Debt Ceiling Debate: Obama’s Fences vs. the GOP’s Bridges
by Michael Angley
Political trench warfare reached a stalemate in Washington, DC this past week as the White House and GOP lawmakers continued to square off in the debt ceiling debate. President Obama put his thumb on the launch button of his party’s thermonuclear equivalent weapon, suggesting seniors may not get Social Security checks because of Republican intransigence in the talks. But beyond the simplistic jab and parry of tax hikes versus spending cuts, there’s something much more significant at stake: two vastly different visions of America’s future.
Despite Obama’s sudden head fake attempt to appear above the fray on the issue, he is not. Barack Obama is as far left as politicians come. He’s a product of his upbringing and radical influences, a culture that despises America’s capitalism and exceptionalism. In his America, one in every seven Americans is on food stamps, one in two households pays no federal taxes, and the wealth creators are vilified for their success.
It should be no surprise that Obama’s vision for America is to create as many wards of the state as he can, trapping more citizens in the utter despair of big government dependency. It is this kind of lefty mentality that drives his position on the debt ceiling debate. Tax hikes are the only solution in the mindset of the average liberal/Democrat/progressive/socialist/Marxist (you pick; they all mean the same thing).
In contrast, the GOP envisions an America where less government and more individual freedoms stimulate personal responsibility and independence. On the debt ceiling debate, spending cuts are a necessary (and commonsense) first order of business to control runaway debt and keep government in check. Tax hikes will only stifle business growth and stymie job creation.
I’ve got personal history with both visions, so I view this debate from a perspective most Americans don’t have. I grew up in the 1960s and 70s in the housing projects of Newark, NJ, in literally one of the most despairing environments one can imagine. It was big government-created misery, a mini-version of the welfare-state vision Obama has for the entire country.
My father was a blue-collar guy, and unlike most of my friends’ parents, he worked. The average “family” in the projects consisted of a single parent of several children on welfare, and because of that dependence, there was little incentive to work. My dad was severely disabled, partially paralyzed, yet he worked hard every day to support his family.
When I was a young boy I once asked him why he didn’t simply go on disability or welfare. He smiled and told me that once you accept government assistance, it’s hard to stop. He explained that government builds fences around people to trap them, but it is up to a man to build his own bridge out of poverty. After that I started to see the fences that surrounded the people who lived in the projects, fences made of welfare checks, food stamps, and other forms of assistance. They were content to live on just enough to survive, with no hope or promise of improving their lives.
My dad eventually built his bridge and pulled us out of poverty to a better life in a new city and state, and his lessons have stayed with me ever since. I grew into my conservative beliefs by example, seeing both the big government solution and the benefits of personal responsibility. There’s no comparison. Newark’s welfare culture was the most hopeless, bleak, and miserable existence I’ve ever experienced. The last thing I want to see is its expansion to the rest of America. Some days, I feel like we’re almost there.
On the debt ceiling debate, the choice is clear. We can allow Obama and the asylum-running lunatic Senate Democrats to push us closer to a total welfare state where we’re all penned inside fences we can’t see beyond, or we can allow the GOP to end the madness and help us all build bridges to a greater future. It starts with taking a stand. The time is now.
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51 Comments
It's a shell game people, and they are playing it with your lives.
Your time is your life. Just as your property (money) takes time to produce (earn) when the statist takes your money they are taking your time, and by that I mean your life.
Thus you are enslaved, all of us.
Call the President's BLUFF!!! He will get to decide which constituency will feel the pain and how much "pain" it will be. He will attempt to lay the blame at the feet of the Republicans in congress. The Republicans can pass a bill that states that SS WILL be paid. After that it is the President's CHOICE. He will have the *GASP* responsibility for continuing operations of the American republic. By the way, that IS the JOB of the Executive!!! Welcome to the world of average Americans, Mr. President. We have to CHOOSE what we spend our money on and make priorities. I think it will be wonderful, when the American public sees yours!! And please do not forget what you asked for. "Shared" sacrifice and all. Welcome to the "sharing"!
