How big a chump do you have to be to set yourself up to be made a fool of by "Sunny John" Boehner?

The most charitable description I can think of for Sunny John is "worthless pile of garbage," but he sure made the president and his Brainless Trust look like jackasses.



"[President] Obama had sought to speak next Wednesday, but [House Speaker John] Boehner, citing scheduling conflicts on the House’s first day back in session after summer recess, invited Obama a day later instead."

-- David Nakamura, today on washingtonpost.com

by Ken



Before we get to the White House's speech scheduling blunder, let me ask, was I the only one who involuntarily cringed when the announcement was first made that the president would be addressing Congress to announce his "jobs plan"? I mean, don't we all assume that whatever the "plan" includes, it's going to be yet another of those deals where we have to figure out whether the tiny bit of possible good buried among the dross is enough to offset the rest, where the right-wing America-haters get more than they could have dreamed of before negotiations even begin?



Besides, from everything we know about the president, his New Democrat, Third Way-ish radical "centrism" is wholly consistent with the "moderate radical right-wing" solutions he regularly winds up with in his great confrontations with the extreme radical right-wingers. When he mixes in a bit of moderately progressive policy, as with the misbegotten stimulus package, he screws it up so badly that he winds up discrediting the ideas he's bastardized.



So I for one dread what he comes up with now that it's finally dawned on him and his politically nearest and dearest that possibly they need to do something about jobs, or at least be seen to be trying to do something, which to political operatives is the same thing, or maybe better, since it doesn't risk actually upsetting the status quo that so many deep-pocketed interests have so much invested in.



But that still leaves the question of what we can only smilingly call "tactics" in the Great Speech Scheduling Debacle. Yesterday, you'll recall, the story was how Speaker Boehner was the first House speaker ever to refuse a president's request to address a joint session of Congress. But that version of the story didn't last long. Now the story is that the cool and collected speaker saved the day by offering the president another time slot -- one that won't conflict with the start of the NFL season, but also won't be in prime time. And the president comes out looking like a jackass.



Leaving the question: What the hell was the White House brain trust thinking of? When the delicate geniuses hatched the genius idea of trying to put the president in front of Congress the same night as the (shudder!) Republican presidential candidates' debate, I can see only three possibilities:



* It didn't occur to any of the White House brains that there would be a problem.



What??? Is it possible for any human being to be that stupid?

Grade: F-minus.



* The White House brains really thought they could cunningly upstage the Republicans.



Come on, now, nobody really thought that, did they?

Grade: F-minus.



* The brains figured the Republicans would be steamed and would hit back, and the White House could make the public think the president was being bullied by mean Republicans.



This is so crazy that it gives me pause. Not that it could possibly work -- if the shoe was on the other foot, the Republicans might actually be able to pull it off, but dimwitted Dem political consultants couldn't ever. No, what gives me pause is that I can just imagine that Daley schmuck or one of the other WH lamebrains thinking they could pull off a stunt like this.

Grade: um, do we have something lower than F-minus?



Again, this is a tactical question, not a policy one. Heaven help us, we don't even know what the policy debacle is going to be. But when you bungle the tactics this badly, is there any reason to think you have any connection to reality?



(Note: Chicago Mag political blogger Carol Felsenthal has been pondering this question too. Her "Felsenthal Files" verdict: "Obama/Boehner Jobs Speech Mess: The Buck Stops with Bill Daley.")

#

The Big Lie: Farrakhan-backed Islamist Indiana Rep. Andre Carson foments violence using Alinsky-style propaganda against the Tea Party

"Pick the Target, Freeze It, Personalize It and Polarize It." --Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

Repeat a lie often enough, through enough different propagandists, and a substantial percentage of the populace will begin to believe it.



The tactic is called "The Big Lie" and it was exploited to great effect during the thirties by none other than Adolf Hitler's chief propagandist, Julius Streicher, to demonize Jews, Catholics, gypsies, homosexuals, the handicapped and other "undesirables".



And this tactic is being used -- plainly and obviously -- against the Tea Party.



In recent days, the execrable columnist Leonard Pitts, the ethically challenged Rep. Maxine Waters, the half-wit Rep. Frederica Wilson, the rhyming adulterer "Reverend" Jesse Jackson and a host of other far left kooks have echoed the same "Big Lie" as if reading off some invisible teleprompter.



