On Ashley Judd, $1 trillion coins and other matters of import
I see where Kentucky-born movie star Ashley Judd continues to talk about running for the U.S. Senate against Mitch McConnell. McConnell may be in a bit of political trouble, and as Al Franken has demonstrated, it is quite possible for a Hollywood celebrity to perform credibly in the Senate. But Minnesota ain’t Kentucky, and in this case, Judd has as much chance of becoming a U.S. senator as McConnell has of being a Hollywood leading man.
———————————-
Cyclist Lance Armstrong is scheduled to appear next week on Oprah, where he may finally, publicly confess to years of performance-enhancing drug use on the way to seven Tour de France titles, all of which have been stripped from him.
The American people will supposedly forgive almost anything after a public confession, and Oprah has become our culture’s official Mother Confessor. But all the tears from all the crocodiles on the planet won’t wash away the stain on Armstrong’s reputation.
Set aside, for the moment, his use of performance-enhancing drugs and his supposedly heart-felt, offended claims of innocence. By multiple, multiple accounts, Armstrong conducted himself like a first-class, egotistical jerk throughout this entire scandal. He fooled the naive and gullible into vouching for his honesty, he strong-armed teammates into joining him in drug use, he intimidated others into silence and he conducted a decade-long campaign to ruin anybody who threatened to reveal him as he truly is, which is a self-centered, arrogant bully.
So please, Lance, spare us the dramatics and groveling. Live strong, dude.
————————————–
Speaking of cheating, arrogant, self-centered bullies, neither Barry Bonds nor Roger Clemens got enough votes this week to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I don’t have much sympathy for those guys, and if they never get in the hall, that would be fine with me.
But let’s at least be honest with ourselves. Everybody in baseball — casual fans, baseball writers, managers, agents, the players’ union, broadcasters, team owners and MLB executives such as Bud Selig included — all knew what was going on in the steroid era, and we pretended otherwise. When punch-and-judy second basemen suddenly turn into 50-homer sluggers, and when baseball records that have lasted for decades get obliterated by multiple players, it ain’t natural and we all knew it at the time. But it was selling tickets and raising TV ratings and it was FUN! Even chicks dig the long ball, right?
The baseball establishment now seems to believe that by casting all the blame on prominent scapegoats such as Clemens and Bonds, it can expunge itself of its own guilt for that era, and it cannot and should not.
I think Bud Selig should schedule a session with Oprah.
————————————–
Finally, in the stupid-government-tricks department, there’s the $1 trillion platinum coin. According to proponents of the idea, some of them pretty prominent (see here and here and here, among others), an odd provision in federal law would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to create a coin, made out of platinum, in a $1 trillion denomination. Federal assets would suddenly increase by $1 trillion, meaning the U.S. government would no longer be running up against its congressionally imposed debt ceiling.
Voila! Problem solved!
Look, the entire debt-ceiling debate is inherently silly. I get that. Congress has voted to spend trillions and borrow trillions, and it’s totally ridiculous to pretend that it can now refuse to pay that money back, which is what it would do by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Given all that, solving a silly, make-believe problem with a silly, make-believe coin apparently has some appeal to otherwise serious people.
But this is clown-car politics beneath the dignity of the United States of America. It also would dynamite what little credibility the governing process in this country might still retain, and it’s a mark of our decline that such a concept would even be broached.
– Jay Bookman
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816 comments Add your comment
Fred ™
January 10th, 2013
3:39 pm
Brocephus: You should see how fast this old fat boy can move when properly motivated….. and trust me, bullets headed my direction is proper motivation…….
Brosephus™
January 10th, 2013
3:42 pm
TBS
It’s like those old kung fu movies, everybody wants to beat the old guy with the white beard to show they are supreme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmdP1qTjGZY
The only problems are that I’m not old and my beard isn’t completely white.
Granny Godzilla
January 10th, 2013
3:42 pm
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/tactical-response-ceo-issues-threat-over-gun-control
this guy needs a little visit from the guys in the black suits
and then by a mental health professional
Old Physics Teacher
January 10th, 2013
3:44 pm
Brosephus™
on your 12:02 pm
A) Sorry, I just logged one and read this so you might not even still be one
B) Sorry, I have to disagree with you here: your comment about steroids not helping the hand-eye coordination is spot on… and almost exactly what Bonds claimed earlier… and is totally irrelevant. Steroids took what would have been, at best, a pop-up in the middle of the outfield (and exactly what the pitcher was trying to get him to do) and gave McGuire, Bonds, Sosa, and all the other scum the extra strength to push the ball over the fence. I am a knowledgeable individual and had family playing in the minor leagues at the time, and I had no CLUE what was happening. I just thought these guys were eating better, and had more natural ability than my family members and they DESERVED to be there. I now know they cheated to stay up in the majors and were keeping better quality players in the minors by their actions. Juicin’ the ball, the bat, or the player, or the politician stuffing the ballot box is CHEATING. The object of rules and officiating is to prevent the other guy from falsely achieving what they couldn’t do legitimately. They should expunge EVERY record of every player who juiced.
