Was it About the Government Shut Down or Even Obama Care (Not Functioning) or was it Really About the Debt Ceiling – Obama Miffed over shutdown –wants rise in Debt Ceiling – A New Age of Politics.

The States were Senators Are Facing Elections in 2014 - the Red and The Blue of it -or perhaps a shade of purple may invade - image polidata.org.

We’ve heard it all before – the sky is falling, the sky is falling – and the horrors one would see when those darn Republican’s did not cave in to the King of the Senate (i.e. Harry Reid) and just go along to get along and agree to anything he suggested as far as a continuing resolution (i.e. temporary spending measure, a gap if one will, to cover programs that are deemed non-essential – really.) – Darn that Ted Cruz, for upsetting Harry and those brown-nosing Republican’s who’d rather be in Harry’s good graces than the American People – so they moaned and groaned and then –that CR went back to the House, where there is currenlty an impasse – so the government shut down and no-one really cares – except for the politicians and the media.

But, the people, not those in power, were unaware, for the most part, that this whole dust up had less to do with Ted Cruz, or Obamacare, or John Mccain, and how far up the media’s but he could get – it was not about Obama either, it was about how much money they needed to fund all the extra’s – and how they needed to rise the debt ceiling – afterall it’s hard ot study blueberries in Maine without the darn funds. According to NBC Obama is ”exasperated” over this shutdown and warns we are in trouble” He’s concerned that people are still uninsured (no fault of the group –Obama care funded or not, has many glitches and a whole lot of disinterest that no one wants to signup anyhow. And so, he’s worried about more programs, and unfortunately for him, so are the people.

The thinking people, the worst sort of people for a Progressive to have to deal with than say – your average voter who they deem stupid – they use the word “uninformed” – but that’s not the case really – it is the same for both sides those voters who hold onto their Democrat or Republican label for dear life –while Washington Burns to the ground – and Harry Reid Fiddles.

It is, in a word, the most absurd time in the History of the nation, from the perspective of one how has seen a lot of absurdity in the past 40 years, or more like 50, but this takes the cake. It’s as if the late great Dr. Timothy Leary dropped a batch of something psychedelic on the whole lot of DC as some kind of experiment –yes, it is that bad. Carter was atrocious – we got that - nice man, but not ready for prime time, and after 4 years, and a press that used to be for the people, not the party, he was out, Reagan followed and the screams from the left were drowned out by the people cheering, from all sides, there were the disasters, term here, term that, Clinton, he was the manager, between him and Newt Gingrich the nation moved forward – including a shutdown – and there was reform and posterity. Bush has the unmitigated gall to be caught in his first year of his first term in a major terrorist attack that cost ht e nation both lives and economically – and the left had gown, to include the universities, and the press, so there was little god that was known about Bush – until Obama came into office – then Bush was missed, especially in Martha vineyard.

Now, we have rampant inflation, few full time jobs, everybody’s brother and aunt receiving some sort of government dole, and a dwindling tax base to support it all – add to that a program that was poorly designed and eats through a second budget, one can see that this takes the cake from an historical perspective.

Although an easy fix, no one in Washington wasn’t to fix it – except for one or two radical libertarian minded individuals who actually will talk to both sides –so we wait while the big boys, (or those acting like spoiled brats) figure out no-one but the press is listening. The Republicans who are so concerned with their image in the press, will have time aplenty in 2014, and 2016 to make good with their friends in the media – most of them might even get a spot here and there on the prime time news – same goes for those Democrats up for election in those periods. Normally this blogger is looking at the candidates for 2016- really here’s my best guess, Hillary Clinton, although she looks like she’s running and would love to run understands that the Jr. Senator from the State of Massachusetts, one Elizabeth Warren (only a tad less experienced that Obama was in 08), will be the choice of the national Democrats. On the Republican Side, normally the last man standing in the prior election goes –so, there are choices, all of them bad choices, Newt, (although a great debater), Rick Santorum, but wait, there’s also Ted Cruz (who’s better suited for the Majority Leadership Role), and Paul Rand and Mike Lee, if he ‘s so inclined – those two are worthy for several reasons, and the ones that can take out the machine that will be Lizzie Borden Warren. We need sense not slogans, but so far, that’s how it looks – What is more important is the battle brewing over the senate and the congress.

With fairly good sources, there will be more money going to individuals who are not necessarily Republicans, but challenging them not necessarily Democrat Progressives, but challenging them and so, we would have ourselves some serious horserace’s and some major shifts in public policy - This is going to be the most exciting time to be – a political junkie

So the sky will not fall, and the nation might not have neigh cash to cover its debts, and Boehner and Cantor (Republican’s light and lighter) will make some kinds of McCain in a deal behind closed doors and put the screws to the public, but Obama will be happy. But it’s short time and of no consequence considering the path has been set.

