GOP can cut spending without delaying debt ceiling
As I write, President Obama is about to announce the gun-control proposals his administration has been drafting since the Sandy Hook school massacre (although some of them almost certainly were on his wish list before he ever entered the White House). We’ll discuss that here after they’ve been made official and we’ve had time to digest them.
In the meantime, and of a more time-sensitive nature, we march on toward next month’s trio of fiscal deadlines: the expiration of temporary funding measures for the federal government, the end of a two-month delay in the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, and the end of the administration’s authority to borrow more money.
That last issue, popularly known as the debt ceiling, has drawn the most attention, with Democrats accusing the GOP of holding the economy hostage by insisting on spending cuts if they are to raise the ceiling. We’ve seen this movie before, in the summer of 2011. It didn’t end all that well.
It did, however, provide House Republicans with the only real leverage they have in these matters. Not raising the debt ceiling is not a real option, certainly not for any substantial length of time. And there is no reason for them even to consider not raising it. Sequestration is all they need.
Obama and congressional Democrats say the debt ceiling is about paying the nation’s bills. And while that’s overgeneralized — and not the same tune they sung when it was a Republican president asking for more borrowing authority — there’s a great deal of truth to it. For any substantial length of time in the near future, Congress cannot make good on its promises to lenders, vendors and citizens without borrowing more money.
But it can avoid running up so many new bills. Which brings me to sequestration.
The cuts in the sequester, negotiated as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling in August 2011, total about $1.2 trillion over 10 years. As Speaker John Boehner noted in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Democrats have always assumed the GOP would back out on the deal because of the defense cuts included. But more and more, it appears Republicans are willing to bite that bullet if it’s the only way they can get real spending cuts.
If so, the calculus changes completely. All the House GOP has to do is announce that a “clean” increase in the debt ceiling, the no-strings-attached approach on which Obama insists, will mean the sequester goes forward as planned. If Obama can’t live with that, the GOP can make clear they’d be happy to negotiate changes to the sequester in tandem with the debt ceiling.
The economy isn’t at risk due to the debt ceiling, then — unless it’s the president doing the hostage-taking by refusing to go along with the cuts he agreed to make a year and a half ago.
Oh, and tax increases as a substitute for sequester cuts are off the table. We got tax increases in the Jan. 1 fiscal-cliff deal.
This approach doesn’t address the long-term fiscal problems the nation faces. Fortunately, the expiration of the latest “continuing resolution” funding the government provides an opportunity to do that. The debt ceiling doesn’t have to figure into these negotiations.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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106 comments Add your comment
saywhat?
January 16th, 2013
12:12 pm
first!
saywhat?
January 16th, 2013
12:16 pm
I doubt many Republicans would go along with the sequester if it meant defense cuts in their state/district. Its only then that they turn all Keynesian and suddenly realize that government spending does indeed create jobs.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
12:17 pm
The Republicans will cave in and cower in fear. Dey only wants people to likes them.
Our only hope – Third Party.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
12:17 pm
saywhat? @ 12:16: The sequester is the law. The question is whether a majority of each chamber in Congress would vote to overturn it.
MarkV
January 16th, 2013
12:27 pm
Kyle: “Oh, and tax increases as a substitute for sequester cuts are off the table. We got tax increases in the Jan. 1 fiscal-cliff deal.”
And who has decreed that? What is the logical or legal principle for that? Does that then mean that if the Congress approves some spending cuts, there cannot be any more spending cuts, in another negotiation?
saywhat?
January 16th, 2013
12:34 pm
Kyle, I realize that. If they do nothing, the cuts they passed last year will happen. Neither Republicans nor Democrats, in general, want the cuts to happen the way they are scheduled. Republicans want to avoid the defense cuts, and Democrats want to avoid social spending cuts.
Economic opinion I have read generally theorizes that the cuts as they currently stand would be bad for the economy because of the money and jobs they would remove from a fragile, still recovering economy. (10 years ago would have been a much better time to do this.)
My point is that I doubt Republicans would carry through with your plan because of the damage such cuts would do to their own defense contractor constituents.
beta
January 16th, 2013
12:34 pm
“and the end of the administration’s authority to borrow more money.”
