1. Norah O'Donnell, formerly of NBC and now the White House correspondent with CBS, seems to be pretty distraught about there being no new taxes imposed as part of the debt ceiling deal. As you watch this clip, notice two things: a) her disgust with no new tax revenue, and b) her statement that "they (WH) gave them (Republicans) everything they wanted, and we (Democrats, presumably) got nothing". Kind of a stark admission by Norah. No need to wonder exactly who "we" are. And this by a CBS White House correspondent. So much for a non-biased journalist. Do they even exist anymore?
2. In response to a question about the Tea Party, Mitch McConnell wanted to make sure that he expressed appreciation for the Tea Party and their influence, but what he said I found troubling. McConnell basically said that if it was not for the Tea Party, Congress most likely would not have addressed budget cuts in the debt ceiling deal. A compliment with an unintended meaning. In other words, if left to the established Republicans already in office (like McConnell), the debt ceiling would have passed just like every other ceiling increase in the past, with no attempts to address spending. Most of these old time Republicans have been just as addicted to spending as their Democratic counterparts, oblivious to the costs. We should be thankful for these 75+ new Republican "terrorists" who seem to be inflicting terror in all of the old guard on both sides of the aisle.
3. Matt Damon says he wants to pay more taxes. That is great. So go ahead Matt, what is keeping you from paying more? It sounds like you are waiting for the government to compel you to do something that you believe you should already be doing. Why wait? My guess is that Damon takes advantage of every tax deduction/credit/shelter available to minimize his tax burden. Why? So he can pay the least amount possible. So why not choose to decline those credits/deductions/shelters? Why not fully expose your earnings so you can pay the most taxes possible? Or why not just write a check to the government for an additional amount? Or answer this: if you had $100,000 left over to give away, would you choose to give it to the federal government, or to let's say the Red Cross, or your local food bank, or to an orphanage in Mexico? I'm guessing not the government. Why not?
4. The general American public needs to prepare itself for some pretty nasty battles and name calling over the next few years. The debt ceiling debate got testy, and the liberal left have lost all sense of peace and love and hope and change as they call any opponents "terrorists" and "racists" and "monsters". All of this provoked by what amounts to being fairly minor decreases in spending. We really have not gotten to the serious reductions yet, the ones that will have a more direct impact on our debt. These are the cuts that will affect all of the liberal institutions that have been built over the past 50 years, and just like disturbing a beehive, liberals will get angry. Like I said, get ready for some pretty nasty battles.
5. One additional thought related to the last one: most every sane person acknowledges that as a country we cannot sustain the spending that our government has taken on over the past 50 years. Their programs may have had good intentions at the beginning, but we simply cannot continue all of them; and those that we need to continue need to be seriously reformed. The Democrats don't seem to want to have anything of it. Instead they insist that we will be killing off old people and children and the poor. But they have nothing to offer about how to pay for these things, other than making those who already overwhelmingly pay the most to pay even more. Never mind that doing so falls way short of what is needed. And never mind what their beloved programs are doing to the people of this country, creating a dependent class of citizens who allow the government to provide their daily needs. This president likes to talk about sacrifice, something he has probably never done in his life. These liberals will have to sacrifice many of their beloved programs, turning them over to private and/or non-profit entities, or just eliminating them. But will they? Will they see their folly and acknowledge that there are some things that government is simply not built to do, or will they stand in the way? This is the battle line.
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