***NEWS FLASH******NEWS FLASH***
THIS JUST IN…..
Jimmy Carter loses "WORST U.S. PRESIDENT EVER" tittle to Barack Obama!!!
Barack Obama takes "WORST U.S. PRESIDENT EVER" title from Jimmy Carter. Carter was notified late yesterday afternoon of the loss. Carter expressed bitter disappointment at the loss. Carter stated that when he was president, he worked hand in hand with the mid-east anti American Coalition to obtain the tittle and was assured by mid-east anti American Coalition that the "WORST U.S. PRESIDENT EVER" title would be his for at least the next 100 years.
Obama was ecstatic and proud of his accomplishment by stating that THIS was first title he has ACTUALLY EARNED.
Not like his Nobel prize that he received for just showing up.
***NEWS FLASH***Obama THE WORT U.S. PRESIDENT EVER!!!
This is year 10 of lowering taxes. When will this utopia finally take effect.
July 12, 2011
Dear President Obama,
Yesterday you told us to eat our peas. You even told us to pull off the bandaid in the context of raising the debt ceiling, and spending more money we will never have on “Obamacare.” I cannot fathom a President in my memory speaking in a manner that you have chosen to. I guess it is just a barometer of how bad our standards have fallen. I see it all around me, cars can’t be fixed because children have been taught that fixing them is beneath them. Adults like you act like infants at microphones. Then there is The Forgotten Man, people like me, who just want everything to get back to normal without having to take the next historical step to get to that point.
Why is it so hard to do the right thing at the federal level of government? We all know as individuals what to do when faced with the same concerns. Yet, when we kick it all upstairs for some, what we think, is some wise and reasoned solution, all we get is garbage upon garbage. Mr. Obama the American people are tired of your garbage. They are tired of the liberal democrats garbage. They are tired of being told that they can’t build, drill, or work. They are tired of wars fought for one side of the same muslim/arab coin. They are tired of paying taxes to a government that wastes every dollar we give it on things that no sane citizen would ever agree to in light of all of the other priorities that we face. Common sense has been dead for a long time. But when you were elected it ended all hope of a revival.
In 2010 it made a small comeback. It is now trying to work it’s will through the byzantine halls of the Federal Government. As I watch citizens like Rubio and West and Palin work their magic I sit in awe of their will to do that work. I find it humorous that the guy who said he was going to save us from the rising water, you Mr. Obama, is actually throwing all of us bricks, while telling us to eat our peas. You may have the best of intentions, but they are based on a lifetime of lies, so how good can they be? Well Mr. Obama I’m not the Forgotten Man and like Jim Croce once said “I’ve got a name.” You may not know it. Even if you did you certainly don’t care about it. I frankly cannot understand how anyone can believe that you leading a bankrupt federal government can solve their problems only by spending more of someone else's money!
How’s that working for you? Because it’s not working too well for all of us.
Respectfully,
Joe Doakes
cash,…
KNOWN MINISTRY OF TRUTH OBAMA TROLL
Hello TROLL.
See you around the web
Your comprehension ability is suspect so I try and keep it simple.
You are an idiot. STOP proving it with every statement you.
"All things are not equal."
If we lower taxes on the portion of the population that has, traditionally, bought lotto tickets as an investment, the net result is zip.
That is why Obama loves to "lower" their taxes he knows that it gives him both sides of the same talking point as your comment so aptly put.
If we had real tax reform. Like eliminating the tax code and had simple, no deduction or exemption system, the tax receipts would skyrocket and debts and deficits would become more manageable.
Instead we play the con game. The government gets to write the rules and enforce them. With guns. Who do you think is going to win in the end?
I've read a report that since the federal government has been "borrowing" money out of the SS Trust, they are in fact a "creditor" that by law MUST be paid. From this perspective, neither Ubama nor Treasury have a choice but to continue SS payments.
