Tag: Fiscal Conservative

Those Fiscal Responsible Republicans

You know who they are….they are the ones shouting loudly for spending cuts in social programs, environment programs, just about all programs with the exception of the Pentagon which gets more than it asks for in the budget.

This past ‘debt crisis’ deal found the poor being whacked on the pee pee….and yet these same ‘spend thrifts’ have a plan….

They think they deserve a pay raise…..

After taking the global economy hostage to secure painful cuts to aid programs and other federal spending, House Republicans are proposing a pay raise for themselves and other members of Congress for the coming fiscal year.

Roll Callreported Thursday that under spending legislation approved by the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee last month, members of Congress “would stand to receive a 4.6%, or $8,000, pay increase” in 2024. Most members of Congress currently make an annual salary of $174,000, putting them in the top 10% of U.S. earners.

“Lawmakers last received a cost-of-living increase in 2009,” the outlet noted, “but House Republicans left out the traditional language blocking a cost-of-living increase for members from this year’s Legislative Branch bill.”

The Republican-led push for a congressional pay increase comes just weeks after GOP leaders negotiated a debt ceiling agreement with President Joe Biden that imposes new work requirements on older recipients of federal food aid, a change that experts say is likely to strip benefits from around 750,000 low-income people.

Congressional Republicans are also pushing for even steeper cuts to federal spending than were agreed upon in the debt ceiling deal, threatening a government shutdown.

Meanwhile, the House GOP is working to pass legislation that would hand the top 1% of U.S. earners $28 billion in tax cuts next year.

(commondreams.org)

Seriously?

I bunch of lay abouts that work 3 days a week and about 5 months a year think they deserve a pay increase….if anything since they can get nothing done legislatively they owe the taxpayers a refund.

Can you believe these douche bags?

They want to cut benefits across the board for poor and low income workers and think that deserves a pay raise.

These assholes have some nerve!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Where Have All The Deficit Hawks Gone

Gone to Trumpland every one.

Closing Thought–23Aug19

Before I go on my rant about the deficit…..I would like to update a post on the deaths of 2 Americans in Afghanistan a few days ago…..

The Department of Defense has released the names of two U.S. service members who were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 21, 2019. They are members of the 7th Special Forces Group based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

Both soldiers died in Faryab province, Afghanistan as a result of wounds sustained from small arms fire while engaged in combat operations.

Master Sergeant Luis DeLeon-Figueroa, 31, of Chicopee, Massachusetts.

Master Sergeant Jose J. Gonzalez, 35, of La Puente, California.

More than half of the U.S. deaths in Afghanistan in 2019 have been Special Forces casualties – sometimes referred to as Green Berets. The two soldiers were assigned to the NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan (NSOCC-A). The soldiers received a posthumous promotion.

I recall my younger days in the political scene…there were social hawks and deficit hawks….the GOP were traditionally the hawks on the deficit….that is until they sold their souls to Trump.

Who really cares about the budget deficit?  https://lobotero.com/2009/06/13/is-the-deficit-really-of-concern/

And the question is still asked and failed to be answered.

All their rhetoric about the dangers of running a massive deficit were stuff of legend……but came 9/11 and their desire for revenge and allowed the defense budget to explode the deficit…..and then cam Trump and all pretense about caring about the deficit is gone.

The news coming out of the CBO is terrible and yet the GOP is silent thus approving of the massive deficit they have given the nation…..

The deficit will swell by $809 billion more than anticipated over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office announced in new projections Wednesday, per the AP. The Washington Post reports the US was already expected to hit a deficit over the $1 trillion mark in 2020. The change here, which is an update to the CBO’s May report, is due to recently enacted legislation on two fronts: the budget deal signed into law this month and supplemental spending at the border. A grim line from the new CBO report: “To put [debt] on a sustainable course lawmakers will have to make significant changes to tax and spending policies.”

CNBC quotes CBO Director Phillip Swagel as saying in the report that “federal debt … is on an unsustainable course,” and that while it will average $1.2 trillion annually between 2020 and 2029 it’ll jump even higher after that as the population ages and health-care spending rises. A third grim line from the report, per Fox News: “As a result of those deficits, federal debt held by the public is projected to grow steadily, from 79% of GDP in 2019 to 95% in 2029—its highest level since just after World War II.”

Give it time and the deficit hawks will return….probably when there is a Dem president…..and a GOP Congress……funny how all that manure works…..and yet they only care about deficit spending when it applies to social safety net…..

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Is There A Resurrection In Progress?

As Easter approached the term “resurrection” becomes more and more popular in our society and what better time to offer an political opinion than now?

The big news of the week is the election of a Dem in Western Pennsylvania a deep red district……..

It is still officially too close to call, but Conor Lamb has declared an against-the-odds Democratic victory in the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th District. He was introduced as “Congressman-elect Lamb” at a Hilton Inn campaign party, even as officials were counting hundreds of absentee ballots, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. “It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it. You did it!” said Lamb, whose Republican opponent, Rick Saccone, has not conceded. Unofficial results put Lamb ahead by around 600 votes. The margin is narrow enough for supporters of either side to get a recount if they can find three voters in the same precinct who attest to error or fraud, the AP reports.

The district voted for President Trump by 20 points in 2016 and has been so reliably Republican in recent years that Democrats didn’t field a candidate in the 2014 and 2016 House races, meaning the result will be a major worry for the GOP heading into the midterms even if it ends up as a narrow Republican win, the New York Times notes. Trump campaigned in the district and Republican-aligned outside groups spent more than $10 million on the race, even though the winner will only hold the seat for eight months. “The real impact of this race has to do more with the symbolism of the outcome as a harbinger of things to come, and as a reflection of President Trump’s popularity,” pollster Chris Borick tells the Post-Gazette.

