Goo'day, folks!
(I hereby declare today "1981 Day!" All hail Ronaldius Maximus! All hail our glorious youth!)
So... how'bout yesterday's newsbites and stand-alones?
(*SNORT*)
Anyway... make sure you caught 'em all; the last two (#7 and #8) deal with Obama's foreign policy. I'd be curious to know if ANY of my readers support EITHER of the Obama policies highlighted in those two newsbites.
Anyway... have a great Friday, folks!
2 comments:
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906704579111020769496150.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
President Obama keeps asserting that the debt limit has never been used "to extort a president or a government party."
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is selling the same story...
* ONLY ONE PROBLEM, FOLKS...
This is simply untrue.
(*CYMBAL CRASH*)
Consider the shenanigans of congressional Democrats in 1989 over Medicare's catastrophic health coverage provision. In this case, the problem was political infighting within the Democratic Party between the House and the Senate.
"Weeks of political maneuvering brought the government to the brink of financial default," the New York Times wrote on Nov. 8 of that year. The debt limit was raised just hours before all extraordinary measures to avoid default were exhausted. The final bill dropped any action on Medicare but included a measure to repeal 1986 tax rules barring discrimination in employer-paid health insurance plans.
* HUH...? THAT SOUNDS LIKE A STORY IN AND OF ITSELF! (REPEALING TAX RULES BARRING DISCRIMINATION...?!?!)
* ANYWAY... CONTINUING...
According to the Congressional Research Service, Congress voted 53 times from 1978 to 2013 to change the debt ceiling.
The debt ceiling has increased to about $16 trillion from $752 billion.
* GEEZUS... (JUST THINK ABOUT THAT FOR AWHILE, FOLKS... JUST THINK ABOUT THAT...)
Of these 53 votes, 29 occurred in a Congress run by Democrats...
* 29 IS MORE THAN HALF... RIGHT?
...17 in a split Congress...
* ROUGHLY A THIRD OF THE TIME...
...and seven in a Republican-controlled Congress.
* SEVEN...?!?! SEVEN OUT OF FIFTY-THREE...?!?!
* HEY... FOLKS... IS THIS THE IMPRESSION YOU'VE GOTTEN FROM MEDIA COVERAGE...???
(*SNORT*)
While large increases that give the U.S. Treasury a healthy amount of borrowing space happen occasionally, small short-term increases are common. In 1990 alone, while Republican George H.W. Bush was in the White House, a Democratic-controlled Congress voted to increase the debt limit seven times.
* I HATED GEORGE H.W. BUSH.
In 1979, a Democratic Congress increased the debt limit but required Congress and the president to present balanced budgets for fiscal years 1981 and 1982.
* ER... I RECALL NO BALANCED BUDGETS IN 1981 OR 1982. I'M ASSUMING THE KEY WORD NEXT TO REQUIRED BEING "PRESENT" (AS OPPOSED TO ENACT) IS THE KEY TO THIS "MYSTERY."
(*SMIRK*)
In 1980 the debt limit, again increased by a Democratic Congress, included repeal of an oil-import fee.
In 1985, the debt limit that was raised by a divided Congress included a cigarette tax and a provision requiring Congress to pursue an alternative minimum corporate tax in the next year.
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
Most recently, a divided Congress that passed the 2011 debt-limit increase included the Budget Control Act which aimed to reduce the deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years and included the automatic budget sequester that kicked in on Jan. 1.
(*SHRUG*)
As the finger pointing begins, it is important to keep this history in mind. All told, congressional Democrats have been responsible for 60% of the "dirty" increases when the debt limit was raised alongside other legislative items. Republicans were responsible for 15%. The remaining 25% occurred during divided Congresses.
* ONE... MORE... TIME...
All told, congressional Democrats have been responsible for 60% of the "dirty" increases when the debt limit was raised alongside other legislative items. Republicans were responsible for 15%. The remaining 25% occurred during divided Congresses.
* AGAIN, FOLKS... IF THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU'RE READING/HEARING THIS... WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU ABOUT THE MSM?
Debt-limit votes often have been contentious, but on the whole they serve an important function. First, they force painful votes by legislators who would prefer to offer supporters free lunches through unfunded spending programs. Without these votes, politicians of both parties would have a significantly easier time ignoring fiscal discipline.
* SIGNIFICANTLY EASIER...?!?! I SUPPOSE... BUT, GEEZ... WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT HOW F--KED UP "POLITICS AS USUAL" ACTUALLY IS!
Republicans today are playing a role that has been played many times.
Trying to separate ObamaCare from the debt limit, President Obama has asserted that his health law has "nothing to do with the budget." His argument is eagerly echoed by an at-best ignorant media. [Remember,] the Affordable Care Act was passed under "reconciliation" — a legislative process that is used only for budget measures and which limits congressional debate!
* REMEMBER "DEEMED PASSED" FOLKS...???
(*SNORT*)
The notion that legislation passed as part of a budget might be reconsidered as part of subsequent budget legislation should be uncontroversial. Perhaps that is why the administration has staked so much on its misrepresentation of history.
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