Note that lead-off LTE writer is the Readers' Forum's JFHlion.
Difference in philosophy
Another self-inflicted governmental drama, played to the final curtain, with a bunch of self-congratulatory "it isn't perfect, but it was the best we could do" rambling. It certainly was not perfect, but if that is the best they can do, we need more changes of the type we saw in the 2012 elections.
JOHN F. HAGEMAN
Winston-Salem
How to pray
CHARLOTTE FULP
Boone
Lost credibility
NAOMI J. DAVIS
Winston-Salem
Sum it up:
In another startling display of incompetence, our governing "leadership" has raised the debt limit, with the ambiguous compromise of "saving" $2.5 trillion in expenditures over the next 10 years. According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, second-quarter 2011 government spending was running at a $5.36 trillion annual rate, producing a projected $1.26 trillion deficit for this year.
If one assumes that spending would be held flat at the current annual rate, we would spend $53.6 trillion over 10 years. The $2.5 trillion "reduction" would amount to less than 5 percent of that total. Does anyone believe that spending will be flat over the next 10 years?
The only accomplishment of this whole drama was highlighting the stark difference in philosophy between the Obama White House and his still Democratic-controlled Senate and the emerging change in the newly created Republican majority in the House. The Democrats, with Obama at the helm, want continued spending and entitlement growth, funded by increased taxation, while the tea-party influenced (Biden's "terrorists") freshmen Republicans would like to lessen the size of government and its spending and maintain or lower the tax burdens on businesses and individuals.
JOHN F. HAGEMAN
Winston-Salem
How to pray
I would like to know how you pray to a non-specific deity, as your editorial ("Latest ruling upholds Constitution," Aug. 2) recounts federal District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. suggesting. Sounds like ancient Greece in the Bible.
CHARLOTTE FULP
Boone
Lost credibility
Even though the debt-ceiling problem has tentatively been resolved, we are not out of the woods yet. We have lost some of our credibility with the rest of the world, and as long as the inexperienced tea-party Republicans hold the rest of the House of Representatives hostage, there will be no sanity. Their only intention is to defeat President Obama. As long as sanity remains silent, there will be insanity.
Who would have thought while campaigning on jobs, jobs, jobs, the Republicans meant cutting them instead of creating them? There is no way you can cut teachers, firemen, policemen, education and funding for worthwhile causes without losing millions of jobs. It is time for the silent majority to speak out and stop this insanity.NAOMI J. DAVIS
Winston-Salem
Sum it up:
Should Forsyth County commissioners continue their fight for sectarian prayer to open their meetings? Respond to letters@wsjournal.com and put "Sum It Up" in the subject header. Only signed entries please, no anonymous ones. Briefer responses receive preference in print. We will run some responses in this space in a few days.
JFHlion et. al.:
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt the debt is staggering. No doubt the debt has risen sharply in the past 3 years ... but the debt has been rising at unhealthy and unsustainable rate since at least the 70's (causes include both LBJ and Nixon policies, cause since too many to list).
To blame Obama while dismissing the past & ignoring the current "trough" (as many call it) - indeed to blame any single person, group, or event is just silly - but that is where today's conversation turns, as witnessed by your LTE, my friend.
Rather - I say they should have passed the debt ceiling long ago and spent the time working on the problemS - which are too much spending .. and also a massive reduction in revenue - the Laffer Curve gone amuck.
I agree. We know that Obama's policies are driving our economy further into an abyss. Let's ignore reality, and continue on the same course by supporting Obama in 2012. It's more about ideology than the well being of the country.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats....you gotta love 'em. And they call conservatives dumb. Heeee Heee!
What's funny about the Democrats (recently) is that they are trying to blame the Tea Party for the downgrade- when the S&P said the reason for the downgrade was because congress and the president did not make enough cuts in spending- precisely what the Tea Party advocated.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats....you gotta love 'em for their ingenious reasoning-and to think some people actually believe them.
Hang on to your 401k on Monday, it's going to be a real ride.
Actually the S&P report says: "We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policy making becoming less stable, less effective,and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy."