It is the USA government that is borrowing money, not the administration (which I’m pretty sure is code for President Obama).
Do you really believe the house GOP will go along with across the board cuts to Military and Defence spending? If they want to change what is cut by line item, it is not a simple continuation of the spending resolution for the purpose of negotiation, it’s a new bill, right? What are the odds of the GOP getting an agreement to in their own ranks to even put forward a new bill for consideration before the debt ceiling is reached? Many of the Democrats are for reducing Defence spending (so am I). Wouldn’t the GOP by enforcing sequestration, be making that easier?
middle of the road
January 16th, 2013
12:34 pm
Dang, Kyle, you are beginning to make a lot of sense. I agree that the debt ceiling is more about paying for spending you have already approved. It can also be the “gun to the head” to try to force spending cuts. As for the sequester – I am all for it – let’s cut some out of all the main budget items, including defense. It is only about 120 billion a year anyway, so it does not do away with the deficit by a long shot.
The GOP could pass a budget tomorrow in the House – they have the votes to make it. But then they have to send it to the Senate, where Democrats control. So they must COMPROMISE to get it through the Senate. If the House and Senate pass the bill and the President refuses to sign it, he does so at his own peril. House and Senate could try an override. The point is that the House had better not send the Senate a budget that the American people see as rediculous – huge cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security while protecting lucrative Defense spending. I believe you would hear howls of protest carrying on through the next Congressional election.
It is time the “leaders” started to govern – by coming to a COMPROMISE solution. Or is that asking too much of Congress?
@@
January 16th, 2013
12:42 pm
Liberals can thank the Tea Party if the GOP is willing to cut defense. With the Tea Party, there are no sacred cows.
Defense spending falls in behind entitlements.
Tax Reform is paramount when it comes to breaking the ties that bind.
Cuts to entitlements, defense spending, and then…..tax reform. Give us all ‘ya got.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
12:52 pm
MarkV @ 12:27: I’m saying that’s part of what the House GOP should say regarding the sequester and the debt ceiling.
Don't Tread
January 16th, 2013
12:53 pm
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government can’t pay its own bills. … I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.” – Senator 0bama
“Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize us to spend more. All it does is say that America will pay its bills, and we are not a deadbeat nation…They can act responsibly and pay America’s bills, or they can act irresponsibly and put America through another economic crisis. But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy.” – President 0bama
It’s funny how the times change, isn’t it?
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
12:55 pm
beta @ 12:34: Yes, it is the government broadly speaking that is borrowing the money, but the debt ceiling is about authority to borrow more money — and it is the administration that requests that authority from Congress.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
12:59 pm
The existing sequester is just a good first baby step. Real Americans want much more in spending cuts.
Time for the “balance”, progs!
Cutty
January 16th, 2013
1:20 pm
‘You are only as good as the company you keep.’
I’ll leave Kyle to his merry band of brothers and sister. Aesop, Lil Barry, @@, iReport and the like. You all deserve each other.
Metro Coach
January 16th, 2013
1:22 pm
The gov’t takes in enough revenue to continue servicing the debt we have even without a debt ceiling increase. Why shouldn’t Reps say no to a debt ceiling increase and tell the gov’t to cut enough spending to make debt payments within the current revenue stream? I know they won’t because Boehner is a RINO and a coward, but maybe his wife would let him borrow his jewels long enough to take a tough stand for once in his perma tanned life.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
1:23 pm
Screen door, meet Cutty.
curious
January 16th, 2013
1:37 pm
The debt ceiling hits before sequestration, so Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling with the CLEAR understanding that sequestration will happen.
Don’t get trampled by the lobbyists.
curious
January 16th, 2013
1:41 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout – OBAMAPHONE!!!
“The existing sequester is just a good first baby step. Real Americans want much more in spending cuts.Time for the “balance”, progs!”