Being as they weren’t politicians and only cheated instead of committing a felony, I wouldn’t put them in jail… wait a minute… let me thing about that…making little kids believe they were “the good guys” and people to be emulated; destroying records that stood for decades and said records were achieved by the skill and efforts of people who gave their best every day… maybe jail time is something to consider…
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
3:45 pm
Brosephus
the statement begs the comparative so one would be longer than another.
Not necessarily. One could simply hang lower than the other giving the perception of being “long”. That’s usually going to be the case.
……………………………………………………………………..
so many of those who prefer the long ball will just be fools….
Regnad Kcin
January 10th, 2013
3:50 pm
“(Stop paying the debt) – This is quite often done when people get into financial difficulties. They negotiate with credit card companies ”
Because a nation is like your household… *sigh* I can’t begin to explain how terrible that idea is…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 10th, 2013
3:50 pm
Unless you continuously train for active shooter scenarios…
I think that’ only part of the problem. Even if I trained 10 hrs/day, I wouldn’t want to be holding a hand gun when law enforcement arrives.
Brosephus™
January 10th, 2013
3:51 pm
Fred ™
Don’t think you won’t be the only one running. First thing training teaches you is to get out of the line of fire FAST!!! You can’t respond if you’re bleeding to death on the ground/floor. Once I get to cover, then the response training kicks in. I’m not gonna play “John Wayne” when I know that only makes one become a statistic.
————————–
Old Physics Teacher
I understand your point, and I used to feel the exact same way until I had a revelation about something. Is taking steroids any different than eating chicken, pork, or beef that’s been overstuffed with growth hormones? When you were young, how many 5th graders were 6ft tall, 200lbs, and ran a 4.3 forty yard dash?
I don’t condone anybody purposefully taking any kind of banned supplement as a way to cheat to get ahead. That said, I think that most any kid under the age of 35 has been exposed quite a bit to growth hormones and may benefit as a result.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
3:53 pm
Grits – Class dismissed
Russia has a murder rate 4 times that of the US with a population about half
Russia Guns per 100 people = 8.9
USA Guns per 100 people = 88.8
so we have 10 times more guns than Russia per capita and a Murder rate of about 25% of theirs…yeah it’s the guns…do you know where I can find a pencil that doesn’t misspell words?
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
3:53 pm
Grits – Class dismissed
Russia has a murder rate 4 times that of the US with a population about half
Russia Guns per 100 people = 8.9
USA Guns per 100 people = 88.8
so we have 10 times more guns than Russia per capita and a Murder rate of about 25% of theirs…yeah it’s the guns…do you know where I can find a pencil that doesn’t misspell words?
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
3:53 pm
Seriously Folks
Okay barking frog..ill play along. Yes, I missed the Articles of Confederation…however, nothing is noted about an “individuals right to bear arms” in those articles…
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
and neither does it say that in the Constitution…..since it was right already in existence when
both were written..
Fred ™
January 10th, 2013
3:54 pm
Brocephus: Did you see the mythbusters where they tried to create a flying guillotine?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsMtsxdnLBA
(You only need to see the first 45 seconds or so………)
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
3:56 pm
“Holder actually proposed trying to change attitudes and make it uncool to carry firearms.”
Holder could start in Chicago but I’d bet he wouldn’t get very far.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
3:57 pm
I think that’ only part of the problem. Even if I trained 10 hrs/day, I wouldn’t want to be holding a hand gun when law enforcement arrives.
I’d add to that, I’d be afraid that if I knocked the gun out of the hand of the killer and shot him/her that some “hero” would show up and shoot me.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
3:57 pm
Fred ™
The whistle of a bullet will put wind in your sails…..
Seriously Folks
January 10th, 2013
3:57 pm
barking…so according to you, once the first musket was invented, we had a “right” to own one. Is that why, in your suggestion I look into “English Law” that is says in their rights, that “Any Protestant subject shall have the right to bear arms to protect their land”..not “every individual”…if a “right” comes with strings, it is NOT a right given to everyone and protected for everyone!! ….and if that was a “right”, the please explain how those who came to this country as slaves, were not allowed to have a gun? I mean, its a “right” that was already in existence?
