Good AM, folks!
Well, the LTE writers finally took notice of the budget brinksmanship in DC.
Last-minute dilemma
Amidst the clamor over our debt crisis, the American people need to remember several things. Barack Obama has been president for almost 30 months, and we would not be in this last-minute dilemma if he had done his job.
Obama has presided over an unprecedented increase in spending — from the stimulus fiasco to cash-for-clunkers to costly new regulation of private business. The Democrats, who controlled both houses of Congress from January 2007 until January of this year, neglected to pass any budget for two years. In light of this and to buy time, Obama appointed a bipartisan debt commission led by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson. When their findings calling for drastic spending cuts were presented in November 2010, the president chose to ignore them, as he has every Republican attempt to draft a budget. In fact, Obama has stated on numerous occasions that he would veto any legislation calling for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
Blame is a professional sport in Washington, and there is certainly plenty to go around. However, a huge part of the blame rightly lies at the feet of this president, whose only response to problems is rhetoric promoting class warfare and tax increases on job creators. His lack of leadership has brought us to this 11th-hour crisis over the debt ceiling. American voters should make sure we do not have four more years of his dangerous ineptitude.
MARY LOU WILSON
Winston-Salem
Editorial comments
I, and I am certain other citizens of Kernersville, were astonished at the editorial comments blasting Larry Brown ("Brown wouldn't leave big gap in legislature," July 21). Indeed, as I read them, my thoughts ran to the phrase "effete snobs." Certainly Brown sometimes has said things and taken positions I would never have. In fact, he probably is sorry he said made the statements. However, he has been faithful to his task of a voice for our area in the General Assembly and we appreciate that.
The editorial writer just might remember, "Ye who is without sin cast the first stone." By the way, Brown and I are of different political parties altogether.
JACK WHITE
Kernersville
To the brink
They've done it again. The Republican ideologues in the House of Representatives have once again brought our country to the brink of financial ruin.
Specific recognition for this drama must be given to Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the vacillating Speaker of the House, John Boehner. In Act One, Cantor bolted from the Biden debt-limit talks to force the president to become directly involved. In Act Two last week, Speaker Boehner walked out of negotiations at the White House for the opposite purpose, to push the president out of the picture.
A cynical view is emerging that the House leadership never had any real interest in the long-term, $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan. The negotiations were a charade to run out the clock and then force through a short-term plan favorable to Republicans as default loomed. But even this appears to be backfiring.
This is a great political maneuver to undercut the naïve president but solves nothing. There is no "principled leadership" here, only intransigence, stupidity and threat to every American.
DAVID PILLSBURY
Winston-Salem
I think
Last week, while driving on an interstate highway in Ohio, I noticed a bumper sticker that read, "I think, therefore I vote Republican."
Forgetting my suspicion at the time that the driver of said vehicle wouldn't know Descartes from à la carte, I must say that he certainly has a point. It does stand to reason that the party that has given us such intellectual heavyweights as Sen. Jesse Helms, President Ronald Reagan, Gov. Sarah Palin, Rep. Michele Bachmann and, oh yes, Rep. Virginia Foxx, would be the thinking person's choice.
It is just so hard to understand why those liberals like columnist Paul Krugman say that the Republican Party has become the party of stupid. I guess Krugman just doesn't think.
ANDY G. MILLER
Kernersville
Sum it up
The Sum It Up question from Sunday was: Are you satisfied with redistricting plans for congressional and state legislature seats?
* * * * *
The only ones satisfied are the Republican legislators who have succumbed to essentially "cheating" because they probably wouldn't win any other way.
SUZANNE CARROLL
* * * * *
Redistricting plans for congressional and state legislature is not as important as who will occupy these seats. With hope, it will be people interested in helping people and not a bashing contest.
ELIZABETH R. ERVIN
LTE1: Leadership has been lacking across the board. Obama has been too passive, yes. And yes, he ignored the debt reduction committee's recommendations. So did every other pol. Yes, a budget should have been long in place. But it isn't, and what is going on now is a game of chicken, with guilty parties on all sides. At the moment, the guiltiest parties are Boehner et al as they pursue a bill that the Senate absolutely will reject while time dwindles.