Imagine new speakers, new leadership – that regardless of who sits I the oval office, will rule al the people’s pleasure, not K street, or some ill conceived Progressive plan, or equally ridiculous Republican plan. Yes, idyllic – true, but completely feasible.

Yes, it is past time for multiple political parties, or more to the point, political thought, so that all voices get share in the Republic – so that Washington is not the Richest city and suburbs in American where they have no industry except collecting taxes, and where the nation can be proud again, and trust again, their leaders in the Congresses. The White House will always be – what it is – the personality rather than the person, good and bad.

Obama Demands Hike in Debt Ceiling – yet – No Budget and Attack on Second Amendment - Following Lincoln’s playbook.

First, anyone who has not been living under the proverbial “turnip truck” understood, that after the last rise in the debt ceiling, and no end in sight as far as Federal Spending was concerned, that one would eventually see another request to for a rise in the debt ceiling! At each juncture over the past four years, there has been a call from the public to put a half to the prolific spending, yet, few members of the elected body are paying attention. After the “Fiscal Cliff” kicked the can down the road for a month, the tax on “millionaires and billionaires”, to those who pay zero attention to details not always present in the late night news addition, did nothing to avert a lower paycheck, with the promise of additional taxes down the road for those earning peanuts compared. That was a shock to some, who could not grasp the fact that the reduction came from a temporary cut in the Social Security Tax, and that expired. In addition, some are also shocked to find that those working, or their employers, will be paying “taxes” to supplement “Obamacare”. Those individuals are somewhat surprised as they thought the “government was going to pay for everything”. The fact that most people don’t understand that the government has no income except to “tax”, is a testament to the educational system that neglects to teach students civics, or basically how the government works in the U.S.

Now the President, who is being maligned on the right, for doing exactly what those on the right and the 10 percent knew he would do – is ”Demanding that the debt limit be raised, again. He also suggests that a rise in the debt ceiling does not make us a “deadbeat nation.” (Washington Post). One might wonder why the President had to insert that phrase “deadbeat nation”, into his press conference, if not for the fact that – in reality – we, the U.S. is headed in that direction. The problem lays in the fact that if one cannot pay their bills, and overspends, and the money runs out and they cannot pay their bills, then one is a deadbeat. (Recognized by the 10 percent.)

Further, in his demands to raise the debt ceiling, while using partisan rhetoric and threats to do so (see: President Obama demand that Congressional Republicans’ take quick action to raise debt limit or those receiving Social Security Checks and Veteran’s Benefits will go without. The Desert News.

The message from the press is that the Republican’s are obviously the problem,, we can just borrow a few hundred trillion more, spend until the cows come home, and continue to send out Social Security Checks and Veterans’ benefits, back businesses that the Government prefers, give out free phones, extend unemployment benefits, provide, provide, provide – and by the way – we’re going to bypass Congress and take away your guns! (CNN) (The President really did not say that, but he did mention (through his mouthpiece , Vice President Joe Biden, that there were nineteen executive orders ready to go to “fix” the gun problem (Politico)

To those who have been breathing the past four or five years, the message is simple: The President wants the Congress to give him another blank check, and the President wants to, by executive order, going around Congress, circumvent the Constitution specifically the 2nd Amendment clause on the rights of the people to have weapons (guns) in order to protect themselves from – the government. (The preceding from )The U.S. Constitution.)

Therefore, you have a divided nation – those that are rooting for the President to raise the debt ceiling and continue to allow the government to take care of everything, and remove those nasty guns so that no madmen can murder innocents, and those that are deeply afraid that the government and country they once loved, is gone. These are legal gun owners, and those that work for a living and balance their checkbooks.

The question on whether or not the President can run circles around the Constitution or even suspend the Constitution is found in history. Specifically the history of one President, Abraham Lincoln, who suspended the Constitution via executive order(The Presidency Project). When Lincoln did not care for what he was hearing (anti-war, etc.) – he merely placed newspaper editors in prison, and due process under the law was suspended. Lincoln was also a shrewd attorney and a habitual politician, something one might want to keep in mind.

Other things to keep in mind, under U.S. Law, the Congress (both bodies) are to present to the President a budget, each year, and that budget must be passed. As of now, the Congress has done due diligence in presenting a slew of budgets, but the Senate and the Executive Branch (the White House) have not.