Thanks to you and your father for building bridges but mostly for the sweet analogy for the rest of us to remember.
This is the 40th year of political pigressive trash allocating money they don't have. When is the stupid finally going to end.
"…….In contrast, the GOP envisions an America where less government and more individual freedoms stimulate personal responsibility and independence……"
Yeah SURE,..!!!!!
This is also year 10 (actually it's much longer than that) of reckless out-of-control spending that has only accelerated since Obama took office.
You demonstrate the bizarre "logic" of the Left. If your spouse ran up enormous credit card debt over a decade, you'd probably say, "This is year 10 of you not stealing money from the neighbors to pay for your stuff."
O so we can tax our way out of this mess huh?
With all due respect to the author here, for writing a good article, and just about every other author and contributor here, it is time to quit parsing words and using gentlemanly language. Screw the Marquis of Queensbury Rules.
It is time to face facts, and call a spade a spade.
Barrack Hussein Obama is a threat to the very existence of America, Her Sovereignty, and Her continuance as a world power. THAT, is a fact.
Obama can’t withhold Social Security checks. Social Security and Medicare (part A) are separate accounts, and are not included in the general fund (except for bogus accounting purposes). ALL monies going into these accounts MUST be dispersed to the recipients of these programs, with excess monies placed in their respective trust funds. By law, the checks must go out.
"Tax hikes are the only solution in the mindset of the average liberal/Democrat/progressive/socialist/Marxist (you pick; they all mean the same thing)."
The most accurate statement I have heard on the subject!
I'm listening to Rush now detail the plan McConnell proposed and these Republican eunuchs are disgusting cowards. If these quislings would just stand up to the belligerent Hussein America would cheer them on. Do they not remember what happened this past November? The public has rejected Hussein's policies as they rejected obamacare. Stop being intimidated by Hussein's sycophant bootlickers in the media. Americans opposes raising the debt ceiling. We all need to live within our means and so does the govt.
These DC swine work for us and instead Hussein and the democrats try to extort the public by claiming there wouldn't be money for social security checks, etc. The money is there. Hussein is choosing to spend it on leftwing pet projects instead of the necessities. The democrats have become the mafia. And BTW, where the hell is Hussein and the democrats budget?
These Republican eunuchs better stand up for Americans. Put a self righteous boot on these leftwing traitors necks.
Yes, my friend…
It's time for the gloves to come off, and fight for our very lives….
We're getting too old for this crap.
But look on the bright side.
We know a few more dirty tricks.
"Borrowing money out of the SS Trust."
Beautiful thieving politicians. Now whose monies are they going to use to pay it back with (one guess only)?
EPA Kills Five Power Plants Along Road to Darkness
Barack Hussein Obama promised before the election that he would bankrupt the coal industry that provides us with 57% of our electricity. In an appalling testimony to the suicidal stupidity of 53% of the population, he was elected anyway. He's using the malignant EPA to make good on his promise:
Utility giant American Electric Power said Thursday that it will shut down five coal-fired power plants and spend billions of dollars to comply with a series of pending Environmental Protection Agency regulations. …
In a statement outlining its plan to comply with EPA's regulations, AEP said it would need to retire 6,000 megawatts of coal-fired power generation in the coming years.
The company, one of the country's largest electric utilities, estimated that it will cost between $6 billion and $8 billion in capital investments over the next decade to comply with the regulations in their current form.
The costs of complying with the regulations will result in an increase in electricity prices of 10 to 35 percent and cost 600 jobs, AEP said.
Just the ticket to revive our debt-ravaged economy.
Without the electricity generated by coal, what is going to make the farcical electric cars we're forced to subsidize go? Maybe the EPA will impose a regulation dictating that they have to run by magic.
Obama Say: No pay for military….(wait wait wait)…..Obama Say: No can pay Social Security….(wait wait wait)… <Future Time and Future Issue> and Obama Say: No pay for anyone, and huge purple dragons will erupt from the ground and blow fire on everyone across America–if i can't have my way!