ReplyDeleteA translation into plain English, for the dumbos out there wearing partisan blinders or simply incapable of reading corporate code words:
ReplyDelete"If the US is to get its debt problems under control and recover its AAA rating, it must make serious, specific spending cuts AND raise taxes AND the members of both major political parties must demonstrate that they can rise above the level of juvenile delinquents and work together for the common good."
That is an indictment of both the Democrats AND the Republicans and anyone, such as Bucky or Lion/Hageman/whatever who wants to make it into a partisan matter is just as stupid as most of the Congress.
I think everybody who voted for Obama should take the time tonight to go into their bathrooms, not the public ones where gay bucks hang out, but your own. Once there, look yourself in the mirror, and say "I'm an idiot". Say it as many times as you need to....you'll feel better, and I'll feel better.
ReplyDeleteMy dearly beloved brother Bucky Beaver:
ReplyDeleteAre you going to keep making that same post every few days until hell freezes over? Guess you lifted it from Rush/Beck or some other stupid talking head, so think that it is really clever.
YOU should go to your favorite public restroom and do the same. What you'll see is yourself, and in the background, your wannabe self in the form of those banging bucks.
I don't think beaver is Bucky's main focus.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe HE thinks that's what beaver is.
ReplyDeleteApparently, there are some people that voted for Obama among our blog participants. Some people seem to be just a tad sensitive.
ReplyDeleteNothing to be sensitive about, mi amigo. I plan on doing it again!
ReplyDeleteYou'll be doing it with a few less people the next time around, bobo.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you bet that with the news of tomorrow, the media one- notes will say “No one saw it coming”.Which is one of the great excuses used by the economics profession and media to rationalize our economic crisis. The statement is convenient, but should say: “No Keynesian economist saw it coming.”
ReplyDeleteMeantime our President through the regulatory agencies is going to regulate us out of recession and into recovery. No wonder he needs to produce no plan and no budget. He plans to make us into what is left of Europe all by himself.
ReplyDeleteHello folks!
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to cut spending and raise revenues. And I agree with S&P's and O.T.'s comments re the contentious members of both parties acting like juvenile deliquents.
I also agree with WW's comment President Obama's operating via regulatory fiat, as with his use of the NLRB to make our economy less productive and competitive while infringing on individual and business rights.
Obama is much like Jimmy Carter. He is a nice guy, but he's no leader, and a terrible president. The pinheads of the world bought into his flowery rhetoric during the campaign. Now, we are eating the dung sandwich that he's serving up.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad the election is over a year away.
The Asian Markets are going nuts. Thanks Obama.
LG, replacing President Obama is all very well, but that's for very late 2012. What suggestions do you have for right now?
ReplyDeleteBig problems will never be solved by the status quo. It will take a series of earth trembling elections like 2010. The brilliance of our system of government is elections can matter and it may take several 2010s in a row to bring about what I believe is going to be a once in a lifetime change in the power dynamic of our government. A "tipping point" is at hand to use a well worn phrase.
ReplyDeleteHi WW. I agree with you, but we have housefire ongoing now. We cannot wait till 2013 to put it out. Unfortunately, we, the markets, and the 9.2% unemployed cannot wait for more new brooms to be voted in.
ReplyDeleteStab, the problem is that the things you mention in your first paragraph are REAL, and unless resolved, and soon, could bring down our economy. There are people hoping that this will happen, in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, even Washington (wanting Obama to fail trumps what is best for the nation).
ReplyDeleteThe NLRB problem is REAL, too, just not nearly as urgent. Unless a few good men and women step up to the plate soon, we could find ourselves a marginal player well before election day 2012. The problem is that they must come from those already seated in Congress. Where are they?
Stab and OT..."The idea that a capitalist economy can support a socialist welfare state is collapsing before our eyes. . . . That is the problem. So profound is its challenge to the received wisdom of postwar Western democratic life that it is unutterable in the EU circles in which the crucial decisions are being made – or rather, not being made.” This is at the bottom of America's structural problems also and is why I say we are chasing after what is left of Europe. In the meantime, Obama is to be stopped by all legislative means possible. The current ladies and gents in DC will only chip at the edges of our debt problem. 2012 is the best answer in our democracy.