And of course the media is painting it as a “blue wave” year coming in the November mid-terms…..but to me the humorous story to come pout of this election is that Lamb is a Repub….(I know…say what?)…..

the RNC and its supporters reversed course and seized on a false talking point that Lamb’s victory was unusual because he was “pro-life” and basically ran as a Republican.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) told reporters that the result was not a “big surprise” because both candidates “ran as a pro-life anti-Nancy Pelosi conservative.”

(think progress)

Brings a smile to my face and as moronic as his statement sounded……. deep down Ryan may have a point…..

WTF, Professsor?

Lamb sounds like a “Blue Dog Democrat”….(I will pause here for all the people that have NO idea what I am saying to hit the Google button)…..(Times up!)

A Blue Dog Democrat is a member of Congress who is moderate or more conservative in their voting record and political philosophy than other, more liberal, Democrats in the House and Senate. The Blue Dog Democrat, however, has become an increasingly rare breed in American politics as voters and elected officials become more partisan and polarized in their beliefs.

To make it easier to understand…..A Blue Dog Democrat is one who views himself/herself as being in the middle of the partisan spectrum and as an advocate for fiscal restraint at the federal level

The preamble to the Blue Dog Caucus in the House describes its members as being “dedicated to the financial stability and national security of the country, notwithstanding partisan political positions and personal fortune.” (sounds like a Repub to me)

Members of the Blue Dog Democrat coalition listed among their legislative priorities a “Pay-As-You-Go Act,” which require that any legislation that requires an outlay of taxpayer money cannot increase the deficit. (still smells like a Repub)

They also supported balancing the federal budget, closing tax loopholes, and cutting spending through the elimination of programs they feel don’t work.

For further information on Blue Dogs…..

http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1913057,00.html

I give all this information to my readers for I see a return of the Blue Dog Democrats……Dems finding  a way to win elections in an ever expanding conservative base….Clinton-esque crap of the Democratic Leadership Council……

A Constitutional Conservative?

College of Political Knowledge

Professor’s Classroom

2010/2012 Election Series

Lecture #4

After a series of primaries, the never ending primaries and elections, I was watching FOX News and heard Sarah Palin answer a question about the latest primary in Alaska….

In an interview Wednesday, Sarah Palin told Fox Business that while it makes sense that Massachusetts might “put up with Scott Brown,” the new Republican star senator wouldn’t last in Alaska.

“By the way, is Scott Brown on notice? I mean, he’s gone along with the Pelosi-Reid message for the past couple of votes,” the anchor asked.

Palin nodded. “Well, you know, take the consideration, though, that’s Massachusetts, and perhaps they’re not going to look for such a hardcore constitutional conservative there, and they’re gonna put up with Scott Brown and some of the antics there,” she said.

And her answer got me thinking about what a “Constitutional Conservative” really is…not some bastardized definition to fit a certain issue but the whole thing….first of all, it is over-used and seldom understood….this from the Foundation of Constitutional Conservatism…….

The foundation of Constitutional Conservatism stems from four simple ideas, expanding from one core principle — a return to the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Both major parties ignore the Constitution when it suits them, and this must not be.

  1. Textual interpretation of the Constitution — The Constitution is not a “living document”.
  2. Fiscal responsibility — If you spend more than you take in, you’re in trouble. All levels of government must balance budgets each year.
  3. Charity — It is not the role of government to take care of people. Each citizen has a moral responsibility to help those less fortunate.
  4. Personal responsibility — It’s time society stops allowing “victims” to shift the blame somewhere else — it’s not the twinkie’s fault[3].

NOTE: The complete article on Constitutional Conservatism is available as PDF.

I am not advocating anything here….I just want people to start talking in realities and leave the political sensationalism in the toilet where it belongs…..

So when people call for a return to Constitutional Conservatism and in the same breath call for part of the Constitution to be repealed….are NOT constitutional conservatives….shall I repeat that for those that are having a hard time grasping the idea…..those people calling for a return to constitutional conservatism call for the repealing of parts of the Constitution are NOT constitutional conservatives!

Shall I go on or have I done my part in making the point?

Blue Dogs’ Yellow Streak Turns Green

First of all for all you students of art……if you combine blue and yellow….what color do you get?  Green……..

I have been a critic, a sharp critic, of the Dems that call themselves Blue Dogs, those supposedly fiscal conservatives in th US House of Representatives.  Anyway, the yellow streak of the Blue Dogs has turned to green….meaning……there stance on holding up health care has turned into cash for the coalition.

This is the complete article written for USA Today by Fredreka Schouten of the papers Congress Team:

The conservative House Democrats known as the Blue Dog Coalition have seen their political clout grow dramatically as they work to shape the health care debate.

So have their campaign coffers — and much of the money has come from industries seeking to influence President Obama’s health care overhaul and other key legislative efforts in Congress, according to reports out today.

The Blue Dog’s political action committee has collected $1.1 million in the first six months of the year — more than any other political action committee, according to CQ. (Subscription required.) Nearly 54% came from the energy, financial services and health care industries, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity. That’s up from 45% in 2004. The center’s reporting appeared in Politico.

The 52-member coalition has demanded changes to health care legislation to rein in spending and address their concerns about disparities in Medicare reimbursement rates between urban and rural communities — slowing action on legislation that Obama and congressional leaders had sought to put on a fast track.

Who says it does not pay to be a coward?  The Blue Dogs have proven that accusation wrong.