Blue Fairy Godmother Budget Cuts
I'm going to admit right up front here that I swiped the concept for my title from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s novel Mother Night. Blue Fairy Godmother budget cuts, to define my homage, are those that can only be seen and believed in magically, and offer further magical protection from any political harm. So it goes.
We all now live in a post-sequester world. We're all waiting for the axe to fall. Meanwhile, in Washington, Republicans in Congress are openly admitting that their main job is just too tough for them to do. They are publicly stating their own incompetence. In fact, they are unconstitutionally begging the president to do their job for them.
Things have gotten so strange and fantastical, I found myself in rare and open agreement with Senator John McCain yesterday. McCain was reacting to the newest Republican plan, which is to give the president what they call "flexibility" in spreading around the sequester cuts, so they somehow won't hurt as much. When the host of Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer, asked McCain whether "people on the extreme ends of your party" are "holding the rest of you hostage here," McCain answered [emphasis added]:
I don't think -- frankly, it's the extreme ends of the party. I think a lot of it is just people who don't understand. We -- we put up a proposal and most Republicans voted for a, quote, "flexibility" for the President of the United States. I spent hundreds of hours with Carl Levin shaping a Defense Authorization Bill. So now we're supposed to just give all of that over to the President of the United States? That's a violation of my constitutional responsibilities. So, I say in respect that it isn't so much to the extremes as much as it is a lack of appreciation of the world we live in, and this has been manifested at other times and other ways as well.
McCain's got it exactly right, in calling out his own political party's nonsense. It is a violation of the Constitution for Congress to just throw its hands up in the air and let the president do whatever he wants with the budget -- even if Congress limits the money the president can spend. It is, in essence, saying "here's a blank check, we don't care how you spend it" rather than doing the job of writing a budget. This is unconstitutional for a very good reason. This is why the Supreme Court threw out the "line-item veto" that Congress tried to hand to President Clinton. It is the duty -- the constitutional duty -- of Congress to write the budget.
In fact, the Constitution goes even further and states that all bills which spend money must originate in the House of Representatives. This goes to the heart of the matter. The framers of the Constitution put that in there for a good reason -- it wasn't just some random clause inserted because they thought it sounded nice. The reasoning is simple: the House of Representatives is the closest to the people and must face re-election every two years. Therefore, if they screw things up, the voters will quickly replace them -- faster than the president or the Senate can be replaced in such a fashion. The budget is Congress' main responsibility. Much as some Republicans now would like to, they just cannot punt this responsibility to the Executive Branch. Doing so is not allowed.
Of course, what's really going on here is Republicans are finally facing the hard fact that the American people, in general, actually like all that stuff that government does. While "cut spending" is a dandy campaign slogan because it sounds so simple and easy to accomplish, when you get down to the actual spending, most people approve of most of it. What this means is there is always going to be some pain when the budget is cut. This is a hard truth Republicans have been trying to avoid, in their search for Blue Fairy Godmother cuts.
Of course, the media lets them get away with it, for the most part. We've just been through a sequester media onslaught, and how many times was a Republican asked the basic question: "Are you for the sequester or against it?" or the crucial followup question: "So what would you cut instead?" I still can't even figure out what the "party position" on the sequester is for Republicans. That's a basic failure of journalism, for the most part.
Here's the exchange I've been waiting for, between a reporter and a Republican member of Congress:
"Senator, you're a Republican. The Republican Party is supposed to be the party of budget cutting, so do you support the sequester or not?"
"I think we could be much smarter about how we go about these cuts, but the president got his sequester, so here we are."
"But you voted for the sequester, didn't you?"
"This is the president's sequester."
"Which you voted for, Senator Blatherskite. So, a general question, are you for cutting the budget?"
"Of course I am."
"The sequester cuts the budget. So, are you for it?"
"Well, no, because it's President Obama's sequester."
"So you're against cutting the budget because the president supports cutting the budget, even though you and your party are for cutting the budget?"
"That's not the way I'd put it. Look, there are much smarter ways of cutting the federal budget than the meat axe of the sequester. Even Democrats agree with that statement."