My question is who's he fooling and who's he scaring?
Who ever they are they don't seem to understand Obama lies to get his way! It's politics! Didn't this idiot say the savings from ObamaCare will PAY FOR Obamacare? If someone believes THAT, they'll fall for the purple flying dragons claim, too!
Great essay, and my admiration for your father who sounds a lot like my parents.
In Obama's scheme of wealth re-distribution, I guess he never studied the syndrome of lottery winners: Those who receive money they won but didn't earn generally are broke within a short period of time. Extrapolated to his scheme of taking money from the wealthy and giving it to the disadvantaged (rather than say, reducing welfare ala Bill Clinton in the 1990's which really did do people good by turning them into productive members of society with all the benefits to the mind, body and soul that go along with work), he is assuring failure. For everyone. He just doesn't know it yet, but it's easy to see from here.
The enemy within…is named…Obama the Bush…nothing more than a puppet of the Bilderberg doing their dirty work to take America down from within? Would a 'real' American do that? No! But then 'he' is not a 'real' American…he is an imposter of the highest degree!
~~~
WHO IS PULLING THE STRINGS OF THE PUPPET IN OUR WHITE HOUSE?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw
~~~
And this is why we fight this administration…because they are out to destroy us…not build us up!
~~~
CHILDHOOD MOLDS US INTO WHO WE BECOME- WHAT DID LITTLE BARRY BECOME?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVgRRbDuZvY&fe...
Law? lol – who in this administration bows to the law? There are no trust funds – unless, maybe its a chinese trust fund you're talking about?
Too many people are buying into the "horrendous consequence du jour" myth… I.E. Even O'Reiley says we have to raise the debt limit and so common sense is moot.. At Huffpo their leading article is McConnell and the horrendous consequences of not raising the debt limit.. Horrendous this and horrendous that… I'm so freaking disgusted with all of them.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Does anyone with a head on their shoulders seriously believe that The Fresh Prince OF Bill Ayers would ever give up this UNCONSTITUTIONAL power!!!???
Hell no he wouldn't!
Kalifornia has increased taxes along with wild spending and there's no utopia here either! Spending is the problem…not revenue!
Boehner and spineless Repubs…..
Don't let Pres BeanPole roll you.
He's obviously lying about the Soc Sec and Veteran checks.
The government takes in $billions$ EVERYDAY, no matter what the imaginary "debt ceiling" happens to be.
Tell "big ears", "We are Congress…We decide when and on what to spend the taxpayers money ..
You, Omarxist, should STFU"..
Ann
Obama is weak…roll him!!!
The biggest threat to America is not Obama, it is the Republican Party. Their testicular deficiency gives Obama unlimited power.
Instead of replying to Obama's threat of withholding Social Security checks with a threat of impeachment if the checks didn't go out they surrendered unconditionally to Obama. They conceded that the debt limit did have to be raised thereby establishing that the Republicans lied about being able to cut spending without starving senior citizens.
They just re-elected Obama.
It's posts like this, that reconfirm why I hang around here and not say a site that publsihes similar stories like this:
"The Republicans are playing a cynical political game with hugely high economic stakes " http://www.economist.com/node/18928600
"By law, the checks must go out."
Since when do governments care about laws that pertain to them? Laws are there to control us peons, not our superiors in DC.
"…hugely high economic stakes…"
I can't even get past their wording. What kind of phrasing is "hugely high?" That's like saying "enormously way up there."
Great article, Michael Angley. You spelled it out quickly!!!
Obama's Vision – Individual is DEPENDENT on government.
Republicans Vision – Individual is SELF RELIANT & INDEPENDENT of government restraints.
THIS IS IT!!!!!
IT'S TIME TO CALL THE PRESIDENT'S HAND!!!!