Fred ™
January 10th, 2013
3:59 pm
Brocephus: I just noticed you spell your name wrong. You want to fix that please?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bocephus
Fred ™
January 10th, 2013
4:00 pm
And for Further proof Mr. Can’t spell his own name:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brocephus
Welcome to the Occupation
January 10th, 2013
4:01 pm
Ah cons.
The word kind of says it all.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
4:02 pm
Government’s number one job is to protect the American people.
The majority wants them to act because sacrificing children for your freedom to own assault rifles did not pass their moral test so they will act.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 10th, 2013
4:03 pm
Keep
Absolutely.
Too many cowboys believe that if they were in an active shooter scenario then they would automatically identify the bad guy. I would imagine that sooner or later we’re gonna see a shooting similar to the one at the movie theater in Colo. where concealed carry yahoos get into a shoot out with one another and a lot of innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire.
chuck
January 10th, 2013
4:04 pm
Jefferson, That lack of reasoning on your part is exactly why we are in this mess.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
4:06 pm
Actually, it kind of astonishing
88.8 guns per 100 residents in the US. To say the Genie is already out of the bottle is an understatement. New legislation won’t change much of anything
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
4:07 pm
Crier: ROFL. I would bet GOOD money I understand the Constitution far better than you, sweetie.
You’d loose honey!
My proof: your inane summarization of my analysis of Holder’s comments. First of all, in case you don’t know, verbs and nouns are parts of speech; consonants are not. Secondly, I made mention of only two verbs – but I guess that is the equivalent of grammatical parsing in your mind.
OK here’s a little something that you may have heard of, but haven’t gotten to know personally — its’ called satirical writing or “satire” for short.
See, I wasn’t trying to point out your use of verbs vs. nouns. vs. consonants; I was trying to point out that you took a microscope to Holder’s speech, dissected it, and instead of a gerbil saw a mountain lion. Whereas if LimpBalls would’ve said it, you would’ve praised him for being an astoundingly accurate and learned man.
sat·ire
[sat-ahyuh r] noun
1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
Satire. You might wanna look up some examples online…………..just saying….
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
4:07 pm
Granny, I agree. It’s comments like those that should be in a national database to mark this CEO clown as too crazy to be permitted to have a weapon.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
4:07 pm
Seriously Folks
”…if a “right” comes with strings, it is NOT a right given to everyone and protected for everyone!! ….and if that was a “right”, the please explain how those who came to this country as slaves, were not allowed to have a gun? I mean, its a “right” that was already in existence?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
rights can be infringed by governments but the 2nd amendment prohibits
the US government infringing on the right to keep and bear arms ”…and
I really don’t understand why that doesn’t apply to states……the slaves
lost many rights but all have been restored after much difficulty…
Fred ™
January 10th, 2013
4:07 pm
Recon 0311 2533
January 10th, 2013
3:56 pm
“Holder actually proposed trying to change attitudes and make it uncool to carry firearms.”
Holder could start in Chicago but I’d bet he wouldn’t get very far.
++++++++++++++++++
What is the sudden FOXBOT/talk radio fixation on Chicago? Did you birthers finally decide that Obama wasn’t born in Kenya but was really born in freaking Chicago now and hence is responsible for it’s whole history since it’s founding in 1837?
Do you know how stupid you sound with that?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
4:10 pm
the 2nd amendment prohibits the US government infringing on the right to keep and bear arms
Nope. Fail. Read Heller. The US govt can regulate many things about guns and arms without violating the 2d amendment.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
4:10 pm
DDR
Satire. You might wanna look up some examples online…………..just saying….
…………………………………………………………………………
or just read 90% of my comments…………
Paul
January 10th, 2013
4:10 pm
Homerun
“Congress can’t reign in spending, so just saying it is a silly debate is misleading and disingenuous by Jay. the Debt Ceiling debate is not about paying the old bills, it is about slowing down the increasing debt and eliminating the deficit for next year and the years after.”
That’s repeated a lot. Unfortunately, it’s inaccurate.
To review:
Congress authorizes spending thru the appropriations process. They pass spending bills which the president signs. It authorizes agencies to spend up to a certain amount of money for specific things.
Agencies begin spending as soon as funds are available.
Congress can fund that spending thru tax receipts or thru borrowing. If they won’t fund the spending thru tax receipts, that leaves thru borrowing. Spending in excess of revenue creates the yearly deficits and these are added together to make the debt.