"OK, then what would you cut instead?"
"I would rein in entitlements, that's where the real savings can be found."
"Would you accept a so-called Grand Bargain with the Democrats where a few tax loopholes were closed and entitlements were reformed?"
"No, I'd never accept a dime in new taxes."
"Well then, entitlements are never going to be changed -- Democrats will never accept anything short of a Grand Bargain. So let's just leave the Grand Bargain on the side for now. This puts entitlements and taxes out of the conversation entirely -- which is exactly the prospect you face with the upcoming continuing resolution right now, Senator. Since everyone seems to agree that the continuing resolution will continue the sequester budget levels -- that's pretty much a given, from what I hear -- then we return to the question at hand now. You say the president is making the cuts in the wrong places. You say he's scaring the public with dire warnings of people being fired. So, if he's cutting the wrong things, then what would you cut instead?"
"Well, I'd restore all the military cuts."
"OK, then you've got to get twice as much savings from other discretionary spending. So what would you cut? What, exactly would your party cut?"
This is the main question the Republicans want to avoid: "What would you cut instead?" Because when the rubber meets the road, they refuse to answer that question. In fact, they're terrified of it. They want Blue Fairy Godmother cuts -- budget cuts that nobody can see where they came from, and that magically protect Republicans from political harm.
Consider: both of Paul Ryan's budgets punted on laying out specific discretionary spending cuts. Mitt Romney refused to detail these cuts during his campaign. The GOP party line since the election has been a bizarre pretzel twist in logic, even more pretzelly than usual -- Obama won the election, therefore he needs to lead, and the direction he needs to lead in is 100 percent where we tell him we'd like to go and away from what he ran on, but we're not going to even provide the slightest hint of how we'd like to get there, and we're going to blame him later for whatever route he picks.
What else can you call this but Blue Fairy Godmother thinking? Obama is supposed to provide all the magic budget cuts Republicans want, and then Republicans can vote on them, and forevermore blame Obama for all of them? What fantastical universe does that sort of thinking come from? And yet, every time John Boehner says, "the president has to lead, the House isn't going to do anything until he offers up his budget cuts," this is exactly what he means.
Should anyone doubt that this is the way Republicans are thinking right now, just look at their attempts to "blame" Obama for the sequester. Why, in the first place, should they be "blaming" Obama for something their party wants to happen? That, right there, makes no sense at all -- which is why it is so hard to pin down any Republican on whether they "support" the sequester or not. Supporting the sequester means supporting budget cuts, but it also means supporting something they say Obama did, when they are always against everything Obama does -- and that's an expert level of Republican doublethink to hold in your brain simultaneously, and many of them aren't up to the challenge. Even setting that monstrous problem aside, however, look at the modus operandi underlying it: blame Obama for budget cuts. This, the Republicans dearly hope, will work once again, if they can just get the White House to propose the specifics of all the budget cuts. That way, they can all go home to their constituents and any time anyone complains about a budget cut they can just shrug and say: "Obama did it -- it's his fault."
Deep down, Republicans know that cutting federal spending is going to be unpopular when it happens, no matter what gets cut. They've been avoiding specifying their cuts for this very reason. They are, in fact, not only refusing to do their basic job, they are also attempting to give away their constitutional duty to do so to the president. House Republicans are expected to offer up their budget document for the next fiscal year later this month. If it's anything like the last two budget documents they passed, it will refuse to specify which cuts will be made in discretionary spending. It will instead be filled with "we'll get around to these details later" promises. Budget cuts from the magic land where anyone harmed by them will never, ever blame Republicans, who will all live happily in Congress ever after. In a phrase: Blue Fairy Godmother budget cuts.
[Program Note: Today's column should have been our monthly look back at President Obama's job approval polling numbers, but for some reason RealClearPolitics.com hasn't updated their charts (where we draw our data from) for the past week or so. Hopefully, by Wednesday, they'll have fixed the problem. Apologies for the delay.]
-- Chris Weigant
Cross-posted at The Huffington Post
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
We're all waiting for the axe to fall.
