What Did I Learn Over the Weekend?

I learned that the new Republican Party will take an ax to the defense budget if it means the wealthy will get to keep their tax loopholes. There’s no question that President Obama overplayed his hand by using fear mongering tactics that were proved to be wrong. It gives credence to the old saying “if you lay down with dogs you will get up with fleas.” The president has a 51% approval right now and the GOP has a 29%; the difference is that 29% translates into a 81% approval in the representative’s district.

Joe Scarborough parroted the GOP line this morning by saying that cutting 1% of the budget will not bring on the doom and gloom the administration was trying to shove on the American taxpayer. At first, it was 3% of GDP, then 2%, and now it’s 1% but the fact remains that the current 1% applies to the next seven months, and it is not applied evenly across the board. Those states that depend on government contracts will feel the pain more than those that do not. The furlough of government workers will not improve the unemployment picture. Even Joe Scarborough admits that the cuts will be taken out of growth incentives like education, research and development and infrastructure projects. Congress will take up a bill to give the president the budget-cutting options, but they might as well say, “You have to cut off one of your fingers but we’ll let you pick the one you want to cut off.”

John Boehner stuck to his talking points this weekend on “Meet the Press” with David Gregory. He said that nobody in Washington knows what the sequester will do. That’s just your personal opinion John, but you don’t pay much attention to leading economist besides you can’t see much as long as the Tea Party is pulling on your chains. He also said that he pulled out all the stops to avoid the sequester cuts by passing two budgets. John, the American people rejected those proposals in November, but now you expect the Senate to consider those bills which are loaded with poison pills. Congressman Ryan’s first budget called for vouchers which the public overwhelmingly rejected and his second budget doesn’t touch the defense budget at all, has no revenues, and makes most of his cuts on students, the elderly and the poor. Mr. Boehner, if the house had the filibuster rule, Ryan’s budgets would have never made to the floor for a vote. The House and the Senate rules are different as night and day. I get very upset when the so-call liberal media doesn't call out John Boehner or any other Republican when they revert back to "who me" I am on the side who passed a budget. I know when they start doing that,word will get out and they will be boycotted and then the offended party will go on a network who will coddle them.

 I just read where corporate profits were up to 14.2% yet personal income was down by $500 billion. The GOP will consider removing the tax loopholes for a cut in corporate tax rates. Corporate's profits are up to 14.2%, remind me again of why they need their rates lowered?

There was the “who cares” category such as the Dennis Rodman interview about his trip to North Korea, the email scandal between Bob Woodward and White House staffer Gene Sperling and the Mitt and Ann Romney sympathy tour. It didn’t surprise me that Ann Romney would blame the media for husband’s loss because America didn’t get to know the real Mitt. Come on Ann, Mitt has been running for public office for most of his life, but I will grant you that he took different positions on each run. Perhaps we didn’t get to know the 2012 version of Mitt Romney.

It doesn’t surprise me how the media will follow a story for ratings, but the politicians know that and take full advantage. John McCain and Lindsey Graham are fixtures on the Sunday shows because they are willing to give the networks the sound bites they desire.

We Definitely Have a Communication Problem

When Congress left town and allowed the sequester cuts to take place, they took with them any remaining doubt that the two political parties would ever be able to reach an agreement. In three weeks, we will have the continuing resolution battle and then in May; we will have another war over raising the debt ceiling. There will be no new revenues coming from the GOP, even if the Democrats concede on entitlements. The president could give in to the GOP's demands, but he will lose his party and would be ineffective for the rest of his term. He is not about to do that.

There is a little known Washington secret that both parties got what they wanted Friday after the sequester was signed into law, but it's going to be at the expense of the American people. The Republican's spin that it's only 2% of the overall budget is a farce because they know the impact of these cuts will slow our staggering economy. They also know that government contracts are based on outlining years, so if they don't get the necessary funds, they can’t plan for future expansion. And that's not to say that the defense budget is not bloated. Every credible economist will tell you cutting spending in this manner (austerity) will hamper our growth and keep unemployment high. The president misdiagnosed the current Republican party because he was not aware that 158 house members don't care if they take a hatchet to defense spending because to them, a cut is a cut no matter where it comes from. Anyway, the GOP came away a winner because there were no tax increases, and they got the cuts they wanted. Some Democrats got the defense cuts they wanted, so the social cuts weren’t as bad.

They would have been much better off combining all three battles into a more meaningful long term one. We shouldn’t be imposing austerity while our economy is struggling to grow. We need to get rid of the tax loop holes and use that money to fund education, infrastructure and innovation. Look at the growing stock market, we haven’t made a dent on the wealthy, and those sequester cuts will only hurt those who can least afford it. The Democrats need to come to grips with the fact that 50.7% of the Federal budget($1.73 trillion) comes from Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and interest on the debt. With the baby boomers retiring at an alarming rate of 10,000 a day, Social Security and Medicare will grow by 40% by the year 2023. The Social Security Disability Trust Fund will be gone in three years. Walking away from entitlement reform is irresponsible.

The lack of communication doesn’t stop at Washington's doorstep because all you have to do is pick up our local newspaper and read a letter to the editor. For example, the letter written by Kim Smith stirred up the emotions of those who she was trying to reach. For one, the momentum for universal background checks is on the side of those who want to do something about the gun violence in the United States. The Second Amendment has been decided, so extending the reach of background checks does not infringe on any gun rights and imposing stiffer penalties for straw purchases doesn't either. The banning of high-capacity ammo clips might be a little harder, even though there's popular support to ban them because it involves the manufacturer’s bottom line. The Democrats know this so that’s why they separated the background checks from the high-capacity clips and the so -called assault weapons. It makes the gun lobbyist like the NRA spend more money on politicians giving Mike Bloomberg and others a more even playing field.

 You see Kim; you can't make a point with those who continue to make weak arguments because when you do;you are playing on their turf. This issue is not about automobile accidents, the definition of assault, responsible gun owners, the defense of one's home, the next American Revolution or the proverbial tyrannical government. This is about combating gun violence, which is become prevalent in our society. Do we allow the NRA to continue making gun policy for us? I know we can’t allow the fringe element of our society to make policy, so I suggest we confirm someone to head the ATF, and get enough support to pass universal background checks for now. Then we can work on getting legislators elected who are not bought and paid for by the NRA.