"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men
from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."
(Thomas Jefferson)


Saturday, August 6, 2011

Downgrade turns up heat on Congress which is a good thing

Will someone please explain to me why Obama went out fundraising and partying to his huge birthday extravaganza in Chicago with the S&P set to downgrade the US credit rating from AAA to AA? 

Why did the Senate adjourn?  When your work is not finished, you certainly don't take a vacation.  The Senate has not passed a budget in over two years so they should have taken no vacation and be in daily sessions to finish the job of passing a budget so the two budgets could go to Conference Committee.  The House has passed a budget and has their affairs in order.   In fact the House has passed bill after bill dealing with the budget and economy that the Senate tabled so they wouldn't have to take a vote.

Do the Democrats plan on passing no budget in 2012 as well which would mean four years of the Senate passing NO budgets and relying on continuing resolutions to keep Government functioning?  If that is not a campaign issue, nothing is.  What a worthless bunch of Democrats in the United State Senate who put politics over what is good for America.  Looks like Reid is still taking orders from Obama to do nothing that might hurt his campaign.

While the Senate leadership has continued to play political games with House passed bills including a budget bill, our credit rating has been downgraded due to lack of action of getting the deficit under control.  The House had made deficit a reduction a priority while Obama and the Democrats continue to look for more ways to spend money including a second stimulus when the first one failed miserably.  

Unless the Democrats in the Senate and Obama get serious about deficit reduction, we could see another downgrade.  As I heard someone on Neil Cavuto this morning say, Obama will be known for the first President to allow a downgrade of credit of the United States not the first black President.  While the fires have been burning in DC with partisan bickering and stubbornness out of the Senate Democrats to cuts, Obama has been out raising money for his reelection. 

The goal of Obama is to raise $1B to run his campaign and he doesn't even have a primary opponent.   That seems to be more of a priority to Obama then getting the financial house of the United States in order.  Is he doing this on purpose to tank the United States to help his overseas buddies in the Arab World bring the United States to its knees?   The other option that comes to mind is that he doesn't care what happens as long as he can fly around the Country on AF One waving his magic wand to raise more dollars for his campaign and grace the little people with his presence. 

One thing is certain, Obama has not had the best interests of the Unites States at heart since he took office and it has not changed except to get worse.  All he cares about is raising money for HIS campaign and be on the campaign trail using the resources of the US taxpayer.  No incumbent President without an opponent would be out raising money and campaigning this early especially when the Federal Government is facing such a financial crisis but Obama is not like other Presidents as we have witnessed.  His agenda to move the Country way left toward socialism has not worked but he has tanked our economy big time in the process. 

Time to send him to the Unemployment line in November 2012.
Downgrade turns up heat on Congress
By Charles Riley @CNNMoney
August 5, 2011: 11:39 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The downgrade of the United States' AAA credit rating will apply even greater pressure on Congress to follow through on plans to tame the nation's debt.

Over the next few months, Washington is set to engage in a series of battles over the fiscal course of the federal government.

And that debate will largely be carried out through a new bipartisan "super committee." The 12-member panel -- six Democrats and six Republicans -- will have until Nov. 23 to propose how to cut between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion in deficits.

Congress will then take an up-or-down vote on the proposals by Dec. 23.

In its downgrade announcement on Friday, credit rating agency S&P said it could "stabilize" the country's rating if the committee's work helps lead to debt-reduction measures "beyond the minimum mandated."

The committee was established by the debt ceiling deal signed by President Obama this week. The law put caps in place on domestic and defense spending, resulting in cuts of $917 billion over 10 years.

What's wrong with the debt ceiling deal


Members will be tasked with finding ways to cut the deficit while navigating tough issues that have festered in Washington for decades: taxes, along with cuts to entitlements, defense and discretionary spending.

The members of the committee will face intense pressure from lobbyists and special interest groups, as well as their fellow lawmakers -- who have to run reelection campaigns and want their views represented.

A dispute has, of course, already erupted over whether the committee will tackle taxes, and which baseline should be used to measure cuts.

While the committee -- once appointed -- faces a series of tough choices, they also have a powerful incentive to finish their work on time, and on budget.

The committee's goal is to cut at least $1.5 trillion in debt. If it fails to do that or deadlocks, the sword of Damocles will fall on most forms of spending in the federal budget.

Specifically, as much as $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts would kick in -- evenly divided between defense and non-defense spending.

The battle over 2012: The super committee won't be the only budget game in town. Lawmakers will also have to decide on agency spending levels for fiscal year 2012, which starts Oct. 1.

As part of the debt ceiling deal, Congress decided to cut spending for the year, but not which programs and agencies will receive less money.

The deadline for making those tough choices is just around the corner.

Excerpt:  Read More at CNN Money

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