It’s difficult to discern the truth as to what is going on in talks between House Republicans and Senate Democrats. If you’re to believe Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, they’re very close to a deal that would cut 33 billion dollars. The Republicans vehemently disagree than any number has been set; but is this true?
The 33 billion dollar number has been showing up in a number of places, however is this due to the Democrats spreading disinformation in order to pressure the House? Could it be that the House Republicans are holding the bad news until the 11th hour to avoid the pummeling they’re likely to receive from the Tea Party?
There’s a couple of ways to look at the current “secret” discussions. If I were a betting man, the signals coming from the House would tend to make me believe that the House is very close to a deal that would be in the neighborhood of 33 billion, because they are in a panic as the ghosts of the 1995 government shutdown circle the Capitol building. Another view is that the Democrats want a shutdown; that cannot be denied after Chuck Schumer’s accidental disclosure on a conference call on Wednesday. Games are being played in Washington and we are all the pawns.
I wrote several days ago about principals. The sickening stench of partisanship is ripe in the air of Washington. White House officials are claiming that 70,000 children will die if the House Republicans cuts are enacted. How sick is that? The only principal the Democrats are showing these days is no-holds-barred partisanship. The Democrats are only interested in talking points and snatching political benefit. They have no shame.
We’re talking about an annual budget of 3.7 trillion dollars while we’re watching a political lap-dance over 61 billion dollars. Let’s put this in perspective. The proposed cuts are less than 2 percent of the current budget. Another way to look at it is that the current budget is 1.4 trillion dollars in deficit. If the Democrats agreed to the cuts, the budget deficit would still be $1,339,000,000,000.00 – stunning, isn’t it?
It’s quickly becoming a “who cares” proposition. None of what’s going on in Washington is going to change the trajectory of the landslide of spending we’ve endured for the past two years. Remember, the Affordable Health Care Act, better known as Obamacare, snuck in 105 billion dollars of unauthorized spending. If we want to change the future, we need to attack the big ticket items and those are the entitlements. Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin is going to propose next year’s budget in the coming weeks. If we’re to believe what is being said, it will offer significant changes to entitlement programs resulting in trillions of dollars of savings. But if we can’t get a 2 percent reduction in annual spending, how do they think the Democrats will react to a 12 or 15 percent reduction? This is beginning to look a lot like spitting into a typhoon…completely useless.
What happened to the Tea Party? The Democrats are all over blaming them for the budget stalemate and yet when they held their Continuing Resolution Rally on the Mall yesterday the turnout was embarrassing. Hundreds of thousands showed up last year, while yesterday, in the midst of this ridiculous show going on in congress, less than a thousand showed up. What happened to the Town Hall meetings that took place last year, where the members of congress were given a large serving of the public’s angst about the direction of the country? How quickly we lose steam. As easy as it is to blame the politicians in congress, if you sit back and take it you’re no longer part of the solution. Wake up, or shut up.
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