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Friday, February 11, 2011

Government shutdown?

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I suspect when the republicans get through using every trick in the book to weaken Roe v Wade and the Hyde amendment; they will submit some serious budget plans.  I expected them to  submit  proposals on the high end and strictly partisan but the ones I've heard will lead to a government shutdown.  We have not seen the level of cuts they're proposing since World War II.  Senator Harry Reid said "in many cases these proposals may mean taking workers off the assembly line or taking teaches out the classrooms or police officers off our streets." He went onto say "after all, you can lose a lot of weight by cutting off your arms and legs," he added.  "But no doctor would recommend it ."Not to be outdone, Iowa Congressman Steve King said he would not vote for the legislation until it completely defunded health care reform.

For the past two years, the Republican Party has been screaming about high deficits, spending and debt.  You would think that they would have a plan to put in place immediately upon taking office. In their last campaign, they promised to cut $100 billion from the budget.  They knew they didn't have a basis for that number, but it sounded good. After some serious arm twisting by the tea party, their proposals is to cut $100 billion in the next seven months, mostly in items that will damage our frail recovery. The house republicans want to make cuts in job training, environmental protection, disease control  and crime prevention.  The republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Harold Rogers, warned that the full cut will require laying off the FBI agents and air traffic controllers.
 
Speaker the house, John Boehner, will appear on Meet the Press, but I suspect it will turn out like they always do. David Gregory will ask him a question. He'll give the canned answer. David will try again to no avail.  I'll be watching just to see how far they are apart from the president's budget, which the White House will unveil Monday.

We do need spending cuts, but we also need tax increases because our country not only needs to get to get its house in order; we also need to grow.  This is not a time to privatize Social Security or Medicare.  If Senator Rand Paul thinks that Social Security can be fixed by raising the age limit and means testing, then that's the bipartisan route, we should take.  Senator Harry Reid  said that Social Security was fine for now(40 years), so there we have it ,views from very different sides of the aisle.  Now, if you think the house of representatives is taking an ax to the budget; Rand Paul takes a 50 caliber machine gun to the budget.  He is proposing a $500 billion cut.  The freshman senator has a lot to learn about economics' and Washington.
 
Federal and state budgets are different because most states have to balance their budgets but the Federal government doesn't, but early in March, I believe we will have a showdown between those that know the seriousness of that action and the tea party faction which remain in solidarity by not increasing the debt ceiling. At CPAC today, the tea party may have found their presidential candidate in the former governor of Minnesota ,Tim Pawlenty. He said " We should not...We should not raise the debt ceiling." Pawlenty used to be a moderate Republican but he has really change.

President Obama will hear from the democrats about his 2.5 billion cut to LIHEAP, a home heating fuel assistance for low income people.  Today republican senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts joined the democrats saying". “With Massachusetts residents getting pounded by brutal winter storms, cutting…funding is a nonstarter for me.”

I understand it is customary to sway voters with some outrageous proposals like the one Governor Rick Perry proposed but he is serious.  The good governor " urged Texas colleges and universities to create a bachelor's degree program that cost less than $10,000 including textbooks. Of course, he didn't say how these schools could or should do this..

http://tinyurl.com/49ppwwp

23 comments:

Edith Ann said...

It is just hard to take some republicans seriously, isn't it?

They act like President Obama invented spending, and have conveniently forgotten how quickly Bush evaporated the surplus Clinton left.

I think what we have a case of here is very similar to the anti-abortionists. They know they want to criminalize abortion, but they have not figured out the next step in their plan--identifying the criminal. Is it the doctor who who performs the investigation? Or is it the woman who willingly seeks the abortion?

The republicans are getting caught with their pants down--literally and figuratively--and need to focus on what it is that they really can do.

My daddy would say that the republicans have let their alligator mouths overload their hummingbird asses. My ex-M-I-L would say to be careful what you wish for--you just might get it.

Mike said...

EA

I don't think the republicans have any qualms about locking up doctors because they think if they lock up a few; they will get their point across. I don't think defense lawyers would feel right about locking up women for having an abortion. It would be like the Salem witch trials.

Great sayings reminds me of what I always say " republicans are great campaigners but they can't govern.".... In campaigns they have people like Karl Rowe who will use every dirty political trick in the book, the Koch brothers who are reserving $88 miilion for republicans who want to eliminate the EPA, and there's the Christian Right who are pleased that the GOP is working on abortion issues instead of the economy.... I almost forgot the tea party, who want to reduce government down to the size of a Radio Shack,so they don't have to pay any taxes.

Mike said...

I guess I have to go out of town and clear my head because I did something I swore I would never do again....I made a promise to myself that I would never get in a religious or abortion discussion again Because I know when I'm out of my league and it's such an emotional issue with no clear winners.

Some posters have made me go father left,I didn't think that was possible..:-), and now the right wing conservatives are making me angry with their rhetoric on abortion. It's as if the expectant mother's life is immaterial.

Time to regroup.

Rebecca said...

On a positive note, I've never thought about how being an organ donor is another way to be pro-life.

Rebecca said...