There’s this thing called the debt limit that Congress has to raise when they’ve borrowed what they’ve already authorized. Notice how they authorize spending that’ll take them past the limit, then they have to raise the limit? I know, it’s inefficient. But welcome to Congress. They’re inefficient.
So not raising the limit will not ’slow the increasing debt.” Congress can do that by appropriating less money OR by raising revenue thru taxation. But the hoopla over the debt ceiling is mere theatrics and political grandstanding by Republicans in Congress.
And it’s also a very effective diversionary tactic that people are all to ready to buy into as a way to ’stop the spending.’
chuck
January 10th, 2013
4:11 pm
Seriously Folks…REALLY!?!? You just proved his freakin point. “Protestant subjects” were the CITIZENS at that time. So all CITIZENS had that right. You might as well say there is no right to vote since convicted felons lose the right.
I will ask you one question, though I doubt you can answer it since it involves history. When the SHOOTING WAR started with the Brits, where were they going and what was the purpose of that little trip into the countryside?
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
4:11 pm
Do you know how stupid you sound with that?
too bad he didn’t say any of that!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
4:12 pm
Using state of the art digital range finders and a very smart trigger, the TrackingPoint rifle can make a sharpshooter out of anyone
This is exactly the type of thing that should be limited to our military and law enforcement.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 10th, 2013
4:13 pm
Obama just picked a Muslim cleric to deliver the benediction!
OMG!
psyche
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
4:13 pm
Kam: Too many cowboys believe that if they were in an active shooter scenario then they would automatically identify the bad guy.
We’d like to think that, but people failed to recognize Ted Bundy or that fat guy who dressed as a clown, as a threat until it was too late.
That scruffy guy who looks like a wino could be an undercover cop or that woman you think is a prost-it-tute could be a cop working for the vice squad.
And you’re right, all those guns all over the place is just one big lawsuit waiting to happen.
The Good Samaritan law wouldn’t help them if they accidentally shot an undercover cop on duty.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
4:14 pm
Keep Up
the 2nd amendment prohibits the US government infringing on the right to keep and bear arms
Nope. Fail. Read Heller. The US govt can regulate many things about guns and arms without violating the 2d amendment
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Read Heller. Nowhere did it say the Federal Government can infringe
the right to keep and bear arms.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 10th, 2013
4:14 pm
where were they going and what was the purpose of that little trip into the countryside?
to a monster truck rally?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 10th, 2013
4:16 pm
where were they going and what was the purpose of that little trip into the countryside?
No, really, I think they were heading to a UMass football game. They were in a hurry to get to the tailgating party.
weetamoe
January 10th, 2013
4:17 pm
Democrat Jerold Waddler apparently got his brilliant idea from a *Simpsons* segment where Mr Burns filched a note of that amount (or larger, I’m not sure) issued by the fed and intended to cover the Marshall plan after WW11. Or maybe from Mr Obama, who filched a whole buncha taxpayer money for a phony *stimulus* package with the promise that it would fund (non-existent) shovel-ready jobs.
GT
January 10th, 2013
4:17 pm
Now there are two things our “not the greatest generation” will be known for. One was to soil the good name of our country’s credit for the protection of the rich and the other is introducing thugs in the church as representatives. Nothing we touch has been left holly or a virgin. Nice people we turned out to be.
chuck
January 10th, 2013
4:18 pm
Paul, I was with you until your last couple of paragraphs. By refusing to raise the debt ceiling they are DE FACTO cutting spending. Agencies and departments can only spend money THAT IS AVAILABLE. If they don’t raise taxes and they don’t borrow money, then the money, though authorized, cannot be spent because it is not available.
GT
January 10th, 2013
4:21 pm
When the country decided, in the Bush administration, to empty the treasury to save a few obviously ungrateful Wall Street banks under some sense they were saving a world that seemed to suffer even after the check was written, we compromised the firewall between the universe and home. You see we have had bank failures before, lived through them, rich people lose these rear ends, stupidity was punished, but we have never had the disease of the day infect the foundation of government. We have helped the down trodden individual but here we helped the wealthy, make side bets that had little to do with the actually product they were betting on. We backed a day in Las Vegas or more like a decade in Las Vegas by the cronies of the Republican Party.
Granny Godzilla
January 10th, 2013
4:21 pm
Chuck
refusing to raise the debt ceiling they are DE FACTO cutting spending. Agencies and departments can only spend money THAT IS AVAILABLE.
.
.
.
.
