And the Budget Deal Saved Us Exactly What?

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism



Given all the hysteria, followed by the sigh of relief upon achieving a budget deal, what exactly did the deal really accomplish?

Well... CNS News has the answer.
The federal debt increased $54.1 billion in the eight days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.

The debt was $14.2101 trillion on March 30, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and $14.2642 on April 7.

Since the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010, the national debt has increase by $653.4 billion.

In a real sense it accomplished in reality exactly nothing. The drams was all about politics and posturing so both inept sides of our Congress could claim partial victory.

It's all just one terrible hoax people. And both parties, as well as the American people as noted by The Oracular Opinion, are responsible.

Via: Memeorandum

Comments

  1. Les, I know you are not so naive as to think substantial cuts would come of this. Why the disappointment?

    This was all a democrat agitprop to distract from the very real fiscal crisis we all face.

    The GOP steered clear of the shutdown iceberg, now its up to Captain Ryan to fight to avoid the gigantic iceberg. He has a plan, and the GOP had now positioned itself as the responsible adults.

    The debt ceiling battle is the next event to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Die-hard conservatives thought that if I couldn't get everything I asked for, I should jump off the cliff with the flag flying-go down in flames. No, if I can get 70 or 80 percent of what it is I'm trying to get ... I'll take that and then continue to try to get the rest in the future. -- Ronald Reagan

    ReplyDelete
  3. Silver - i understand your point well, even partially agree with it.

    And I'll be watching the next battle unfold. My prediction... More of the same political maneuvering and ultimately nothing of substance will come out of it.

    Ryan has his work cut out for him. Ultimately I believe America is too far gone to seriously consider, let alone accept the medicine he offers.

    I hope I am wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Silver - In retrospect, viewing the broad picture, just exactly what was gained by this approah?

    Was it actually even really meant? Or was it just politics in the progressive lane slowed down just a bit.

    Call me the cynic I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ah, Ryan's rotten little scheme...

    Change Medicare to a defined-contribution plan, with even more moeny in the hands of insurance companies!

    How sleazy can the GOP get?

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't think anything was gained. I do think the democrats lose some credibility and are viewed as not being as serious as republicans on deficit reduction.

    I think this sets the GOP up as the adults in the conversation. I could be wrong.

    Lots of cynicism in the air...

    ReplyDelete
  7. We were saved from actually being able to keep our own property and decide what we do with it. We were saved from being allowed to live our lives without being micromanaged by the rulers in D.C. We were saved from the implementation of sound and proven economic principles.

    Ultimately, we were saved from having a government operated by people with wisdom, knowledge, and integrity.

    If people like "Jersey" continue to have their way, we'll be saved from all of those things for a long, long time. Still not sure why "Jersey" is so frightened of people having liberty, but there are a variety of psychological disorders that typically result in such phobias.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bastiatarian, I share your philosophy and the goals they aim at, but I have heard no one explain how the GOP would get there in this current contretemps.

    The president has the pulpit and the spotlight and all the rest of the tricks and trappings that a band of congressmen just don't have. Dems also have the media.

    Everyone talks of this magical outcome where trillions would be slashed in a shutdown. I have yet to hear anyone give a plausible explanation of how this would happen.

    The more likely outcome would have been liberal minions all over this great land spotlighting stories of starving children, homeless old people, government workers losing their homes, etc. They would have pulled out every stop to scare America off of the fiscally responsible path.

    Paul Ryan will make the case for economic liberty, and statists like Jersey will scream and whine, and the American people will decide. There is a chance that Ryan and Coburn can get some dems to lock arms with them and all jump off the big spending cut cliff together. That is where the real battle happens. This was a fight over nickles and dimes.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Silver, Bastiatarian et all - I find it interesting that so few seem to understand {or want to understand} that the root of the problem actually is the result of a LACK OR ethical, objective, and non altruistic reasoning.

    Talking the game is one thing, living it is altogether a different reality for most.

    As evidenced by the lack of comments on my previous post and others similar to it.

    The reality is that the idea of liberty and total self sufficiency is something most people actually fear. Including the so called conservatives, the republicans, and yes, even Libertarians.

    Talking the talk is much easier than walking the walk. The mindless political games being played out are nothing more than diversionary tactics to keep the faithful of both parties "doped up."

    Rand had it right. As did the founding fathers. And that is precisely why folks like TAO, JMJ, and millions like them revile them.

    It is what it is. That is why I am fast becoming a cynic and hold out little hope for our return to what America once was and stood for.

    We can thank both parties for the national charade. As it is true that both parties share almost equally in the road to American serfdom.

    ReplyDelete
  10. SF: I agree that there is little that can be done with the Fop in Chief and his complicit media/academic minions still in power. I wasn't under the illusion (delusion) that trillions would be slashed in a shutdown.

    I knew that no real improvement would come out of the entire charade, whether it ended in a shutdown or a "compromise" (truth and liberty always lose in a "compromise," of course), and I basically figured that if there were a shutdown, I would have at least have gotten something out of it, rather than the status quo we ended up with.

    It's not a shutdown that will slash trillions. It's people who understand and live the principles of liberty, personal responsibility, and integrity. Unfortunately, they can't be found in the desecrated halls of Congress or the White House, so we continue to be forced to chose between a kick in the stomach or a punch in the head.

    Les: You're right. Emotion kills and enslaves. There is no rational argument against the principles of liberty. Over years of offering the challenge, I have yet to find a single person that can present a rational argument to justify the confiscatory, micro-managing policies of the Democrats, big-government Republicans, or any other coercive collectivist. Reason will always kill Big Mother.

    Embracing liberty means being a grownup, though, and there are few that want that. Liberty requires maturity, and voters continue to prove that they seriously lack that trait.

    It would be easy to take government spending to the tiny level intended by the Founders, but that would mean that individuals would have to take responsibility for themselves and be proactive in helping others around them with legitimate needs that they cannot meet themselves (such legitimate long-term needs are so rare as to be statistically meaningless).

    Liberty is for the brave. Slavery is for the coward. My ancestors didn't leave the Old (Dead) World because they were lazy cowards who wanted Big Mother to take care of them. They wanted to be free men. What we've got now is exactly what they risked (and in some cases gave) their lives to escape from (and subsequently to protect)

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  11. Much ado about nothing, I'm afraid.

    It made for interesting TV, but it lacks any real substance.

    Too little too late, the hero.

    Donald in Bethel, CT

    ReplyDelete

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