If one were adhering to the U.S. Constitution, and following events taking place, one might consider that the President intends to suspend the Constitution (or portions thereof), and that the President and the Senate are breaking the law. (And therefore are subject to removal by impeachment (also in that same Document.)

Some suggest we are at a precipice, one the one hand, the President is demanding that we fund programs with no cuts to the excesses. On the other hand, there are those “fiscal conservatives” who understand that the more debt we assume, with less ability to pay, the dollar and the value thereof suffers.

The President is intent on issuing Executive Orders, which every President since inception of the office began has been prone to do – the most prolific – FDR. Some of these executive orders may override Congress (which is illegal under the Constitution), but some Presidents can get away with it in certain circumstances (See Lincoln). Those on the other side see this as a power grab in order to further divide the nation.

There you have it, as reported by the press and the “other side”.

The 10 percent

Several weeks ago, during a conversation with a friend regarding the divide and the problems that are rampant in this nation, this friends suggested the following: Only ten percent of the population “get’s it”, people don’t really pay attention and watch the news, they make uninformed decisions when it comes to voting, and it’s as if they just don’t get “it”. The “it” is the premise of the power centered in Washington by both political parties, the fact that there are possibility that the Constitution could be trampled, and or, historically, that should the Republican’s decide not to raise the debt ceiling and shut down the government, it would not be the end of the world – it has happened before, when people actually paid attention to history and what happened yesterday. In fact, what did happen were a balanced budget, and some reforms that were necessary. The 10 percent are educated before the great dummying down of America, or have educated themselves since (by reading – books, by looking at both sides, not one side, and by understanding how our Government really works and how it was intended to work.)

It was so long ago, however, so many people cannot remember those horrid Republican’s under the leadership of Speaker Newt Gingrich and the most admired Democrat to come out of the 20th century –one William Jefferson Clinton.

We experienced prosperity, and Gingrich took one for the “team” – as is often the case with said political party.

What we now have is bordering on panic, prompted by both sides of the political spectrum, and the ten percent understand that this is all for show. It is a game of political chess that is being played – rather than a precipice that the nation sits upon.

What should occur:

The Congress should tell the President, we’re shutting this down until you come up with a meaningful budget, and that’s the way it is. Previously, when a shut down occurred, unlike what the President suggests, checks were still delivered to those in need, it should be no different this time.

The Congress should, if the President moves to usurp the Constitution, issue articles of impeachment – that would keep him busy defending himself, and make the Republican’s widely unpopular (so would the shutdown), but, and here is the but, the outcome would ensure the following: The President would be more careful as to how he chose to use his powers, and the government would be living within its means.

This is what should happen.

It is most unlikely today as the powers in Washington, on both sides, are more interested in their own political fortunes, than in the fortunes, small and middling, of those whom they serve.

The ten percent get this. Those that are waking up to the fact that promises are made to be broken are also “getting it”, but they are “getting it” in a mixed message of “hysteria” prompted by political speak. They are the 25 and under and those on Social Security and those still working. Life in this nation, should not be lived in suspicion of the government, nor in fear of a loss of rights, nor in fear of a loss of “government programs”. There’s so much be done.

U.S. Government - Raising the Debt Ceiling – Consequences Raising Taxes – Politicos as Usual not Fooling the Public.

Economy no place to play politics as usual - image milktheclock.com


The current administration is bent on raising the U.S. debt ceiling according to an article in Politico: Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary “and administration’s point man”, spoke on several weekend talks shows noting: he was certain that lawmakers would avoid disaster by voting to raise the $14.3 trillion ceiling.
“Congress is going to have to raise the debt limit. They understand that. That’s absolutely essential to preserve the credit-worthiness of the United States of America.”

Further, several Republican lawmakers noted that they would be willing to raise the debt ceiling if there was a balanced budget amendment attached (Politico), however, the likelihood of the administration reining in spending, given the history of the current administrations eagerness to spend, is unlikely. The fact of the matter is that without deep cuts in spending, which would include entitlement programs, there appears no way to balance the budget. The President, already on the campaign trail for reelection in 2012, had made remarks regarding the House Republicans’ attempts to cut the Health Care Reform Act, by saying they would not touch “his” health care plan in taped remarks and further sarcastically denounced Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), as “America's accountant and trying to be responsible”.

Without a willingness to cut or redesign programs that are money eaters, the only other option is to raise taxes across the board – which was made clear by the Senate Republicans who, according to the Washington Post: have been willing to discuss a budget deal that would include raising more money through taxes, along with making deep spending cuts, to help reduce the deficit.