But none has gone as far as the left-wing Islamist race-baiter named Andre Carson:

REP. ANDRE CARSON, (D), INDIANA: Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens. (audience members reply, "Yes!") Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party would love to see you and me- I'm sorry, Tamron- hanging on a tree. (audience members reply, "Yes!") Some of them right now in Congress are comfortable with where we were 50 and 60 years ago.

This theme was, in all likelihood, orchestrated by none other than David Axelrod. His purpose, like Alinsky, is to freeze the Tea Party, to personalize it and to polarize it.



Axelrod's obvious and outrageous "Big Lie"? That a disconnected, decentralized group of millions of law-abiding citizens -- people of every race, religion, creed and color... people who believe in Constitutional, limited, financially responsible government... people who gather peacefully in cities and towns across the United States! -- are violent racists bent on re-instituting Jim Crow?



No, Carson, you horrific schmuck: those Jim Crow-types, those Bull Connor-types, those poll tax bigots? They were all Democrats! Look it up, idiot! From the Ku Klux Klan of yesteryear to the Civil War's pro-slavery faction down to modern race-baiters like yourself: Democrats, each and every one.



No, the party of Lincoln and the party of Martin Luther King, Jr. is the Republican Party, you Marxist crackpot!



The Democrat CBC racists must ignore the fact that a growing cadre of strong black conservatives, led by Herman Cain, Rep. Allen West and Rep. Tim Scott, are among the most popular of all Tea Partiers. After all, facts, logic and reason were never the radical left's strong suits.



West himself had harsh words for Carson, writing to the head of the Congressional Black Caucus:

I believe it is incumbent on you to both condemn these types of hate-filled comments, and to disassociate the Congressional Black Caucus from these types of remarks. Otherwise, I will have to seriously reconsider my membership within the organization.



Congressman Carson’s desire to generally criticize a large grassroots group as racist is baseless and desperate. When individuals believe they are defeated in a political disagreement, they normally resort to race-baiting, which in my opinion is in itself racist.



I think what you see is a desire to not recognize some of the serious problems in the black community. To try to have a scapegoat that is the Tea Party … that’s just a distraction. The Tea Party stands for some basic, constitutional principles.

The tactics of Alinsky and Hitler and Farrakhan and Axelrod must be exposed for what they are.



Carson's rhetoric isn't simply hateful: it's dangerous. It sets the stage for violence and unrest. Even if only one person takes Carson's lies seriously, a terrible set of consequences can result. His lies are beyond the pale; they are unacceptable behavior for a member of Congress.



The House of Representatives must not let him get away with this behavior.



Call Speaker John Boehner at (202) 225-6205 and tell him that the Anti-Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Rep. Andre Carson -- must be censured by the House.

Only in Washington...

In a particularly poignant piece by Jack Wakeland at Real Clear Markets ("The Peculiar Madness of Paul Krugman"), the mathematical reality facing U.S. taxpayers is used as a blunt instrument to pound sense into Democrats. Metaphorically speaking, of course, since drones run away from inconvenient truths like arithmetic, logic, facts, reason, statistics and history.

Reading that the new debt limit coming out of the "debt reduction deal" is $16.8 trillion, I got my pen out and jotted down some numbers:

2nd Quarter 2011 GDP: $15.00 trillion/yr.
Current national debt: $14.3 trillion
(self-cancelling) internal debt: $4.6 trillion
Net debt: $9.7 trillion
65% of GDP

Of the $4.6 trillion in internal debt, about $2.6 trillion is the Social Security 'trust fund' (which is 'invested in' U.S. treasury bonds) and about $0.3 trillion is the Medicare 'trust fund.' There are lots of other 'trust funds' beyond these (e.g., the Highway 'fund') The thing all of these trust funds have in common is that their balances are falling.

If I assume that the rate of deficit spending is about $1.6 or $1.7 trillion/yr., we'll reach the new $16.8 trillion debt limit right around inauguration day, January 20, 2013. If the economy grows at about 2%/yr. between now and inauguration day (assuming no new recession), it will be operating at $15.45 trillion/yr.

That means the debt to GDP ratio will have deteriorated dramatically:

1st Quarter 2013 GDP: $15.45 trillion/yr.
Current national debt: $16.8 trillion
(self-cancelling) internal debt: $4.4 trillion
Net debt: $12.4 trillion
80% of GDP

Only in Washington could a plan to increase the national debt from 65% to 80% of GDP in less than a year and a half be called a "debt reduction" deal.