You’re right except every group, liberal and conservative, will fight to make the other side pay. Right now, neither wants to compromise.
sailfish
January 16th, 2013
1:41 pm
kyle
Seems sensible enough to me, thats what we’re all looking for some common sense. Cons are quite mistaken that dems don’t want to cut anything, it’s just that most believe that social security cuts should be completely off the table. As far as medicare and medicaid, those programs need to be brought into line
Just Saying..
January 16th, 2013
1:46 pm
All for it, Kyle. Both sides agreed to the meat axe, let it fall. I know the Democrat wails on social expenditures will be heart rending. But in all honesty, I’d think ‘Pub DOD partners would cause that side to flinch first. But if they don’t, more power – and credit – to them.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 16th, 2013
1:50 pm
(although some of them almost certainly were on his wish list before he ever entered the White House
Proof? Oh, it’s an opinion.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
1:54 pm
Kyle, good suggestion, I wish the GOP would heed your advice, or more importantly had some people in charge that could get in front of a crisis and manage the PR campaign to reshape public opinion. Hard to do that with the media shilling for Barry, but someone needs to come up with something to change the current dynamic. Using this debt ceiling to shut down government is going to be ugly for the GOP, as the low information voters are going to buy the Obama lies that it is all the GOP fault.
I think the GOP should hold a press conference, backed up with young children wearing signs that say “I already owe $60,000, please stop the spending”. We have got to start emphasizing the generational theft of trying to have everything under the sun today, and pass all our debts onto our children and grandchildren. Government long ago lost touch with what Government is supposed to do. We started trying to humanly help the poor, by providing food and shelter, somehow we wound up, providing cell phones, medical insurance, rides to work, internet access, and now they want birth control provided free. We will never raise enough revenue to keep up with expanding expenditures, gotta stop a some point and say this is enough.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
2:04 pm
saywhat, you were probably right about the sequester cuts slowing the economy, but that was before Obama worked his magic, maybe that was his plan all along), and became the worlds most successful gun salesman. Maybe the gun sales will kick start the economy, hah!!
SBinF
January 16th, 2013
2:06 pm
“although some of them almost certainly were on his wish list before he ever entered the White House”
Kyle, you are freaking brilliant. Obama had these recommendations in his back pocket, and he was simply waiting for 26 people to be massacred in an elementary school so he could swoop in and take away yer guns! It was all just a waiting game.
Good heavens, and conservatives wonder why they’ve been losing the messaging war the last year.
BW
January 16th, 2013
2:14 pm
Kyle
Interesting that you phrase it as tax cuts being off the table for the sequester….do I take that to mean that tax revenue is important long term to balancing the budget? Thank you for saying that there is no actual need to shut down government over this….simply pass a bill that accomplishes what the long term non bumper sticker vision and throw the ball back to the Senate Dems….no need to invoke the President’s name without bills to address the concerns….you know….what the legislative branch is supposed to do
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
2:19 pm
Proof? Oh, it’s an opinion.
http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/obamas-anti-gun-bias-traces-back-decades/
Finn, an opinion based on prior actions. You probably thought he was against same sex marriage until late 2012, also. Koolaid must be fattening in the quantity you ingest it.
Jefferson
January 16th, 2013
2:21 pm
Sounds good but will the lobbyists allow it, as they own the weak spined congress. When they close Robins or Dobbins, who will get the blame ? The incumbents ?
Jefferson
January 16th, 2013
2:24 pm
Taxes will be increasing so get used to it, they have to.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 16th, 2013
2:31 pm
“Obama had these recommendations in his back pocket, and he was simply waiting for 26 people to be massacred in an elementary school so he could swoop in and take away yer guns!”
Never let a good crisis go to waste, SBinF.
sailfish
January 16th, 2013
2:31 pm
You guys are nutz….obama is going to take away your guns….right…not paying our debts is a strategy? Please, try to jump into the real world instead of your perpetual con fantasy camp!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 16th, 2013
2:32 pm
“Taxes will be increasing so get used to it, they have to.”
If we have to get used to taxes increasing, why can’t YOU get used to spending being cut?
Politico
January 16th, 2013
2:32 pm
Rafe
Can’t speak for the article you listed, but difficult to take World Net Daily too seriously. They were and maybe still are the unofficial home of the “birthers”.