According to Obama and Napalitano, the ax ALREADY fell...
Of course, we know that it only fell in Blue Fairy Godmother land.. :D
cCain's got it exactly right, in calling out his own political party's nonsense. It is a violation of the Constitution for Congress to just throw its hands up in the air and let the president do whatever he wants with the budget -- even if Congress limits the money the president can spend. It is, in essence, saying "here's a blank check, we don't care how you spend it" rather than doing the job of writing a budget. This is unconstitutional for a very good reason. This is why the Supreme Court threw out the "line-item veto" that Congress tried to hand to President Clinton. It is the duty -- the constitutional duty -- of Congress to write the budget.
And yet, as we have seen time and time again, Obama and the Democrats have absolutely NO problem trampling on the Constitution when it suits their agenda and they perceive that Congress isn't doing their "constitutional duty"....
The imposed DREAM ACT and the unconstitutional "Recess" appointments come to mind..
So, what you are basically saying (please feel free to correct me if I have it wrong. People around here seem to think that my interpretational skills need help.. :D) is that it's perfectly OK for Obama and the Democrats to ignore the Constitution if they perceive that Congress isn't doing their jobs, but it's NOT OK for Republicans to propose the same thing for the same reason...
Of course, what's really going on here is Republicans are finally facing the hard fact that the American people, in general, actually like all that stuff that government does.
Assumes facts not in evidence..
If you amend that to say that the American people in general like SOME of that stuff that government does, you would be accurate...
The problem with THAT interpretation, however, is that different Americans like different stuff :D
I'll get to the rest later. I am sure there is enough there for ya'all to rake me over the coals.. :D
Michale
Dow Sets Record High, Tops 2007's All-Time High of 14,198.10
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100522542
Apparently the Stock Market doesn't share in Obama's and the Democrats' gloom and doom, apocalyptic nightmares that would be brought about by Obama's Sequester...
Since ya'all have pointed to the Stock Market highs as "proof" that things are good, I am sure you will agree that it's also "proof" that Obama and the Democrats were wrong about Obama's Sequester..
Right?? :D
Michale
Lol Michale your misunderstanding of how markets work never ceases to amaze me!
I don't get the article CW, everyone knows what Republicans want to cut: anything that will help the poor/unemployed/sick/veterans/elderly. That is, the people least able to defend themselves or contribute to their campaigns. Of course they are not going to publicly admit this as a fact and try to spin it!
Lol Michale your misunderstanding of how markets work never ceases to amaze me!
While it's true I may not understand the Stock Market, I *DO* completely and unequivocally understand the political ideologue... They are very similar to the religious ideologue...
Everything good and right in the world is because of their chosen Political Party/Deity. Everything evil and wrong in the world is the fault of those who don't follow their chosen Political Party/Deity...
The Stock Market going high is just the latest example that proves the rule... :D
Michale
I agree with you that Obama has been exaggerating the impact of the Sequester and the speed which the impact will hit.
But I don't really care because I know (and have had to do this many times myself) sometimes it takes a lot of exaggeration to get the message home to non-financially minded people. You can say to someone 'the education budget is going to be cut by $10b or 10%' and they'll be like 'meh, I don't even know what that means'. Or you can say '$10b is the equivalent of 100,000 teachers'. That usually gets the message home.
Does it mean that 100,000 teachers will be fired? No! But you're putting it in terms they can understand.
And the only way the rise in the stock market could be related to the Sequester is if the Sequester magically popped up announced and this is the markets reaction to it. Considering the bill to create it was literally passed months ago then you can assume the market has already assimilated this information (that's how markets work).
* unannounced
I agree with you that Obama has been exaggerating the impact of the Sequester and the speed which the impact will hit.
Common ground.. Truly a wonderful thing.. :D
Now, if we can just get other Weigantians to admit the facts, things would be hunky dorky... :D
But I don't really care because I know (and have had to do this many times myself) sometimes it takes a lot of exaggeration to get the message home to non-financially minded people.
Perhaps.. But it also leaves one open to ridicule and disbelief the next time they cry wolf...