ReplyDeleteLTE2: Faithful to his task of being KV's voice Brown may have been, but I would not want him speaking for me.
LTE3: Boehner and Cantor have handled their side of budget negotiations a bit more poorly than Obama and Reid. No one looks good, however.
Hey, WW! I know David Pillsbury, a good guy.
LTE4: Putting President Reagan on the same list as Sarah Palin reveals the LTE writer to be an intellectual lightweight himself. Also, I don't think that it is a given that Krugman's economic philosophy is the right one.
Sum It Up: After a century of Democratic gerrymandering, someone is fussing about the R's following in the time-dishonored practice? Where was the vexation over the redistricting 10 years ago. The fact is we all should fuss over gerrymandering, and demand compact, logical districts. But we don't, and pols of both parties move us around like pawns on an electoral chessboard.
LTE #1... John McCain had the right story just the wrong characters when he called the Tea Party "Hobbits" (What an insult to Hobbits). Descendents of Smaug is more like it. Smaug, last of the great dragons, laid waste to the town of Dale (DC) and foreclosed on the dwarfs at Lonely Mountain (House of Representatives) with all it's treasure.
ReplyDeleteSmaug was intimately familiar with every last item within his hoard, and instantly noticed the theft of a relatively inconsequential cup by Bilbo Baggins. According to Tolkien, his rage was the kind which "is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy lose something they have long had but never before used or wanted."
Good AM, Bob!
ReplyDeleteI must respectfully take issue with your likening Smaug to pols of any persuasion. As with my heroine The Wicked Witch, Smaug is frightfully misunderstood, as are dragons in general. Smaug was a hardworking creature who believed in thrift. As for not using the cup that the thieving Bilbo swiped, we don't really use an objet d'art. Instead, there is a satisfaction in the simple presence of the artifact.
The dwarves seem to have had trouble in staving off foreclosure, btw, as the Balrog and the Orcs took over Moria.
LTE-1...politicians are the only group of people who create problems and then campaign against them. In their next life, establishment Republicans like John McCain will know the Left never negotiates in good faith; and the media covers for the Left. Trust but verify only worked with the Soviets. The only pols who generate a lot of ink are ones who demand fiscal discipline and limited government. While Liberal pols are praised and Moderates generate long lines at the Congressional therapist's office. Messy as it is, some in Congress are doing what they promised and official Washington is tied in knots over this curiosity. In some countries, this would result in bullets flying. Be thankful you live here.
ReplyDeletelol, yep, when Smaug wasn't sleeping on his golden treasure, stolen from the dwarfs, he was terrorizing the good people of Dale, tough work for a dragon. Boehner dealing with the Tea Partiers, he might as well take on the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dum in the Chamber of Mazarbul.
ReplyDeleteAsh nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
LTE-3...you pretty much have it backwards and wrong. It is hard for Reps to negotiate with people who who produced no plan of their own. Maybe they will figure it out and understand that negotiating with Obama or Reid is pointless as neither man has the integrity or faith in their beliefs to produce a budget or debt package of their own from which to negotiate. It is hard to look good if you are trying to negotiate with people whose ideas can't be found on paper and only exist is sound bites and unscorable speeches. From this, only limited time and funded short term plans should emerge. Nothing else until Reid/Obama summon the backbone to put it on paper and let America see.
ReplyDeleteIn May 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina, attacked Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, with a cane while he was seated at his desk in the Senate chamber. Sumner was beaten into unconsciousness, rendering him incapable of resuming his duties for more than three years.
ReplyDeleteLTE-4...what if the bumper sticker said "I'm broke and dependent, therefore I vote Democrat". Intellectuals everywhere will be orgasmic then? Speaking of Krugman, his life's work resulting many degrees and diplomas is turning to mud and those framed testimonies to his intellectual nonsense are taking voice and laughing at him.
