The details? Oh sure, here you go.
But wait--there's more!
Testifying before the House Budget Committee today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told Chairman Paul Ryan the following: “We’re not coming before you to say we
have a definitive solution to that long-term problem. What we do know is we don’t like yours.”Actually, President Obama sort of did have a definitive solution. He created a debt commission, which devised a long-term debt reduction plan. Which the president rejected. And instead, we get this new budget proposal, which makes no effort to deal with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—the long-term drivers of U.S. federal debt. The debt curve never gets bent, as the above White House (!) chart shows. (Yes,the chart comes from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.) It just goes up and up and up—until the heat death of the universe or the economy is struck by a Greek-style debt crisis.
Read the rest, as James Pethokoukis basically slaughters the argument that this administration has any inkling or desire to reign in spending.
Turbo Tax Timmy is a funny dude. The guy who couldn't figure out how to pay his own taxes is annoyed by Paul Ryan's long term debt reduction plan. Meanwhile, somewhere Dane Cook is seething over Daniel Tosh's latest comedy routine.
As hilarious as Geithner can be, he's just a reflection of his feckless incompetent boss. Back in 2008, Obama promised to cut the deficit in half. See, Barry can make with the yuks too.
Question: Could Romney, Santorum or Gingrich be any worse on the federal budget than Obama?
That's what this election is really about. Not Mitt Romney's feelings about his tax rate. Not Rick Santorum's position on jimmy hats. Not Newt Gingrich's expansive views on serial divorce.
None of that stuff is vitally important to continued existence of this Republic.
Don't get it twisted. All of those other debates--and all the secondary discussions that spring from them--have a great deal of merit in certain contexts. Free societies should have many ongoing discussions about numerous topics if they are to survive in a complex and ever-changing world.
I'll even grant that if it was twenty or thirty years ago, those kinds of issues would've been featured more prominently in an election season. Relatively good times give folks the luxury to drill down on a lot of stuff. When the entire lawn is perfectly mowed down to putting green length, the single blade of
two foot tall crabgrass looks far bigger than it really is.
The problem is that the US can no longer afford to look solely on ancillary issues and make political decisions. Why? Because, as the chart suggests, pretty soon America won't be able to afford shit.
Baldi is right: America is at a crossroads and there is no back tracking out of it. Naturally, Barack Obama doesn't want you to recognize this reality. He is the smiling ignorant face of a man running at full speed directly into the blades of a corn combine. His budget represents the bankrupting hope and the backbreaking change inherent in the assumptions of the statist status quo.
Obama desperately wants you to focus on the flaws of the GOP candidates. His record cannot withstand a cursory glance, much less a thoughtful critique. So yeah, lets all really pick through the records of Romney, Gingrich and Santorum.
With a fine-toothed comb.
For the 80th time.
This week.
Yeah, that'll be awesome.
Or lets not do that. We know what the GOP guys are all about. Their various quirks and personality traits have been thoroughly examined. More importantly, their positions are all very much known quantities. If Republican voters don't know what the candidates stand for by now, they're not really paying attention.
No, the focus has to shift back to the Arrogant Incompetent Affirmative Action Hire-In-Chief. Obama's budget should be all the impetus any conservative needs to put their eyes back on Barack Obama. His spending plan is practically designed to get right-wingers furious at the President all over again.
I say we give Obamster what he wants. Our president deserves to be the center of Republican attention. Lets make him and his leadership the only important issue in this campaign.
