by Ghost of John Brown
Democrats in Washington, DC are salivating over the prospect of being able to blame Republicans for a government shutdown. Bob Dole once said that the most dangerous place in Washington, D.C. was to stand between Chuck Schumer and a camera. However, Sen. Schumer may not rush to a telephone any time soon as he was unknowingly taped prepping fellow Senators about how best to blame Republicans. Howard "arrrraaaaaahhhhh" Dean recently said that if he were the head of the DNC he would be rooting for a government shutdown because "I know who is going to get blamed". Even Howard Dean is admitting that the Main Stream Media is just a bunch of lap-dogs for the Democrats.
In the immortal words of Clint Eastwood - "Go ahead, make my day".
The American people know how that we are swimming in a sea of red ink unseen since the days of Noah. The FY 2001 budget was $1.9 Trillion. The FY 2011 budget as submitted by President Obama was $3.8 Trillion. We have DOUBLED the budget in 10 years, but when the Republicans want to cut a piddly $61 Billion, Chuckie Schumer wants to call them "Extreme". I don't know about you, but my household budget hasn't doubled in the last 10 years - why should Washington's?
Even if you adjust for inflation and population growth, there is no justification for our current Federal budget. In 2001 our population was estimated at 285 million. Today (2010) we have a population of 308 million. Over the last ten years, our average inflation rate has been 2.40%. If you adjust our 2001 budget to 2011 accounting for inflation and population increase, our Federal budget in 2011 would be about $2.63 Trillion. We've added about $1.2 Trillion above and beyond the rate of population and inflation growth. Interestingly, our FY 2011 budget deficit is somewhere between $1.1 and $1.5 Trillion. If we had ONLY held spending in check, we wouldn't have a budget deficit at all, and our Federal Debt would be about $4.7 Trillion less than the $14 Trillion we have now.
We're arguing about $61 Billion. Even more frustrating, the Democrats are supposedly, willing to cut some $10-20 Billion, so we are only about $40 Billion apart.
The Republicans need to hold the line. Shut the thing down. Let the Democrats defend Cowboy Poetry Festivals. The Republicans need to follow the lead of Paul Ryan and articulate the fact that we are trying to save money. We are trying to keep the United States from going down the path of Japan which has endured "The Lost Decade" and is now on the brink of a debt crisis.
These are real issues and we are on the brink of real problems. If we need to drag the Democrats kicking and screaming into acting like adults, so be it. Stand your ground. Point out every single day, in every way possible that the Democrats are purposely causing the government shutdown because they are trying to make political points and that they are doing so at the nations peril. The President is AWOL and the Senate Democrats have sat on the Republican's budget plan for about a month and a half. There is only one group that is to blame, and their Party's symbol is the jackass.
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