Obama has the authority to ensure sequester cuts don’t bite
Facts 1, Democratic Scare Stories of All the Carnage to Result From Cutting $85 Billion Out of a $4 Trillion in Spending 0. From the Wall Street Journal:
[I]f any of these cataclysms [mentioned by President Obama and congressional Democrats] do come to pass, then they will be mostly Mr. Obama’s own creation. The truth is that the sequester already gives the White House the legal flexibility to avoid doom, if a 5% cut to programs that have increased more than 17% on average over the Obama Presidency counts as doom.
According to Mr. Obama and his budget office, the sequester cuts are indiscriminate and spell out specific percentages that will be subtracted from federal “projects, programs and activities,” or PPAs. Except for the exemptions in the 2011 budget deal, the White House says it must now cut across the board regardless of how important a given PPA is. Food inspectors, say, will be treated the same as subsidies for millionaire farmers.
Not so fast. Programs, projects and activities are a technical category of the federal budget, but the sequester actually occurs at the roughly 1,200 broader units known as budget accounts. Some accounts are small, but others contain hundreds of PPAs and the larger accounts run to billions of dollars. For the Pentagon in particular, the distinction between PPAs and accounts is huge. This means in most cases the President has the room to protect his “investments” while managing the fiscal transition over time.
The explanation for this unrealized distinction, the Journal continues, is that the bill hastily passed in 2011 took its language from the 1985 Gramm-Rudman Deficit Control Act. When the federal government is operating under continuing budget resolutions rather than a normal budget, as it has been for a few years now, the 1985 bill (and thus the 2011 bill) provides that cuts can be made at the broader level. Finally, Senate Democrats’ dereliction of duty, in refusing to pass a budget, comes with a benefit.
With the claim that he has no discretion in making budget cuts now disproved, Obama’s case rests on the highly dubious proposition that any cuts of $85 billion out of nearly $4 trillion in spending would be disastrous. No reasonable person can possibly believe the federal government spends every last billion efficiently; it’s why majorities of the public continue to tell pollsters they think spending cuts should be the priority in reducing the deficit, even if they disagree about which particular spending programs should be affected.
Of course, it’s also a dubious proposition that sequestration would lead to unbearable outcomes even absent this flexibility. If the president truly believes that the last $85 billion of federal spending is the difference between order and chaos, then he can’t possibly be believed when he says he’s in favor of cutting any spending at all.
That’s all the more true if the Obama administration really has the flexibility to make cuts in the most prudent fashion possible — and the entire Journal editorial is worth reading to get a full grasp of why that’s true. Any slowing of services from airport security to weather forecasting, or the loss of jobs for teachers and police officers, will be because the cuts weren’t managed properly.
Or, as the Journal puts it: “The real revelation is that if the world does end, it will be Mr. Obama’s choice.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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222 comments Add your comment
Don't Tread
February 27th, 2013
12:35 pm
I’m sure the rapists and murderers will be released from prison next due to “budget issues”.
Hopefully the next crime these people (and their illegal buddies) commit will be against a liberal. Poetic justice indeed.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 27th, 2013
12:36 pm
first on the 3rd?
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
12:43 pm
AQ-
Don’t lay that at my doorstep. I have been advocating for a long time to get the heck out of Afghanistan. This president has no intention of winning and we are supporting a corrupt government. It’s your guy that is keeping us there.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 27th, 2013
12:45 pm
People who fly planes into buildings are probably not scared of an airplane with a bomb, no matter how fancy we make them. – See more at: http://blogs.ajc.com/kyle-wingfield/2013/02/27/obama-has-the-authority-to-ensure-sequester-cuts-dont-bite/?cp=2#comment-188711
Is there any doubt that these mealy mouthed liberals would strap on the suicide vest if the dummycrat party told them to? The have no compunctions brutalizing our economy and future generations for them, so would blowing themselves up really be a stretch?
django
February 27th, 2013
12:45 pm
The sky is falling mentality of the obama and the dems should be an insult to every American family with a budget. Cutting 2% from a almost $4 trillion budget is a drop in the bucket and will have absolutely no impact on working people.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
12:45 pm
Just Saying-
Have a great trip.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 27th, 2013
12:47 pm
Aesop – 11:13 “under obozo…the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer”
And, the EXACT same thing happened under eight years of George W.