And for the RINO leadership -- who are today leaders because of the resurgent conservative movement -- to negotiate with themselves when confronted with deficits that are well nigh insurmountable... well, it points to one thing:



We need new leadership in the House and the Senate.



How does the combination of Speaker Allen West and Senate Majority Leader Marco Rubio sound to you?

A Most Worthy Rant

Patrick Richardson, writing at The Tatler, throws down:

We saw this coming. Both rating agencies have been warning us for months this downgrade was coming. So what did the idiots on the left do? Nothing. Not one damn thing.

Well, that’s not quite true. They, their willing accomplices in the MSM, and dupes and useful idiots within the Republican party, (you listening tan-boy John Boehner? Mitch McConnell? Yeah you, I called you idiots, wanna make something of it?) railed about how we couldn’t “fix the deficit on the backs of the most vulnerable among us.” You demonized the only adults in Washington D.C. who were among the Tea Party. You made certain we would end up here.

How hard could it have actually been? The ratings agencies TOLD you what you needed to do — rein in spending – it wasn’t bloody rocket science. Hell anyone who ever balanced a CHECKBOOK could have told you what you needed to do.

But you played politics. You acted like Scarlet O’Hara and just refused to think about anything unpleasant. Well, Barry, I hate to tell you this, but there’s no kindness of strangers here to rely on. This is cold, hard reality. Until YOU, sir, the U.S. credit rating has always been stable or improving. YOU, sir, own this. You and your lickspittle accomplices in Congress and the media have brought us to this point.

Do not think the American people will forget. Do not think we will forgive. This country is angry sir, and nation after nation has discovered there is nothing on Earth more dangerous than a pissed-off American.

This country is on the edge of something very ugly, sir, and you personally have brought us here.

My fellow Americans, this election is our last and only chance to turn this thing around. To call the politicians on both sides of the aisle who have brought us to this point “cretins” is to insult cretins. Get behind the adults in the room. The Tea Partiers. The ones who say “however much it hurts, we have to rein in spending, we must rip off the bandaid or there will be no healing.” Get behind those people.

Before the whole mess comes down in blood and fire.

Uhm, I guess I just copied the whole thing. Hopefully, Roger 'The Executioner' Simon doesn't send his legendary hordes of trademark lawyers after me.

But Richardson is absolutely right. The conservatives -- the Tea Party and others who believe in the Constitution -- railed against the faux "debt ceiling deal" and the idiotic negotiation strategies of Messrs. Boehner and McConnell.

A few of us warned the RINOs repeatedly that failure to enact real cuts would still result in a devastating downgrade.

If we are to save this country, 2012 not only marks the year in which the Democrat Party is politically obliterated -- it also is the year that we throw the feckless, old guard Republicans out of their leadership positions and back into the dugout where they belong.


Hat tip: D&S.

He's Historic, Alright: Standard & Poor's Downgrades US Debt to AA+

Papa B told me that he had gone liquid a few days ago, anticipating some sort of reaction by the rating agencies after the pathetic debt ceiling "deal". I assume he meant his investments and not some geriatric G.I. condition. And it looks like he was prescient, because rating agency S&P just downgraded U.S. debt to AA+ for the first time in history.

Nice work, RINO dumbasses: "S&P issues unprecedented downgrade of US credit rating, saying debt package falls short"

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s says it has downgraded the United States’ credit rating for the first time in the history of the ratings.

The credit rating agency says that it is cutting the country’s top AAA rating by one notch to AA-plus. The credit agency said late Friday that it is making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country’s debt situation.

As I predicted more than a week ago, the pathetic RINO leadership negotiated against themselves and ended up proferring a deal that helped get the U.S. its first ever downgrade:

Boehner had two nuclear weapons at his disposal. And he chose to use neither. He had the debt ceiling and a threat of a downgrade by the rating agencies.

Cut, Cap & Balance addressed both issues.

If Republicans had united behind CCB, they could have forced a vote in the Senate -- by putting massive pressure on the 20 Democrats who had earlier pledged to support a Balanced Budget Amendment -- and send it to the President's desk.

Boehner could then tell the American people: there's only one plan that addresses the deficit and prevents a downgrade.

