I use to consider Erick Erickson as a semi-literate conserv….I guess I was mistaken…
I have hard on the GOP as the party of old white guys…..not much has changed……please pass this one on it needs to be out there for all to see….
Month: May 2013
Send In The Clowns
I have noticed that the Righties that follow my blog, and there are a good many, seldom comment on any post that is not the talking point du jour for the Right, which is sad because, believe it or not, I would enjoy an exchange of ideas with them…….so far the only exchanges I get are the talking points I could get from FUX or Drudge……
The Clowns I am referring to this time is not the politicians we elect….no this time it is the overpaid news anchors that pretend that they are all about the news…..a bigger LIE has never been told…..
Recently, the CBO issued a report that was almost totally ignored ny the cracker jack news channels we are all exposed to daily…….the Hill was the first report that I saw on the subject……
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday said the federal budget deficit this year will shrink to $642 billion — the smallest since before President Obama took office and more than $200 billion less than the agency projected in February.
The deficit in fiscal 2012, which ended Sept. 30, was $1.1 trillion, the fourth time it was above $1 trillion under Obama’s administration.
The improvement from a $845 billion deficit this year is due to higher tax revenue than expected and payments from government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the CBO said.
The office said the revenue increases are temporary.
The CBO had assumed in February that Congress would allow $80 billion in funds to be sequestered from this year’s discretionary budget. The cuts went into effect March 1 as scheduled.
Over the next 10 years, the budget office predicts the government will add $6.3 trillion in new deficits. That is $618 billion less than was predicted in February, and the change is primarily due to lower healthcare and Social Security costs.
Another way it was reported…….
CBO: “The Budget Deficit Will Shrink This Year To $642 Billion.” According to the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent analysis, assuming current law remains unchanged, “the budget deficit will shrink this year to $642 billion … the smallest shortfall since 2008”:
If the current laws that govern federal taxes and spending do not change, the budget deficit will shrink this year to $642 billion, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, the smallest shortfall since 2008. Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit this year–at 4.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)–will be less than half as large as the shortfall in 2009, which was 10.1 percent of GDP. Because revenues, under current law, are projected to rise more rapidly than spending in the next two years, deficits in CBO’s baseline projections continue to shrink, falling to 2.1 percent of GDP by 2015. [Congressional Budget Office, May 2013]
Okay we now have the report……does anyone see the several pieces of good news in the statement? Granted it is not excellent news but a far cry from the crap your local GOP dipsticks are telling you…..
Good News and the media ignored it to cover morons spouting lies and misinformation……and you wonder why nothing is getting done to make your life better…..the small amount of good news will not do much to help the ever vanishing middle class….but at least it was some good news on the deficit.
I ask again…….what did you see as the good news?
Half of Americans below or near poverty line – Salon.com
The markets have hits new highs almost daily….good news for hedge funds….but what does it mean for us mere mortals?
There is little good news for Main Street….Wall Street gets all the breaks….this has got to change or there will be little left of the middle class…
So You Want To Save The Nation’s Money?
By now even a deaf homeless guy in Peoria knows the debate on the deficit and all the worthless plans to save some cash…..most of the savings will come on the backs of the poor and middle class……now there is a good idea if you truly want a two class system…….but I got to looking around for some savings that would not add to the woes of the working people in this country…..the very people that the government says they are protecting, at least the next generation……and if you believe that…..I have a bridge in Brooklyn that is for sale….any takers?
My short search on-line came up with two possible savings programs…..
(Newser) – The Abrams tank sounded pretty remarkable in reports chronicling its arrival in Afghanistan more than two years ago: The 68-ton machine is propelled by jet engines and has a main gun that can destroy a house from more than a mile away. But since its debut, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been pushing to upgrade the tank, devoting $436 million to the cause. Except as the AP explains, senior Army officials keep telling Congress they’re not interested. “If we had our choice, we would use that money in a different way,” says the Army’s chief of staff.
The Army says it doesn’t need to buy more tanks until 2017; Congress wants the Army to buy earlier models that have been upgraded with things like better microprocessors and color flat panel displays, at a cost of about $7.5 million each. “The Army is on record saying we do not require any additional M1A2s,” said the deputy director of the Army budget office this month. And while tank-proponents Rep. Jim Jordan and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio insist our safety is at the root of it all—”we are supposed to spend taxpayer money in defense of the country,” says Jordan—the AP notes the country’s only tank plant happens to be located in Lima, Ohio. Such a pet project is nothing new, but the Abrams example is notable due to the certainty of the Army’s position. “When an institution as risk-averse as the Defense Department says they have enough tanks, we can probably believe them,” says a director with Citizens Against Government Waste.
And the next possible savings is in the international realm……..
Source: All Gov.
U.S. officials have long complained about corruption in Afghanistan’s government—and now it’s come out that one of the biggest contributors to said corruption was the United States itself.
U.S. officials have long complained about corruption in Afghanistan’s government—and now it’s come out that one of the biggest contributors to said corruption was the United States itself.
In one of the most disturbing tales yet of payoffs, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spent more than a decade delivering tens of millions of dollars in cash to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to an investigation led by Matthew Rosenberg of The New York Times.