Just can’t bring yourself to admit that can you toolie?
– See more at: http://blogs.ajc.com/kyle-wingfield/2013/02/27/obama-has-the-authority-to-ensure-sequester-cuts-dont-bite/?cp=2#sthash.vzi1QRjZ.dpuf
Um, did Bushie campaign against this?
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
12:50 pm
AQ-
And BTW it was also your guy that took almost 4 years to get out of Iraq and has kept Gitmo open and expanded drone strikes. I do believe the ball is in your court.
MarkV
February 27th, 2013
12:56 pm
Dear Dusty,
I have this tiny little question I would like to ask you. What freedom have you, personally, lost because of anything president Obama has done in those five years of his presidency?
As for the whether he uses “great power to change the law as is convenient ,” I am sure you have a great faith in our Constitution, and that you are familiar with it. If the President does anything that is inconsistent with the Constitution, why don’t those who are in opposition use the proper constitutional way, which is to let the Supreme Court to decide? We have seen that with ObamaCare, where the court found some of the provision unconstitutional, and that is being corrected. It is hardly the task for those posting comments on this blog to make that determination.
———————–
PS: As I mentioned before, I have a liking for historical fiction, and I have had my reading spells of American history, English history, French history and others. Ken Follett’s Century trilogy I have read on Kindle and enjoyed very much. The latest about Marguerite de Valois has been something of an accident after I came across her name somewhere else and realized I did not really know much about her. It is not something I would necessarily recommend. Dana Stabenow I can heartily recommend at least to try. The protagonist, Kate Shugak is a young Aleut, 5 ft tall but quite a force of nature, Mutt is a dog you cannot fail to fall in love with, and much of each book are interesting things about the life of native Alaskans.
Aynie Sue
February 27th, 2013
1:04 pm
Retired Soldier .. respectfully, I can’t keep up with you today; you’re all over the place!
About that constitutional responsibility of Congress to budget and control federal expenditures. The Constitution doesn’t sanction “take it or leave it” dictates on the part of one branch of the Congress; it suggests that our elected representatives get the job done, whatever it takes. This has worked for a hundred years or so, before Boehner and the Tea Party set about to sabotage the American government and economy with their misguided notions and slavish support of detrimental special interests.
The Ryanesque budget that the House persists in passing every week or so is totally unacceptable to rational people and cannot be taken seriously. It was rejected by the voters in the last general election, when Romney/Ryan went down in flames.
The faults are too numerous for my tired fingers to list, but the obvious, most serious flaw is that it would cut government spending and jobs in a sluggish economy, without providing any offsetting revenue. The biggest fallacy is assuming that private investment would offset cuts to government spending. Turns out that private capital is not attracted to an economy with a shortage of good jobs and plenty of unsold goods on the shelves at Walmart. And there is no cadre of billionaires waiting for their next big tax cut or tax dodge before making risky investments in a sluggish economy. There is plenty of capital available, but it’s parked in financial instruments that create no jobs, or used in corporate mergers, buy-outs, buy-backs, and buy-offs that kill jobs and reduce competition. Just take a look at the Romney tax returns to see how that works.
The great opportunity that is being missed in all the political bickering is the building of a physical and cultural infrastructure to promote prosperity. Interest rates are at a record low, almost 0% for the federal government. We should borrow every cent available to spend on projects that prepare the nation for the future. If our economy returns to Clintonesque prosperity, we’ll be able to repay the debt without a sweat. If our economy never gets out of the doldrums, we won’t be able to pay off the present debt anyhow. One way, we may succeed, the other way we’re sure to lose.
Great nations build, not sit idle. Victorious armies advance, not retreat!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 27th, 2013
1:11 pm
I guess those broad cuts are a bit too broad?
Republicans are condemning the Obama administration’s decision to release several hundred illegal immigrants from detention facilities because of possible funding cuts from the sequester.
whaaaaaaaaa
Aquagirl
February 27th, 2013
1:12 pm
Don’t lay that at my doorstep. I have been advocating for a long time to get the heck out of Afghanistan.
RS, I am not hanging any war on you, I pointed out commissioning more aircraft carriers would not do jack crap to make us safer.
