‘It’s the checking account versus the credit card’
That’s a good line about federal spending, and it comes courtesy of Sen. Scott Brown (R., Mass.) in the debate over extending unemployment insurance. From a Politico report:
Just two Republicans, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, joined in support of an estimated $34 billion bill to extend benefits through November. Early hopes of getting help from Sen. Scott Brown were dashed Wednesday when the Massachusetts Republican went to the Senate floor with his own alternative — heavily reliant on cutting unspent funds from last year’s giant recovery act.
(snip)
“It is beyond disappointing that Republicans continue to stand almost lockstep against assistance for out-of-work Americans,” [Majority Leader Harry] Reid said, but Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered that he was prepared to fully fund two months of assistance — paid for from spending cuts. “The only reason the unemployment extension hasn’t passed is because our friends on the other side simply refuse to pass a bill that does not add to the debt,” McConnell said. “That’s it.”
“It’s the checking account versus the credit card,” Brown said. “I’ve worked across party lines to solve problems. But it needs to be a two-way street.”
“Bipartisanship isn’t just from the new senator from Massachusetts it needs to be from the majority party looking outside the box … to find a realistic solution to pay for a lot of these things.”
The checking account versus the credit card — it’s an analogy that any American will understand, and it perfectly sums up these congressional Democrats’ approach to spending.
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82 comments Add your comment
Red November
July 1st, 2010
9:27 pm
…and drooling about a political party OUT OF POWER.
You mindless liberals are so going to lose your power. I can’t wait to say “bon voyage.”
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
9:33 pm
Red November July 1st, 2010 9:27 pm: …and drooling about a political party OUT OF POWER.
You mindless liberals are so going to lose your power. I can’t wait to say “bon voyage.”
CHRIS SAYS: Oh look. One of those who voted for Bush (twice)! I’ll repeat something that I copied above:
238 presidential scholars: Bush worst president of modern era, fifth worst in US history
Yeah, you’re real smart. Yes sireeeeeeee!!!
commoncents
July 1st, 2010
9:37 pm
Salzmann, us idiots who voted for Bush twice were left with the decision (both times) of voting for someone who truly loves America and would do everything to make this a better and safer place, or vote for the liberal trash who wish we were like every other country out there instead of the super power and who think every problem can be solved by making people more “equal” through redistribution.
Bush was in no way, shape or form the best president, but he was much better than the alternative (both times)
Obama will be the next “worst president of modern era”. He’s been in office for 18 months and the only thing he has accomplished is reneging on every promise and campaign talking point (I almost forgot: he’s still out there campaigning!), spent money even more foolishly, and turning into the largest condescending prick out there.
Maybe, while he’s at it, he can go apologize to more countries on our behalf.
When you get done rolling on the floor, go pick some bills off the money tree so you can pass them out. That’s where they come from now, right?
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 1st, 2010
9:46 pm
How’s that “recovery summer” working out for ya?
commoncents
July 1st, 2010
9:47 pm
Salzmann: 238 presidential scholars?
Funny that scholars are typically liberal… bc the conservatives are the ones usually running businesses that involve real life decisions. Those “scholars” are probably trust fund babies who only have a life of politics and silver spoons and enjoy hearing themselves talk
(This is my opinion, before people try to bash me and say “conservatives are also scholars” or “liberals have real jobs too”)
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 1st, 2010
9:53 pm
Worst president in history. Heck, he wasn’t even impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice!
That’s some rating system you’ve got there.
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
9:55 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout July 1st, 2010 9:46 pm SAID: How’s that “recovery summer” working out for ya?
CHRIS SAYS: Doing well. Business is up and improving and I’m not in the repo and collection business either
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
10:09 pm
commoncents July 1st, 2010 9:37 pm SAID: Salzmann, us idiots who voted for Bush twice were left with the decision (both times) of voting for someone who truly loves America and would do everything to make this a better and safer place, or vote for the liberal trash who wish we were like every other country out there instead of the super power and who think every problem can be solved by making people more “equal” through redistribution.
CHRIS SAYS: Yeah and that vote turned out real well right? You voted twice for someone who couldn’t do a damn thing without daddy’s connection. At least Kerry went to a real war instead of using daddy’s connections to stay in a cushy post in the states. And yeah, each time we lowered taxes, the country has boomed, right? If you believe that than you’re worse off than I imagined.
commoncents July 1st, 2010 9:37 pm SAID:Bush was in no way, shape or form the best president, but he was much better than the alternative (both times)
CHRIS SAID: (See above) Yeah, and you were one of those idiots who believed Bush each time he said 9/11 and Iraq in the same sentence, right? This is too funny!
commoncents July 1st, 2010 9:37 pm SAID: Obama will be the next “worst president of modern era”. He’s been in office for 18 months and the only thing he has accomplished is reneging on every promise and campaign talking point (I almost forgot: he’s still out there campaigning!), spent money even more foolishly, and turning into the largest condescending prick out there.