They run some, let’s say, less then truthful and unsubstantiated articles regarding the “birther” issue.
________________________________________________
Kyle
Think you are making the spending cut issue a little more easy then it is going to be. It isn’t just the Democrats who have their “sacred cows” when it comes to spending.
I do think that they will strike some sort of deal.
Feel free to look them up.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
2:37 pm
BW @ 2:14: “Interesting that you phrase it as tax cuts being off the table for the sequester”
What I actually wrote: “Oh, and tax increases as a substitute for sequester cuts are off the table.”
Unless I’m mistaken, cuts are not increases. But then, as far as I know, no one is even proposing tax cuts right now.
As for a shutdown, I think that may be a viable option if the various parties can’t agree on a budget for the rest of FY13 and all of FY14. We’ve been operating on the short-term CR model for far too long now.
Cherokee
January 16th, 2013
2:38 pm
“Real Americans want much more in spending cuts.”
No they don’t.
You, like every other con commenting here, refuse to advocate specific spending cuts that would end the deficit. Until you can develop specific spending cuts that would win the backing of the majority of Americans, and make a real difference in the debt, you’re just spitting in the wind.
Politico
January 16th, 2013
2:40 pm
*Feel free to look them up.
Should have been after my comments to Rafe, not the comment to Kyle.
Junior Samples
January 16th, 2013
2:41 pm
What tune were the Republicans singing when they borrowed all the money for the two wars? Without question?
Oh, but now they’re singing about fiscal responsibility. Got it…
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
2:41 pm
Politico @ 2:32: Is ABC News a solid enough source for you?
JDW
January 16th, 2013
2:41 pm
First off the debt ceiling increase is to pay the bills for spending already authorized by the last Congress. To give you a rough analogy its like calling your credit card company after you ran up the balance and telling them you decided not to pay the bill…then calling your power company and telling them that you have a debt a limit so they will have to wait until you have more money. You end up with no power and no credit. While it would be the dumbest move in the history of modern politics it is hard to put anything past the Wingnuts in the House.
Second, by all means let the Sequester go forward as planned…while you are at it go back and undo that last tax cut extension. Of course that won’t happen because the Republicans are all bluster. They don’t really want to cut anything except taxes. They just want to rant, rave, get re-elected and scratch their heads when they figure out that when you cut taxes (revenue) and increase spending you get deficits (see 2000-2008)
SBinF
January 16th, 2013
2:44 pm
“What tune were the Republicans singing when they borrowed all the money for the two wars? Without question?
Oh, but now they’re singing about fiscal responsibility. Got it…”
Fiscal responsibility only matters when a Kenyan Muslim is in office. Didn’t you get the memo?
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
2:46 pm
Junior @ 2:41: The deficit has been larger in each of the past four years than from either 2002-2005 combined or 2005-2008 combined. So, while those years did not represent ideal fiscal management by any means, they pale in comparison to our more recent history.
sailfish
January 16th, 2013
2:46 pm
Funny how these issues get all twisted up by repubs…..seriously, do you really think obama is out to confiscate all your guns rafe? The paranoia by the extreme right wing gun fanatics should be tossed out with a grain of salt, it’s pure baloney!
Politico
January 16th, 2013
2:49 pm
Kyle
Thanks for stepping in to assist Rafe, however your article and his are not one in the same.
I know what was said today and proposed by the President and I have not commented on what I agree with or do not agree with in regards to his proposals.
Again, WND is “birther central”. If you like that site and the black helicopter theories they espouse, that is certainly your choice. I have been to their website before, so I know that to be true, however I will not give them any “hits” by going to their site any longer. Haven’t done so for sometime. Don’t go to Huffington Post either.
sailfish
January 16th, 2013
2:49 pm
kyle @2:46
You too? What about tarp, is that obama or bush? The stimulus and ongoing wars is all you can really tag obama with and he didn’t start said wars and put them on the books. Please, look at these deficits with a pound of logic instead of the propaganda!
SBinF
January 16th, 2013
2:49 pm
So where is the threshold, Kyle? At what point did the GOP decide that the deficit was too big. What was the specific dollar value?