If you think we are still in Afghanistan because we don’t have enough aircraft carriers, or we ended up there because we only had 12 aircraft carriers instead of 18, feel free to share the thought process which led you to this conclusion.
If you want to mumble and complain because you disagree with the current CIC, your 1st Amendment rights are unchallenged. There’s plenty of kindred spirits here, and I will be free to do something else instead of wandering down Tangent Trail to Obamabites Park with you.
TheDixieDove.com
February 27th, 2013
1:14 pm
You are re-telling a popular lie Kyle! It is a FACT that president-O DOES NOT have the power to pick the cuts. YES congress COULD vote to give him that control…BUT THEY HAVEN’T so stop lying and saying they have. Thanks, and…
——Sequester The Rich
The Republicans are marching us off a cliff…. wake up America, make some damn noise!!!
Stop Sequester Tax the Rich-
During America’s hay-day (from 1937 to 1980) our tax rates on the wealthiest citizens were double and triple what they are today! How did we afford to build all of our highways, electrical grid, dams and bridges and tunnels and the American Dream! Those tax policies are what made America great!
http://TheDixieDove.com/
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 27th, 2013
1:14 pm
Cutting 2% from a almost $4 trillion budget is a drop in the bucket
Yeah, cause 0% of anything is better than 2% of the same!
I bet when your boss could only offer you a 2% raise you turned that down cause, hey, it’s only a drop in the bucket, right?
Jefferson
February 27th, 2013
1:20 pm
Like the Braves and the Bulldogs, can’t win the big one.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
1:21 pm
Sue-
I agree and the House passed a budget that the Senate didn’t even hold committee hearings. Now who is at fault? How do you negoiate with a body that won’t do their job?
So the Senate gets a pass because you don’t like the budget the House passed? Please. Then the Senate should have amended it and sent it back to the House. I get, the problem is not enough spending and no new taxes. Brother we are done with that. Obama got his tax hike and there isn’t anymore coming. When all the leading Democrats deny our country has a spending problem, we are all screwed, blued and tattooed.
How much of the debt was paid off when Clinton was president? Exactly. You madam and your never ending thrist to spend, expand government and put off ever getting our fiscal house in order is exactly why we are in such deep trouble. God save us because we are headed done the path of certain destruction.
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
1:22 pm
Deep Cover: I agree with Kyle Wingfield’s take. The reduction can me made with absolutely NO EFFECT on essential services. However, the GOP should have been smart enough to specify which accounts should be reduced. Instead they have set themselves up to get worked over by Obama by playing this stupid deficit game…and it serves them right.
Finn: Pres O has the upper hand again? LOL In about 10 or 20 years from now you Cons will realize you’ve been getting schooled by this guy all along. mwuahahahahahahahahahaha
Dusty: No I did not have a bad dream about Presdient Obama being a “tyrant”. I simply read the news. The members of his cabinet are now releasing federal prisoners from jail and blaming cost cuts which are not even in force yet. So this great power to change the law as is convenient is justifiable? I don’t think so.
It’s pretty sad that our country is so divided right now. In one corner you have decent people like Dusty who are concerned about the future of our great nation and the amount of debt that we will be passing on to our children and grandchildren. In the other corner, you have PsOS like Deep Cover and Finn who really don’t give a crap about anything as long as their guy keeps winning popularity polls.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
1:25 pm
AQ-
Think you misunderstood me, many liberals complain about Bush and the two “unfunded” wars yet Obama has done the exact same thing and he gets a pass from them. Right is right and wrong is wrong regardless of party. It just is unexplainable to me why liberals and the media have given Obama such a pass.
splavistic
February 27th, 2013
1:28 pm
Kyle, You are your own sound-chamber. A majority blame the GOP. A majority will CONTINUE to blame the GOP. There’s no wiggling out of the fact that you guys just don’t want to play ball. You only want to play by your rules. Thanks. Thanks for throwing our country under the bus, AGAIN!
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
1:31 pm
splavistic-
You are absolutely correct. The rules a republican house passed, a democrat senate passed and a democrat president signed into law. Remember what Obama said about sequester, “there are no easy off ramps with this one” The republicans agree with him.
