Posted on 12/01/2012 10:00:01 AM PST by neverdem
Previously on The Perils of Pauline:
Last year, our plucky heroine, the wholesome apple-cheeked American republic, was trapped in an express elevator hurtling out of control toward the debt ceiling. Would she crash into it? Or would she make some miraculous escape?
Yes! At the very last minute of her white-knuckle thrill ride to her rendezvous with destiny, she was rescued by Congress’s decision to set up . . . a Super Committee! Those who can, do. Those who can’t, form a committee. Those who really can’t, form a Super Committee — and then put John Kerry on it for good measure.
--snip--
But that fundamental dishonesty is the heart of the crisis. You cannot simultaneously enjoy American-sized taxes and European-sized government. One or the other has to go.
Wickedly honest! Ironic to the max, I’m at a loss for words.
You wanted high taxes and big government America.
Now pay for it.
It was concocted to keep the 2010 Tea Party insurgent freshman Congressmen from having any input.
Dems & RINO Pubbies did this.
Now who will take the blame for the scam?
Both wear it.
Okay, he might want to focus-group it first.
Nah...just say it straight out. It would probably win more GOP converts than all the phony "bipartisanship" ever attempted. :)
I've got my money on this outcome. If I'm right, I'll buy myself a drink. And if I'm wrong, I'll buy myself a drink.
To infinity and beyond!
If welfare slugs can't live on that than we can't live on what WE make, either!
Alternatively, maybe they can get up in the morning and go find a job and pay confiscatory taxes along with the rest of us - if they can even find one in this wretched BarackaClaus economy.
mark
“The wreck is going to be epic.”
It is, isn’t it?
I feel like I’ve been mistakenly locked inside a madhouse watching the people around me, from the White House to Congress to CNBC to the guy who delivers my mail cluck and lark along as if this all were just another instance of Washington fighting over silly little jots and tittles.
Of course that IS what they are fighting about in Washington...meantime I’m only hoping they can keep the can a-rolling another six months so I can get my Galt Vault in tip-top order.....
“The wreck is going to be epic.”
It is, isn’t it?
I feel like I’ve been mistakenly locked inside a madhouse watching the people around me, from the White House to Congress to CNBC to the guy who delivers my mail cluck and lark along as if this all were just another instance of Washington fighting over silly little jots and tittles.
Of course that IS what they are fighting about in Washington...meantime I’m only hoping they can keep the can a-rolling another six months so I can get my Galt Vault in tip-top order.....
“No sane person could willingly countenance brutally saving a month’s worth of debt over the course of a decade.”
I have never seen humor so funny yet so sadly true at the same time. Steyn has moved to a higher plane of political commentary and he was already the best out there to begin with.
The American People should say WE WILL ALL ASK FOR TAX EXTENSIONS AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR OUR MONEY UNTIL OUR GOVERNMENT PASSES A BUDGET.
NO BUDGET NO TAXES
LOL!
Why doesn't he just let us bask in our delusion?
P. S. Note my Tagline.
Promises to spend a certain amount based on a guess about how much income will come in and count some things as income when they are not (like social security payments) and don't count some of the spending, i.e. off budget expenditures.
I firmly believe that anyone who signs up for government “help” should have to agree that their voting right will be suspended for the entire time that they’re collecting the benefit, plus 2 full years afterward. That way, even after they’ve gotten off the dole they’ll have to sit out an election cycle and can’t vote themselves more benefits from the leftists that want to bribe them. There would be the caveat that a person could immediately restore their voting right if they repay 100% of what they’ve received in assistance, plus a percentage equal to whatever the prevailing prime rate is plus 4%.
Don't forget that!
Oh to have one tenth of his wit and sarcasm while pointing out the truth. Spot on, Mark.
I hear ya. I’ve still a bit of work and planning to do.
This column is the most succinct, honest, truthful statement of fact about the totality of the problem facing us ever penned. Steyn lays his finger directly on the crisis. Like the old saying, “We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us.” I will add one more factor that has bitten us in the ass. All those times conservatives whittled down the tax rolls in order to advance tax cuts has in the end led to our destruction. Reagan and the GOP were naive in the 80’s thinking those people would be grateful. Instead they are the 47% who will drag the rest of us into the abyss.