ReplyDeleteO.T.:
ReplyDeleteYes, the NLRB thing is a bit player, obviously a hot-button item for me, as the Administration uses the current situation as a smokescreen for its machinations. Mind you, I didn't say the Administration doesn't want to do something about the deficit/debt, but it is using the issue as a convenient mask while it's handy.
That said, the above-mentioned housefire is far more important, but can be resolved, which takes us back to your query re a few good men and women stepping up to the plate. After the sandbox fight of the past weeks, I don't see anyone stepping forward. Out of 535 Congresspeople and 1 Prez, you'd think someone or several someones would step forward.
I have frequently scorned my own generation, citing GW Bush, Ken Lay, the Clintons, and Jesse Jackson as examples of its shallowness. I hoped the follow-on generation (or half-generation) would be an improvement, but if Obama and Cantor are exemplars, I am to be disappointed.
WW, I don't argue your point re capitalist economy supporting a socialist entitlement system. We have tried that over the past decades via deficit spending, along with our wars. However, we cannot take a meat cleaver to the spending, and we cannot deny, IMO, that we spent money that we should have raised by taxes instead of borrowing. Now we must pay the piper.
ReplyDeleteWW, you are a good friend, but I respectfully submit that we need to deal with the debt issue more forcefully now. We can't wait to turn Obama out in 2012. We need to upheave both House and Senate now. Unfortunately, it is the Senate and House office holders who must do the upheaving. All we can do is call, mail, and email. Repeatedly.
Stab..yes that is what we must do and will. We can petition our government. America is not going to die before 2012. We have empediments to economic growth. Some know these things are a problem and some know they are an opportunity. One party can not stay in business without fighting them and the other can't stay in business without protecting them. I guess we start at dawn with the petitioning. I will...well, dawn plus about 2 hours:)
ReplyDeleteI hate to disagree with you guys, but I have been reading about and studying the Chinese for some years now.
ReplyDeleteModern China is a unique phenomenon in world history. Somehow, they have fused a modern capitalistic economy with a classic, but much improved, communist government structure. No one has, so far, been able to find the chink in their armor.
They have many problems, but because their leadership is made up of highly educated people, scientists and mathematicians and economists instead of our mostly lawyer culture, and because they are not restrained by a dysfunctional legislature, they are able to craft creative solutions to those problems.
For instance, while the urban population is caught up in the economic boom, the hinterlands, which still comprise the majority of Chinese citizens, are stuck in ancient peasant poverty.
But they have TV and so are aware of what is going on in Shanghai and the other big cities. The result has been almost continuous acts of insurrection in the hinterlands, which has occupied most of the energy of the national army.
But because the upper management of the country is communist and highly educated, they have been developing real solutions. The most brilliant is the recolonization of Africa.
But this time, instead of doing it by force, as the Europeans did, they are forging partnerships with the more or less legitimate governments of various African nations.
Africa as a whole happens to have nearly unlimited potential in agriculture. The problem is that it lacks manpower to develop that agricultural potential. Enter the Chinese, who are quite willing to pay the cost of transporting their rebellious peasants to Africa and establishing a new revolution on the land.
It is happening as we speak.
China is developing a modern military, but in a way quite different from the way we do it. We have 11 multimillion dollar aircraft carriers, and are set to build more. They have one cheap one, a rebuild of an old Soviet model, and do not seem inclined to build more.
Why? Because they see projection of power as being a diplomatic, rather than military, matter. Dick Cheney thought that we could dominate the world by bombing people into submission. The Chinese disagree.
We better pay attention.
One thing the Chinese haven't done: That is allow 12 million people to stream across their borders and then allow them to sap off governmental assets in the form of social services and health care for free.
ReplyDeleteBINGO: China "leadership is made up of highly educated people, scientists and mathematicians and economists instead of our mostly lawyer culture, and because they are not restrained by a dysfunctional legislature, they are able to craft creative solutions to those problems."
ReplyDeleteThe best and brightest going into government + no public dissent.
... meanwhile we sit here a whine about illegal immigration, abortion, unions, welfare ...
ReplyDelete