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
1:44 pm
The great opportunity that is being missed in all the political bickering is the building of a physical and cultural infrastructure to promote prosperity. Interest rates are at a record low, almost 0% for the federal government. We should borrow every cent available to spend on projects that prepare the nation for the future. If our economy returns to Clintonesque prosperity, we’ll be able to repay the debt without a sweat. If our economy never gets out of the doldrums, we won’t be able to pay off the present debt anyhow. One way, we may succeed, the other way we’re sure to lose.
Aynie Sue–Your economic “plan” would merely be laughable if we weren’t in such dire economic straits. In case you didn’t know, a significant portion of our current budget goes toward paying interest on the money that has already been borrowed. In 2011, for example, interest payments alone totaled more than $450 B.
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.htm
Here’s the bottom line for you: Federal revenue has been a little more than $2 T per year on average in the last decade. With that level of revenue, it will never be possible to pay down our $16 T debt, especially considering the fact that we’re now adding $1 T more each year to that debt. In fact, even if all of the “sock-it-to-the-rich” schemes proposed by the Dems were enacted, we still would be adding to the debt every year, so that your dream of “Clintonesque prosperity” is just that–a dream.
I’m hoping that some of you Libs will grow up one day and accept basic financial truths, such as you can’t spend significantly more than you take in each year without consequences. As we stand, the only possible way out of this mess is for hyper-inflation to occur, so that we’re paying our debs back with greatly devalued currency. Great plan, except for those who have saved their entire lives for retirement.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
1:50 pm
Well said Bruno.
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
1:51 pm
A majority blame the GOP. A majority will CONTINUE to blame the GOP.
splavistic–Out of curiosity, what’s the difference which majority blames who?? It doesn’t matter how “popular” Obama and the Dems are if we’re heading straight for the toilet. If Obama and the Dems truly loved our country, they would be committed to solving our budget crisis. But, as has been shown time and time again, their only interest lies in winning popularity contests. Is that really enough for you??
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
1:57 pm
Well said Bruno.
Retired Soldier: I get so frustrated with these intelligence-challenged Libs who refuse to take a realistic look at our budget problems. As the chart below shows, our highest revenue collection years were in 2005 and 2006, in which we collected a little more than $2.5 T per year. Right now, we’re spending more than $3.6 T per year. The numbers don’t even remotely match up, yet all the Libs can do is point to popularity polls and gloat that their guy won the last election. I generally like to feel proud of my fellow Americans, but all I have is disgust for the Libs right now.
Dusty
February 27th, 2013
1:59 pm
MarkV
You want a personal story about the loss of freedom in the last four plus years. Ok. It’s in my family. MY son-in-law has been taking all the legal steps to become an American citizen. He spent time and money and bad jobs so he could do it right to become a citizen. Now he IS a legal citizen and very proud to be an American. It took TEN years to accomplish this legal step .He would not break the law. He did not come here illegally.
Now, illegal people who have broken Federal laws are dismissed from jail because the Obama administration has found loopholes to let prisoners like this out on the streets. Then this administration claims they can’t afford it because of cuts that have not even been passed yet, i. e. the sequester.
The loss of fairness is but one step in loss of freedom. It seems our government can now find some way to do almost anything they wish and say it is OK. If you want to call it something else, go ahead but you certainly are ignoring a world of down grades on our freedom. .
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
2:00 pm
Here are the raw numbers:
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200
So how about it, Libs?? Any of you willing to look at the hard numbers, or are you too busy gloating about who won the last election?? Do any of you even remotely care about the financial health of our country??
Dusty
February 27th, 2013
2:04 pm
Bruno
So glad to read your clear sensible voice. .Keep up the good work..
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
2:05 pm
You want a personal story about the loss of freedom in the last four plus years.
Dusty–Don’t forget that Obama and the Dems doubled down on the Patriot Act. Now, not only can the govt spy on you without any kind of warrant or judicial oversight, they can kill you without any kind of trial as long as they deem you to be an “enemy”. Starting next year, we will no longer have the right to oversee paying our own health care expenses without being fined a significant amount of money.