Now I see the difference between anti-abortion and pro-life! I never understood the actual difference.

Anonymous said...

This is a tough subject to discuss...
I understand both sides of the argument.
IMO, it is up to each individual to weigh the options available to them and to decide what they think is right for them.

It is hard to walk in another persons shoes, but easy to say what you would do IF you where faced with the same decision.

Personally, I would not agree with anyone s decision to have a abortion, but I am not them, that is their decision.

I tend to side with Mike on this issue, I don't think it should even be a political matter. It is a personal issue for a person that should not have to be debated by politicians.

If, in a persons heart of hearts, they choose to abort or not, only they will live with the consequences, not any politician anywhere.

To summarize, I guess I am Pro-Life-Choice of the Individual.

Whether I agree with the Individuals choice or not.
Legion

Edith Ann said...

First, Mike--LOOK AT YOU! 5005 pqge loads!!! Way to go!

I don't know why I bother on the abortion stuff, either.

Yes, I do. It's the same for me, no matter the topic. Just explain why you think what you think and help me see that. If someone cannot explain why they have a certain opinion, then I cannot get all excited that they have it.

I am trying to think--I don't believe I have ever said some poster was WRONG for their opinion, but I have called folks liars when their opinion is based on lies--Tasin, etc.

I love this: "republicans are great campaigners but they can't govern."

I have been out all day and I can see that I have some catching up to do on the Advocate.

Legion--forget your password?

Rebecca said...

I agree, Legion.

I was talking with a friend at the play last night and we both share a similar political ideological path. I said, "I think the Libertarian party is the escape hatch from the Republican party." We had both moved away from the Republican party by swaying more Libertarian. We both agreed that we don't feel comfortable with any party or ideology. I feel like I am still in the middle of a paradigm shift... We also thought that maybe the party had changed...

or that if I am being ME and really honest with myself, I am not conforming to any group-think.

Transition is a rough place to be!

Edith Ann said...

Rebecca, I like how you describe the Libertarian Party as an escape hatch.

Interesting.

Mike said...

Thanks a lot Edith Ann,a lot of those hits came after your refferals.

I see you caught up in a big at the VA..:-)

Mike said...

Rebecca

That's the 3rd change you have made this week..:-)

The Liberttarian Party is anti-everything=no taxes,government,wars,laws,EPA and if it feels good and does not break the law ...Do it.

You are smart,so you will figure it all out...

Mike said...

Legion357

I don't know anyone who is pro-abortion but many women want that option available just in case of that unforeseen, unavoidable, private decision that has to be made between a doctor,the mother and father....Not some old politicians.

Mike said...

EA
I thought you might like comment by W.D. Moore (private citizen,Houston).
He said Sen. Patrick is certainly keen on obstructing and complicating a woman's right to control her reproductive life.

I wonder if he would consider in similar measures for other rights concerning life. For instance,if a person wanted to exercise his second amendment right,he should first view a U.S. Army medical film on gunshot triage,and then attend an autopsy of an actual gunshot victim. Only then could he or she buy or handle a gun.

Mike said...

Final comment I promise.
Another letter writer said "if Sen. Patrick truly wished to protect the health and safety of women,as his bill claims,he wouldn't favor slashing funds for family planning,health care, and education.

Actually,to protect women from the need for abortions,he could back a bill making it illegal for men to have unprotected sex without posting a bond equal to the cost of raising and educating a child in case an unplanned pregnancy results.


And they could also first watch a sonogram of a fetus and listen to the beating heart....

Edith Ann said...

Brilliant, simply brilliant!

"I wonder if he would consider in similar measures for other rights concerning life. For instance,if a person wanted to exercise his second amendment right,he should first view a U.S. Army medical film on gunshot triage,and then attend an autopsy of an actual gunshot victim. Only then could he or she buy or handle a gun."

I wish I could think of brilliant stuff like that!

Edith Ann said...

First these guys would have to accept that it is as much their responsibility to prevent a preganancy as it is the girls'.

Mike said...

Amen Edith Ann

The writer hits them where they live..:-)

Single issue ..One solution never works for me.

Mike said...

EA

Smarteepantz used to be as witty as they come...:-)

Edith Ann said...

Yeah, well, that was then...

You know, back in the day, Texas had a law on the books where a guy had to sign a waiver if he was going to have sex with someone he was not married to.

It was in my CPS days, and it was about presumed fathers, legal fathers, and biological fathers. And it was about getting around notifying unknow folks when a child was going to be available for adoption.

I need to see if I can find something on that. But I can remember they--the State--planned to have the forms available at bars.

Isn't that the craziest thing you ever heard?

Rebecca said...

Mike, I didn't make a change this week, I've been in transition for years.

Rebecca said...

But, this year, for the first time, I was able to talk about it with someone - hash it out. So, that really helps me "find my voice."

Mike said...

Rebecca

Exactly, that's why I said you were smart person,and you are going to figure this out.

I think you have found your pragmatic voice and you're using your wit and humor to boot.

Mike said...

EA

That is the craziest thing I've ever heard but I don't doubt it existed.....I certainly can't remember asking for a form...:-)