Mr. Obama and his flying monkeys have deployed again to attack Tea Party Dorothy and her little dog Toto. Wizard John Kerry and Wunderkind David Axelrod want us to believe the Tea Party caused the S&P downgrade, as if citizen activists protesting government spending for two years caused a downgrade rather than spending and debt built up for 12 years, especially during the last three years.
Even without applying common sense to the nonsensical claims of Kerry and Axelrod, both acting at the behest of the White House, how about we simply go and read the S&P rationale for the downgrade?
We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the general government debt burden by the middle of the decade.
So, if we are reading this correctly, S&P is saying entitlement spending is the main problem, there appears little political will to address real problems, and the most recent debacle concerning the debt ceiling was political theatre yielding unsatisfactory results, a failure of leadership, failures rightly placed on the shoulders of those in the majority party. Afterall, who controls most of the government and has done so for the last five years?
Where is the Tea Party in all this?
The minority in the House, the Tea Party was agreeing with S&P’s conclusions before S&P concluded. Thus, the Tea Party is tracking with reality as Kerry and Axelrod join the flock of flying monkeys. Republicans have suggested various ways to enhance revenue. All Obama can do is chant 'balanced approach,' which is DemSpeak for 'tax the rich.' Only the brainless believe the rich have enough money to balance the budget much less deal with the debt.
Another flying monkey, Rep. Barney Frank, the champion of Fannie Mae (the government mortgage company that was largely responsible for ruining the economy) well, he says the S&P downgrade is due to military spending.
Entitlement Barney, the financial genius who brought us finance ‘reform,’ which essentially put the feds in charge of everything, including unlimited bailout authority, he claims military spending is killing us. (At least he acknowledges spending is the problem. Does he admit bailouts and stimulus spending aggravated the problems we face? Just wait until ObamaCare hits!) He says cutting $200 billion from Defense will address our spending problem without putting the nation at risk.
Barney: the deficit stands at $1.5 trillion, and the debt stands at about $15 trillion. Obama borrows $4 billion per day to run the government. According to the Office of Management and Budget, under Obama’s budget, Washington is projected to spend $3.62 trillion, raise $2.12 trillion, and runs a $1.5 trillion deficit, last year's figures. (Still no budget from this administration after 800 plus days!)
A $200 billion cut from anywhere is meaningless in terms of the big picture, and dangerous specific to Defense.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen both said yesterday the Barney cuts would put the nation at substantial risk.
Mr. Franks’s proposed $200 billion cut represents 50 days of federal borrowing. It does NOTHING to address the spending problem. The proposal is ludicrous, and he knows it, but he hopes the ignorant masses will fall for the feint.
Furthermore, roughly half of federal spending is for entitlements. Additionally, interest payments alone consume 6%. Military spending is presently 20%. We spend less now on Defense as a percentage of the budget than we did 50 years ago.
Thanks to the Tea Party and others, the masses are finally wise to the game.
It’s entitlement spending Barney. It’s entitlement spending John. It’s entitlement spending David. That’s all the Tea Party has been saying, and now, S&P agrees. And who is largely responsible for out of control entitlement spending?
Spending is not our only problem. We also have a problem in Washington with liars and cowards like Frank, Kerry, Axelrod and Obama. Remarkable to realize our own government has become a weapon of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, Dorothy and Toto prefer going home, to be with family, and prosper the farm.
Parting shot: as a percentage of GDP, there are 23 countries that outspend us militarily. Here they are:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html
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