The Debt Ceiling
Jul 27th
Yesterday I sent an email out to the Sturbridge Tea Party members to see what their position is on the Boehner plan for raising the debt ceiling.
The response was sparse, probably because everyone is wrestling with the same issue. Do we put politics in front of principle?
We certainly have enough experience with politics over principle. Washington has done that forever, and we are now reaping the benefits. The entire country is laced with waste, fraud and cronyism, which everyone talks about and no one does anything about.
51% of the population pays no taxes. We give entitlements to anyone who asks, regardless of income, or immigration status. Cowboy Poetry is subsidized, job creators are punished. The whole thing is one very bad joke.
It’s clear that Boehner’s proposal to raise the debt ceiling will not do anything to fix the debt problem. We should not fool ourselves. But a number of people have pointed out the consequence of not passing the bill, and reverting to the Reid plan. From Bill Kristol:
To govern is to choose. To vote is to choose. To vote against John Boehner on the House floor this week in the biggest showdown of the current Congress is to choose to vote with Nancy Pelosi. To vote against Boehner is to choose to support Barack Obama. It is to choose to increase the chances that worse legislation than Boehner’s passes. And it is to choose to increase the chances that Obama emerges from this showdown politically stronger. So when the Heritage Action Fund and the Club for Growth, and Senators Vitter, Paul, et al., choose to urge House Republicans to join the Democrats to defeat Boehner, they’re choosing to side with Barack Obama.
I agree, and as a result, this tea partier will hold her nose and support the Boehner plan. To do otherwise is to help re-elect Barack Obama.
Operation Fast and Furious
Jul 26th
There is a truly amazing hearing going on in the government and oversight reform committee on Operation Fast and Furious. You can tune in here.
It gives a whole new meaning to the word “stonewalling”.
I assume the liberal media will continue to ignore this huge scandal.
Yeah, let’s share the sacrifice
Jul 26th
Times are tough. In order to save money I often travel to the next town to a grocery store where prices are a bit lower than locally. I pay cash for my groceries because I’m on a budget. When I run out of cash in a given month, I stop spending. I suspect that is typical.
Every time I go to the grocer in the next town, I’m amazed at the number of people on food stamps. Often it seems like I am the only person in line not paying with food stamps.
Now I’m sure some of these people need food stamps, and I am equally sure some of them don’t. We seem to have lost the pride in that decision, helped by the fact that the money is delivered on a credit card so there is no shame attached.
I’m not into shaming people, but like our President said last night, we need to share the sacrifice in this country.
51% of the American people pay no taxes. In large part these are the same people who collect benefits like food stamps, which are funded by tax dollars. As the president says, it is time for everyone to get some skin in the game”. It’s time everyone realize that free isn’t free.
On April 15th everyone should open their wallet and let the government jump in. Sure it is a sacrifice, for all of us, but it also brings clarity to what we as a nation are paying for. I’m not suggesting that the indigent pay thousands of dollars to the government, even though they accept thousands of dollars from the government, but I have no problem with asking them to pay a hundred dollars. I have no problem with forcing them to sit down and do the paper work, and saving some money in advance knowing that they too must pay for the things our government spends our money on. Heck, I bet in the next town alone the recipients of food stamps could get together and fund the cost of an hour on Air Force One with their shared sacrifice.
If wishes were horses
Jul 25th
This is what President Obama said today to La Raza:
“The idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you, not just on immigration reform. But that’s not how our system works. That’s not how our democracy functions. That’s not how our Constitution is written,” Obama said at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference.
Does anyone doubt he believes that?
The economy under Obama
Jul 25th
David McElroy posts the story.
Glenn reposts the money quote.
I weep for our country:
“I’M JUST QUITTING.” “I got a permit to open up an underground coal mine that would employ probably 125 people. They’d be paid wages from $50,000 to $150,000 a year. We would consume probably $50 million to $60 million in consumables a year, putting more men to work. And my only idea today is to go home. What’s the use? I don’t know. I mean, I see these guys — I see them with tears in their eyes — looking for work. And if there’s so much opposition to these guys making a living, I feel like there’s no need in me putting out the effort to provide work for them. So as I stood against the wall here today, basically what I’ve decided is not to open the mine. I’m just quitting. Thank you.”