And let Obama deal with the fallout of a veto -- if he has the guts.

Instead, we submit a plan that still results in downgrade and default.

Idiocy. Sheer, unmitigated idiocy.

What a bunch of nimrods. Obama and his sycophants are busy destroying the full faith and credit of the American currency... and the RINOs won't even put up a fight.

We need a lot more conservative cavalry for 2012.


Update: Outlook: Negative

Update II: Flashback to Turbo Timmy's prediction:


Update III: I guess that "Tea Party as hostage-takers" meme -- for trying to cut government spending -- was an epic fail.

Chart o' the Day: The Debt Ceiling Deal Crap Sandwich

The federal government must now borrow about $125 million an hour -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- to fund its out-of-control spending. And the vaunted "debt ceiling deal", despite Democrat claims that it "slashed" discretionary spending, actually cut only $7 billion from the bloated, cellulite-ridden federal bureaucracy.

How much is $7 billion in the grand scheme of things?

The green segment represents the $2,627 billion in anticipated federal revenue for 2012. The red represents the amount of money the government spends that must be borrowed from suckers investors. And the blue depicts the amount of the vast, slashing cuts to discretionary spending.

What's that? You say you can't see the blue? Let's zoom in:

Hmmm. Still can't see the blue too well. Let's magnify the pie by 100.

The EPA is unleashing reams of regulation, killing jobs in mining, trucking, energy production, and farming. The NLRB is busy suing businesses to prevent them from opening factories in right-to-work states. Eric Holder is busy suing states that are trying to protect citizens from a veritable invasion of illegal aliens. And the failed "Stimulus" program is still built into the baseline budget, funding $315 stainless steel trashcans for bureaucrats.

But there's nothing to cut!

Because John Boehner's peerless strategery saved America from default. Or not.

Real Debt of Genius: Rating Agencies Warn U.S. of Impending Downgrades

Our hapless RINO leadership deserves a share of the blame for this report. In short, the rating agency Fitch suggested that the U.S. may lose its AAA status by the end of August.

The rating agency wants to see a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit... Fitch expects to conclude its review of the U.S. sovereign rating by the end of August. As the debt deal currently stands, it is possible the U.S. debt rating could be downgraded at that time, Fitch said.

Moody's also warned the U.S. that it needs to get its house in order.

Moody’s Investors Service said the U.S. credit rating may be downgraded for the first time on concern that fiscal discipline may ease, further debt reduction measures won’t be adopted and the economy may weaken...

...JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimated that a downgrade would raise the nation’s borrowing costs by $100 billion a year. It could also hurt the rest of the U.S. economy by increasing the cost of mortgages, auto loans and other types of lending tied to the interest rates paid on Treasuries...

...Standard & Poor’s put the U.S. government on notice on April 18 that it risks losing its AAA rating unless lawmakers agree on a plan by 2013 to reduce budget deficits and the national debt. Fitch Ratings said today the U.S. is under a review as the nation’s debt burden increases at a pace that isn’t consistent with an AAA sovereign credit rating.

Good work, Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell. Your feckless leadership:

• allowed the nearly one-trillion dollar Stimulus -- originally sold as a one-time "emergency" spending push -- to remain in the baseline budget without so much as a whimper

• didn't even force President Obama to produce a real budget

• didn't force the Democrat-controlled Senate to produce a real budget

• and undermined the wildly popular Cut, Cap and Balance plan from the very outset with the idiotic, stillborn McConnell and Boehner 1.0 plans

In effect, they drove a hard bargain -- with themselves.

Idiocy.

How does "House Speaker West" and "Senate Majority Leader Rubio" sound to you?

Moody’s: Boehner and Reid plans both completely fail to avoid downgrade

Gee, this is unexpected:

Moody’s, best known for “Subprime is AAA,” is belatedly coming to the realization that a country running serial deficits of 10% of GDP is not a AAA credit.

Well, admitting you have a problem is the first step. And today, Moody’s is admitting what we’ve been telling you for some time, that the debt ceiling charade is a farce and the real problem is the debt itself.

President Subprime McTrainingWheels could not be reached for comment.

And, gee, who could've predicted such a turn of events?

House Speaker John Boehner had two nuclear weapons at his disposal. And he chose to use neither. He had the debt ceiling and a threat of a downgrade by the rating agencies.

Cut, Cap & Balance addressed both issues.