Jefferson
February 27th, 2013
2:08 pm
All levels of taxes will have to be raised to solve the debt problem, like it or not. Whoever cut them back did their kids a injustice.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
2:09 pm
Bruno-
I agree, but we (the collective we) as a nation are allowing this. Republicans are felons in this matter just as democrats are. In fact I blame republicans more than democrats. At least democrats are honest about spending and the debt and deficit. Dems don’t care and are willing to say so. Reps say they want to fix the deficit and debt, then go along with it. Why our Speaker hasn’t been fired is beyond me. Plus the Ryan budget doesn’t balance for 20 years and we “conservatives” sing its praises, 20 years!
We need tough love and we need it right now. No one is exempt and it will hurt everyone. But the pain of doing it today is far less than when we go bust.
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
2:12 pm
So glad to read your clear sensible voice. .Keep up the good work..
Dusty–Thus far, the Libs’ only response to our budget woes seems to be that “normal business principles don’t apply to government spending.” While there is a kernel of truth to that statement, it’s not true across the board. As history has clearly demonstrated, including recent history in Greece, Ireland, etc., there is a limit to how far in debt you can go at the federal level before facing tangible consequences.
It’s very discouraging that love for our country has now been replaced by the ugliest sort of selfishness as demonstrated by the Libs.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
2:13 pm
Jefferson-
The answer is Obama, remember the 2010 Obama tax cut extention? Remember the Obama tax cut extention of 2013, except for those making over 450k?
Next question?
NoBodyYouKnow
February 27th, 2013
2:13 pm
Does anyone ever interpet what “just saying” is saying?
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
2:17 pm
Bruno-
You are correct and generally it is when National debt exceeds GNP. Opps, we have already passed that point.
What these guys don’t realize is American national debt as a percentage of GNP is higher here than in Greece. So why are we “suffering” like Greece? We are the world’s reserve currency. We make the rules. Sad.
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
2:23 pm
I agree, but we (the collective we) as a nation are allowing this. Republicans are felons in this matter just as democrats are. In fact I blame republicans more than democrats. At least democrats are honest about spending and the debt and deficit. Dems don’t care and are willing to say so. Reps say they want to fix the deficit and debt, then go along with it.
RS–I hope that I didn’t give any impression that I’m letting the Repubs off the hook by any stretch of the imagination. In terms of raw hypocrisy, you’re right that the Repubs are likely more to blame than the Dems. However, the fact is that the Republicans have been pretty much marginalized the past 6 years or so, when the crisis has been at its worst.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774721.html
I save my greatest contempt for the voters, who refuse to elect responsible people into office. If you look back through the blog today, the irresponsible ones stick out like a sore thumb. There is no Free Lunch, not now, or ever. We must pay for the services we use, period.
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
2:33 pm
We need tough love and we need it right now. No one is exempt and it will hurt everyone. But the pain of doing it today is far less than when we go bust.
RS–All I can say is that I’ve always taken the responsible path in life. As a kid, my family refused govt assistance even though we qualified for it, and chose to work our way out of poverty instead. As such, I’ve held full-time jobs since age 11. I financed my own way through college without any family help, and paid off my student loans, business loans, and mortgages all ahead of schedule. I still live way below my means because I hope to retire at a reasonable age–e.g. I still have a 27″ tube TV, and pay only $3 per month for my cell phone.
In the meantime, I look around and see people who are receiving govt assistance driving luxury cars, using expensive cell phones, with more than one big screen TV in the house. Yet, according to the Libs, I’m supposed to feel sorry for these folks and be willing to support their lifestyles through my tax dollars.
I put this up in the last thread, but here’s the story of a family of 4 which is living on around $14,000 per year.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-a-family-of-four-manages-to-live-well-on-just–14-000-per-year-174803218.html
Georgia, The "New Mississippi"
February 27th, 2013
2:38 pm
Our government is broken. What time does the government shut down start next month ? Whenever J-Bo and Team GOP can pass some legislation supported by someone else on American soil besides Fox News watchers , it will be repaired ( overnight).
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
2:44 pm
Whenever J-Bo and Team GOP can pass some legislation supported by someone else on American soil besides Fox News watchers , it will be repaired ( overnight).
