Celebrating the first hundred days. I think that most of us will be under that bus before this is over.
[Update a few minutes later]
The audacity of audacity:
“Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I’m not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around, Obama said, “let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we are going to stabilize Social Security.”
“But,” Obama continued, “let’s not play games and pretend that the reason [for the deficit] is because of the Recovery Act.”
Talk about “playing games.” Yes, how could 800 billion dollars of unnecessary spending possibly have anything to do with the deficit? Why, that’s just crazy talk.
“I am happy to have a serious conversation….”
Where does the line start? Somehow I think that is a face to face debate that will never quite come to fruition. Even if it did that person would probably one get about halfway through the first sentence before “The Rock” Obama would through the naysayer out the window and proclaim “I WON!”.
Hmm, 3 hours of sleep is making me wonky. through = throw.
Yes, how could 800 billion dollars of unnecessary spending possibly have anything to do with the deficit? Why, that’s just crazy talk.
Yes, it is. The ARRA includes $550B in spending, not $800B, spread over two years. That’s $275B out of a $1,800B deficit, or about 15%. To focus on that 15% to the exclusion of the other 85% is, as Obama put it, playing games.
FTFY, BHO.
President Strawman back at it – the 1.8 trillion deficit IS the concern, and part of that is the Porkulus Act.
Only a truly mendacious demagogue could warble that worrying about $1.8 trillion is playing games, but cutting $100 million is serious green-eyeshade flinty fiscal hawk stuff.
To focus on that 15% to the exclusion of the other 85% is, as Obama put it, playing games
Hardly, Jim. I assume you don’t think the entire deficit is unnecessary and pointless, do you? Or are you so in the tank that you think, on the contrary, that the entire deficit is necessary?
If you don’t belong to either of those fruitcake extremes, then some of the deficit is necessary, and some is not. Rand’s suggestion is that Stimulusaurus, whether $600 bil or $800 bil, in whole or only mostly, falls under the category of utterly pointless spending. Seems kind of worthwhile to point that out, if true. Doesn’t seem like a game to debate the question honestly.
Unless, of course, your purpose here (or the President’s purpose here) is to demonize opposition from the groupthink as “game playing,” the “failed policies of the past,” “politics as usual,” and so forth, because you can’t actually defend the wild profligacy on rational grounds.
The ARRA includes $550B in spending, not $800B, spread over two years. That’s $275B out of a $1,800B deficit, or about 15%. To focus on that 15% to the exclusion of the other 85% is, as Obama put it, playing games.
When I added the numbers listed in Wikipedia I got almost $600 billion, plus almost $300 billion in short term tax breaks and write offs. I can’t tell how the money is spread out, but I doubt it’s equally spread out (especially given the budget projections) between this fiscal year and the next. Rather it looks concentrated in this fiscal year.
It does look like the Senate cut the amount of spending in the ARRA by around $150 billion.
“Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I’m not very popular,”
How DARE anyone do that. We should only watch the news stations that support him with blind, servile instincts – that is, the rest of them.
“Yes, how could 800 billion dollars of unnecessary spending possibly have anything to do with the deficit? Why, that’s just crazy talk”
The ARRA includes $300 Billion in tax deductions and credits. Are you saying those tax cuts are Unnecessary?
Commie.
The ARRA includes $300 Billion in tax deductions and credits. Are you saying those tax cuts are Unnecessary?
Apparently the Democratic Congress thinks at least $55B isn’t necessary, since they just voted yesterday to end the $400 tax credit. So it just went under the bus too.