If Republicans had united behind CCB, they could have forced a vote in the Senate -- by putting massive pressure on the 20 Democrats who had earlier pledged to support a Balanced Budget Amendment -- and send it to the President's desk.

Boehner could then tell the American people: there's only one plan that addresses the deficit and prevents a downgrade.

And let Obama deal with the fallout of a veto -- if he has the guts.

Instead, we submit a plan that still results in downgrade and default.

Idiocy. Sheer, unmitigated idiocy.

We need to elect a boatload more conservatives in 2012, politically eradicate the RINOs, and jam true conservatives into leadership positions.

Because all of these pantywaists -- put together -- don't have the cojones of Michele Bachmann.

They're wimps who are selling out the American people -- just a tad bit slower than the Marxist, Democrat Left. We're headed for fiscal apocalypse and these feckless RINOs won't even put up a fight.

WARNING: Do not show this chart to a liberal (unless wearing headgear to protect you from a cranium exploding into high-velocity brain-shrapnel)

A couple of observations about this graph:

• The vaunted "Clinton Surplus" was, in fact, the work of a GOP House that was willing to fight for fiscal sanity (current Ohio Governor John Kasich was one of the architects of the surplus); in addition, two events conspired to turbocharge the economy -- in spite of Clinton, not because of him.

• Liberals like to talk about Reagan's deficits, but they ignore the fact that every budget Reagan ever sent to the Democrat-controlled House was declared "dead on arrival". Reagan supported a Balanced Budget Amendment, sought to eliminate useless agencies like the Department of Education, and otherwise believed in the U.S. spending within its means.

• Since the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, they have jammed through the most fiscally irresponsible spending programs in world history (I won't use the word "budget", because they've refused to propose a budget for roughly 822 days).

In short, Democrats never propose less spending than Republicans -- unless we're talking about defense. And now, after four years of Democrat-controlled spending, the federal government is forced to borrow 40 cents for every dollar it spends.

And that, my friends, is bound to end badly since the hard left Democrat Party and the RINOs appear ready to turn the spending on auto-pilot -- right into the tarmac.

Butthurt Report Form: RINO Sellout Edition

You have to give the Far Right credit for knowing how to milk an economic meltdown and a phony baloney "debt crisis"

"America is simply not set up to handle one political party that bases its political organizing on an alternate reality and the raw power of propaganda. The U.S. government, and our public debates, are organized around the idea that there’s some measure of good faith in both parties, some common basis on which to make decisions. 


"I do not think most Republicans realize this is how their party operates -- but the more cynical high-level operatives certainly do."

-- Matt Stoller, in a Politico op-ed, "GOP's 'alternate universe'"

by Ken

It's another nice piece our friend Matt Stoller has written for Politico, neatly tracing the history of the Right's calculated separation from reality. There won't be much there that's unfamiliar to DWT readers, but Matt does a fine job of setting out the grim reality and sounding the alarm for the consequences, and more important, this piece wasn't written for DWT readers. How often are Politico readers confronted with the reality of the Right's now-completed leap off the cliff of reality?

For sure this wasn't what our great democratic visionaries, Jefferson and Madison, had in mind. All of their theorizing assumed an educated electorate, in touch with reality and capable of processing it, as opposed to a nation of patiently bred dimwits being led by the nose by opportunistic predators and thugs. But you have to give those predators and thugs credit -- they've done masterful job of training and manipulating their lost legions.

I trust we don't need -- here, at least -- to reestablish the cynical fraudulence of the "debt crisis." The combination of the economic meltdown has provided the billionaire predators and the ideological crackpots (not that the categories are mutually exclusive) of the Far Right with cover for a transformation of the country into their private creamland.

SO SONNY JOHN BOEHNER MANAGED TO RAM HIS
DEBT-REDUCTION PLAN THROUGH HIS OWN PARTY

After the major embarrassment of not being able to get his own crazies to back his crackpot atrocity of a "plan," crazed it up and cracked enough heads to get it past the House. Of course the Senate has already tabled it, and there was never any chance of its becoming law. However, it's now officially the "other side" baseline for any compromise -- for example, against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan, which instead of being an atrocity is merely an abomination. Seriously, flash back a year and imagine how seriously Harry's plan would have been taken, especially if it had been proposed by a Republican.

