Archive for category Budgets
Marco Rubio’s Letter to Obama on Debt Limit
Posted by Tom in Budgets, Deficit, Fiscal Policy, National Debt, Presidency on January 12, 2012
January 6, 2012 
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President
Any day now, news reports suggest you will ask Congress to approve yet another increase in the debt ceiling. The expected request is another $1.2 trillion, adding to a three year debt binge that has totaled $4.5 trillion on your watch and that has enabled our overall debt to surpass $15 trillion. Your latest request will push the federal debt limit well above $16 trillion.
This pending request will be the sixth time during your Presidency that Congress is being asked to keep allowing government and spending to grow at rates that are unsustainable. In other words, you have made it a routine part of your job to ask for more room to spend without any plan to reduce our debt.
Instead of making debt ceiling increases a routine Washington exercise, we need to make it routine to actually spend no more than we take in. Until then, I will oppose your request to continue borrowing and spending recklessly.
As I wrote in The Wall Street Journal in March 2011, I will oppose a debt ceiling increase unless such an authorization is accompanied by a real plan to tackle our debt. Ideally, such a plan would feature both pro-growth elements and spending restraints, including fundamental tax reform, regulatory reform, meaningful cuts to discretionary spending, a balanced-budget amendment, and reforms to save Social Security and Medicare.
If we had done this in mid-2011 when we last debated the debt ceiling, we could have set America on a path to economic growth and prosperity. This would have led to more jobs and, in turn, to more duly employed taxpayers generating more growth-driven revenue to help us pay down our debt. Instead, you failed to lead, punted the tough decisions and, in doing so, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history. It’s a tragic reality but, on your watch, more and more people have come to believe that America is becoming a deadbeat nation inevitably heading toward a European-style debt crisis.
When you served in the Senate in 2006, you called raising the debt limit “a sign of leadership failure.” Using your own standard, this request will mark your sixth “sign of leadership failure” on the debt ceiling issue alone. Throughout our history, Americans have revered courageous leaders and celebrated them as profiles in courage. Unfortunately, the first three years of your presidency have been a profile in leadership failure. While you may choose to run your reelection campaign against a “Do-Nothing Congress,” your insistence on doing nothing to meaningfully tackle our debt poses a direct threat to America’s exceptional character and is leading us towards a diminished future.
America deserves leaders who will stand front and center, level with the American people about our challenges and offer real solutions to solve them. Instead of simply asking for another debt ceiling increase, I urge you to come forward with a real plan to tackle our debt in 2012.
Sincerely,
Marco Rubio
United States Senator
Debt Limit? What debt limit?
Posted by Tom in Budgets, Fiscal Policy, National Debt on January 8, 2012
We will soon see a new Obama sponsored debt limit increase. Look for another replay of the last fiasco. Kyle Meintzer alerts us to this close to home video on debt limits:
For the U.S. cutting expenses is the only answer. Real cuts are necessary, not mere reductions in the rates of increasing government spending.
Boomerang–A Great Read
Posted by Tom in Bankruptcy, Banks, Budgets, California, Deficit, Europe, Fed, Financial Crisis, Monetary Policy, National Character, National Debt, Politics, Wall Street on November 5, 2011
I just finished Michael Lewis’s latest, Boomerang and can highly recommend it. As a non-economist reporter he tells the story of a world awash in cheap money and easy credit and tells it with reference to a few developed countries. Starting with Iceland, the first to go belly up when its fishermen decided to become investment bankers with credit advanced by European banks, he goes to the current zombie Greece. The Greeks borrowed not to invest but just to take exorbitant salaries and long vacations. Now the Irish, bless them, decided to become real estate developers in Ireland this with the funds borrowed from Irish and European banks; unfortunately the government decided to guarantee the banks against horrendous losses on the worthless real estate developments. Onto Germany whose citizens are disciplined not to over borrow or over spend, but whose banks were perfectly willing to lend to the Greeks and Irish without proper credit evaluation.
When he heads home to the US he focuses on his home state of California which is essentially bankrupt. First to fail though will not be the state government but the local municipalities the worst of which is Vallejo which filed for bankruptcy in May of 2008. There is, of course, more to come. Here’s a brief interview with the author:
S&P Downgrade Is Merely a Symptom
Posted by Tom in Budgets, Deficit, Entitlements, Europe, National Debt, Welfare on August 8, 2011
Despite today’s worldwide market plunge and the pundits attributing it to the loss of the U.S. AAA rating, that loss is only a symptom of the underlying disease: major deficits for as far as the eye can see, resulting accumulated debt as an increasing percentage of GDP, and staggering unfunded (and undisclosed) liabilities. The U.S. is basically headed toward bankruptcy. If downgrades continue bond purchasers will demand more returns which in turn increase the deficits and debt.
