A gentleman with a grasp of the problem.

Jeff Young

GT40s Supporter
I liked this one better:

"What is really amazing is that some (Senate) members are believing that we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation – and that is foolish," McCain said.

"That is worse than foolish," he continued. "That is deceiving many of our constituents."

"To hold out and say we won't agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, it's unfair, it's bizarre," McCain added. "And maybe some people who have only been in this body for six or seven months or so really believe that. Others know better."

McCain did not mention which senators he was referring to. But also on Wednesday, Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, tea party boosters, joined many tea party activists who rallied on Capitol Hill demanding passage of the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan. Among other things, that proposal would cut total spending by $111 billion for fiscal year 2012 and require a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that would cap total annual spending at 18 percent.

McCain talked about Boehner's plan and quoted the Wall St. Journal piece, which said: "The question now is whether House Republicans are going to help Mr. Boehner achieve significant progress, or in the name of the unachievable, hand Mr. Obama a victory."

McCain continued reading the article: "The idea seems to be that if the House GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue and the public will turn en masse against Barack Obama....Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the tea party hobbits could return to Middle-earth...This is the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell into GOP nominees. The reality is the debt limit will be raised one way or another."

Earlier in his remarks, McCain blasted a position that Rep. Bachmann supports.

Saying, "Today we are six days away from a possible default which could plunge this country into a serious crisis," McCain added: "There are those that argue somehow in a bizarre fashion that somehow we could prioritize our payments to the most urgent requirements, such as our veterans, such as Social Security."
 

Terry Oxandale

Skinny Man
I guess I've officially become fully cynical. Whenever a politician claims he's speaking as an American rather than a politician, I immediately start shutting down.
 
The only thing that gave his talk credence was the fact that he's a business man and brand shiny new to congress. The rest are going ho hum, we're here told build our nest egg, power, and retirement, they could give a rats ass about America.
 

Jeff Young

GT40s Supporter
Kinda summed up grumpy white guy for me. We all know we need to cut spending. The question is just where. He has a political answer to that, Democrats have another. Painting one side as fundamentally flawed and the other a white knight is kind of stupid. They both suck, we all know that!

By a pretty large margin, Americans don't like the Ryan plan's approach to SS and Medicare. The alternative -- raising retirement age, capping COLAs, and doing something about the cost of end of life care -- seems more poitically viable.

And we need to raise taxes marginally. Most Americans agree with that now too.

So when this guy is "speaking as an American" he of course is, but he is speaking for a minority of America.
 
Kinda summed up grumpy white guy for me. We all know we need to cut spending. The question is just where. He has a political answer to that, Democrats have another. Painting one side as fundamentally flawed and the other a white knight is kind of stupid. They both suck, we all know that!

By a pretty large margin, Americans don't like the Ryan plan's approach to SS and Medicare. The alternative -- raising retirement age, capping COLAs, and doing something about the cost of end of life care -- seems more poitically viable.

And we need to raise taxes marginally. Most Americans agree with that now too.

So when this guy is "speaking as an American" he of course is, but he is speaking for a minority of America.

By that you mean that most Americans don't care about spending or the debt?
I thought he was speaking as a guy that's worried about spending money we don't have and being responsible. What a concept!
 
Most Americans probably don't have a clue about how massive the debt is. I had some nitwit tell me it was just a number. If we spend a billion dollars a day it would take over 38 years to get to 14 trillion. Staggering! We take in $2.16 trillion a year and act like spending $1.34 trillion over is nothing. That's what the last budget was, $3.5 trillion. That's like making $100K a year and spending $162K, we would be in an orange jumpsuits in no time flat. These politicians are idiots.
 

Doug S.

The protoplasm may be 72, but the spirit is 32!
Lifetime Supporter
These politicians are idiots.

Agreed, Al!

I'd like to see us throw all the bums out, every one of them, including the TEA Party newbies, and start all over.

TOO many pols with backs to scratch b/c of previous deals...we need to get rid of that "good ol' boy" system.

Sadly, IMHO, I think that we have to not only cut back on spending, but also increase revenue, which unfortunately I think will necessitate higher taxes for all of us at some point, not just the wealthy.

I'm intrigued by the political polls (at least up to the point that I've always mentioned....you can get any poll to give you the results you want if you structure the questions correctly)....the Republicans seem to be cutting off their noses to spite their faces, and up till the recent gridlock over raising the borrowing limit, they were in a pretty good place.

Regardless of who is to blame, we ought to hold ALL their feet to the fire in this next election.

Won't happen, though.....just not the nature of "American" politics :furious:

Cheers from Doug!!
 
I guess I've officially become fully cynical. Whenever a politician claims he's speaking as an American rather than a politician, I immediately start shutting down.

Ditto that Terry. I'll take it one step farther, I've become so cynical that any time a politician opens his/her mouth I immediately start shutting down.

What we have here is a basic crisis of leadership. We have all these politicians posturing for personal image management in the name of supposedly making tough decisions. We have too many career politicians in Congress and they need to be removed. Political service is a privilege of limited duration, not a career in itself. I swear we're headed for revolution.
 
Kelly is/was a car dealer before he went to Congress. I think he qualifies as a businessman. Amazing that he says the same thing other small business guys say and even Mr. Wynn of Wynn Hotels. Wynn by the way is a Democrat.
 

Jeff Young

GT40s Supporter
No, Wynn is not a Democrat. He gives money to Harry Reid because, well, he needs to (his Casinos are in Nevada).

Wynn's recent rant about PResident Obama being anti-busines was one of the most ridiculous things I"ve read. Wynn's net worth has tripled or something since 2008 under this President/Congress. Wynn claims that Obama has created an anti-business climate, and yet at the same time has invested billions in expanding his operations in Vegas and other places in the last 2 years.

Al, what the "conglomerate" polls are showing is that Mr. Kelly is out of touch with most Americans in thinking the Ryan plan is the right way to attack the debt. That plan attempts to cut spending by essentially privatizing Medicare (which Americans don't want), by not raising taxes (which Americans mostly think is now necessary) and by expeciting a sustained 5% growth rate (which won't happen). So the very basis for the rant is just off kilter.
 

Jeff Young

GT40s Supporter
Sure. They pay for roads by which goods are transported and sold, and on which our economy runs. They pay for police to give our economic endeavors protection. They pay for Justice Departments and SECs and Attorney Generals who work to ensure that our markets are free from fraud and manipulation and anti-competitive behavior. They pay for defense to ensure a free flow of oil and other natural resources into our economy.

And so on and so on.
 

Ian Anderson

Lifetime Supporter
Sure. They pay for roads by which goods are transported and sold, and on which our economy runs. They pay for police to give our economic endeavors protection. They pay for Justice Departments and SECs and Attorney Generals who work to ensure that our markets are free from fraud and manipulation and anti-competitive behavior. They pay for defense to ensure a free flow of oil and other natural resources into our economy.

And so on and so on.

Jeff

How many are paid?
How many actually WORK?

Not just something for the S but the same in the UK

Ian
 
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