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
2:55 pm
Politico, WND was just the first link I found. The stories of him as an Illinois senator voting to ban homeowners rights to self defense have been reported elsewhere as well. Media everywhere slants their articles to favor their position, however, I don’t know any who lie about how one voted or who they represented in a law suit, etc. The facts are usually true, the message they try to convey may be stilted. CNN does it all the time, when they have 15 pro gun people discussing gun control and one pro Second person respond.
It is unfortunately what we have come to expect from the media today, slanted stories.
Junior Samples
January 16th, 2013
2:59 pm
Correct Kyle,
Because during that time, the Republicans also brought on the tax cuts, and simply gave away the rest of the surplus, then closed their eyes as we spun into the recession.
Once again, fiscal responsibility.
So now we have a Democrat President who’s trying to fix everything the Republican President broke. So if you want to call that a spending problem, so be it. We’re not fooled. Neither was the majority of Americans.
sailfish
January 16th, 2013
3:01 pm
rafe
As someone who has served in the military, and owns no guns, I acknowledge that if there are over 300 million guns out there, no gov’t on earth could even come close to the level of confiscation that you and all these right wing wankers are whining about.
BW
January 16th, 2013
3:02 pm
Kyle
I should have used your exact language but the question still stands….is higher tax revenue off the table as a way to balance the budget longterm?
As for the shutdown, while I agree that short term CRs are ridiculous, I’m not sure that the Republicans would be rewarded at the ballot box for doing so especially without legislation…which I’m assuming that you mean it will be Democrats fault that there is no budget if such a scenario came to pass.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 16th, 2013
3:05 pm
Ronald Reagan tripled the National Debt
Clinton handed W Bush a surplus and he blew it in about 17 days.
We have been lowering taxes for the wealthy for the last 50 years.
It hasn’t worked. Nothing trickled.
All we got for it was a bunch of debt.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
3:07 pm
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/01/11/obama-opposed-gun-ban-exception-defend-home/
Politico… so you don’t have to enrich WND, same story!
JDW
January 16th, 2013
3:07 pm
@Kyle…”So, while those years did not represent ideal fiscal management by any means, they pale in comparison to our more recent history.”
Indeed, the last four years foisted upon us by the cumulative mismanagement of 2000-2008. First The Bush Administration was mostly responsible for the economic events of 2007-2009. Second, by trashing the fiscal responsibility implemented under Clinton they ensured that huge deficits would be required to respond.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 16th, 2013
3:07 pm
It is unfortunately what we have come to expect from the media today, slanted stories.
I agree. Fox News is a joke.
They should just change the name to GOPTV and get it over with.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 16th, 2013
3:12 pm
They run some, let’s say, less then truthful and unsubstantiated articles
LOL, that never stopped a Con.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 16th, 2013
3:13 pm
Where are all the gun huggers today?
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
3:15 pm
As I heard Charles Krauthamer say last night, when asked if there is any hope for spending cuts ever getting any traction, yes the time will come, when liberalism fails, as it always does. He said they eventually run out of money and no one will loan them any, just like Europe, then the cuts come. He said he wished we could do something to spare everyone some of the pain, but he was doubtful.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
3:16 pm
The only reason obozo isn’t trying to grab your gun is because the American people and the Constitution punked him.
sailfish
January 16th, 2013
3:19 pm
aeslop
Brilliant analysis, yes quite blinding.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
3:20 pm
Jefferson: Taxes will be increasing so get used to it, they have to.
——-
They already did. Now it’s time for the “balance” in your Idiot King’s “approach”.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
3:24 pm
More deflection and blame-gaming from JDW. Obozo increased the spending, not Our President Bush. Obozo and the Democrat party left tax rates alone in 2009-2010, and signed off on maintaining them (plus cut payroll taxes) in 2011-2012.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 16th, 2013
3:25 pm
Eventually we will have meaningful gun control in this country.
The liberals always win. Always have.
Its just a matter of how many have to die before the conservative regressive’s are dragged along kicking and screaming.