ReplyDeleteBob(buff)..lets hope canes don't become a fashion accessory in the US Congress.
ReplyDeleteStab...I knew you had to know Pillsbury. I saw it in a vision.
ReplyDeletelol, for sure, back then the only congressmen not carrying a pistol and a Bowie Knife into the halls of congress were the ones carrying two pistols. Brooks broke his percha gutta cane and was kicked out of Congress but the good people of SC were so thoughtful as to vote him back in and replace his broken cane with 10 more.
ReplyDeletehmm, that would be gutta percha
ReplyDeleteBob...Senator Brooks had a thoughtful constituency.
ReplyDeleteBob re your 8:24 post:
ReplyDeleteThat would be an example of raising cane.
And yes, I know that the express is actually "raising Cain," as in conjuring the spirit of the alleged murdering sibling.
ReplyDeleteStab,,,now that there is a good one!!
ReplyDeleteReference: Senator John McCain
ReplyDeleteWe now know where his goofy daughter gets her goofy ideas.
I met Senator McCain a few years ago, and he is a very nice man. I've always worried about his abilities in the political arena though, and my doubts have proven out.
Actually, my encounter with Senator McCain was about the same time as the banging buck incident.
"...about the same time as the banging buck incident."
ReplyDeleteBucky boy, what do you mean "the" incident? the way you went on and on about it, we assumed that there was such an incident at least every other day, like those leering sessions down at the Y.
I'm trying to limit my comments relative to the gay and lesbian world as I have been admonished to do so by 'Stab'.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's obvious that many of you have never lived in or around major gay and lesbian populations, because many of you seem surprised by my comments.
Many gay websites list 'public bathrooms' in major cities as rendezvous points for gay encounters. Those bathrooms are also used by young children. That's what is so disturbing.
I no longer use the 'Y' because of the leering by gays. I've joined another health club. The leering at the new club at least seems more discreet.
Way to go, Bucky. I prefer "discreet" leering any day. I've found that a good way to do it is to make a hole in a newspaper and leer through it. Another good way is to use a hand held periscope to leer around corners. if you don't have a periscope (got mine from an ad in the back of a comic book) a mirror will do in a pinch (as in "Pinch me, big boy").
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed lunch, Bob.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Stab, it's always a pleasure
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: "Blame is a professional sport in Washington, and there is certainly plenty to go around." - Then, why are you playing the blame game Ms. Wilson? It's become quite clear that the Tea Party freshmen aren't budging from their position, and it's also quite clear that any bill that statisfies those freshmen has no shot in the Senate. The only solution at this point is to bypass those freshmen and pray that there are enough sane House members to pass a cobbled together bill that would pass the Senate. This is a very bad time for the Republican party to be in such disarray.
LTE 2: As a K-ville resident, I would be quite happy to see Brown gone.
LTE 3: "There is no "principled leadership" here, only intransigence, stupidity and threat to every American." - not much to add to that. Maybe I can get a Recall Congress group going on FB.
LTE 4: Lots and lots of idiocy going around. Too many people are wearing ideological blinders that prevent them from seeing reality.
Sum it up: A little premature for this question. The courts will most likely force a redraw as they have done in the past.
Buck Jones, I'm glad I got to read your facebook profile before you made it private. :)
ReplyDeleteSo Bucky, why did you join the Y after "I was told that many people were dropping their memberships to the 'Y' because of the high volume of gay and lesbian members. It was reported that the gay male members, in particular, 'leer' at other males while they undress or take showers." ?? FCSO watch
ReplyDeletePosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:45 am
My bad, bucky, I took that out of context:
ReplyDeleteTo this end:
Not long ago, I was considering joining a different athletic club. I mentioned the YMCA to one of my friends. I was told .... you know the rest.
Re Caning: Actually, Brooks was not expelled from the Senate. He was fined $300 and resigned, but was reelected in South Carolina.
ReplyDeleteSumner's friend, Congressman Anson Burlingame, denounced Brooks as a coward on the House floor. Brooks challenged him to a duel, thinking that Burlingame would refuse. Instead, Burlingame enthusiastically accepted and chose rifles and a time and place. Brooks did not show.