CHRIS SAYS: Actually, Obama is doing pretty well with his promises. Here are the numbers from http://www.politifact.com: Tracking Obama’s promises
Promise Kept 119
Compromised 36
Promise Broken 19
Stalled 82
In the Works 246
Not rated 3
The problem with you conservatives is that anyone who’s smarter than you gets rated a “condescending prick”. The difference with us liberals is that we WANT our president to be the SMARTEST guy in the room and not go around saying things like “Is our children learning?”
But what to expect from a group of people who consider INTELLECTUAL a DIRTY WORD!!!!
Yeah, I’m still rolling with laughter because you conservatives are either (a) Stupid ((b) Pathetically uninformed or (C) All of the above.
Which one are you?
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
10:12 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout July 1st, 2010 9:53 pm:SAID: orst president in history. Heck, he wasn’t even impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice!
That’s some rating system you’ve got there.
CHRIS SAYS: Not my rating system. BTW, I’ll take a President who gets blown every day by a different intern than the self righteous village idiot who believes God speaks to him.
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
10:14 pm
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
10:12 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout July 1st, 2010 9:53 pm:SAID: orst president in history. Heck, he wasn’t even impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice!
That’s some rating system you’ve got there.
CHRIS SAYS: Not my rating system. BTW, I’ll take a President who gets blown every day by a different intern and keeps the economy booming than the self righteous village idiot who believes God speaks to him and helps TANK the economy.
commoncents
July 1st, 2010
10:48 pm
Salzmann, I know about Kerry’s war record. 3 purple hearts for scratches and a silver star for being an idiot and breaking all codes of conduct for an officer and not dying. Then, he used his purple hearts to fly home early before he was discharged (honorably). He wore his medals proudly until he decided they wouldn’t get him elected in MA so he got rid of them. He sure liked to change his story when it suits him best. Hell, he even liked invading Iraq until no one else did. Fine ball-less president he would have been…
I saw Obama’s promises kept list. Ex: Redefine how broadband is defined. I’m glad he settled something as important as that. Truth is, the FCC was doing that anyway. But, go figure Obama got the credit for that. Say, hasn’t he been taking credit for things Bush started as well??
You don’t have the smartest guy in the room as your president. You have the best reader and most charismatic. Look how well that community organizing is doing in Chicago!
Clinton never had a crisis, emergency, or a bad economy. He came into office when the economic bubble was beginning and got out before it burst. He lucked out and your immortalizing him? BTW, Monica was ugly and he’s probably more embarrassed about the world seeing her than being impeached
Ace
July 1st, 2010
11:01 pm
Republicans worship money, bottom line.
Uncle Billy
July 2nd, 2010
7:05 am
It may be an analogy everyone understands, but it is a false one as almost everything Senator Brown says is. Try being unemployed Kyle and you will find that you do not like it. Quit writing about subjects about which you are woefully uninformed.
JDW
July 2nd, 2010
7:55 am
This from the same people that put Medicare Part B valued at over $400 Billion a year on the card while at the same time eliminating the PayGo requirement for all funding. Amazing how self righteous and fiscally conservative those Republicans get when they are the minority.
Swede Atlanta
July 2nd, 2010
8:13 am
Joan,
You are truly naive. Do you know anyone who is out of work in this recession? Have you yourself been unemployed in this recession and tried to find a job?
I didn’t think so. So quit suggesting your neighbors just go out and get a job. I know three people who had very successful careers in three different industries, all of them intelligent, accomplished and eager to work. They have been out of work for over a year. They have submitted hundreds of applications and resumes. They have been on scores of interviews. And these guys aren’t just looking for a job like they had before. They have scoured the market from stocking shelves to working at a car wash. They are ‘overqualified’ is what they are told. And what’s worse is now many companies are instructing their H.R. departments to not even consider people for openings if the candidate is out of work.
I agree spending should be paid for by cuts. I suggest we start with the bloated Defense Department and eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. We can cut from DoD Billions they don’t need and start bringing in more tax revenue from the wealthy.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 2nd, 2010
8:36 am
JDW: This from the same people that put Medicare Part B valued at over $400 Billion a year on the card.
—————————–
Did you mean Part D, the prescription drug benefit? If so, I wholeheartedly agree that adding a new entitlement was a horrible idea.
But guess what? While the Idiot Messiah complains and whines about how that added to the deficit problems, he didn’t cut it, he just expanded it and made it more expensive!
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 2nd, 2010
8:44 am
Swede Atlanta: I suggest we start with…eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
——-
You’re going to get your wish starting January 1 next year when our President Bush’s tax cuts for tax payers expire.
Some economists say that the reason the economy is doing so well (!) this year is that “the wealthy” are accelerating income into this year and taking capital gains this year instead of next, when rates go up. Guess what that means for next year?
Barack Obama: The 21st century’s Herbert Hoover.
WOW
July 2nd, 2010
9:01 am
““It is beyond disappointing that Republicans continue to stand almost lockstep against assistance for out-of-work Americans,” [Majority Leader Harry] Reid”
Can’t wait to see Harry out of work!
david wayne osedach
July 2nd, 2010
9:06 am
Just how much animosity will generated for failure to extend unemployment benefits?