But flash back another couple of years, and as Ian Welsh reminds us:

Predicted August 2nd 2008

20) A huge push to gut entitlements in 2009, no matter who is president. Even if the US quickly pulls out of Iraq, the deficit will be totally out of control, and hundreds of billions will be needed for bailouts. A rapid consensus will form that rather than increasing taxes significantly on the rich, or slashing expenses like the military R&D and equipment appropriations budget, that the real problem is people retiring at 65, poor people getting Medicaid and old folks who aren’t destitute receiving Medicare.

On January 4th, 2009, I wrote:

I think I got this one wrong, given the consensus forming for a large stimulus (assuming the Republicans don’t kill it). We’ll see, but I’ve tentatively marked it wrong.

Between the president's one-hand-tied-behind-his-back approach to fighting the depression, the Republicans' tireless efforts to keep it going, and the rise of the radical centrists, it simply took an extra election cycle for Ian's scenario to play out.

CAN GENE ROBINSON NOT KNOW THAT "PROGRESSIVE"

ISN'T SYNOMOUS WITH "DEMOCRATIC"? REALLY?

In terms of selling the "deficit-reduction" package of lies and delusions to the eager-to-be-hoodwinked public, the Right has benefited, as Gene Robinson ventured in his Washington post column "Why progressives need a Big Idea":

Momentum is on [the Republicans'] side, even though they control just one wing of the Capitol -- and even though they advocate measures that most Americans reject.

Conservatives are on a winning streak because they have a Big Idea that serves as an animating, motivating, unifying force. It happens to be a very bad idea, but it’s better than nothing -- which, sadly, is what progressives have.

The simplistic Big Idea that defines today’s Republican Party is that taxes are always too high and government spending is always wasteful. Therefore, both taxes and spending need to be reduced.
Conservatives are on a winning streak because they have a Big Idea that serves as an animating, motivating, unifying force. It happens to be a very bad idea, but it’s better than nothing -- which, sadly, is what progressives have.

The simplistic Big Idea that defines today’s Republican Party is that taxes are always too high and government spending is always wasteful. Therefore, both taxes and spending need to be reduced. . . .

[T]he essence of the far right’s Big Idea fits neatly on a bumper sticker: Cut taxes, cut spending. It’s a simple, powerful message that connects with everyday experience. Who hasn’t encountered an example of government waste and inefficiency? Who enjoys paying taxes?

I can think of no greater threat to our nation’s prospects than the GOP’s policy-by-anecdote crusade against government.

And Gene goes on to list some of the obvious ways in which the U.S. "is falling behind other nations in infrastructure, education and health-care indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy," and on to issues like inequality of income distribution and energy research and planning.

The only problem I have with the column is that when Gene talks about "the progressive response," he doesn't mean what we mean by "progressive," he means Democratic, and goodness knows, the only group that's less progressive than congressional Democrats is congressional Republicans. I find this kind of shocking from Gene Robinson, who should know better. Nobody has worked harder than the president to make sure that progressive voice are never heard; as we know now, he considers true progressives far more dangerous than far-right-wingers.

But then, as people like Ian Welsh have been pointing out since before President Obama took office, the even larger danger than his actual policies, bad as they may be, is the discredit their failure will bring upon the progressive brand, even though there's nothing progressive about them. In fairness, there are an awful lot of people out there using the "progressive" label to market a radical centrist agenda. We've already had the word "liberal" shredded by the propagandists of the Right; faux progressives may have done the same to "progressive" on their own.

ABOUT THAT SCHEDULING NOTE I PROMISED

When I shoved tonight's "Ring Lardner Tonight" piece ahead to 6pm PT -- on the ground that it was already ready to go, and having gotten home with about 30 seconds to spare to be able to make the switch -- I promised an explanatory note. But you don't want to hear about my day (and why I got home with 30 seconds to spare to make the switch), and I've lost interest in talking about it. You've got troubles of your own.

#

John 'Forrest Gump' Boehner Gets Played Again

Using every arm-twisting, committee appointment, and earmark bribe in the book, John Boehner was able to slam his ridiculous faux debt-ceiling bill through the House, 218-210 a few minutes ago.

Let me be the first to predict what will now happen.


It will go to the Senate, where it will be rejected, rewritten, revamped and -- in general -- shredded by Chuck Schumer's mannequin, Harry Reid. In other words, it will become an even more pathetic "deficit reduction" vehicle than it was to begin with.

