having a super majority.
I am old enough that whoever wins will make no difference to me, it is my kids, grandkids and great grandkids I am thinking of.
“We do not need another Perot that will get Obama elected.”
Nonsense.
Instead of focusing on the third (ie. second) party candidates and the votes they are supposedly stealing from McCain (as though he ever had our vote), you should be far more concerned with the ~50+ million votes which are actually going to be in the positive column for Obama/Biden. Why is it that so many (esp.young) people are so clueless about traditional Christian values, limited government, the Constitution etc?? What is the Republican party doing to attract principled conservatives and constitutionalists?
Why did hundreds of thousands of Republicans help elect Obama by switching registration and supporting him during the primaries?
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