And that is how we need to frame talks/arguments for tax-increase/spending-cut arguments.
You got to give it to Steyn only he could come up with...
the expiry of the deferment of the implementation of the adjustment of the correction of the extension of the reduction to the proposed increase of the Alternative Minimum Growth Sustainability Reduction Rate. They don’t call it a yawning chasm for nothing.
Brutal read, but great post of the ugly truth.
Well, Sue Ray, when the Republicans in Congress collapse and sell us out on the budget deal, that just might buy us the extra few months we need to get things squared away.
How’s that for looking hard to find a silver lining?
This whole thing seems to remind me of neighbors who had $80k in credit card debt, three new cars in the carport worth $90k in debt, and a house bought prior to 2007 worth $400k then but now only worth $300k...yet the combined income of the house is $60k a year. Everyone seems to think that you can just keep spending and never reach an end.
Break out the beer and popcorn while we watch the black Messiah think he can walk on water when it really is just a bucket of shyt!!
Sometimes the most worthless people continue to prosper when things turn really bad ... but sometimes they get what’s coming to them.
Call it the "Beggars can't be choosers law." The courts would doubtless rule it an unconstitutional "poll tax" so you'd have to add a clause denying judicial review. Not to mention what dope you'd have to slip Reid et al and Obama to sneak it into law.
Does that include Social Security? Medicare? Veterans' Benefits? Farm subsidies?
You can... most Americans pay no taxes.
And they see no downside in voting for a party that will give them European social democracy without increasing their tax burden.
After all Obama did say, the rich “need to pay more.” By that definition, most people are home free.
No, that applies to programs where people voluntarily sign up to get freebies from the government teat. It would not apply to contracts that we were forced into (soc sec, etc.) or contracted benefits that were promised to our brave servicemembers who have actually earned much more than the government provides tham. Farm subsidies can end completely as far as I’m concerned. Farmers should be allowed to grow and sell whatever they want at market prices.
Less government intrusion is a good thing.
It was concocted to keep the 2010 Tea Party insurgent freshman Congressmen from having any input.
Dems & RINO Pubbies did this.
***************************
It was also concocted for the similar reason to exclude any independents from having any role. The Janus-faced government uni-party has to be taken down. The are indeed jointly responsible for the nation’s decline. They are criminal accomplices aligned against the people.
Government spending in
the United States is 42.2 percent, but
revenues are 24 percent — the widest
spending/taxing gulf in any major
economy.- - - -
I’ve not seen these numbers. I thought government spending was around
25% vs the post war average of 20%. Perhaps he is including all levels of government. My number is federal only. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Thanks for the ping neverdem.
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Thanks for the ping neverdem.
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Thanks for the ping neverdem.
Moving far away from big “diverse” urban centers is probably the most critical factor.
You just won’t want to be around them when the EBT cards stop working.
“One or the other has to go.”
Can’t we just get rid of ALL of them? Please? Pretty Please?
“I’ve got my money on this outcome. If I’m right, I’ll buy myself a drink. And if I’m wrong, I’ll buy myself a drink.”
I’ll be bar tending, Sistah! LOL!
My dad said that about wars and civil disorder. He'd seen Paris in the autumn of 1944, when the reptiles who'd prospered under Nazi occupation were still riding high, and black marketeers were everywhere. "Scum rises" is about the best way to put it.
Without having a link handy, I believe you're right -- he said "[g]overnment spending in the United States" -- not "United States Government/federal spending".
And yes, I think the 40+% is a "public-sector" (vs. private sector) number.
Excellent phrasing. I was trying to find those very words.
Sounds perfect!
"So given that the ruling party will not permit spending cuts, what should Republicans do? If I were John Boehner, I’d say: “Clearly there’s no mandate for small government in the election results. So, if you milquetoast pantywaist sad-sack excuses for the sorriest bunch of so-called Americans who ever lived want to vote for Swede-sized statism, it’s time to pony up.”
Okay, he might want to focus-group it first. But that fundamental dishonesty is the heart of the crisis. You cannot simultaneously enjoy American-sized taxes and European-sized government. One or the other has to go."
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