Does it mean that 100,000 teachers will be fired? No! But you're putting it in terms they can understand.
Then they need to clarify that in those terms..
Obama stated that janitors would lose their jobs..
That was bullshit..
Napalitano stated that airports were having delays.
THAT was bullshit..
Ya'all call bullshit on the GOP on a daily, sometimes HOURLY basis..
Wouldn't it behoove ya'all to call bullshit on Obama and the Dems when THEY spew the bs??
I'm just sayin'....
And the only way the rise in the stock market could be related to the Sequester is if the Sequester magically popped up announced and this is the markets reaction to it. Considering the bill to create it was literally passed months ago then you can assume the market has already assimilated this information (that's how markets work).
While the bill may have been created months ago, it was vaporware until Obama signed his Sequester last Friday..
Put another way.. Ya'all pointed out the rise in the stock market days after Dems taxes went into effect and said, "See!?? No problem" or words to that effect..
I simply used your own words and your own timing on Obama's Sequester...
Michale
Michty,
Let's get to brass tacks here..
How long should we give it before we can call BS on the Left's predictions over Obama's Sequester??
A week?? A month?? Six months?? A year??
"How many people does it take before it's wrong, Admiral!!?? A hundred!?? A thousand!!?? A million!!?? How many, Admiral!!??"
-Captain Jean Luc Picard, STAR TREK IX INSURRECTION
:D
Michale
I am also constrained to point out that the government is seeing record highs of tax revenue coming in..
So, we have record high tax revenues and the have Obama's Sequester cuts that aren't causing the apocalyptic mayhem that was predicted..
Hmmmmmm Things are looking pretty good, eh??
I betcha Ten Thousand Quatloos that Obama will start embracing his Sequester and crow about what a great idea it really was..
You watch.... :D
Michale
A question...
Ya'all are not.... HOPING for apocalyptic occurrences from Obama's sequester...???
Are you??
Because, if you are, that would be such a... a... oh I dunno... Republican thing to do...
Wouldn't ya agree?? :D
Michale.....
Ya'all are not.... HOPING for apocalyptic occurrences from Obama's sequester...???
well... i'm hoping for an end to two thirds of the country's standardized testing, does that count?
well... i'm hoping for an end to two thirds of the country's standardized testing, does that count?
But that wouldn't be "apocalyptic" right? :D
It would be under the heading of A GOOD THING, right?? :D
Michale
But that wouldn't be "apocalyptic" right? :D
it would, because it seems nothing short of the apocalypse is going to stop Pearson Education from skimming billions of dollars and weeks of wasted instructional time from our nation's schools.
Now TODAY is a frabjous day!!
Hugo Chavez just died...
The world is a little bit better place now that this scumbag has kicked the bucket...
Michale
http://washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-goes-silent-on-dow-record-high-not-always-so-quiet-on-stock-market/article/2523300
Looks like the White House is getting a little defensive.. :D
This is the down side of screaming "THE SKY IS FALLING" and then having the Stock Market rally to record highs...
:D
Jeeze...
The scumbag Hugo Chavez is dead...
Massive amounts of egg on the face of Democrats and Obama while they dine on Crow Pie...
Could this day get ANY better?? :D
Michale
And Obama's lies continues to unravel!! :D
Capitol janitors making ‘ends meet’ with overtime? Nope
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/capitol-janitors-making-ends-meet-with-overtime-nope/2013/03/05/f07a4f8c-85f9-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394_blog.html
Com'on, people!! Ya'all are ALL about "Fact Checking" when it comes to the GOP...
No fact checks for Emperor Barack The First??
Michale
I am also constrained to point out that the government is seeing record highs of tax revenue coming in..
Lol nope. This statement is as dumb an understanding of money and the time value of money as saying things like:
- 'The stock market is at an all time high!'
- 'Gases are at all time high prices!'
- 'The deficit is at an all time high!'
- 'GDP is at an all time high!'
- 'The number of people working in America today is at an all time high!'
- 'Average American salaries are at an all time high'
Absolutely none of these statistics are meaningful in the slightest because they firstly ignore the time value of money and secondly have absolutely no context to them.