That’s a real big NOPE.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
4:22 pm
Bullfrog crap Frog. We are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this
country, and we take seriously the concerns raised by the
many amici who believe that prohibition of handgun
ownership is a solution. The Constitution leaves the
District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that
problem, including some measures regulating handguns,
see supra, at 54–55, and n. 26. But the enshrinement of
constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy
choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition
of handguns held and used for self-defense in the
home.
chuck
January 10th, 2013
4:22 pm
I’ll help you out Finn, they were headed to the Colonial arsenal at Concord to seize weapons and ammunition that were being stored. The first thing a despot does is confiscate guns. It’s too hard to overcome an armed citizenry! WOLVERINES!
chuck
January 10th, 2013
4:23 pm
Sorry Granny, they let you use a computer at the rest home?
Doggone/GA
January 10th, 2013
4:25 pm
“By refusing to raise the debt ceiling they are DE FACTO cutting spending”
And that route leads to a shut-down of the government. How many soldiers do you think are going to continue to put their lives on the line when there’s no money for food, clothing, ammunition, water, etc. etc. etc.
Not paying the bills means TOTAL SHUTDOWN. Everything. As in ALL. And then there’s the little matter Amendment 14 “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned”
To not borrow the money, or otherwise cover the expenses ALREADY authorized would be a Constitutional violation.
GT
January 10th, 2013
4:25 pm
There is an intersection of the economics where the mask falls off the creditability of the US Treasury and the economy at large. This country’s credit is a large part of who we are. Our signature on century old treaties, US Treasury Bonds, intimidation, any thing this country stands for drowns when our word no longer has weight.
barking frog
January 10th, 2013
4:26 pm
Keep Up
Bullfrog crap Frog. We are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this
country, and we take seriously the concerns raised by the
many amici who believe that prohibition of handgun
ownership is a solution. The Constitution leaves the
District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that
problem, including some measures regulating handguns,
see supra, at 54–55, and n. 26………………………………………………………………………………………………………
But the enshrinement of
constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy
choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition
of handguns held and used for self-defense in the
home.
……………………………………………………………………..
DC cannot prohibit the right to keep and bear arms.
Granny Godzilla
January 10th, 2013
4:26 pm
Chuck
Probably more than they let you at the rehab center.
You’re still dead wrong, Mr. Silly Pants
indigo
January 10th, 2013
4:27 pm
Erwin – 3:53
Wrong again, as usual.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir-crime-murders-with-firearms
That Black Guy
January 10th, 2013
4:30 pm
Brosephus™
January 10th, 2013
3:38 pm
__________________
That’s the way I feel as well, but I like to hear other people’s ideas.
Kinda wanted to see where Adam feels the solution lies.
Oh, HI EVERYBODY!!!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
4:30 pm
Frog, again you need to improve your reading skills and you are moving goalposts. I have never said anything about banning all guns. Heller dealt with HANDGUNS. Heller says DC cannot absolutely prohibit handgun ownership. You quoted the language and then jumped the shark into some idiot NRA style overreach.
I’ll take your concession.
That Black Guy
January 10th, 2013
4:31 pm
Brosephus™
January 10th, 2013
3:42 pm
The only problems are that I’m not old and my beard isn’t completely white.
___________________________________
Just For Men by the bucketload, huh?
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
4:32 pm
This is exactly the type of thing that should be limited to our military and law enforcement.
But………but…………we need guns like that…………for hunting!!
Lynnie Gal
January 10th, 2013
4:35 pm
Hey, if the GOP wants to sink what’s left of our economy by holding it hostage with the silly debt ceiling, then rational people in the government have to come up with a strategy to take away their toy because GOP games with the debt ceiling is the same as letting children play with a loaded gun. You have to do something. If it means minting a $1 trillion coin, so be it. Whatever it takes to avoid negotiating with economic terrorists who also happen to have the maturity of Honey Boo Boo.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
4:36 pm
You can count on the cons for being consistently wrong with their “facts don’t matter” and they are not even trying to correct their credibility.
Bob
January 10th, 2013
4:37 pm
Jay, if the debt ceiling is not lifted the gov would still have the money to pay our debts if they choose to do so. Revenues will still be coming in and those revenues more than cover the debt obligation. One estimate would be that current revenues would cover 60 to 70% of current spending and debt obligations are only about 6 or 7% of current revenue. And lets not forget that Obama was on record saying that the debt increase should not be raised while he was a senator and Bush was president. For those of you that say raising the debt ceiling is a must please explain where you were on this when Obama was against it.
