Posted on 08/03/2011 12:43:39 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
It’s hard to see how the compromise agreed to this week is a loss for President Barack Obama and a win for the Republicans, all the posturing by politicians and the proclamations of the pundits notwithstanding.
The voters will decide in 15 months who won and who lost. In the meantime, it seems every Washington politician — congressional Republicans and Democrats as well as Obama — lost in more or less equal measure.
The Tea Party promised not to approve any increase in the debt ceiling without several trillion dollars in spending cuts and yet half of the new Republican congressmen did just that. And it was Obama who “caved”?
Perhaps it’s easier to see from a distance, here in southern France, in this old ducal capital on the fringes of Provence, but the only important thing that happened in Washington this week is that a manufactured crisis risking a U.S. default was resolved, and life as we know it goes on.
As the leading French daily Le Monde sniffed, a threat to the financial well-being of the entire globe was averted and U.S. commentators seem obsessed only with deciding who won and who lost.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Well that gives Tea Partiers 15 months to convince our fellow Americans that it's time to get truly serious about the deleterious effects of overspending by the Federal Govt. on the economy. With the economy in such dire straits, and no relief on the horizon, it's the perfect time to engage voters in this conversation. Either they, or someone they know, has been negatively affected by this extended economic downturn, so they'll be more likely to pay attention.
tick tock tick tock...
Victory, or no victory, we can still continue the conversation about lowering Govt. spending. We can point to the bankruptcy of Central Falls, RI as a model of what happens when Govts. spend beyond their means. I believe folks are ready to hear the message that when Govts. overspend, it messes up the economy so much that it creates havoc for regular folks because they can have difficulty getting jobs, loans, etc.
As we are now at 100% debt to gdp I saw today.
Eliminate baseline budgeting in every freakin’ bill. Every one.
We need just a CR to guarantee an acceptable outcome of the super-duper commission.
I say CRs all they way ‘til Nov 12. The issue will still be in front of us. Just with less leverage.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.