Lots, and lots, and lots!
neo-Carlinist
July 2nd, 2010
9:15 am
Li’ l Barry, good morning curmudgeon. A couple of things. If Obama is the “21st Century Hoover” we will be OK, so long as we find the 21st Century Roosevelt. right? Actually, my BA in History isn’t good for much, but it does lead me to reject your comparason between a 20th century president and Obama (or Bush, for that matter). Completely different circumstances, and speculation at best. After America digests the Obama presidency, we can determine his “peers” as Chief Executive. This goes for whomever cited Ben Franklin’s views on the poor. Being “poor” in the late 18th century is much different than being poor in the early 21st century. Quite frankly, most poor people didn’t stick around to receive public assistance because, well, they died. Being rich (as Franklin was), was about the same. Kind of comfortable, as long as one (politician, upper class) did what he needed to do to keep the line between ruling class and underclass clear. People like Franklin did it with laws and wealth protecting legislation – which hasn’t changed much over the life of the Republic. I was reading Thomas Paine’s Common Sense last night and came to realize that for all his libertarian wisdom, he was a an ideologue and a dreamer. So, maybe Franklin was a “dreamer” when it came to the poor, and maybe we’re all dreamers if we think there is a significant difference between Hoover, Obama, Clinton, Bush, or Kerry, or Boehner. At the end of the day, they are NOT ideologues, but rather pander to ideology with an eye on their own self-intereststs. Whatever the case, it’s safe to say that the aristocracy/plutocracy that owns this country is not idelogical at all. that is to say, no more ideological than a shark, rattlesnake, or polar bear (the one’s hiding from Al Gore). so, maybe it is just our nature, and the sooner we accept our (middle/working class/tax-paying consumers) place in the food chain, the better. Happy 4th!
neo-Carlinist
July 2nd, 2010
9:19 am
perhaps we need to re-name the document the Declaration of Codependence. Like people in an abusive relationship, we enable and ignore and cling to the hope that we can “change” what we don’t like about our partner. Forget about Fox News, CNN and MSNBCm we nneed to all tune in to Dr. Phil.
Churchill's MOM
July 2nd, 2010
9:32 am
In Athens we have excitement, you know man runs around on his wife gets caught DUI and is going to get away with it because he is the AD and Adam’s boy.
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/070210/new_664198751.shtml#mdw-comments
Question Man
July 2nd, 2010
10:41 am
Is anyone able to argue with Paul Krugman, Nobel award winning economist, on the need to spend in these time of severe economic weakness?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/opinion/02krugman.html?hp
Kyle Wingfield
July 2nd, 2010
11:08 am
Question Man: You mean besides the fact that “bond vigilantes” is hardly on the tip of most people’s tongues, much less the basis for the “conventional wisdom” about deficits and stimulus spending? And besides the fact that Krugman compares the present to the Hoover era without *once* mentioning monetary policy, the multitrillion-dollar difference between then and now?
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 2nd, 2010
12:46 pm
Krugman and the other neo-Keynesians always remember the part of the theory that says in bad economic times the government must stimulate demand with deficit spending, but you never hear anything about the flip side of Keyne’s theory. That is, when times are good the government is supposed to shrink, spend less, and build a reserve for the next down cycle.
Krugman and his ilk are merely apologists for ever-expanding, ever-spending big government.
So yes, I will argue with Krugman.
No More Progressives!
July 4th, 2010
1:57 pm
Ace
July 1st, 2010
11:01 pm
Republicans worship money, bottom line.
If that is so (and it is not), why are liberals so desparate to confiscate what I’ve earned?
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 4th, 2010
4:14 pm
To the libtard, earning money is a character flaw. They poop their pants when they hear the word “profit”. The government taking money from the person who earned it is honorable to the libtard.
No More Progressives!
July 4th, 2010
4:45 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout
July 4th, 2010
4:14 pm
Touche. Well said.
No More Progressives!
July 4th, 2010
4:53 pm
Question Man
July 2nd, 2010
10:41 am
I’m not sure that invoking a Nobel Peace Prize winners name is a good stategy. Just think of the company they’re keeping:
Jimmy Carter
Al Gore
Yasser Arafat
Milton Friedman won a NPP 1976, yet nobody knows his name or advocates his positions.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 4th, 2010
6:06 pm
No More Progressives!
July 4th, 2010
———————————-
Hell, you forgot the biggest joke of all…the Idiot Messiah.
I work and travel in Norway and the majority opinion there is that the most recent award was an embarrassment for their country.
No More Progressives!
July 4th, 2010
11:22 pm
Chris Salzmann
July 1st, 2010
9:11 pm
238 presidential scholars……….sure
Michael Moore
Keith Olbermann
Rachel Maddow
Dan Rather
Che Guevera
Hugo Chavez
I can keep going…………….
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 5th, 2010
7:42 pm
Wayne Allyn Root
Jul. 04, 2010
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Barack Obama: The great jobs killer
I’ve polled all my friends who own small businesses — many of them in the Internet and high-tech fields. They all agree that in this new Obama world of high business taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, and workers compensation taxes, the key to success is to avoid employees. The only way to survive as a business owner today is by keeping the payroll very low and by hiring only independent contractors or part-time employees provided by temp agencies.
———————————
Heckuva job, Barry!