Any realistic suggestions, New Mississippi?? Just sock it to the rich some more?? Unfortunately, your Lib buddies have no plan at all, and keep counting on brain-dead voters like yourself to keep putting them back in office.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 27th, 2013
2:44 pm
“If the president’s idea of how to manage our federal government is to release 6,000-10,000 people who have been detained, and most of the people who have been detained are not just illegally present in the united states but they’ve committed some kind of a criminal act in addition to that, that seems to me to be a pretty misguided approach to how you save money in that agency,” Mr. Goodlatte, Virginia Republican, told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
Impeachment now!
Matz
February 27th, 2013
2:46 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8H-CTeX2-4
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
2:46 pm
Bruno-
I guess the Libs have flown the coop. They don’t want the facts to interfere with their version of the truth. Congrats on your life story, you are a prime example of the opportunity we all have, if we choose to take and not be a ward of the state. You see what Libs don’t understand is conservatives have a big heart, for those that are truly needy, we don’t do enough. For those who chose to be needy we do way to much.
Failure in life is only an opportunity to win at something else. Anyone that has never failed, has never been in the game. One of the favorite sayings in the Army was “self help is the best help”. So get off your duff, get to work and climb the ladder.
Politico
February 27th, 2013
2:48 pm
RS
The US Debt is @ 170% or so of GDP? That is about where Greece is currently.
I’m with you about the need to get debt down and either party has done good with it over the last 40 yrs, but your numbers are suspect.
Maybe you have some information I can’t find.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/government-debt-to-gdp
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
2:54 pm
Politico-
Admittedly I was going off of numbers some months old. I believe we went past 100% of GDP last spring or early summer. When we did Greece was then in the mid 90’s.
None the less the point is, if we were talking about a business or a family it would be bankrupt.
Politico
February 27th, 2013
2:58 pm
RS
You are incorrect again. Yes we went past 100% last year, however if you take time to look at the link it will show you that Greece hit 100% and has been going up since 2006.
I know it makes for a great talking point, but it is incorrect. You are free to say it over and over, but it will not make it any more true than the first time you stated it.
Dusty
February 27th, 2013
2:58 pm
Bruno,
The thrifty family item you gave us was fun to read. I’ve been on the thrifty track a long time not necessarily by necessity but just the general joy of keeping adeaqute money on hand for all needs. ( Some say it comes from my tight-wad Scottish ancestry. Maybe. I like to save.)
Anyway, it is good to read that some Americans still know how to manage on their own even during “tight times’. I wish others could get THAT feeling.
Retired Soldier
February 27th, 2013
3:02 pm
Politico-
OK, and you say the U.S. debt ratio is 170% of GDP? Where does that number come from?
Bruno
February 27th, 2013
3:04 pm
Anyway, it is good to read that some Americans still know how to manage on their own even during “tight times’. I wish others could get THAT feeling.
For me, Dusty, my greatest satisfaction in life is to be self-sufficient, to be self-reliant. My greatest fear in life would be to be dependent on someone else. But, mention “self-reliance” in a crowd of Libs, and get ready for some cussing.
Some say it comes from my tight-wad Scottish ancestry.
Q: How was copper wire invented??
A: Two Scotsmen found the same penny.
Matz
February 27th, 2013
3:05 pm
“Anyway, it is good to read that some Americans still know how to manage on their own even during “tight times’. I wish others could get THAT feeling.”
I think the reality is that more Americans DO this than brag, boast, and whine about it, or use it to make a point. Yeah, I’ve been through some tough times, as have most people I know, but most of us are not asking to have a medal pinned on our chest, or using it as a reason to demean others who were not as blessed with the gift of resiliency or resourcefulness as we were.
Georgia, The "New Mississippi"
February 27th, 2013
3:07 pm
@ Bruno , “Any realistic suggestions, New Mississippi?? ”
Come on man…… they pay J-BO 176k to come up with realistic suggestions. If he stopped signing pledges with people that do live in his state, can not vote in his district , and pays no taxes in his state he would be able to come up with a lot of realistic suggestions.
MarkV
February 27th, 2013
3:07 pm
Dusty @ 1:59 pm
Dusty
I am sorry, but you have not provided what I asked you about. Your son-in-law has not suffered any loss of freedom because of anything Obama has done. And it is rather strange to hear you complain about fairness, the one thing the conservatives mock when the liberals call for it.