The newspaper learned that American dollars—what one former Afghan official called “ghost money”—were put into suitcases, backpacks and even plastic shopping bags and dropped off in secret in the hopes it would buy influence with Karzai and warlords.
Instead, the payments undermined U.S. efforts to help Afghanistan develop a legitimate, democratic government.
“The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan,” one American official told the Times, “was the United States.”
Mohammed Zia Salehi, the administrative chief of the Afghan National Security Office in charge of distributing the CIA cash, was arrested in July 2010, accused, among other transgressions, of smuggling cash out of the country. He made a call to Hamid Karzai and was instantly released.
According to Matthew Rosenberg, Salehi, referring to the contradiction of the U.S. government trying to fight corruption in Afghanistan, while at the same time forking over millions of dollars of cash, said, called himself, “an enemy of the FBI and a hero to the CIA.”
In a follow-up story, Karzai acknowledged the CIA payments, claiming the money was used for “various purposes.” Those close to Karzai said the cash went to pay off warlords, lawmakers and others whom the president courted for support. Karzai shrugged off the controversy, noting that his Office of National Security still receives monthly cash payments from the CIA. Later, his office issued a statement that some of the money was used to treat wounded soldiers, but others suggested that it wasn’t wounded soldiers who were receiving “treats.”
Granted these two programs will not solve our deficit problem, but any savings will help and these two we can live without….now ask yourself why these types of expenditures are seldom mentioned when looking for solutions……
Here’s a flash for you deficit hawks…….food stamps is NOT wasteful spending……buying tanks nobody wants IS!
How about my readers….any ideas on how to lessen the deficit?
Benghazi Interview: Pickering Dissects Congressional Follies, Media Coverage and ‘Cover-Up’ Charges by Joe Conason on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent
I continue to give my readers as much information as I can about the “scandal”
that is Benghazi…..you have heard all the talking points….now read what a pro in the diplomatic corps has to say…..he has NO agenda for he has worked for both Repub and Dem presidents….he comments on the report he did….interesting to see what is what….read it NOW!
The Real Culprits Of Benghazi
I tried to let this stuff go….but I cannot…there is so much crap about this situation that it is drawing flies…….
Some things are growing more quiet now……we have had a couple weeks of an IRS scandal……..the AP scandal…….a massive killer tornado in Texas….and thanx to those situations the yelling about Benghazi has become more subdues….either the BS talking points are drying up or the Right is getting over their fascination with the attack on the consulate…..(please notice that it was a consulate and not an embassy….they are not the same thing)……….
Let see…the emails have been released and the only time they were inappropriate is when they were doctored…….emails have surfaced where the ambassador refused extra security on two occasions……..so if there is to be a culprit to all this faux drama….who shall it be?
I know! I know!
(Newser) – So far, most of the public anger about the Benghazi scandal has focused on the State Department. But the Washington Post has an in-depth piece today suggesting that the real blame for the infamous talking points may lie with everyone’s favorite philandering ex-spy chief, David Petraeus. “It was from his initial input that all else flowed,” the paper argues. Here’s how the Post says things went down:
- It all began when the House intelligence committee asked Petraeus for some minimal guidelines to ensure members didn’t reveal anything classified while talking to the press.
- Instead, Petraeus produced a much broader document that included the classified information that Ansar al-Sharia was suspected in the attack and mentioned that the CIA had sent “numerous” warnings. It also said the attack was “spontaneously inspired.”
- The draft generated some blowback even within the CIA. The CIA’s general counsel noted that it conflicted “with express instructions” from the FBI, National Security Council, and Justice Department, who didn’t want to name any suspected perpetrators.
- Petraeus circulated them anyway. The State Department complained, as did the NSC, mostly objecting to naming Ansar and mentioning the CIA warnings. The White House was basically the only entity with no objections.
- The talking points were paired down to three bullets. Petraeus was not a fan, but not because he objected to the spontaneously inspired bit. “No mention of the cable to Cairo, either?” he complained. “Frankly, I’d just as soon not use this then.” But he said it was the NSC’s call.
I suspect that if there is any comment from the Right it will something as lame as WaPo is a liberal point of view……as opposed the facts doled out by FUX or Drudge, right? Plus I want to see if there is any other right group that will talk about the real culprits in this whole affair or just keep fanning the flames of stupid!
Blow Made Them Do It!
I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as well as the next guy…..I mean we have had good ones over the years….the Grassy Knoll, all the 9/11 stuff, ancient aliens caused the plague, and so on……I’m guessing that my readers have a few that they like over others…..like I said I good conspiracy is very entertaining.
Recently, I read one that made me chuckle aloud…….
(Newser) – Forget all those complicated economic explanations. The real reason for the financial crisis was simple: Bankers were doing too much coke, says a professor and former UK government drugs adviser. The drug made bankers “overconfident,” prompting them to take “more risks,” says David Nutt. Cocaine fueled their “culture of excitement and drive and more and more and more,” he says. It’s not Nutt’s first controversial statement, the Telegraph notes: He was fired from the government after saying ecstasy and horseback riding were about even, safety-wise; he’s also claimed that alcohol is more dangerous than heroin.
I wish I could say something clever, but this is beyond lunacy……thoughts?