Throw the bums out

Amusing quotes from Ronald Reagan

To highlight this day in history, Aug 5, when President Reagan fired 11,000 air traffic controllers in 1981, here's some humorous quotes from the gipper. And we all need a good laugh now and then.

"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Barack Obama loses his."

Opps. Sorry. He actually said Jimmy Carter, but you get the drift...

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement."


''The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.''


''Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.''

''I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency -- even if I'm in a Cabinet meeting.''

Would someone please educate Paul Krugman?

According to this quack, inflation is "hypothetical." A quote from Paul Krugman's latest op-ed  in the New York Times:

The Fed has by no means done all it could, partly because it was more concerned with hypothetical inflation than with real unemployment, partly because it let itself be intimidated by the Ron Paul types.

Time to get out of your ivory tower, dude. Have you been to the gas station or grocery store, looked at your electric bill, or even been out of the house lately?
I don't know about this guy, but ever time I turn around, something is more expensive than it was last week, last month, or last year.

The problem with Krugman is that too many people take his word as gospel, when it should be relegated to just another left-wing nut trying to form a economic theory through liberal filters. Doesn't work.

And don't defend him because of his Nobel Prize. These prizes are now not worth the paper they are printed on (even though the recipient gets a huge amount of cash.)

Democrats? Republicans? Who created the Federal debt?

I read this all the time on left-wing web sites: "George Bush and the Republicans created our Federal Debt. (Or Reagan started it.)" And if you visit conservative web sites, just the opposite. "Obama and the Democrats exploded the debt."

Well, it can't be both ways. Maybe both parties are responsible. So what's the truth, based on hard numbers?

First, some assumptions for those of you who are a little fuzzy on how our Federal government works. Presidents submit budgets to Congress (or at least they are supposed to). Congress then takes that plan, debates and revises it, votes on it and when approved, sends it to the President, who can then either sign it, or veto it. If it's vetoed, it goes back to Congress for another round, until it finally gets signed by the President. In some cases, the President's veto gets overruled by the Congress, in other cases a compromise is reached.

So technically, Congress is responsible for spending, as outlined in the Constitution. But the President also has a huge influence in the amount and type of spending that is approved.

To get to the bottom of this, I created a chart of Congresses and Presidents and which party controlled each chamber and what party the President was from, beginning in 1953 and ending in 2010. I totalled all deficits and put them in columns based on who controlled Congress and who controlled the White House. The deficit or surplus amounts I used were in current dollars, not adjusted for inflation.

Who controlled what?
Republican Presidents: 36 years
Democrat Presidents: 21 years
Republican Congresses: 10 years
Democrat Congresses: 37 years
Split Congresses: 10 years

Who spends what?
Democrat Congresses: $10,350 billion
Republican Congresses: $1,397 billion
Democrat Presidents: $4,353 billion
Republican Presidents: $7,394 billion

(Note: I didn't include split Congresses, because in all cases except one, the Democrats were in control of the House, which has the most power over the budget).

The only conclusion I can reach is that the Democratic Party, when in control of Congress, spends like drunken sailors with no restraint. But, as Reagan once said, that is unfair to drunken sailors because at least they're spending their own money. Yet, on the other hand, many of our Republican Presidents should be ashamed of themselves for approving all the Democrat-approved spending. (In a few cases they actually didn't, because the Congress overruled them).

Well, it takes two to tango, and the result is that we are now more than $14,000 billion in debt (when you add in the 2011 deficit of approximately $1,500 billion), and by the end of next year this will go to more than $16,000 billion. The two worst years where 2003 with $892 billion (all Republicans) and 2010 with $1,350 (all Democrats).

For those of you weak in math, $16,000 billion is $16 trillion, or $16,000,000,000,000. This works out to about $52,400 for each man, woman and child living in this country. And here I thought I was finally debt free.

So it isn't all one party's fault, though in the long run Democrats tend to spend more.

But regardless of who's at fault, We the People are sick and tired of this and want Washington to live within its means. The rest of you who want more of this crap, or think its all good and we should be spending even more, should see a therapist.

Tea Party Terrorists

Remember when Obama called for more civility in our public discourse? He really only meant that for Republicans and conservatives. Liberals and democrats are exempt.

Personally, I'm a little tired of the double standard, but I understand the mentality behind it. Left-wing tactics call for marginalizing your opponent. They know they can't debate facts; therefore, if you disagree with a liberal, you're a racist, moron, ignoramus, terrorist, bigot, homophobe, islamaphobe, idiot, extremist, crazy, greedy, and the list goes on.

When you try to correct their re-writing of history (see a good example of typical liberal rants here), you're at least ignorant, but more probably stupid.

Here's what Maureen Dodd wrote in the New York Times about Tea Partiers:

But, in this case, it was the president — and the federal government — being chased through dim corridors by a maniacal gang with big knives held high...They were like cannibals, eating their own party and leaders alive. They were like vampires, draining the country’s reputation, credit rating and compassion. They were like zombies, relentlessly and mindlessly coming back again and again to assault their unnerved victims, Boehner and President Obama. They were like the metallic beasts in “Alien” flashing mouths of teeth inside other mouths of teeth, bursting out of Boehner’s stomach every time he came to a bouquet of microphones.

So true fiscal conservatives are now monsters.

But wait, there's more. In another NYT opinion piece, Joe Nacaro wrote:

You know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them. These last few months, much of the country has watched in horror as the Tea Party Republicans have waged jihad on the American people. . . . Their goal, they believed, was worth blowing up the country for, if that's what it took. . . . For now, the Tea Party Republicans can put aside their suicide vests. But rest assured: They'll have them on again soon enough.

All that over $7 billion in spending cuts for next year (none for this year)! Sure, our politicians are saying they'll cut $1.2 trillion, or $2.4 trillion (they really don't know) or more over 10 years, but that doesn't even come close the balancing the budget.

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal summarizes the whole mess like this:

The Obama presidency has reduced the liberal left to an apoplectic rage. His Ivy League credentials, superior attitude, pseudointellectual mien and facile adherence to lefty ideology make him the perfect personification of the liberal elite. Thus far at least, he has been an utter failure both at winning public support and at managing the affairs of the nation.

Obama's failure is the failure of the liberal elite, and that is why their resentment has reached such intensity. Their ideas, such as they are, are being put to a real-world test and found severely wanting. As a result, their authority is collapsing. And if there is one thing they know deep in their bones, it is that they are entitled to that authority. They lash out, desperately and pathetically, because they have nothing to offer but fear and anger.

Americans wants Washington to quit over-spending. But Democrats -- and liberals in general -- are acting like children who don't get their own way.

Washington Examiner: Daily Outrage

Who: The National Institutes of Health

What: The NIH sent more than $90 million of taxpayer money to China to fund several public health research projects, according to the Daily Caller. In one of those studies, which cost $17 million, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study of prostitutes, some only 14 years old, and their clients that looked into the use of microbicides as a way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

Where to vent: Call NIH Director Francis Collins at 301-496-2433.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/daily-outrage/2011/08/daily-outrage-17-million-china-study-prostitutes-and-microbicides#ixzz1TsTLSoWb