Then, with only hours to spare, it will be sent back to the House, whereupon the media and the Democrats -- but I repeat myself -- will predict total economic calamity should it not pass.

Boehner, the consummate Beltway insider, will panic, cry, and force it through the House, echoing the same predictions of complete economic collapse of Timothy Geithner. It will enforce no cuts, it will command no deficit reduction measures, and it will also grant Barack Obama unconditional permission to borrow another trillion dollars (or two) from our kids and grandkids.

And it will tiptoe this country right to the edge of fiscal collapse.

It's a game of hot potato, and Gump will have been handed the scalding hot potato with no time to spare.

Instead of hammering Cut, Cap & Balance through the House and Senate, the feckless GOP leadership will have folded like a deck-chair in a typhoon.

The imperative for 2012 could not be more clear: replace every RINO with conservatives in the primaries. Then obliterate the Marxist pod-people that have subsumed the husk of the once-proud Democrat Party. We have no alternative if we are to save this Republic.

The Boehner Plan For Dummies

Someone far smarter than me can correct this assessment in the comments but -- as I understand it -- the Boehner plan is:

• Raise the debt ceiling with no real cuts - check

• Hold secret meetings with an elite "commission" of masterminds - check

• Trying to avoid blame rather than fix problems - checkety check

• End up getting pwnt by legacy media anyhow - check and mate

I'm sure glad the current RINO leadership wasn't advising General Washington at Valley Forge.


Related: How Barack Obama is destroying the American economy in two nauseating charts

How Barack Obama is destroying the American economy in two nauseating charts

You don't need to be a math major to understand these devastating charts (slightly modified from the originals to depict the beginning of the "one-time, emergency Stimulus"):

...next time Obama or his allies in the press go back to the well and recite the well-worn verse that spending is all the other guy’s fault, take a look at the facts...

President Obama has steered a fiscal course that will lead to more spending and deeper deficits and ultimately to vastly higher taxes...

...If you want to know the real cause of our deficits today, the answer lies primarily with Obama. If you want to know the real cause of our deficits in the near future, the answer lies in entitlement spending, which Obamacare increases.

That John Boehner, who was put into power by the same Tea Party conservatives he condemns, could ignore the so-called "emergency Stimulus" package -- and leave it in all subsequent baseline budgets -- is a freaking moral outrage!

Fight! Why won't they fight? Because: (a) they're cowards; or (b) they like big government. Either answer is un-freaking-acceptable. Has Barack Obama given an inch in his battle to Cloward-Piven-ize America? No! Did Stretch Pelosi? No! Did Harry "Chuck Schumer writes my speeches" Reid? Hell, no!

Boehner had two nuclear weapons at his disposal. And he chose to use neither. He had the debt ceiling and a threat of a downgrade by the rating agencies.

Cut, Cap & Balance addressed both issues.

If Republicans had united behind CCB, they could have forced a vote in the Senate -- by putting massive pressure on the 20 Democrats who had earlier pledged to support a Balanced Budget Amendment -- and send it to the President's desk.

Boehner could then tell the American people: there's only one plan that addresses the deficit and prevents a downgrade.

And let Obama deal with the fallout of a veto -- if he has the guts.

Instead, we submit a plan that still results in downgrade and default.

Idiocy. Sheer, unmitigated idiocy.

We need to elect a boatload more conservatives in 2012, politically eradicate the RINOs, and jam true conservatives into leadership positions.

Because all of these pantywaists -- put together -- don't have the cojones of Michele Bachmann.

They're wimps who are selling out the American people -- just a tad bit slower than the Marxist, Democrat Left. We're headed for fiscal apocalypse and these feckless RINOs won't even put up a fight.

The question for the House Republican leadership: are you going to do what you think is politically expedient -- or will you do what is right?

Unbeknownst to most who live outside the Beltway, there's a silent and furious battle being waged over control of the Republican Party. Earlier this week, arms were being twisted and talking points disseminated in support of House Speaker John Boehner's erstwhile "compromise" plan. You know, the one that cut roughly 0.02% of discretionary spending in 2012.

No less an éminence grise than Dr. Charles Krauthammer, a reliable spokesman for intra-495 conservatives, parroted the Boehner line. In short, the Speaker was doing the "right thing" in introducing something that could conceivably pass the Senate and arrive on Obama's desk.

