Wednesday Chronicle: Obama and the jolly green giant debt

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Chronicle · July 13, 2011 The Foundation "[W]hen all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another." --Thomas Jefferson Editorial Exegesis Obama and the jolly green giant debt "Republicans seemed warily confident that they might get a [debt-ceiling] deal over the weekend on cutting future spending without raising taxes -- a deal that would likely lead to smaller future deficits, the possibility of badly needed tax reforms and the resumption of economic and jobs growth. No such luck. Not only did Obama not really put any specific major cuts on the table, he reportedly surprised negotiators by asking them to agree to a 'balanced approach' to deficit-cutting by including a job-killing $1.7 trillion in potential new tax hikes. ... As a new Heritage Foundation study shows, the government's tax take under Obama's current budget plans will 'increase rapidly' from its long-term average of about 18% of GDP to a ruinous 26% of GDP in coming decades. That's why he seemed desperate, saying we need to 'tear the Band-Aid' off and 'eat our peas' to get a deal done by Aug. 2, the phony deadline established by Democrats for fiscal Armageddon. ... During the press conference Monday in which he made his case for 'revenue increases' -- that is, tax hikes -- in deficit talks, Obama suggested why: He wants to spend even more in the future. He's not shy about airing his many ideas for this, among them what he calls 'investments' in Head Start and student loan programs, more government funding of medical research, and even an 'infrastructure bank.' Such programs aren't possible, Obama said, 'if we haven't gotten our fiscal house in order.' This almost defies belief. This is how we got into the problem in the first place. Too much government, too much spending, too many regulations, too many taxes. Is Obama really that out of touch with Americans? It seems so." --Investor's Business Daily Essential Liberty "The ignorance about our country is staggering. According to one survey, only 28% of students could identify the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Only 26% of students knew that the first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. Fewer than one-quarter of students knew that George Washington was the first president of the United States. ... Ignorance and possibly contempt for American values, civics and history might help explain how someone like Barack Obama could become president of the United States. At no other time in our history could a person with longtime associations with people who hate our country become president. ... The fact that Obama became president and brought openly Marxist people into his administration doesn't say so much about him as it says about the effects of decades of brainwashing of the American people by the education establishment, media and the intellectual elite." --economist Walter E. Williams Upright "It's a common refrain among those who lust to increase government's size and power: Every failed measure justifies more of the same. Poverty programs make it harder to escape poverty? We need more poverty programs! Racial preferences heighten racial division? We need more racial preferences! And a diversity manual for every janitor in the country! When ObamaCare ends up driving the costs of medicine up and the quality and availability down, you can bet the people who created that monstrosity will claim it failed only because it didn't go far enough. Let's generalize this into the First Rule of Liberalism: Government failure always justifies more government." --Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto "Speaking for himself on July 11, the president offered that he had 'hundreds of thousands of dollars that I don't need.' The president is of course welcome to donate as much of his extra money as he likes to the federal treasury. He knows Timothy Geithner personally and can probably get a guarantee that his check will be cashed without delay. And since the president is so ready to impute unpleasant motives (like greed) to those who oppose tax increases, perhaps we should impute some sort of moral failing to him for not having thus far contributed his spare change to the government." --columnist Mona Charen "[T]he sheer incompetence and, in some cases, mendacity, of the current crop of statist politicians in both the legislative and executive branches seem likely to bring on an economic crisis that will actually force Americans to decide between a constitutional restoration and a full embrace of statism. ... This pantomime deficit-reduction process is evidence that those in charge have lost their mental grip on the true dimensions of the fiscal crisis. Once they have lost their mental grip, their economic grip -- and then their political grip -- also will soon slip away, followed, perhaps, by a restoration of liberty." --columnist Tony Blankley "Welfare mostly subsidizes people in poverty, helping few escape from it. In their hearts, most people who are poor would like to be rich, or at least self-sustaining, but this president never talks about how they might achieve that goal. Instead, he criticizes those who made the right choices and now enjoy the fruits of their labor. Rather than use successful people as examples for the poor to follow, the president seeks to punish the rich with higher taxes and more