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“Tea Party Downgrade”? They Can’t Possibly Sell It
Power Line ^ | August 7, 2011 | John Hindraker

Posted on 08/07/2011 7:52:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The downgrading of U.S. debt is an extreme embarrassment for the government in general, and the Obama administration in particular. So the administration has reacted in the only way it knows: by denouncing Standard & Poors, and by blaming its political opponents, the supporters of the Tea Party, for the downgrade.

The administration’s knee-jerk responses are somewhat inconsistent: if S&P was wrong to downgrade the debt, and the downgrade was based on a mathematical error, then it is hard to see how the downgrade can also be the Tea Party’s fault. (In the legal world, this is known as pleading in the alternative: when sued for borrowing a neighbor’s pot and breaking it, the defendant answers that he never borrowed the pot; the pot was never broken; and the pot was already broken when he borrowed it.)

Of the administration’s alternative theories, the most ludicrous is the claim that the Tea Party, the one group dedicated to doing something about the nation’s spending and debt crisis, is somehow to blame for it. Yet this is the theory that President Obama’s political adviser, David Axelrod, tried to sell on Face the Nation this morning:

Mr. Obama’s longtime political adviser, David Axelrod, made clear that Democrats would seek to brand the rating as a “Tea Party downgrade.” He said Mr. Obama had been willing to compromise on issues sacred to liberals by curbing spending on entitlements, but the deal foundered because “Republicans are having to respond to this very, very strident group that is pulling them away and believes that compromise is a dirty word. That is a prescription for failure.”

Put aside for a moment the fact that Obama’s willingness to compromise was entirely theoretical; never did he put such a compromise plan on the table. His FY 2012 budget proposal was anything but a compromise; it included no entitlement reform and projected massive deficits for as far as the eye could see, and therefore received not a single vote in Congress.

What is most ludicrous is the Democrats’ effort to distract attention from the fact that they controlled Congress from January 2007 until January 2011. The first Congress that had any ability to be influenced by the Tea Party movement has been in office for only six months. Do the Democrats seriously expect anyone to believe that S&P’s downgrade of U.S. debt arises out of something that Republican Congressmen have done in the last six months? We expect the Democrats to appeal to ignorance at all times, but this is ridiculous.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane. What did the Democrats do with respect to federal debt during the four years they controlled both Houses of Congress? Here is a summary of the deficits the Democrats racked up during that time:

FY 2008 — $460 billion FY 2009 — $1,410 billion ($1.4 trillion) FY 2010 — $1,300 billion ($1.3 trillion) FY 2011 — $1,600 (estimated) ($1.6 trillion)

Of the $14.5 trillion national debt, nearly $4.8 trillion–one-third of the total–was incurred during that four-year period when the Congress was exclusively controlled by the Democrats. Moreover, and equally important, during that time the Democrats did nothing to assure the markets that they have a long-term plan to deal with the country’s burgeoning debt. On the contrary, for more than two years the Congressional Democrats have refused to adopt or even to propose a budget! If you are looking for the reason why rating agencies have lost faith in the ability of our government to get its spending and debt under control, you need look no farther.

Poll data suggest that the Democrats have succeeded, to a considerable degree, in demonizing the Tea Party movement. That success has no doubt emboldened them to try to lay their own failures at the Tea Party’s door. But it is hard to believe that even the dimmest voters will fall for the idea that the movement that was founded in order to do something about the spending and debt crisis is somehow to blame for that crisis.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: congress; debtceiling; democrats; economy; obama; teaparty
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He has the entire press corps, academia, Hollywood and nutroots to help him.
1 posted on 08/07/2011 7:52:59 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

- Obama: “S&P made 2T error”

- Axelrod: “TP’s fault”

- Geithner: “Didn’t really happen.”

- DNC- “Taxes too low and spend more”

- Chicoms- “The days of borrowing your way out of messes is over”


2 posted on 08/07/2011 7:55:55 PM PDT by NoLibZone (Life as Nancy Pelosi knows & wants it, must end, Life As Nancy Knows it is to raise Debt 10% annualy)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

3 posted on 08/07/2011 7:56:43 PM PDT by NoLibZone (Life as Nancy Pelosi knows & wants it, must end, Life As Nancy Knows it is to raise Debt 10% annualy)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Can you even imagine blaming a rape victim for being raped, or a terrorist victim for being murdered by terrorists? Of course not. In a sane world, it is the rapist and terrorist that is blamed for the crime, not the victim. But amazingly, this is exactly what Obama and his socialist cabal are now doing in the midst of the debt ceiling crisis- blaming the victims.

The only difference between a crack addict and the spending
addicts in D.C., is that the crack addict is suicidal, hurting only himself. Unfortunately, the addiction of Obama and Congress is destroying the American economy and enslaving our children and grandchildren to unimaginable debt for decades to come. This is a murder-suicide.

In the midst of this crisis, madness and economic disaster, the Tea Party has come to the rescue. The Tea Party is trying to save America and put the government in rehab by cutting off the money that feeds the spending addiction. Like all addicts, Obama’s response, supported by his enablers- the progressive left and the biased leftist media- is to attack and blame the Tea Party.

Obama and Congress must learn to live with the money they’ve got. No more blaming the victim. The Tea Party and the taxpayers are the heroes here. We are the only sane ones in the room. We understand a spending addiction can’t be solved with more spending. It’s time to force the addicts to get help, or let them crash. It’s time to stop blaming the victim.