It amazes me that people are actually stupid and gullible enough to believe that with 7.8% unemployment and lower taxes than during the Clinton years that tax revenues are 'the highest ever'.
I mean seriously? Do people have no rational or logical skills at all???
It amazes me that people are actually stupid and gullible enough to believe that with 7.8% unemployment and lower taxes than during the Clinton years that tax revenues are 'the highest ever'.
I mean seriously? Do people have no rational or logical skills at all???
That's one possibility...
The other possibility is that you are wrong and everyone else is right..
"You can't discard one theory just because you don't happen to like it."
-Martin Sheen, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
:D
Michale
Lol yes as an accountant I am used to seeing politicians manipulate numbers and finance. I am just surprised people are stupid enough to fall from it.
Especially when you've got a politician saying 'the economy is awful, Obama has wrecked the American economy... but they are still raising the most tax revenue ever' lolol. I mean use your COMMON SENSE lol.
Especially when you've got a politician saying 'the economy is awful, Obama has wrecked the American economy... but they are still raising the most tax revenue ever' lolol. I mean use your COMMON SENSE lol.
I am..
And common sense is telling me that Obama and the Democrats are full of shit with all their gloom and doom apocalyptic garbage...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/5/email-tells-feds-make-sequester-painful-promised/
Apparently, everyone else knows they are full of shit too.. :D
Michale
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/03/06/white-house-cries-wolf-3-times-over-past-10-days-about-sequester-cuts/
And there is that too..
Ya know Obama is in trouble when the MSM bastion of liberal-ness starts ridiculing him.. :D
Michale
Yeh they are going a bit over the top about the impact of the Sequester.
You probably won't be mocking them IF America slips into recession later in the year though. And they will be whipping out a big can of 'I told you so' while Republicans try to blame Obama (again) for the Sequester...
Yeh they are going a bit over the top about the impact of the Sequester.
Ya think?? :D
You probably won't be mocking them IF America slips into recession later in the year though. And they will be whipping out a big can of 'I told you so' while Republicans try to blame Obama (again) for the Sequester...
Probably..
But the reverse is also true..
If Obama's Sequester turns out to be a really good thing for the country, you KNOW that Obama and the Democrats will be taking credit for it..
"And so it goes... and so it goes..."
-Billy Joel, AND SO IT GOES
Michale
What do ya'all think of Rand Paul's MR SMITH-style filibuster??
I find it ironic that it would be a Republican and not a Democrat that would pull such a stunt... :D
Michale
Sounds exactly like something Rand Paul would do. Someone who hates and wants to destroy Government can achieve this goal by stopping Government from doing anything (akin to much of the Republican party).
Anyway the Obama argument is quite correct. The quickest way to get out of a recession AND decrease your debt is to create jobs. Anything which does otherwise will make the recovery worse and the debt longer...
Sounds exactly like something Rand Paul would do. Someone who hates and wants to destroy Government can achieve this goal by stopping Government from doing anything (akin to much of the Republican party).
And yet, what was it that Paul was filibustering against??
Drone attacks on US citizens on US soil...
Apparently, everyone here is in 100% agreement with me and on board with that.. :D
Kewl... :D Nice to have my position validated... :D
Anyway the Obama argument is quite correct. The quickest way to get out of a recession AND decrease your debt is to create jobs. Anything which does otherwise will make the recovery worse and the debt longer...
And yet, Obama has done shit to CREATE jobs and has worked against businesses to PREVENT the creation of jobs...
Michale
And yet, Obama has done shit to CREATE jobs and has worked against businesses to PREVENT the creation of jobs...
Lololololol not in the slightest. You need to stop reading far right lunatic nut job news sites.
What is for sure is that the sequester will cost jobs. How much is at the moment just an estimate (some as high as 700k). Since the US added around 2m jobs last year this is quite a big chunk...
What is for sure is that the sequester will cost jobs. How much is at the moment just an estimate (some as high as 700k). Since the US added around 2m jobs last year this is quite a big chunk...
Yea yea yea...
It's been a nightmare so far, eh?? :D
Michale