JDW
January 16th, 2013
3:25 pm
BTW Kyle…done the math on the Sandy Aid yet. I remember making the point that all that Republican blather at the end of the year was just that blather and they were doing nothing but what they do best…waste time. The original amount the House declined to act on was $60.4 billion. When they returned in January they passed an emergency bill for $9.7 billion and earlier this week they supplemented that with $50.7 billion….now what does that add up to you ask…why $60.4 billion or EXACTLY the amount of the bill they “overlooked” in December.
All they did was waste time, cause grief and contribute to the economic uncertainty that is a huge part of our real problem.
Jefferson
January 16th, 2013
3:31 pm
Spending will have to decrease also, but until you eliminate the interest on the debt both taxes and spending will have to happen, then the interest payments that are eliminated will be you tax cut, only then.
SS and basic medicare are obligations, if the taxes don’t cover the greedy medical industry you will have to tax more. Follow the money.
People want to cry about $200 k bathrooom, but what about the folks that flat out riiped the gov’t off on the job, you could have gotton it for about $75k, if the truth is known.
Where did the money go ? Follow the money and see who lives off the govt’, it ain’t the poor that gets rich off the gov’t.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
3:31 pm
Cheese: The liberals always win. Always have.
———
And the general trend in social and economic chaos in the US is not good.
Thanks, liberals.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 16th, 2013
3:36 pm
You Cons are salivating over the spending cuts, aren’t you?
I guess you see Europe and the effects of its Austerity plans and think “Oh, I got to get me some of that!”
Dusty
January 16th, 2013
3:45 pm
Well, looks like it is time for some meaningful poetry . Sooo I dedicate this one to Mark V and other liberals who think “debt” is a wave in the wind that will drift away all on its own. .
US
There once was a debt so great,
The country was made innate.
But the leader said, “Oh ho,
I’ll add on some more,”
And he made it a socialist state.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
January 16th, 2013
3:48 pm
Well, Jay has already posted on the gun stuff. I suppose Kyle is waiting for Rush to give him his talking points….
Dusty
January 16th, 2013
3:59 pm
Finn,
When are you going to have some “talking points”?
MarkV
January 16th, 2013
4:37 pm
Dusty @ 3:45 pm
Dusty,
Thank you for the poem. I wish you had as much aptitude for political arguments as you have for poetry, but then, who could withstand such perfection?
Regarding the debt, as I noted yesterday, there is such as good reason not to get rid of it – it would deprive you of the main subject to complain about.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
4:49 pm
Jefferson: the greedy medical industry
———–
Would that be the greedy medical industry that’s about doubled life expectancy in the last century?
Congrats, you win the “Most Ignorant Comment of the Day” award.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
5:00 pm
More pretending to do something from the Obama Regime, or pablum for the masses.
The Centers for Disease Control, an agency of the federal government, has conducted studies of many of the gun-control laws in place, such as waiting periods, registration, and bans on certain types of firearms. The results showed that the idea that gun control laws have reduced violent crime is simply a myth. The CDC is hardly a shill for the NRA. Political trends throughout the country have reflected the growing realization by the majority of Americans that restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens is not only ineffective as a means of combating crime, but counter-productive. All of the research over the last few decades bears this out. (One of many excellent sources is “More Guns; Less Crime” by former University of Chicago and current Harvard professor, John Lott).
http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/letters/14160460-474/cdc-exposes-gun-control-myths.html
Dusty
January 16th, 2013
5:04 pm
MarkV
How much fun it is to jog your liberal leanings in their mindset.of stone. One of these days you will have a great unveiling of all mystery and say WE ARE IN DEBT!!
Until that day I guess we will just jog a blog away in the merry mayhem of internet.moments. .
Now I rush off to finish potato salad. One son is just back from skiing in Utah and I am celebrating the fact that he has NO broken bones. At least I think so. I haven’t seen him yet. One time he came in with a broken shoulder. Ah motorcycles, may they all vanish!
Goodnight, mon ami. Don’t let worrying about the debt keep you awake. I also apologize for getting off subject. I shall do better!! Maybe.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 16th, 2013
5:14 pm
Before someone points out that was just an opinion piece………………
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-576422.html
Since then, the task force reviewed 51 published studies about the effectiveness of eight types of gun-control laws. The laws included bans on specific firearms or ammunition, measures barring felons from buying guns, and mandatory waiting periods and firearm registration. None of the studies were done by the federal government.
