I am getting to be so disgusted with this new ‘compassionate’ Republican party that I don’t know what to think anymore. The deficit is what, 400 billion? I can’t even keep track of the damn thing, it is growing so fast. I am all in favor of tax cuts, but could I please see ONE PROPOSAL to cut spending? Just one? Pretty Please?
On top of that, it seems like we are trying to outspend the Democrats. Look at this story in the NY Times:
Legislation providing prescription drug coverage under Medicare won strong bipartisan approval Thursday in the Senate Finance Committee as part of the most far-reaching changes in the government’s health care program for the elderly since its creation in 1965.
“Both parties have promised for years to add prescription drugs to Medicare,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, as he presided over a daylong debate carried out in front of dozens of health care lobbyists. “Today we’re here to deliver.”
“We’re about to pass landmark legislation,” added Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the senior Democrat on the committee and Grassley’s partner in crafting the bipartisan bill.
The reported price is 400 billion over ten years, which means that if it is anything like every other federal program, it will costs 1.2 trillion over ten years. Oh- and that laughable ‘tax cut’ for the poor who are not paying taxes. Tack that onto the deficit- hell- let’s give everyone a $5,000 rebate. What the hell? What is one more torpedo in a sinking ship?
I feel like I need to go to some bizarro self-help group, where I stand up and have to say:
“Hi. My name is John Cole, and I still think running deficits is bad.”
Graphic from Yahoo via Oliver Willis
Fiscal conservatives, my ass.
Ricky
I agree with you 100% in that they’re spending like drunken sailors on a leave.
However, for the budget to be in the big green ‘surplus’ that the chart shows, it sure begs the question of how the national debt rose $18 billion dollars in 2000, eh?
John Cole
Your statement does a disservice to drunken sailors. All the drunken sailors I know would stop spending when they were out of money- this congress is borrowing to spend more.
Ricky
Good point.
the talking dog
John–
What are we tax and spend liberals supposed to say to this? It took who knows how many decades, but it was DEMOCRATS (at least in the White House) who were talking about “the lock box”, and had finally gotten spending, while not totally under control, FINALLY at least in line with reality.
Now? I mean what the hell is this? We paid for Reagan generated deficits for nearly a decade. We will pay for these deficits for that long or longer.
Whatever happened to good old conservative ideology? Where are Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich when we need them?
PrestoPundit
The California legislature wants to spend it’s $2.4 billion Bush bailout on NEW spending programs. Bush — IOU collector for the welfare state.
DANEgerus
I call bullshit on ‘the talking dog’…
The Gingrich led (R)’s revolution over-rode Clinton vetos to pass the budget… to prevent Clinton from pissing it away.
The reality is this is all a horrible Deja Vu to the Reagan administration’s tax cuts… same arguments on both sides… the graph is biased in that it leaves out the years that Reagan faced the same bogus graphs but grew the economy through tax cut incentives to that growth…
FDL
drunken sailors have credit cards, and end up tied to the Navy to repay their debts.
Uncle Sam has the Treasury Dept.’s borrowing power, and will end up tied to higher taxes to repay this debt.
John, centrist democrats like me were saying during last presidential campaign that tax cuts were great, but program cuts are hard. We said over and over that the GOP had NO plan for program cuts to match the size of the planned tax cuts. And we were told: wait and see.
well, we have seen the difference between the federal GOP and the California GOP. Jim Brulte would rather drive the state into bankruptcy than run a deficit or raise taxes. George Bush is RAISING non-defense non-security discretionary spending.
For a few years back, Argentina ran massive deficits. Everyone felt rich and had a great time. but the piper now needs to be paid, and no one wants to feel the pain. You know, you MUST KNOW that these deficits are not sustainable. That the party here will come to an end. And when the piper gets paid, we could start a serious world-wide recession. Even if we don’t, we are saddling today’s 20- and 30- yr olds with massive debt that will need either to be repaid or inflated away. Either way, this government is inflicting major pain on the next generation.
The only time the federal govt has been at all reasonable in my forty (gah!) years is during divided govt, and especially with a democratic president and republican legislature. the politicians these days are too professional — re-election and power trumps ideology every time. How else did steel tariffs and textile tariffs and the farm bill and all the other spending bills become law?
tell you what: if you vote democrat for the next president, I’ll vote for a republican congressman and senator. maybe we can substitute gridlock for sanity.
any takers?
DANEgerus
That being said… yes we should cut out the wealth redistribution communism, reform social programs and beef up military spending as we face a very real threat so I think we should ‘cut’ but the Dummocrit argument that Clinton was doing anything but getting BJ’s is propagandist factually disputed bullshit.
Misanthropyst
Ah, Grasshopper, the lightbulb flares…keep going…
bardp
Dummocrit! It’s like you took the word “Democrat” and then changed it! Touche. At first I didn’t agree with your argument, but then I saw your clever use of language and was drawn in. I had forgotten that key strategy we all learned playing kick ball in 3rd grade: When making an argument, be sure to call people names. They’ll see the error of their ways and probably thank you pointing out their faults(poo-poo head, dummocrit, etc.).
Whatever happened to that Contract with America anyway?