The question remains, what programs would these lawmakers, from both sides of the aisle, cut, in order to satisfy constituents or their “base” going into the 2012 elections? One would find it difficult to imagine that the largest entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid would be revised under any circumstances, and pork is, for some members of Congress, untouchable. Until and unless somebody in the government is willing to take a political hit to save the solvency of the nation, the downward spiral will continue – and as long as the partisan finger pointing by the President and the Democrats in both house, as well as certain Republicans continues, (while in campaign mode), with the debt ceiling raised, and no control over spending continues, the value of the dollar declines, and inflation will increase – to Carter’s levels.

According to reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, if one does not factor in food and fuel, the inflation rate is actually quite low, however, when food and fuel are introduced, the rate of inflation (which is considered volatile and subject to change), the rate is approximately (according to the BED) 2%. Add this to the current unemployment rate of 8.8% , and the Obama Misery Index is currently at 11% - or three points behind former President Carter’s 13.8% high.(One who shops for groceries now, may find that inflation rate to be on the low side.)

The rise in fuel prices at the pump ($4.00) reduces households disposable income, add to that the rise in food prices (which are directly impacted by the rise in fuel), do not appear to be going down anytime soon. When consumers have less to spend, due to food and fuel costs, those industries that rely on expendable income are forced to close doors – causing additional layoffs and a resin the unemployment rate. The U.S. is now on an unsustainable course, unless someone steps in and takes the political gloves off, and put s the American Public first.

We do have solutions, unfortunately, they are not politically correct solutions, such as drilling offshore, and removing the ban on the Alaskan oil fields; even a hint of ending the ban on drilling and opening up our lands to drill, would send the prices of oil downward, as evidenced by the actions of the Congress in 2008, when a band of house Republicans stayed on the floor to force then House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, back into session in order to vote on offshore drilling. The price of gas at that point had risen dramatically; it worked, with the results that without a single drill touching the earth, the commodities traders backed off, and oil re-adjusted. In addition, President George Bush had authorized a rebate to the American public, a stimulus so to speak, in order to “jump start” the economy, after the rise in oil prices. Unfortunately, instead of spending that money on hard goods (electronics, etc.), most used the extra check to pay off credit cards which had been used to buy high priced fuel!. There appears, no matter the party in charge, a tendency to move too little too late.

Unless the government is willing to reign in wasteful spending: a Report released by the GAO, found that over one hundred billion to upwards to 200 billion in waste could be cut from the federal spending spree. The report, available < a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11318sp.pdf">here in PDF, addresses areas of waste and duplication that are, mind boggling. Perhaps someone should send a copy to Obama, Geithner, the Senate Republicans and anyone who’s currently attempting to save the economy, as a starting point in reductions. Of course, these are smart people, so they must have access to the report, preferring to politicize, rather than come up with any real solutions.


Trump and Huckabee, the two GOP Poll Leaders can they stop the madness? - image Politico

As the overburdened U.S. taxpayer (which is only half the populace, and mainly middle class, takes one hit after another going forward to into the 2012 elections, those in power should pay careful attention to the man behind the hair, who, although characterized as a “clown”, and “not serious” has been polling gangbusters in the last two weeks on the GOP side. Donald Trump, one might dismiss out of hand, however, in a non-scientific poll of 18 to 24 year olds, conducted “on the street”, by this blog (sample 100 in Massachusetts), all likely to vote in this election: were asked the following questions
1. What do you think of the President?
He’s got to go (expletives and strong language removed.)
2.Who would you vote for?
“You’re fired”! – Trump he’s “cool”
3.What does Trump stand for politically?
I don’t’ know and I don’t care.
4.Then why would you vote for him?
“Obama is old news, Trump is cool”.

Granted this is a multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-religious group of high school seniors and colleges students who see no future under the current administration.
5. How likely are they to vote: Very.

Democrats or Republicans – neither, regardless of their Professors urgings, they are more to the point ready to vote for the Next American Idol.
This is how the economy impacts all voters. On the Press and its run of Donald Trump and the “Birther” issue – the response – “who cares”.

Granted not scientific, therefore, would love to see a real poll conducted across the nation, not just in blue state Massachusetts, not by some casual blogger, but by a real pollster with, as they say “street creds”.

It is, to sum it up, The Economy Stupid” and with the waste, the political machinations and the finger pointing, any candidate, Trump, Huckabee, Palin, who gets in front of the people and is blunt about prospects and how to fix them (a la Trump) will stand a better than even chance of taking on the 21st century’s Jimmy Carter.