Not really, but if you’ve watched politicians on Capitol Hill lately, they’re certainly fearful of this concept, along with something called ‘responsibility’. What should absolutely be feared is the crippling debt without a real balanced solution, and I’m not talking about Obama’s balance of meaningless cuts with guaranteed tax hikes! So we now see that the statists are in fits of rage over the very hint of such a proposal. Their paranoia is on full display, while the establishment teeters on as well.
Throughout the weekend we continued to hear Democrats’ resounding rejections of a responsible path in cutting and capping spending, accompanied by the initiation of a balanced budget amendment (going then to the states for ratification) that will require government to spend OUR MONEY within its means. The Hill reports that not only are congressional Democrats releasing dim-witted statements like, “Their proposal stinks” or “outrageous” or “a piece of crap” to describe the fiscally responsible Cut, Cap & Balance Act conservatives are striving to push through the House, but they also report that our Statist-in-Chief has officially threatened to veto the Act, referring to it as an “empty political promise”:
“Neither setting arbitrary spending levels nor amending the Constitution is necessary to restore fiscal responsibility,” the White House said in its statement. “Increasing the federal debt limit, which is needed to avoid a federal government default on its obligations and a severe blow to the economy, should not be conditioned on taking these actions. Instead of pursuing an empty political statement and unrealistic policy goals, it is necessary to move beyond politics as usual and find bipartisan common ground.”
The president's veto threat was followed by a full-on assault from administration officials who blasted the GOP proposal as "extreme, radical [and] unprecedented."
That last description rather perfectly captures the last 2-and-a-half years under the total control of the statist Democrats, don you think? Alinsky tactics are in full effect, led by the top Alinskyite himself. Vetoing a balanced budget? What does that say about this ideology? When taking a look at the above statement, and all the arguments throughout the past few weeks for that matter, it’s clear that there is a fundamental misrepresentation, and deliberately so, that the debt ceiling, whether raised or not, directly relates to debt payments. This couldn’t be more wrongheaded, as current tax revenues bring in enough money to pay towards debt interest, as well as the obligated benefits to seniors, military and the disabled. If there is a default, it will be because this administration, this president, has determined not to pay the debt with its existing revenues, period (and the same applies to payment of beneficiaries). The only reason that the conservative plan to cut, cap and balance could be deemed “empty” and “unrealistic” is solely because Obama’s statist and "extreme, radical [and] unprecedented" approach dubs it so. There is no substance to his argument; he has no plan, except to trudge along, infringing on more liberty, keeping more citizens ‘dumb and dependent’, while excessively spending more taxpayer dollars, and continuing to grow the government larger than ever before.
At the same time, we should not let the Republican establishment off the hook either. As conservative opposition grows against the McConnell plan, some beltway establishment Republicans are still showing that they’ll waffle to avoid any potential blame in the court of public opinion and polls driven by the liberal media, which they fall for every time (i.e., Hannity’s radio interview with McCain in which he all but guarantees the ‘last resort’ for Dems to pounce on). Blame for being responsible? How dastardly. But what’s really dastardly is handing over legislative power to the chief executive, particular our current one, because you not only won’t make a decision as THE precondition of your JOB, but you don’t want to be held responsible when the liberal media attacks (which it will assuredly do anyway). But the statist-enablers never cease to pull through; thus in appropriate context, Erick Erickson’s RedState article divulges more on McConnell's lack of leadership, “Mitch McConnell’s Pontius Pilate Act is a cover for tax increases”:
As Monday’s news cycle gets into full gear, we’re starting to see exactly what Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi are cooking up for the American public — pretend spending cuts and very real tax increases.
Besides pointing to the allowance of Democrat-written legislation that leaves Republicans with the blame when it doesn’t work (like No Child Left Behind), or the creation of a filibuster proof deficit commission to dictate unamendable recommendations, Erickson also points to the inclusion of $1.5 trillion in cuts from the Biden-led negotiations, as summarized by an associate:
Only in Washington are spending increases called spending cuts. They will actually grow discretionary spending at 2/3 rate of inflation (spending increase) but call it $1 trillion in cuts below the baseline of full inflation. About $200 billion come from cuts to health care providers, something we stop every year with the doc fix — not sure how they’ll keep this promise. And another $165 billion come from increases in government fees (some call tax increases), not spending cuts. So at the end of the day, we are left with a $2 billion FY2012 cut, and $55 billion in promised actual spending cuts through yet unspecified policy changes. A whopping $57 billion in cuts over a decade, or less than $6 billion a year.
Real serious when we’re talking about a $14.3 trillion national debt, huh?
But backing up a bit to Obama’s comments earlier today against a balanced budget, using scare tactics as a stimulant to increase the debt limit lest we face a default, one ratings agency has beaten Moody’s and S&P to the punch. Examiner reports, “Egan-Jones Ratings Agency – who called the 2008 financial collapse and lead Moody’s and S&P in putting the U.S on credit watch – cut the U.S debt rating from AAA status over the weekend.” Yet another indicator that the debt ceiling is not the issue; it is the debt and the inability, or rather ‘unwillingness’ of this administration, to pay towards the debt if it doesn’t get its way that is in doubt with our AAA credit rating. And it actually becomes quite difficult to argue against a downgrade when we have a government that refuses to live within its means, even when it is perfectly capable of doing so by relinquishing its hold on dependency in America, as well as the seduction and addiction of its dependents.
No, our government tightening its fiscal belt and living within its means is not something to fear…but a government collapsing from the weight of its own unpayable debt is frightening.