On a macro basis we have two major customer economies in the dumps, Europe and the U.S., and one major exporter and lender, China, all suffering. Europe is of greater concern than the U.S., even though neither has cogent plans for a solution; it’s just that the U.S. has a better political structure to affect an eventual solution.
So, forgetting about the market, the real economy is facing a recession. Joe Morabito CEO of an international executive relocation business reports that the typical summer peak time has turned into a downer. Gene Humphrey CEO of a chip technology company reports that industry leaders are forecasting a downturn for the next two quarters because consumers have retreated from the market. This is “real economy” evidence that we are looking at a probable double dip, a second recession.
Politically, the parties blame one another. But the tea party gets the most blame. In fact, the tea party should get the most credit. Someone must yell from the rooftops STOP, CUT BIG GOVERNMENT!
Serious cuts in entitlements must start now. Gen involved. Call your representatives Convince your neighbors. Save your grandchildren.
Marco Rubio On Fire
Posted by Tom in Budgets, Congress, Deficit, Democrats, Entitlements, Fiscal Policy, Welfare on August 1, 2011
Ron Tomsic sent this. We need more Rubios is leadership positions.
RYAN vs OBAMA
Posted by Tom in Budgets, Humor, Medicare, Nationalized Health Care, Technology on June 18, 2011
SHUT IT DOWN!
Posted by Tom in Bankruptcy, Budgets, Congress, Deficit, Entitlements, National Character, Politics, Presidency, Statism on April 3, 2011
I’ve read several articles and posts on the potential shutdown of the government if a wasteful expense cuts are not agreed to by Reid and Obama. The consensus is, as in past shutdowns, that “essential services” would be maintained. (More on that later.) In essence, defense, boarder protections (such as we have), law enforcement, the courts, congress and the administration would continue as would things like welfare checks and social security, medicare and medicaid payments. Our world, our lives, will not end if the government shuts down!
USA Today reports that President Obama has predicted “dire” consequences if there is a shutdown. However, he has instructed agencies not to reveal their shutdown plans. Seems kinda strange, doesn’t? If consequences are so dire, why wouldn’t he let the agencies explain?
“In e-mails from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last month, agencies were told their statements to Congress “should not state or imply what functions would or would not be continued in the event of a funding gap.”
It continued: “Agencies should not be previewing shutdown plans — that is, policy and operational decisions — in any way.” Agencies were instructed to clear any responses to questions about their shutdown plans with OMB.”
Here’s the point: why is the United States government rendering NON-ESSENTIAL SERVICES, AND WITH OUR TAX MONEY?
By the blood of our forefathers we are a Constitutional Republic, one of limited powers, those not granted by us are reserved to the states or retained by us; this is embodied in the 10th Amendment. The government should perform ONLY essential services.
So, I say, shut it down. And consider shutting it down permanently. The boogyman Obama and his lackeys in the main stream media would have us fear is our own ignorance and dependency. This doesn’t portend a very confident future for our children!
Lets Eat the Rich
Posted by Tom in Bankruptcy, Budgets, Business, Deficit, Economics, National Debt on April 2, 2011
Obama Budget Is Unsustainable
Posted by Tom in Budgets, Centrally Managed Economy, Congress, Deficit, National Debt on March 30, 2011
Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama brings his cross examination skills to the fore with Secretary Tim Geithner who is forced to concede that the federal debt is unsustainable.
In Serious Need of a Scapegoat
As Charles Hurt points out in his Washington Times opinion piece, Tea Party Not the Cause of the Budget Stalemate, Harry Reid is desperate for excuses. He and his PR mouth piece Chuck Schumer are sounding off on the Tea Party. Talk about desperate!
Hurt points out that since Obama took office the Democrats have been AWOL on budgeting:
“Over the past year and a half, the vast majority of which Democrats held total control over Congress, Democrats failed to produce a single spending bill or even a simple budget.
“When Democrats in the House managed to get a spending proposal through the lower chamber, those bills only went on to the Senate to die under Mr. Reid’s failed leadership.
“Not a single spending bill actually made it to the desk of the president, who would have gladly signed whatever his party sent him.”
He recounts the historic Republican landslide in November changing control of the House and weakening control in the Senate.
So, they haven’t passed a budget, but their failure to cut fat has made Obama famous for deficits and debt! Obama’s deficits in this and last year have been in the $1.5 Trillion range. We borrow 42 cents of every dollar these spendthrifts waste. Since taking office Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their fellow statists have increased the national debt by $3.445 Trillion, that’s $5 Billion a day! The pain will get worse as interest rates inevitably increase.
The worst part is they are stealing our children’s', grandchildren’s', and great-grandchildren’s’ money, indeed stealing their future! This sick excuse for a leader in the Senate is desperate. He’s so beholden to the unions, trial lawyers, Hollywood libs, and hands-out dole takers, that he’s frozen.
Harry, you are one poor excuse looking for another poor excuse. Get a spine, man and quit stealing from my grandchildren!