In every case, a CDC task force found “insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness.”
Hillbilly D
January 16th, 2013
5:15 pm
Games, games and more games.
Dave
January 16th, 2013
5:24 pm
Here’s a novel idea. Instead of the manipulations you outline, both sides sit down and act like responsible adults.
I know, silly me.
Back to the games.
Aynie Sue
January 16th, 2013
5:26 pm
This notion of cutting the federal deficit when the economic is in weak recovery is bonkers. The money borrowed to fund the federal deficit is maintaining the unemployment rate below 9%. Millions of jobs will be lost if the deficit is cut by 1/2 trillion dollars or more, and we’ll be plunged back into recession and maybe depression.
Politicians should be concerned now with sustaining, even jump-starting, the weak economy, not with killing jobs.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
5:38 pm
Weak economy? Four years into the Obozo regime? After spending $5 trillion more than Our President Bush would have spent?
Face it–your guy is a failure of epic proportions.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
5:41 pm
More failure, al Qaeda edition:
Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants attacked and occupied a natural gas complex in southern Algeria on Wednesday. Two people were killed and dozens of others, including several Americans, were reportedly taken hostage.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/algerian-security-official-says-islamists-kidnap-8-foreigners-from-bp-oil-installation/2013/01/16/0db1c254-5fd2-11e2-9dc9-bca76dd777b8_story.html
JDW
January 16th, 2013
5:45 pm
@LBB…”Obozo increased the spending, not Our President Bush.”
Delusional as usual I see…FY 2009…97% Duhbya…$1.4 Trillion deficit…
CBO two weeks before President Obama’s inauguration:
“Projected deficit $1.2 trillion”
Wake up…smell the stench…it came from Texas…it’s name is George “Duhbya” Bush
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
5:49 pm
Keep wishing, JDW. You know quite well that most of that spending was temporary, recession-related. Your guy has made spending $3.7 trillion a year the “new normal” whereas Our President Bush was spending only $3 trillion a year.
Obozo: A historic failure.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
5:52 pm
Oh, and the deficit was also due in large part to the recession and resulting lower tax revenues.
The recession ended nearly four years ago. Where are the jobs? Where is the tax revenue?
Obozo: America-hating, capitalism-fearing failure.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
6:03 pm
A budget dispute erupted into a full-scale battle Tuesday as President Bush vetoed the Democrats’ top-priority domestic spending bill. “The majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far it’s acting like a teenager with a new credit card,” Bush said in his speech here. “
JamVet
January 16th, 2013
6:11 pm
Holding the (W)orst Ever up as a paragon of fiscal responsibility?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sailfish
January 16th, 2013
6:37 pm
lil@5:49
The truly sad part is that your belief is serious. Remember tarp? Why did we need it? Who led us off the cliff? Republicans held the presidency and the house 2000-2007, yet you continue to stick your head in the sand. You are part of the problem, you and dusty the poet who doesn’t know it – truth!
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
6:43 pm
10/11/2012 @ 5:33PM CBO Updates TARP Tally: $24B Cost To Taxpayers ($14B From AIG)
yawn
DeborahinAthens
January 16th, 2013
6:49 pm
The Debt Ceiling is a ridiculous political construct that needs to be eliminated. We are the only county that has it. It has been raised 46 times during Republican administrations, 30 times during Democrat administrations. Reagan raised it the most–19 times. It is a stupid, ludicrous political cudgel that makes us look stupid.
@@
January 16th, 2013
6:56 pm
Since the conversation veered off into gun control, I now HAVE to purchase one that I can use. My husband has a gun but not one that I would be able to handle.
Last thing I wanted to do is buy a gun.
Michael H. Smith
January 16th, 2013
6:59 pm
After Senator obama’s infamous Senate speech condemning raising the debt ceiling he has no moral high ground upon which to now stand as President. The GOP should continue to blast obama for spending future generation of America’s children into the bondage of a merciless debt.