Bob....I don't know why you seem to get so confused regarding that comment. You certainly don't seem like a dummy. I was a member long ago, and I dropped my membership. I knew about the leering gays back then. After many years, I was considering rejoining the 'Y', but I was told that the gays were still there and people were dropping their memberships as a result.
ReplyDeleteSo, I decided not to join. At least right now, the government can't force you to join a particular athletic club/Christian Club.
I'm not sure why some people seem to be so sensitive about the truth. I'm sorry I'm not a great purveyor of politically correct propaganda that you read daily in newspapers about the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
I know you're keeping book on me. Knock yourself out. I'm merely giving my opinions based on my personal experiences and my expansive knowledge.
Well as I am sure you are aware by now, bucky, it's neither here nor there to me.
ReplyDeleteand during the caning , laurence Keitt of SC weilded a pistol to keep others from breaking it up. Brooks was going to challenge Sumner to a duel, but Keitt talked him out of it saying that duels were for gentlemen of equal social stature and that Sumner was not worthy.
ReplyDeleteand that's correxct he did resign, a point I had forgotten.
ReplyDeleteHi dotnet!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that most LTE's and comments are part of the blame game, aren't they (including mine)? While we're tossing blame around, we need to look closer at things.
If we compare Reid's plan v. Boehner's, we find that the two aren't that far apart in terms of money saved. Reid's claims > $2T, but that includes assuming we're out of Aghanistan and Iraq. Boehner's excludes that calculation. When the two plans are then compared, Boehner's saves $5B more over 10 years. C'mon, people, that gap can be bridged, as can the time the debt limit is once again considered.
The numbers above are from the CBO, as reported by Jamie Dupree.
Hello LG.
ReplyDeleteI think we have covered this before, but I have been a member of a few health clubs, including the Y. I was unaware of the epidemic of ogling/leering at these places (except for sly glances on my part at the Spandex-clad lovely ladies going thru their routines). However, I normally would show up at the gyms dressed for workout, and would shower and change at home. Pretty simple, huh?
Why should I have to worry about some gay guy checking to see how many hemorrhoids I have when I change at the 'Y'? I don't, because I'm not a member.
ReplyDeleteLG, me bucko, this site is not intended to be as prissy as the Readers Forum, but your 4:15 is cutting it close. How about we move on to other topics, and leave your 'rhoids behind, so to speak.
ReplyDelete“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.” Oscar Wilde
ReplyDeleteSen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sums it up:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-07-29/-absolutist-tea-party-backers-put-u-s-on-brink-alaska-s-murkowski-says.html
"I'm merely giving my opinions based on my personal experiences and my expansive knowledge."
ReplyDeleteThat's the 2nd time in 2 days that Bucky Beaver has had me rotflmao...expansive knowledge, indeed!
An excellent summary of the administration's legal options if worse comes to worse:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/28/balkin.obama.options/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
It's horrible for the country. The modern GOP has become a party of anti-tax, anti-government fanatics.
This will make some news, I just heard the appeal for sectarian prayer was rejected 2 to 1
ReplyDeleteI hope that people will pray on their own and be done with it.
ReplyDeleteHi guys,
ReplyDeleteIt appears the forum has been quite active. Glad to hear you are alive and well LG.
I've just returned from a couple of days in Stunton, Va. We saw two Shakespearean plays Tthe Tempest and "Hamlet" and visited the Woodrow Wilson library.
Regarding the recent changes to the Journal's forum this Wilson quote "If you want to make enemies, try to change something." struck me as appropriate, although we seem to be adjusting even LG.
No kidding! I worked at the WWPL for three years; Hope you enjoyed your visit! Staunton is a great town...and the Shakespeare theater is really incredible.
ReplyDeleteI just heard that McConnell is now saying he won't negotiate with Reid over Reid's debt ceiling bill. In effect, he's backing a filibuster of the legislation. Procedurally, it would be very, very, difficult for another plan to go forward.