Doggone/GA
January 10th, 2013
4:37 pm
“Whatever it takes to avoid negotiating with economic terrorists who also happen to have the maturity of Honey Boo Boo.”
I suspect that’s a grave insult to Honey Boo Boo
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 10th, 2013
4:37 pm
Actually, it kind of astonishing
88.8 guns per 100 residents in the US. To say the Genie is already out of the bottle is an understatement. New legislation won’t change much of anything
It is astonishing.
And with all those guns people wonder why we have such a problem
Its the guns stupid.
This country got tough on DUI’s and passed strict laws.
They cut the number of alcohol related deaths in this country in half.
The same could be done with gun control.
Paul
January 10th, 2013
4:38 pm
chuck
It’s pretty nuanced, but ‘available’ in appropriations law means, in effect, legally approved. I can see how people think it limits spending, but it’s not quite that simple. An example. Many agencies spend much more the first part of the year – it’s not straight-lined thru the year. Some even have a requirement to be 80 percent ’spent’ by the end of the third quarter. Anyhow, what happens is a good deal of the funding goes towards annual contracts. In many cases, the gov’t can cancel but may have to pay ‘damages’ that can equal the value of the annual contract. So Congress doesn’t increase the debt ceiling, agencies cancel contracts and legally, the govt’s still on the hook for the annual amount.
The reality is the spending is not going to decrease UNLESS Congress readdresses the amount originally appropriated and reduces it. (and not to get too far into the weeds, but ‘funding authority’ is not the same as ‘here’s the money.’ It’s more the legal authority to incur obligations to a specified limit in specific areas.) All sorts of dysfunction will go on, but the bills will keep on piling up. Federal employees will continue to get paid (notice how Congress says ‘well, of course we’ll make sure the military gets paid’? They’re already ‘raising the limit’ thru that!)/ Then when the limit’s finally raised all the past due amounts and demand will be met.
Again, it’s a bit of nuance, but to say that Congress appropriates funds, then doesn’t take a required step to raise a borrowing limit so -poof!’ spending stops, won’t resume and our budget problem is solved isn’t the way the system really works.
weetamoe
January 10th, 2013
4:38 pm
Foxbot/talk radio/Limbaugh= saying shut up to people who state facts you do not want to acknowledge. Just look at the statistics in Chicago or close your eyes, but the truth is the murder rate, especially of kids killing kids is astronomical. As far as the availability of guns in the home, aside from suicides, the *accidental* shootings are often the result of mamma’s boyfriend sleeping on the couch with a gun hidden under the cushions in case one of his enemies find out where he is *staying.* He goes off on some business or other, forgets the gun, and one of the kids finds it. And you can find statistics on this too.Or you can froth at the mouth about Foxbots and such.
Doggone/GA
January 10th, 2013
4:41 pm
“Revenues will still be coming in and those revenues more than cover the debt obligation”
If that was true (it isn’t) we wouldn’t be having a DEFICIT “crisis”
Bob
January 10th, 2013
4:41 pm
This is for those of you with short memories ! “In March 2006, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., found the notion of raising the debt ceiling quite distasteful. “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” he said. “It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’
Can someone tell me where Obama has stood by the buck stops here statement.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
4:43 pm
Frog – You are the KING of satire! I bow to thee sir!
==============
And that route leads to a shut-down of the government. How many soldiers do you think are going to continue to put their lives on the line when there’s no money for food, clothing, ammunition, water,
Dangit DogGone!!! Stop being sensible and realistic!! You’ve just RUINED his talking points!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 10th, 2013
4:43 pm
Brosephus, under some of these proposed bills, with your training in weapons, you could get a “high-paying” career in teaching. Of course, good teachers keep up their skills in teaching, teach classes and in your case, to be armed in the schools, you’d have to keep up your law enforcement weapons training. Should be very very easy, right?
getalife
January 10th, 2013
4:43 pm
Bob,
Did you agree with our President when he said that?
Did you flip flop?
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
4:44 pm
indigo – Wrong again, as usual.
So only guns can murder people?..Try again indigo…I said murder rate and you counter with gun deaths..Take away the guns and murder still happens…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country
http://theacru.org/acru/harvard_study_gun_control_is_counterproductive/
Doggone/GA
January 10th, 2013
4:45 pm
“This is for those of you with short memories ! “In March 2006, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., found the notion of raising the debt ceiling quite distasteful. ”
I hope you aren’t going around under the illusion that you’re the ONLY PERSON who has ever posted that here. If you are, consider this your disillusionment. You aren’t.