regulations on their businesses." --columnist Cal Thomas Click Here Young Patriot Bookshelf Browse through our great selection of books for Young Patriots at The Patriot Shop. We have so many great titles, you may find it hard to choose! Patriot News Review We value your time. As a service to you, our editorial team evaluates hundreds of reputable news sources each day for headlines that are relevant to our mission -- the advancement of Liberty. We post links to the most notable news by 0800 ET, weekdays, and throughout the day. This page is also updated over the weekend. Don't waste time surfing news sites. Visit the Patriot News Review. The Demo-gogues Deal now, spend more later: "Let's get this [debt ceiling] problem off the table ... [and] with a solid fiscal situation, we will then be in a position to make the kind of investments that I think are going to be necessary to win the future." --Barack Obama A great GOP campaign ad: "So, when you hear folks saying 'Well, the president shouldn't want massive job killing tax increases when the economy is this weak.' Nobody's looking to raise taxes right now. We're talking about potentially 2013 and the out years." --Barack Obama Hypocrisy: "You go talk to your constituents and ask them, 'Are you willing to compromise your kids' safety so some corporate-jet owner can get a tax break?'" --Barack Obama (Obama and his jet-setting entourage are the biggest spenders in the world. How about we reverse the question?) Constituents don't know anything: "Let me distinguish between professional politicians and the public at large. You know, the public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury auction goes. They shouldn't. They're worrying about their family, they're worrying about their jobs. They're worrying about their neighborhood. They have got a lot of other things on their plate. We're paid to worry about it." --Barack Obama, scoffing at the fact that more than two-thirds of the electorate oppose increasing the debt ceiling It's okay to mix religion and politics when Democrats do it: "What would Jesus do this weekend? Or Moses? Or Allah? Or anyone else? I don't want this [debt negotiations] book closed without the clergy having an opportunity to forcefully express themselves as well as I know they can do." --Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) Belly laugh of the week: "Now, without re-litigating the past, I'm absolutely convinced, and the vast majority of economists are convinced, that the steps we took in the Recovery Act saved millions of people their jobs or created a whole bunch of jobs. And part of the evidence of that is as you see what happens with the Recovery Act phasing out." --Barack Obama arguing that current job losses are proof that the stimulus worked Throwing granny off a cliff: "I cannot guarantee that those [Social Security] checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this [debt debate issue]. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it. This is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans checks, these are folks on disability and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out." --Barack Obama Dezinformatsia And it's right-wingers employing extremist rhetoric: "Is the Republican Party willing to risk economic Armageddon in the name of religion, that is the religion of no taxes? Well, the GOP has become the Wahhabis of American government, willing to risk bringing down the whole country in the service of their anti-tax ideology. ... The Party's being driven by fanatics and they're determined to bounce America's savings bonds and have the United States begin to become like Greece." --MSNBC's Chris Matthews The BIG Lie: "Every fresh report of 'progress' on the debt-ceiling talks produces new reasons to feel profoundly uneasy. The talks were misbegotten from the beginning, made necessary only by the irresponsible refusal of Republicans to pay the nation's bills unless they got everything their way on government spending and taxes. ... It is already clear that the Republicans have succeeded spectacularly in their insistence that the agreement be mostly about spending cuts rather than building back the money lost from the Bush tax cuts that was the principal cause of the deficit." --The New York Times Blame game: "Wall Street wants to make it look like Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac] were the drivers behind the mortgage collapse, when in fact Wall Street led the way and Fannie and Freddie basically caught up. I think, you know, Fannie and Freddie were the product of government policy, both parties, and President Bush championed the ownership society, and pushing low-cost mortgages were part of the Republican inroad into the Hispanic community. So this wreaks of politics, but you cannot say that Fannie and Freddie led the way with all those financial instruments." --Newsweek's Eleanor Clift Newspulper Headlines: Out on a Limb: "Obama Really Might Have Made It Worse" --Reuters Coming This Fall on the Discovery Channel: 'Dreary Jobs': "Obama Asks Congress for Help on Dreary Jobs Front" --NationalJournal.com That's Racist: "Mello Yello Returns to Japan" --JapanToday.com He Was Just Trying to Put a Little Spark Back Into the Marriage: "Jilted Husband Built Electric Chair in Garage in Attempt to Kill Wife" --Daily Telegraph (London) Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Why Does Dominique Strauss-Kahn Have White Hair and Black