Actually... truth be told... the original title of the piece is "House Republicans Cave on Tax Increases and Punt on Entitlements":
When President Obama put forth his first offer on the
fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said, “You can’t be serious.”
We [here at Heritage] could say the same thing to the
Speaker after his counteroffer yesterday.
In a letter signed by House Republican leadership,
including Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Budget Committee Chairman Paul
Ryan (R-WI), Boehner offered to raise taxes by $800 billion and cut spending by
$1.4 trillion, with no substantive reforms to the entitlement programs that are
driving U.S. spending and debt.
Folks... what have I always told you about Ryan?
(*SIGH*)
I know... it's sad... you've been told he's "one of
us" - actually one of "our leaders."
Yeah. Uh-huh.
(And please... don't get me started on Rubio!)
Heritage’s Alison Fraser, director of the Roe Institute
for Economic Policy Studies, and J.D. Foster, the Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow
in the Economics of Fiscal Policy, quickly responded that “the Republican
counteroffer, to the extent it can be interpreted from the hazy details now
available, is a dud. It is utterly unacceptable. It is bad policy, bad
economics.”
Boehner’s letter to the President actually said that the
Republicans were not going to make their more serious proposal, which has
already passed the House.
Folks... again... with men like John Boehner, Eric
Cantor, and sadly Paul Ryan leading the GOP governing contingent...
(*TEARS LITERALLY WELLING UP*)
If we were to take your Administration’s proposal at face
value, then we would counter with the House-passed Budget Resolution. It
assumes an overhaul of our tax code with revenue remaining at historically
normal levels and proposes structural reforms to preserve and protect the
Nation’s entitlement programs, ensuring they are sustainable for the long-term
rather than continuing to grow out of control.
Folks... Social Security is underwater NOW... and it's
BEEN underwater...
(*MOAN*)
But, they said, “we recognize it would be counter-productive
to publicly or privately propose entitlement reforms that you and the leaders
of your party appear unwilling to support in the near-term.”
OH... MY... GOD...!!!
This is precisely the time for laying out bold reforms, showing
the nation the principles, vision and policies conservatives share to dig out
of this budget mess, today and for the long term. Instead, the leadership
pointed to a plan they said was suggested by Erskine Bowles, the co-chair of
President Obama’s debt commission and formerly Bill Clinton’s White House Chief
of Staff. It raises taxes, but not by raising tax rates — instead, by lowering
the amount or number of tax deductions or exemptions available.
Folks... Here's where Heritage can't be trusted either!
Enough with tax loopholes! Close 'em! I'll concede to a "progressive"
income tax code, but beyond that... if we're gonna have a federal income tax
then by God every INDIVIDUAL earning income must pay a "floor" tax
and we need to decide upon a fair "ceiling" tax as well as where a
majority of an American citizen's income taxes should be going - to the federal
government or to each American's state!
Said Fraser and Foster: "While preferable in general
to raising tax rates, this proposal largely dooms future efforts at tax reform
based on the sound principle of broadening the tax base to lower the rates.
Instead, this proposal would broaden the base, not to lower rates, but to raise
revenues. So much for improved economic growth."
Granted! But any system which fosters a class divide
whereby almost half of all American families end up effectively paying NO federal
income taxes each year is on the face of it inefficient and unjust!
Essentially, it appears the Republican leadership caved
on raising taxes and first steps toward fundamental entitlement reforms that
are desperately needed to keep Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid going.
Again... Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are
already at a crisis point! They need to be revamped. Period.
To be sure, the Boehner letter is short on details. But,
as Fraser and Foster put it, “Beyond disappointing, the House Republican
counter-offer appears at best to suggest incremental tweaks to these programs.
Without real entitlement reform — not just spending cuts — we will never fix
the underlying problem.”
THE... POLITICIANS... DON'T... CARE...!!!
Folks... understand... the average politician - Democrat
or Republican - looks only as far down the road as his or her own re-election
or race for higher office. Once you get past the local level... past village
government... you're talking mainly scumbags. (This is why it's so important to
limit the size, scope, and power of government; therefore affording the
scumbags as little as possible to control and thus muck up!)
Just a few days after the election, Gallup asked people
to rank a list of 12 issues by importance for the President’s second term.
Restoring “a strong economy and job market” was No. 1, with entitlement reform —
“take major steps to ensure the long-term stability of Social Security and
Medicare” — No. 2. “Make major cuts in federal spending” was No. 6 on the list,
while raising taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year was way down the
list at priority No. 10.
Who cares what idiots say...? Think about it... implicit
in the answers is the false premise that government - that a president - can
"restore a strong economy and revitalize the job market" via
government/presidential action. They can't! He can't! Certainly not be
delivering more of the same!
As to "entitlement reform"... I guarantee you
that 80% (and probably better!) of respondents aren't aware that Social
Security has been running at a deficit for several years now!
Folks... the average American has been deliberately
undereducated... often miseducated... and absent intellectual curiosity has
failed to do the research necessary to truly understand what the situation we
face is and why it is!
Now is the time for leaders to get serious. That means
serious entitlement reforms that will deliver real savings and improve the
programs. The President and House Republicans should both start over and work
together toward solutions the nation truly needs.
They should... but they won't.
No comments:
Post a Comment