The House is under the control of the Republicans. They need to PASS A BILL that states – IF THE DEBT CEILING IS NOT RAISED, THE FOLLOWING PRIORITIES WILL BE PAID:
1) Interest on the National Debt;
2) Military Forces & Operations both here and abroad;
3) Social Security Checks;
4) Veteran Benefits;
5) Disability Checks.
This is put the PRESSURE ON OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS. They are the ones constantly saying Republicans hate old people, vets etc. The bill would go to the Senate AND THEN A DECISION WILL HAVE TO BE MADE. The Democrats vote against it, the voters know where they stand. IF OBAMA VETOES IT, IT WOULD BE POLITICAL SUICIDE. IT IS THE PERFECT DILEMMA!!!
The Republicans could force concessions such as a Constutional Amendment to balance the budget, spending cuts and caps.
Good letter as usual, JoeDoakes101. But, it is time for the President to eat his own peas. In fact, it is time for all the Democrats to get their bandages ready for what they could be hit with.
THIS IS IT!!!!!
IT'S TIME TO CALL THE PRESIDENT'S HAND!!!!
The House is under the control of the Republicans. They need to PASS A BILL that states – IF THE DEBT CEILING IS NOT RAISED, THE FOLLOWING PRIORITIES WILL BE PAID:
1) Interest on the National Debt;
2) Military Forces & Operations both here and abroad;
3) Social Security Checks;
4) Veteran Benefits;
5) Disability Checks.
This is put the PRESSURE ON OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS. They are the ones constantly saying Republicans hate old people, vets etc. The bill would go to the Senate AND THEN A DECISION WILL HAVE TO BE MADE. The Democrats vote against it, the voters know where they stand. IF OBAMA VETOES IT, IT WOULD BE POLITICAL SUICIDE. IT IS THE PERFECT DILEMMA!!!
The Republicans could force concessions such as a Constutional Amendment to balance the budget, spending cuts and caps.
Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.
THIS IS IT!!!!!
IT'S TIME TO CALL THE PRESIDENT'S HAND!!!!
The House is under the control of the Republicans. They need to PASS A BILL that states – IF THE DEBT CEILING IS NOT RAISED, THE FOLLOWING PRIORITIES WILL BE PAID:
1) Interest on the National Debt;
2) Military Forces & Operations both here and abroad;
3) Social Security Checks;
4) Veteran Benefits;
5) Disability Checks.
This is put the PRESSURE ON OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS. They are the ones constantly saying Republicans hate old people, vets etc. The bill would go to the Senate AND THEN A DECISION WILL HAVE TO BE MADE. The Democrats vote against it, the voters know where they stand. IF OBAMA VETOES IT, IT WOULD BE POLITICAL SUICIDE. IT IS THE PERFECT DILEMMA!!!
The Republicans could force concessions such as a Constutional Amendment to balance the budget, spending cuts and caps.
You betcha.
Each, and every time.
Utopia will never come – That's the point. You've just put your finger squarely on the difference between the liberal worldview and that of the conservative. Liberalism (at least since World War II) has been a "utopian" project based on the belief that a perfect society ("Heaven on Earth") can be achieved solely through government action or "programs." The inevitable result is government giganticism that results in, well, what we have right now.
Conservatives know this to be nonsense. For the conservative the choice isn't between what is flawed and what is perfect but what is better and what is worse. Nobody ever said that utopia would be achieved through tas cuts. The proper view is that it is better for people be left to make decisons on how they spend their money rather than letting the government do it. Perfection will never be achieved but freedom might be preserved.
I've said this before and will keep saying it. I would gladly support tax increases if there was som assurance that these new "revenues" would be used only to address our debt problem. BUT THEY WON'T! The federal government and most state governments are, right now, like an alcoholic who takes the pledge to reform when he doesn't have the money to buy booze anymore. Raising taxes is like telling this guy that he has just inherited a liquor store. As soon as "new revenues" are produced every knuckleheaded congressman, senator and, well, President will want to use said monies to fund even more harebrained entitlement schemes – Why? That's how you buy votes!