ReplyDeleteI would say I'm surprised, but McConnell did say his first priority was bringing Obama down.
Lovely.
McConnell is a fool. Four days to go and he's talking filbuster? Reminds me of Senator No.
ReplyDeleteThanks Arthur for the Murkowski link. Nice to hear some sanity talk coming from the right side of the aisle.
ReplyDeleteMurkowski is one of the ones I mentioned in my list of sane GOP candidates for POTUS. Quite a story.
She was defeated in the Alaska primary by a TT Party loony, so ran a write-in campaign and won her seat anyway. I like her courage and thoughtfulness and think that she would make an excellent POTUS...but we won't see her running before 2016.
We need to get Obama out as soon as possible. He has been a disaster as a leader. Our economy is getting worse instead of better since he took office. He's down to a 40% approval rating. I'll bet he'll be down to 35% by the 2012 elections.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, Bucky Beaver, like my dear brother robby boy, just makes up whatever pleases him.
ReplyDeleteThe eight most recent polls have O's approval rating at an average of 44.9%, pretty much where it has been for months. That includes that pinko commie outfit, Fox News, which has him at 45%.
Meanwhile, Congress has sunk to new lows at 19.2%.
As to Getting Obama "out", dream on. Saw three more Obama 2012 bumper stickers today. While the Republicans slash away at each other, he already has a running start.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do for a living Mr. Rush? Hand out towels to the gay bucks at the 'Y'?
ReplyDeleteThe Gallup Poll lists his approval rating at 40%.
Here's the link:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/obama_job_approval_rating_drops_TlNW0dhtjcAcY0aOAKx2zJ?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=
The funny thing is that even if O's approval fell as low as 35%, he'll wind up running against one of the Three Stooges, Bachmann, Perry or Palin. Even I could win that one.
ReplyDeleteI wish that Perry could find a way for Texas to secede. I'd support that, especially if they would take South Carolina with them. They could form a new nation, the Confederacy of Dunces, conceived in agony and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created stupid.
Good evening, folks.
ReplyDeleteMcConnell inspired me to change my registration to Unaffiliated. I want President Obama and his union string-pullers out of the WH, but that is for 2012, after tne nominating conventions. We have other issues now. Refusing to negotiate is wrong. The phrase "for the good of the country" is lost on him, apparently.
Not much of a come back. I figured as much. The dryer is buzzing down at the 'Y'. You better get going.
ReplyDeleteActually, Bucky Beaver, I'm an undercover cop and my job is keeping an eye on folks like you, the partition peepers of the world.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to actually know what is going on you need a variety of sources. There are eight or nine legitimate polls out there...one poll means little by itself.
You remind me of the fumblementalists who insist that the bible is the inspired word of god, yet cherry pick it to support their own bigotry while ignoring the inconvenient parts.
I could give you a link that gives you all the polls, every day, but I won't. Find it yourself, or keep on making a fool of yourself...your choice.
Are you Kit? The insane wacko that used to come into the Journal's forum all juiced up on drugs?
ReplyDeleteConfederacy of Dunces is one of the funniest books ever.
ReplyDeleteNo answer......I'll take that as a yes.
ReplyDeleteStab, I came to unaffiliated from the other direction about 30 years ago when I hit my head on something and suddenly realized that neither major party gives a hoot in a handbasket about anything but their own petty lives.
ReplyDeleteOne advantage of not being a party stooge is that come primary time, you get to pick which primary you vote in. Since my main interest is local elections, that leverages my one vote a little.
Those who focus on national politics, where your vote has little weight, may have missed that our local government, city and county, functions much more smoothly.
There are bumps here and there, but neither the city of W-S nor the county are making huge cuts, nor adopting huge tax increases.
I especially commend County Manager Dudley Watts and Forsyth Commissioners chairman Richard Linville for making what could have become a contentious budget process run so smoothly. Now if Chairman Linville can find a way to get the library bonds issued, we will be on our way to a better future.