History repeats itself again and again. Obama and his
spending-addicted socialist cabal is casting the Tea Party as radicals, going so far as to accuse them of treason for
refusing to raise taxes or the debt ceiling. I’d like to remind Mr. Obama that is exactly what King George and his House of Lords called the original American Tea Party patriots. That didn’t work out so well for the king the first time.


4 posted on 08/07/2011 7:56:43 PM PDT by Freddd (NoPA ngineers.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yeah he does, but it still won’t fly, its laughable and everyone knows it. I love the smell of commie desperation in the morning, noon, or night.


5 posted on 08/07/2011 7:57:01 PM PDT by HerrBlucher ("It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged." G.K. Chesterton)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Goebels would be proud.


6 posted on 08/07/2011 7:57:28 PM PDT by mlocher (Is it time to cash in before I am taxed out?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Laughter, rudeness and mockery can go a long way here. If I meet a Leftist who thinks the Tea Party is to blame, I will laugh in their face, call them stupid and ask ‘em how their little community organizer likes wrestling with a global economic crisis. In over his head, isn’t he?? Well, at least I was smart enough not to vote for the unqualified fool.


7 posted on 08/07/2011 7:57:38 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The USSR spent itself into bankruptcy and collapsed -- and aren't we on the same path now?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
It's the

Obama Downgrade

pass it on.
8 posted on 08/07/2011 7:59:21 PM PDT by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yep! Don’t underestimate the stupidity of the American sheeple peabrain! Repeat it long enough and the stupid gullible folk will fall for it...they’ve done it over and over again for years....UGH!


9 posted on 08/07/2011 8:00:46 PM PDT by RoseofTexas
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The media simply says “no more debt” = “default”.

It’s ‘the big lie’, and a good one. Of course if they had to explain how that could be so they’d have a problem.


10 posted on 08/07/2011 8:03:00 PM PDT by mrsmith
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To: mrsmith

BS

Of COURSE they can sell it. They already ARE selling it. Just visit Facebook news media pages. Visit news stories on the subject.

Americans are STUPID. They believe what they are fed.

Sure they won’t sell it to this group. But the normal everyday American? Think again.

It is already being sold and believed.

Republicans always lose the sound byte battle.

Why?


11 posted on 08/07/2011 8:04:37 PM PDT by silentknight
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They’re saying it because their stupid followers will believe it and the media will repeat it.

So I hope you’re sitting down, because a bunch of people ARE going to believe it.

It makes me so mad I can’t see straight, but like most things in life, I’m probably not going to get my way on this one either.


12 posted on 08/07/2011 8:11:52 PM PDT by Tzimisce (Never forget that the American Revolution began when the British tried to disarm the colonists.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They can and they will.

Remember, this incompetent was elected. That alone is a demonstration of the gullibility of a vast portion of the American electorate.

They bought his bill of goods. They’ll buy this, too.


13 posted on 08/07/2011 8:13:55 PM PDT by Skooz (Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE STAFF’S CRIMINAL RAISES

http://i53.tinypic.com/14ecr4g.jpg


14 posted on 08/07/2011 8:15:26 PM PDT by tsowellfan (Let's make the 2012 campaign: "The War on Error")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
This particular Tea Partisan would have downgraded the US credit rating nearly 30 years ago when the debt "ceiling" was raised to $1 Trillion.

So yeah, by that measure, it's long overdue and a good thing in the long run.

FReepin' on the job, sippin' my Gadsden Tea...


15 posted on 08/07/2011 8:24:39 PM PDT by ExGeeEye (Freedom is saying "No!" to the Feds, and getting away with it. "Speak 'NO' to Power!")
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To: silentknight

Whatever.

If they are doing such a good job selling it then why are the main principles the Tea Party stands for so overwhelmingly popular? This is what these people don’t understand. There is no such thing as a “Tea Party”. It’s a loose knit collective of groups across the nation with similiar goals that can maybe be spun as a special interest group similiar to the NRA. It is not a political party that has to worry about it’s own personal approval polls. These groups only have to worry about how the goals they work towards are polled.

That’s why our freedom is unlimited. Usually this is the time a politician would cower and cave to massage those numbers upwards. Since we’re not politicians we can take the disapproval polls, throw them in a trash bin and keep up the pressure on elected officials to cut debt and government.


16 posted on 08/07/2011 8:27:00 PM PDT by Soul Seeker ( I was there when we had the numbers, but didnÂ’t have the principles.---Jim DeMint)
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To: Tzimisce

It is all written. America is going to go through what all great countries have gone through. Civil Strife and hiccups along the way. Its just no it is going to be a very ugly hiccup.


17 posted on 08/07/2011 8:38:41 PM PDT by crazydad
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; silentknight

“Mr. Obama’s longtime political adviser, David Axelrod, made clear that Democrats would seek to brand the rating as a “Tea Party downgrade.”

It’s AXELROD! Chicago! Pure Alinsky! Accusing your enemy of your own failings is right out of Rules For Radicals!

Every Tea Party person should study the Chicago Mob’s Handbook and spread the word. Shine the light on these cockroaches.


18 posted on 08/07/2011 8:41:32 PM PDT by ngat
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

19 posted on 08/07/2011 8:46:10 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Obama is still blaming Bush. The Democrats now are trying to blame Republicans and the Tea Party for all their failed policies. Guess some un-educated voters will actually believe the jerks.


20 posted on 08/07/2011 8:48:28 PM PDT by Grey Eagle
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