"Giving money and power to government is like giving liquor and car keys to fourteen-year olds." – P.J. O'Rourke
Democrats demand more money…more and more debt…more collapse and stragulation…more economic rape and redistribution overseas…have a nice day.:((
Hello,
On finance take a look at the Guardians of Democracy site, especially chapter 2 & 3. This is a simplified Finance article which shows the core problems of the World's Finances. It was written about 1985, though the basic core points are highly pertinent.
BELIEVE IN SYNCHRONICITY, Though I live on Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada. We took a holiday to Washington D.C. in the fall of 2008, as I wanted to see The Battle site at Gettysburg. We also spent a couple of weeks in Washington D.C.. On Sept. the 18th we were at a Smythsonian museum cafeteria that was very crowded, we had two chairs vacant at our table. Two ladies approached us and asked if we would share the table, which we did. One was the Mother of a TOP THREE OFFICIAL'S of the A.I.G. MORTGAGE CORPORATION. Her son had not left that building for three days. We had a fantastic conversation. http://mypage.direct.ca/l/lbouchar/
If you the President would stop spending on Illegals and La Raza and Planned parent hood and Welfare users who use drugs and Foreign countries we would not be broke…stop using the S.S and Seniors on your ticket you fool …..why do you not support the USA ? Secure our Border and Stop stupid Spending /your stimulus is a failure……..where are the jobs ? and why are more Illegals working in this country then US citizens?
This is what I sent the White House Face book Page
Yup, apparently the petulant turd walked out of his debt limit meeting today, ranting about he wouldn't make any more concessions.
You got that right Ralph!
The GOP, especially since 1990's has NOT been conservative, they've been RINOs.
We need an awakening.
Sorry Rabid that is pure BS, get a grip my friend.
I'm unabashedly borrowing this…
Taking from an idea apparently by Warren Buffet,
Pass a law that anytime we don't have a balanced budget by 30 Sep, all sitting members of the House and Senate, the President and Vice President are declared ineligible for re-election, problem solved!
Propaganda uses the 'big lie'. A lie that is stated over and over again as if it's true, untill it is accepted as true.
Back to the word 'DEFAULT'. There is NO reason for our nation to default if the debt ceiling is NOT raised as our spender-in-chief wants. Math tells the truth. We have enough revenue coming in monthly to pay interest on our debt, while paying for Social Security, our Service members and vets, etc. We must have deep cuts in spending NOW. We need a balanced budget amendment. Obama is going to his default position of using scare tactics. The economy is HIS. IF HE DEFAULTS, IT'S ON HIM. HIS hypocrisy is tiring, as he tries to blame the GOP for his own intransigency. His actions yesterday, prove the Peter Principle works. I believe his rage in stomping out of the meeting is because he cannot face the facts that his Marxist ideology doesn’t work as history has proven over and over. Even Fidel Castro admits that.
I would also point out that the Dems, while holding both houses of Congress, plus the Presidency, did NOT make a budget (in the House -Pelosi) as they are required to do by law, nor attempt to address the debt ceiling. IMHO, this was done deliberately to once again, manufacture a crisis for political purposes. Remember Rahm Emanuel, 'we can't let a good crisis go to waste'. The left does NOT understand just how closely we CITIZENS are watching the debacle in DC. Obama's supercilious snobbery that the public just doesn't get it: saying that most Americans haven't been following the debate closely….but he said his administration and other gov't leaders are 'paid to worry about these things'. Hmmm, sounds like he agrees with his Regulatory Czar, Cass Sunstein, who believes we're 'Homer Simpsons, thus easily manipulated'. Well, maybe that holds true for the Left, and the 'TAKERS', but it sure isn't true for the 'makers'.
For those too young to be familiar with the 'Peter Principle', here:
"In a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their level of incompetence," or, as Dr. Peter explained in simpler terms, "The cream rises until it sours." The Peter Principle has even found its way into Masters of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum.
I think Obama proves this idea: a community organizer is NOT capable of being President of the USA.
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