Eyebrows?" --Slate.com Answers to Questions Nobody Is Asking: "What Obama Wants" --The New York Times (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto) Village Idiots Recovery is a long time coming: "I think it will take a long time still. This is a very tough economy. And I think for a lot of people, it's going to feel very hard, harder than the experience in a lifetime for some time to come. And that is because that is the tragic effects of a crisis this deep and this bad caused by a long period of lost opportunities to do things that made the country stronger." --Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner Spread the wealth: "This is about bringing fiscal soundness so the world and Americans can know that we can solve our problems ourselves, and do it in a way that there is shared pain, and there is shared responsibility. And that is what the president is fighting for." --White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley Race bait: "There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the voter Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit a franchise that we see today. ... Why should we disenfranchise people forever once they've paid their price? Because most of them in Florida were African Americans and Hispanics and would tend to vote for Democrats, that's why." --Bill Clinton on voter ID laws Gun Grabbers: "For years, Americans and Mexicans have watched in horror as Mexican drug cartels have used assault rifles trafficked from America to kill thousands of people and export drugs to our country. Now, after some in Congress unsuccessfully tried to block this new reporting tool, the Department of Justice has finally announced they are implementing it to help investigators take down illegal gun traffickers. It's an encouraging sign that the administration is taking the bloodshed at the border seriously -- and taking action to address it." --Boston Mayor Thomas Menino of "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" Click Here Calling all Vietnam Veterans! Once upon a time, Vietnam Veterans were shamefully disrespected by many Americans. Give honor to a Vietnam Veteran near you today with this vibrantly embroidered, well-made, structured hat which features a snap adjustment in back. All purchases support our Mission of Service to America's Armed Forces. Short Cuts "As the late Joseph Sobran quipped, 'The Constitution poses no threat to our form of government.' That is, unless We the People begin to apply it to hold the Obama administration and its toadies accountable for unleashing legal and fiscal anarchy on our country." --columnist Robert Knight "[F]or those of you who want [to] spread the blame equally between the parties, understand this: Republicans have proposed a budget for this year and the next. Democrats have proposed nothing. Republicans have proposed fixes for entitlements. Democrats have proposed nothing. Republicans have proposed reforming the tax system. Democrats have proposed nothing. Why? Because something, with a healthy dollop of media assistance, can be demagogued to death, detail after media-skewed detail. Nothing? Nothing is nothing." --columnist Arnold Ahlert "The U.S. is now in serious danger of defaulting on our foreign loans, which explains why today, China showed up and broke the Statue of Liberty's kneecaps." --Jimmy Fallon "You know what the scary part is? Not that the government will cease to function, [but] that they think this is actually the government functioning. They think it is working well." --comedian Jay Leno Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! The Patriot Post Editorial Team (To submit reader comments click here.) Patriot News Review Watch Out Parents: The State May Want to Take Away Your Obese Kids Obama's Tale About His Mother Being Denied Health Insurance Debunked Obama Urges Republicans to Follow Reagan Example Light Bulb Bill Goes Dark in House Obama Raises $86 Million Haul in Second Quarter Fundraising Ron Paul Won't Run for Reelection to the House More News The Right Opinion Paul Greenberg: Something Is Missing Ken Blackwell: How to Solve Our Growth and Jobs Deficit Austin Bay: An American Military Nightlight in Iraq? Michelle Malkin: Rolling Back the Obamacare Banana Republic Terence Jeffrey: Why Bachmann Could Win in 2012 L. Brent Bozell: Who's Burning D.C. Down? Walter E. Williams: Failing Liberty 101 Jonah Goldberg: The Presidency Matters, but How Much Does Obama? Tony Blankley: After the Deluge -- Restoration Jacob Sullum: Plane Truth John Stossel: David Mamet's Conversion Ben Shapiro: Obama Plays Chicken More Opinion Grassroots Commentary Dear Republicans The Lingering Death of Common Sense Driven to Distraction The Debt Ceiling-Deficit Game: Figures Lie Because Politicians Multiply Their Figures A Hole in the Argument for an Extension of Debt Using the 14th Amendment Queer Eye for the Teacher More Commentary Policy and Analysis Heritage Foundation Insider Heritage Foundation Research American Enterprise Institute Center for Strategic and International Studies The Cato Institute Hoover Institution National Rifle Association Ludwig von Mises Institute Citizens Against Government Waste National Center for Policy Analysis The Heartland Institute (Please pray for our Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world, and for their families -- especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.) 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