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.
18 comments:
Old age makes it harder for me because I left out the part; that got me stirred up in first place.
Yesterday at the White House press conference, CNN's Dana Bash asked President Obama about keeping Republicans at Camp David until everyone comes to an agreement. He had a similar question examining his leadership. The president had the reiterate that he is not a dictator, and he can’t get the secret service to lock the doors. It would be a waste of a good weekend because the Republicans won’t budge on revenues.
I’ve heard Speaker Boehner, Eric Cantor, and other Republican leaders asking for the president to lead instead of campaigning. The president has found it very effective in moving the numbers by being on a permanent campaign, especially when he’s in GOP districts. Why should he give up that up when the GOP doesn't give up on revenues? Their definition of leading is for President Obama to convince the Democrats to go along with the Republican plan. For example, the Violence Against Women’s Act had to have democratic support to pass. Nancy Pelosi wisely said, “if it’s gonna take all her Democrats to pass everything, then she needs to be sitting in on the strategy meetings.”Boehner has called for Harry Reid to lead, the president to lead, but he can’t control the Tea Party.
I have now come to the conclusion, after reading Kim Smith's letter, the the only reason folks are pushing so hard for large capacity clips, magazines or whatever you want to call them is that they are such lousy shots, they need the extra ammo.
Maybe if these 'patriots' would get spend some time at a firing range shooting off guns instead of shoot off their mouths, they could learn to get by with less ammo.
This is about them not being embarrassed! This is probably why the incidence rate of armed civilians stopping mass shootings is so low--they have performance anxiety. They can't get it up and out of the holster when needed. They suffer from projectile dysfunction.
You are too easy on them EA….:-)
I put those that want high capacity ammo clips in two categories.
1.There’s the paranoid survivalist who thinks Obama is coming after his guns and if the very unlikely ever happened, thinks that he stands a chance against the weaponry of the government. That’s why they believe the government is buying up all the ammo...Ruby Ridge and Waco all rolled into one.
2.Immature non- intellectuals who thinks superior firepower is necessary in a civilized society. It’s not enough to ward off a possible intruder because the ultimate goal is to kill them. These people get a gleam in their eye just thinking about their high caliber weapons and daring someone to come into their space. As I told a workmate one time “you talk about shooting someone so much… that you make it sound like a premeditated wish.”
Having said that I don’t think anyone would care if a person uses them on a firing range and then locked them up so they won’t be on the market for those sickos you who want to inflict as much damage as they can on innocent human beings.
Diane Sagan is lying about Austrialian homices going up after they banned certain weapons. Gun violance in Austrailia went down by 60 %...Look it up and spare us the "only the ciminals will have guns because only the high capiticity ammo clips and the assualt- like weapons are being discussed." ..Simple math less gus =less homicies because it's not the scarity of guns that's the issue;we have 300 million guns for 310 citizens....
If you have to lie then you don't have any confidence in your logic.
Mike, Diane S. just found one of the many articles that she was specifically looking for. I found those same articles, but looked a little deeper, with the help of snopes, which pointed me in the right direction
EA, I've come to a conclusion too. People don't even know what it's all about if they only listen to FOX news. I had one guy on Facebook complaining about President Obama's Executive orders and I asked him if he even know what they were all about and I gave him a link. He told me there was too much reading and he was going to keep his guns no matter what.
I was thinking, "why let facts get in the way when you can just listen to some idiot on TV".
Many, many people just don't understand the fine print. All they know is what they hear on TV.
And, wanting to keep the larger clips is nothing more than being against anything President Obama and the Democrats want. I can almost bet that the people who are yelling the loudest don't even own one of those guns and never plan to. It's a matter of principle to them, however misguided it is.
Steven Van Ry's letter tot he editor is a perfect example what you are saying Born--they only know a few tidbits and make that their entire data set!
On another note--I saw a meme on Facebook that was really good. It said "You might be a Republican: If you politicized Benghazi for months, then cheered when the sequester cut $79 million from from the Embassy Security Budget."
Good points' EA & Born,I wish they bring would their "A" game(if they had one)' more often,so we could all learn something.
Van Ry article is a good example of that. The American public has rallied behind the president because a balanced approach makes more sense than austerity. Uniformed public?One needs to adjust their mirror,he seems to forget that the bailout was in the Bush administration and we are still paying for the two wars and $7 trillion prescription drug bill.
All the right wingers hold hands and try to turn all the hate toward the current president and those on the public dole...They don't know that the $1.07 trillion we spend for the mortgage deduction,child care,child tax, and tuition credit dwarfs the $648 billion we spend on non-defense discretionary spending.
I just read where the poor and the lower middle class do not vote for someone who supports an increase in the minimum wage as much as those who scream about an increase in capital gains rate or repealing the Estate Tax.
I've watched the Obama campaign rallies and I never heard him talk about free goodies;it was always about decreasing the burden on the working middle class as opposed to blaming the 47%.
Supreme Court justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor are great examples of bringing their "A" in the recent attempt to strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Acts...Justice Sotomayor looked at the plaintiff's lawyer and said " aren't you the wrong party to bring this suit since Shelby County has committed over 240 violations of the Voter Rights Act since it's inception?
Then Justice Kagan asked the same lawyer "who should decide when discrimination is over, is it you,Congress or this court?" He said the court and then Justice Kagan said "that's interesting and that's a lot of power you put in the hands of 9 justices." I'm paraphrasing but think about that; she's right.
James Carville message to GOP and CPAC
"Any day you have more Sarah Palin and less Chris Christi is a great day for me."......:-)
It's getting deep over @ VA where one poster is going back 3,000 years and saying swords were the assault weapons of that time and playing a game of the Bible didn't rule it out either. That game requires a lot of patience because it can go on forever...Cant't prove a negative.
You must be talking about Casey Crowder. He's the principal of the alternative school in Port Lavaca. I guess he's all for teachers being armed.
That's the one and if he's a principle I'm glad my kids didn't go to his school. As for arming teachers;that's got failure written all over it...You can't go from schoolmarm to Clamity Jane by passing a course....The villain is usually a deranged person who is a zone and won't be easily dettered ;especially by a non-professional...IMO
Sorry that''s Calamity Jane
Well, and already twice in Texas school personnel have been shot during their 'training' classes...
Go figure. Some days I am sooooo embarassed to be from Texas!
OMG, why didn’t I know this was coming “I'm glad you weren't around in 1776, you would have voted for the British the tree of Liberty must be fertilized with blood from time to time according to our ancestors who won for us our liberties. Those who give up freedom for security lose both.”...David Newman…lol
Why do those people think those words are so profound? When one disagrees with them, they go straight to a Second Amendment remedy. They must be so proud.
I saw where Diane Sagan and one or two others are berating the first responders because they can't get to a call on time. Diane went as far as saying that police officers train to defend themselves and not the public.
I believe the response time for all those horrible shootings were under ten minutes. I also believe that Diane will say anything and on subjects she doesn't know anything about...A typical troll.
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