0 comment Thursday, September 4, 2014 | admin
Golly gee. Everyone seems to be going at it these days, from Thomas Blow-Hard Friedman and Bob Herbert to George Will and my favorite law-prof blogger Ann Althouse, and . . . well the list just keeps growing.
Here's a snippet from Friedman's most recent bloviatings (assuming you can bear to read them): President Obama�s bad luck was that he showed up just as we moved from the fat years to the lean years. His calling is to lead The Regeneration. He clearly understands that in his head, but he has yet to give full voice to it. Actually, the thing that most baffles me about Mr. Obama is how a politician who speaks so well, and is trying to do so many worthy things, can�t come up with a clear, simple, repeatable narrative to explain his politics � when it is so obvious.
Mr. Obama won the election because he was able to "rent" a significant number of independent voters � including Republican business types who had never voted for a Democrat in their lives � because they knew in their guts that the country was on the wrong track and was desperately in need of nation-building at home and that John McCain was not the man to do it.
They thought that Mr. Obama, despite his liberal credentials, had the unique skills, temperament, voice and values to pull the country together for this new Apollo program � not to take us to the moon, but into the 21st century.(emph. added)He says Obama "speaks so well" but says nothing. Et tu, Thomas?
But, ah, it feels good to be a rented voter, yes?
And never did I think I'd agree with Susan Estrich on anything, but check out this excerpt from her recent column:Paying doctors and hospitals less to give us more? That's bound to work�
It's not a communications problem. What's gone wrong is that people see the country swimming in debt, see the jobs recovery lagging, see friends and neighbors who are not even hanging on, and they just don't know how this administration is planning to pay for a massive health care reform effort.
The appointment of a bipartisan commission on the deficit only underscores the problem and makes it seem that the administration has no answer for it except another new spending program. "Just say no" isn't the answer to the need for health care reform � but neither is another big spending program when we are being told our historic debt is a ticking time bomb for our children.
She makes perfect sense. "Don't tell me I can eat an entire chocolate cake and not gain an ounce, Mr. President. I'm not stupid."Fact is, folks, we're screwed. And these truths are self-evident, even through the obfuscating gauze of Obama's "empowering" oratory.
The problem is that no one in DC will say so. The biggest D.C. denial game being played is that we, the voters, don't already know how bad things are.Unemployment will remain at crisis levels for years to come.
Social Security is running out of money at a rapid pace. And let's not even talk about Medicare or Medicaid. It's too damn depressing.
Fannie and Freddie are hemorrhaging losses (and some $3.9 TRILLION in liabilities are being carried off the balance sheet, don't forget -- so that the real losses -- borne by you and I -- are never reflected in the federal budget. You think an Obama 1.6T budget is unpalatable? Imagine the fireworks if the White House budget were truthfully stated.)
As we trudge to work everyday, facing unpaid bills and late-fees, the voters know the government is taking our hard-earned dollars to bail out people behind in their mortgage payments, including people who should have never been allowed to borrow in the first place.It feels good, eh? Keep on truckin' trudging!
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for charity. But can it at least be voluntary rather than by default?As for the housing market, well, unless the Fed changes its mind, losers Fannie and Freddie will be buying no more
mortgages from the private banks, come the end of March. Which is . . . okay.
But brace yourselves for the consequences. Can you say "no more loans" for home buyers? Higher interest rates on everything? More and more new treasury issues (i.e., government bonds we sell to investors overseas) that we will never be able to re-pay without massive tax increases or cuts in spending? And all of this assumes anyone will even buy our debt.
We can jump in bed and cover our heads, but Santa's not coming tonight. Or tomorrow.
Better that we face what's ahead of us now, I say -- and go on a rice-and-beans diet immediately -- rather than choke ourselves to death on a "reconciled" healthcare cram-down and a cap and tax bill.
Choke (def.): to check or block normal breathing of by compressing or obstructing the trachea or by poisoning or adulterating available air.Make no mistake: health care and global warming deserve our attention. They are worthy causes, noble undertakings, and ultimately attainable -- in some future incantation. But not now.
Sorry, Washington, but we the people simply can't afford them.
Because closer to home, it's things like summer camp, dental bills, and a new pair of glasses for our kids that we're finding harder and harder to swing. Vacations we crossed off our wish-list months ago. It would be great if the funds were there, but they're not.We get it.
But, inexplicably, Congress does not. Take a look at these 2010 omnibus budget-busters, which were A-Okay per the DC folk:
A chicken in every pot . . . sounds mighty good. So now then. Who's going to rustle up those chickens?
Labels: Bipartisan, Flogging, Health Care, Obama Agenda