Paul
January 10th, 2013
4:46 pm
Bob
“if the debt ceiling is not lifted the gov would still have the money to pay our debts if they choose to do so. Revenues will still be coming in and those revenues more than cover the debt obligation. One estimate would be that current revenues would cover 60 to 70% of current spending and debt obligations are only about 6 or 7% of current revenue.”
I think you may be confusing terms. Even the most ardent Fox/Hannity listener will tell you we borrow about 40% of what we ’spend.’ to say “debt obligations are only about 6 or 7% of current revenue.” kinda sounds like ‘the amount we owe on interest on the debt for period N is 7% of current revenue estimates.”
Anyhow, it appears you may be mixing a couple of concepts, so a cite would help to sort it out.
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
4:47 pm
Just for grins and giggles, I went to the dredded Drudge Report website today to see why some on here disdain this website. It appears that drudge is simply a series of links to other websites. I randomly picked a few links and found: politiker.com, newyork.cbsloca.com, cnsnews.com, myfoxny.com and wnd.com (ok, I understand the dislike of wnd…pretty radical stuff, there). Why do you dislike drudge, when it’s merely links to others reporting? Just curious.
Paul
January 10th, 2013
4:48 pm
Bob
“Can someone tell me where Obama has stood by the buck stops here statement.”
Then-Senator Obama was addressing Congress. He’s still addressing Congress. The ‘buck’ stops with the power to appropriate funds.
Tom Middleton
January 10th, 2013
4:49 pm
So generally we suck at being able to face ourselves and change, well, maybe everybody but folks like the great Ashley Judd. Mitch McConnell sure as hell can’t.
But it ain’t so difficult really, and why is it that the creative types are always the ones to have to show us how to do everything, like change? Oh right; it’s because change is what they do best as part of their process of being creative.
So why couldn’t she be elected, especially in Kentucky, especially if it means having a vibrant representative known all over the world? Yeah, now we’re talking. Maybe it’s just her turn!
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 10th, 2013
4:49 pm
Take away the guns and murder still happens…
Yeah but a gun sure makes it easier doesn’t it.
Countries where guns are illegal or severely restricted.
Alot less gun violence and murders.
Its the guns stupid.
getalife
January 10th, 2013
4:49 pm
It was the left that fought against w blowing out our deficit and people like Bob cheered w on.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
4:52 pm
They cut the number of alcohol related deaths in this country in half.
No “they” didn’t.
Orange13
January 10th, 2013
4:53 pm
Maybe some of the money the vast majority of Americans just got relieved of (Jan 1st) will help Obama get his trillion dollar coin.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 10th, 2013
4:55 pm
No “they” didn’t.
Yes “they” did
TODAY
Since the early 1980s, alcohol-related traffic deaths per population have been cut in half with the greatest proportional declines among persons 16-20 years old.
http://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=24
Id think you’d get tired of being wrong all the time.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
4:55 pm
Countries where guns are illegal or severely restricted.
Alot less gun violence and murders.
I already proved this wrong…with 1/10 of the guns in Russia the murder rate is 4 times higher
nice try
getalife
January 10th, 2013
4:56 pm
cnn is running the trillion dollar story.
It is not as crazy as a debt debacle II by the gop to get another downgrade and market drop they said.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 10th, 2013
4:57 pm
DIA — “Why do you dislike drudge, when it’s merely links to others reporting? Just curious.”
Drudge is what’s called an “aggregator,” and IMO, aggregator = lazy.
FWIW, I don’t care for aggregators of any sort, lefty, righty, space alien or otherwise.
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
4:59 pm
Since the early 1980s, alcohol-related traffic deaths per population have been cut in half with the greatest proportional declines among persons 16-20 years old.
I’m sure that’s true, but it’s not because of the tougher laws..There is more DUI’s now than ever, which means there are more drunks on the road..and with more drunks the traffic toll went down..why do you suppose that is? When did they start installing SRS systems again?…hmmm
correlation dose not mean causation
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 10th, 2013
4:59 pm
Well, they say you can’t learn nothing from watching the federal guvmint but they’re wrong. Next month all the people I owe money to are in for a big suprize when I tell them I ain’t paying because I refused to raise my debt limit and I’m shutting down.
It’s quitting time everybody. Have a good night.
Bob
January 10th, 2013
4:59 pm
We are borrowing 30 to 40 cents of every dollar we spend creating new debt. But we are told that unless we raise the debt ceiling we cannot pay debt obligations on current debt. We will have the revenue to cover our obligations on current debt. That does not mean we will not incur new debt, it means we are being lied to when someone says we can’t cover current debt obligations unless the debt limit is raised. The debt limit just allows for new debt and has nothing to do with debt incurred already.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
5:00 pm
Bob: “In March 2006, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., found the notion of raising the debt ceiling quite distasteful.