Agree with Arthur on "Confederacy of Dunces" the book and highly recommend it to any intelligent reader. As much as I dislike netspeak, it had me rotflmao from first page to last.
ReplyDeleteIf my dear brothers robby boy and Bucky Beaver were a book, we could call them "Confederacy of Dunces: The Sequel".
Mr. Rush....what kind of drugs do you do? Marijuana ....cocaine...because it's obvious that you enter into some type of psychosis the more drugs you do.
ReplyDeleteO.T., interesting observation re local governance. Yes, the process does seem a bit more matter-of-fact, businesslike. Shame on DC.
ReplyDelete"Bucky Beaver" . . . O.T., our younger participants may not remember the cartoon character Disney created for Bristol-Myers. They also may not remember the Ipana toothpaste that Bucky Beaver marketed, as it and Bucky Beaver have been gone for decades, though the Ipana name may be revived in Canada.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember cartoon character Tom Terrific?
In a way, it's a little unfair to compare, because our local board members don't make their living from their elected positions as the nationals do. It's always astonishing to me that so many are willing to serve for so little compensation.
ReplyDeleteI have great respect for most of our local board members. There are exceptions, especially on the school board, which has an ideological slant that comes before the good of the students and teachers. But we are working on a couple of adjustments to that which might improve things a bit. The removal of just a few could lead to big improvement.
Amen on adjusting the school board for teachers and students. I would like to be part of the adjustment, but I don't know if family concerns will permit.
ReplyDeleteBrusha, brusha, brusha,
ReplyDeleteNew Ipana toothpaste,
With the brand new flavor,
It's dandy for your tee-eeth...
From the department of useless knowledge and memories locked into my brain forever.
Don't remember the jingle, but Bucky Beaver was part of my childhood. I pestered my mother to buy it, but Colgate reigned in our household.
ReplyDeleteI've never met anyone on amyl nitrite. Maybe that's it.
ReplyDeleteProbably because of another jingle, maybe "Three ways clean is Colgate clean..."
ReplyDeleteBecause I am easily bored and a natural multi-tasker, I have juggled several careers simultaneously most of my adult life, one of them in advertising and marketing.
I have heard thousands of people say "Oh, I'm not affected by advertsing." Ha, ha. Look in almost anyone's medicine cabinet. Why are there containers marked Bayer or Advil when you can get an identical generic for about a third of the price?
And I'm not the only one walking around humming old radio/tv jingles:
To look sharp, and feel sharp too,
Get the razor, that is made for you,
Li-ight, regular, heavy, hey
It's the way to get a closer shave, ole!
(Gillette, ancient times...they co-sponsored the Friday Night Fights with Pabst Blue Ribbon)
"Hey mister, how are you fixed for blades?"
ReplyDeleteI remember the Friday night fights, and something called "Cavalcade of Sports." Watched both while staying with Granddad Raymond Taylor, whom you remember.
"Cause a worn out blade makes shaving mighty tough."
ReplyDeleteThe human brain is easily the most awesome computer on earth. Each one has a store of more or less "common knowledge" and then a vast database of unique "stuff", sometimes difficult to recall until someone else trips the trigger.
I can call one of my sons and start giving him a vague description of a movie and before I finish the first sentence he is saying "Back to Bataan, 1945, John Wayne, Anthony Quinn..." Cast, director, where it was made...he hasn't thought about that movie in years, but my vague description opens the proper folder in his brain.
When I was a kid, our neighbor had the only TV on the block. A dozen or so men and boys gathered there every Friday night to watch the fights. The women and girls gathered on the big porch next door and drank iced tea and lemonade. At fight central, the men were drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, while the boys could only wish.
This is really going to roil some people:
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=14193567
O.T., the human brain is the most complex structure in the universe. It is now thought by some, including the great physicist Roger Penrose, to be operating on a quantum level, which makes it even more complex and with more potential.
ReplyDeleteThis brain, however needs to go dormant for a time. A good evening to you and everyone else, including LG, whose dreams I care not to imagine.