How about some debt control Mr. obama!
From Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. 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. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/256288/senator-barack-obama-explaining-his-2006-vote-against-raising-debt-limit-andrew-c-mcca#
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
7:19 pm
Remember tarp? Why did we need it?
——-
Yes, I do. We needed it because tens of thousands of folks borrowed money they didn’t repay. TARP fixed the mess, and obozo inherited a recovery. And almost all of TARP has been paid back.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
7:25 pm
@@ – Ruger LC9.
http://www.ruger.com/products/lc9/models.html
You want the model #3212 with the Crimson Trace laser grip. Just put the red dot where you want the bullet to go and pull the trigger.
Do a google of “ruger 3212″ and click through all the links until you find the best price. You’ll have to get delivered to a nearby FFL dealer, so they can do the background check, one can be found with this link – (coming in the next post.)
Good “hunting.”
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
7:26 pm
http://www.gunbroker.com/FFL/DealerNetwork.aspx
Sailfish
January 16th, 2013
7:26 pm
“obozo inherited a recovery.”
Uh-huh – I rest my case.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
7:29 pm
By the way, what’s the old man got, a .500 S&W Magnum?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
7:31 pm
I hand load .44 Mags that will make a Prius roll over on it’s side.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
7:38 pm
According to the economists who decide such things, the recession ended in June 2009.
Don’t fear facts.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 16th, 2013
7:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday the U.S. “will take all necessary and proper steps” to deal with an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria that has resulted in Americans and other foreigners taken hostage.
We’ve got plenty of natural gas to drill here at home, this could have all been avoided.
Oh yeah, I forgot, the libs won’t let us drill.
Never mind.
JamVet
January 16th, 2013
7:49 pm
…obozo inherited a recovery.
Insanity with a capital I.
But not atypical of the (W)orst Ever voters…
md
January 16th, 2013
7:50 pm
Good for you kyle.
Rafe Hollister
January 16th, 2013
7:52 pm
And Al Queda is on the run. Guess they didn’t get the memo.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 16th, 2013
7:58 pm
The question is why Obozo did everything he could to strangle the recovery he inherited–incompetence or America-hatred?
Either way, Obozo’s failure is the worst since the Great Depression.
@@
January 16th, 2013
8:01 pm
Thanks, Andy….I’ll put my husband on it.
His? I have no idea. It’s heavy. According to him, anyone who finds themselves on the receiving end won’t survive the hit.
I really didn’t wanna have to buy one. My neighbor walked in on a burglar (broad daylight). The next night, some young woman showed up at my house wanting to use the phone. Her clothes were torn and she was crying. Seems the boyfriend had roughed her up.
Drama I don’t need or want.
Hillbilly D
January 16th, 2013
8:11 pm
@@
My 2¢ is that I’d go with something like a short barreled .38 revolver. Lighter, easier to carry and it’ll knock somebody down (or worse) same as something bigger.
md
January 16th, 2013
8:23 pm
Came home to 2 “gentleman” on my front porch a few years ago getting ready to make themselves at “home”. Scattered like the little bugs they were when the headlights hit them.
Was also robbed 4 times while growing up and each time a new security feature was added they went right through it like they were the ones doing the installing (?).
Point is, Predators prey on the weak. “Gun free zones” is like an open invitation…….they will continue to frequent the places with the least resistance.
Cletus
January 16th, 2013
8:29 pm
The Republicrats will go along with increasing the debt ceiling, they always do. Much of the debt was incurred on their watch.
Not a big Obama fan but I applaud him for trying to wind down the last Bush war ahead of schedule. That’ll save us big bucks.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2013
8:58 pm
That’s all for tonight. Immediate commenting will be back on tomorrow morning.
yuzeyurbrane
January 16th, 2013
11:39 pm
Kyle, I am sure our priorities are different, but at least you are talking sanely and are willing to talk. I don’t think many House Republicans would listen to you if you were a member of the House Republican Caucus.
Kyle Wingfield
January 17th, 2013
7:41 am
Immediate commenting is back on, and there’s a new post upstairs.