Bob, let’s go back a little further why don’t we? How about back in 2004 when the House Led GOP decided to “do away with” Pay-As-You-Go legislation because, it was just too much trouble?
That’s why then, Sen. Obama, in 2006; objected to raising the debt limit — also, let’s go back to 2008 when the Dems REINSTATED Pay-As-You-Go and all those “fiscal conservatives” had a fit. Stating that by bringing back PAYG, they were “tying the hands” of then President Bush.
If you wanna talk history Bob — you’ve come to the right blog. Lots of people with LONG memories here…
TaxPayer
January 10th, 2013
5:00 pm
Con claim: There are millions of cars on the road so you cannot just change the rules to include things like driver’s licenses and insurance and speed limits and seat belts, etc., and expect to change anything.
Give it a rest cons. You are wrong.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 10th, 2013
5:01 pm
I’m sure that’s true, but it’s not because of the tougher laws..
It most certainly is.
Any further argument with you is fruitless
You are a lost cause.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 10th, 2013
5:01 pm
getalife — “It is not as crazy as a debt debacle II by the gop to get another downgrade and market drop they said.”
I don’t know about that. It’d be *terribly* inflationary for the US, and it would probably drive US bond buyers and brokers screaming for the exits.
Bad idea, IMO.
Doggone/GA
January 10th, 2013
5:03 pm
“We are borrowing 30 to 40 cents of every dollar we spend creating new debt”
And do you actually know WHY we borrow that much? Because taxes taken in DON’T COVER IT.
“The debt limit just allows for new debt and has nothing to do with debt incurred already”
Got proof?
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
5:03 pm
You are a lost cause
And you are just wrong
Uh Huh
January 10th, 2013
5:04 pm
McConnell being a Hollywood leading man???????
Not with that UGLY DOG MUG.
Ashley Judd for the U.S. Senate.
Run Ashley Run
Uh huh
DownInAlbany
January 10th, 2013
5:04 pm
Joe Hussein Mama
January 10th, 2013
4:57 pm
Thanks, Joe
Paul
January 10th, 2013
5:05 pm
Lots of comments here about the background and intent/meaning of 2nd amendment. Bit disappointing no one referenced the majority/minority opinions in District of Columbia v Heller. ‘course , it is pretty long. Be that as it may, here’s a succinct background on how those decisions are arrived at. The entire talk is worthwhile, but knowing that nearly every person on this blog already knows a whole lot about constitutional law, the history of the constitution, how decisions are rendered, etc and they definitely don’t need any of that pesky background stuff, you can skip ahead to the 22-minute mark to hear why the case was decided the way it was. It’s federal Judge Thomas Griffith on “The Hard Work of Understanding the Constitution.”
http://byutv.org/watch/d874d1da-9ca7-42c7-b09e-430950ba51d4/byu-forum-address-judge-thomas-b-griffith-91812
Do I guess correctly that just the title will be enough to cause some to skip it?
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
5:05 pm
Ooops make that 2007…………the dems reinstated PAYG
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16487187/ns/politics/t/day-two-house-passes-new-budget-rules/
Erwin's cat
January 10th, 2013
5:05 pm
It most certainly is
The only time the law gets a drunk off the road is around the 3rd or 4th DUI…and if the laws were working there wouldn’t be a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th DUI
getalife
January 10th, 2013
5:06 pm
Joe,
Welching on the debt is ignorant.
It is a last resort to match the craziness from the gop.
DannyX
January 10th, 2013
5:06 pm
Government Motors expansion creates 1,000 new Georgia jobs!
Socialism is great!
Wait a minute
January 10th, 2013
5:07 pm
Not raising the debt ceiling would not be the end of the world. Government would still be able to meet its past debt obligations with $2.+ trillion a year it collects, just wouldn’t be able to spend any more than it collects. Wait a minute, that makes too much sense. Force the government to balance its budget? Pish posh. Just cut defense, Medicare, SS, and other entitleyments by about 1/3 and we are there. It can be done.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 10th, 2013
5:08 pm
2012 Gun Homicides
Australia 18
Canada 173
England 41
France 35
Ireland 21
Japan 11
Spain 90
United States 9,146
Its the guns stupid.
TaxPayer
January 10th, 2013
5:08 pm
Cheesy,
You are right on both counts.