That Boehner's plan did nothing to tackle the deficit nor avoid a downgrade by the rating agencies was not discussed. Never mind that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared it "dead on arrival" and President Obama vowed to veto it.

Erick Erickson at RedState perfectly described the disastrous strategy of the Speaker and the old guard Republicans:

One week ago the entire conservative movement was unified behind Cut, Cap, and Balance [CCB] as was both House and Senate GOP caucus — no small feat to be sure.

Then, because Harry Reid denied CCB a vote through a procedural motion, John Boehner produces a crackpot plan that rips the conservative movement apart at the seams and after taking two stabs at it, still can’t get to the promised $1.2 trillion in cuts he initially claimed it would have.

The bill is being whipped against by Pelosi (which CCB was not) and will likely draw less Dem support than CCB. The bill is said by Reid to be DOA in the Senate.

But Boehner believes that it is strategically smarter to die on this hill and force it down Senate Dems throats rather than try to do that on a bill in which he has the support of all his members, all the movement, and 66 percent of the American people.

These people need to be put in a mental ward.

Precisely.

Let me get this straight: the Speaker wants to pass a bill in the House that doesn't remotely address the deficit problem and therefore still results in downgrades by the rating agencies. And then Obama -- in typical Alinsky fashion -- blames the Republican plan (or Bush, or William McKinley, or anyone else but him) for the downgrades?

There's only one plan that lifts the debt ceiling and saves the credit rating of the U.S. That's CCB, which is supported by a whopping two-thirds majority of American adults.

What can you do?

If you want to stop the GOP from taking a bad deal out of fear, go to http://www.redstate.com/action right now and call your member of Congress to oppose John Boehner’s plan.

Tell them to pass CCB again and force a vote in the Senate. We, the American people, will apply massive pressure to a few "moderate Democrats" -- who run home pretending to be fiscal conservatives -- and all 20 Democrats who once promised to support the Balanced Budget Amendment.

Then let Obama veto the best chance we have to repair the fiscal damage he's done. If he has the guts.


Update: Boehner, get real!

Rally at John Boehner's Hometown Office

A hastily arranged Tea Party rally at John Boehner's hometown office took place earlier today. Karl writes:

...Several Ohio and Kentucky Tea Party groups rallied at Speaker Boehner's office in Ohio today...

...It was a rowdy group of right wing extremism. Grandmas and Grampas, Moms and Dads, and a couple children. Each arrived with a personal letter to the Speaker which was then handed to a gentleman from the Speaker's office. Letters were collected for those who could not attend and handed over in a binder. 350 letters!

There are more pictures at Karl's place.

In which I write the speech John Boehner should give

The Speaker of the House -- a guy reportedly named John Boehner from Ohio who apparently needs to be primaried -- has proposed a short-term spending plan the adjectives for which have yet to be invented.

Republicans insisted if the President wants his debt ceiling increase, the American people will require serious spending cuts and reforms...

--Cuts That Exceed The Debt Hike. The framework would cut and cap discretionary spending immediately, saving $1.2 trillion over 10 years (subject to CBO confirmation), and raise the debt ceiling by less - up to $1 trillion.

--Caps To Control Future Spending. The framework imposes spending caps that would establish clear limits on future spending and serve as a barrier against government expansion while the economy grows. Failure to remain below these caps will trigger automatic across-the-board cuts (otherwise known as sequestration).

Oh. My. Heavens.

$1.2 trillion over 10 years is a joke. A pittance. Since President Obama took office, the government borrows about $1.6 trillion each and every year. In other words, Boehner's ten-year "savings" would be eaten up in around nine months at the current levels of spending.

And "caps to control future spending"? How have those worked out in the past?

If this plan passes, the rating agencies are certain to downgrade the country's credit rating. Standard & Poor's already said as much. And then Republicans get the blame either way!

John Boehner needs to be primaried. He's too weak to fight the existential threat represented by the Democrats' spending; it is the most massive borrowing program in world history.

How hard is it to explain? Here: let me write the damn speech for John Boehner:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

These are the facts related to our difficult budget situation:

• Democrats took a one-time "Stimulus" program and then intentionally refused to pass a budget so that those spending levels would run on "auto-pilot"

• The annual budget requires that we borrow around $1.6 trillion a year, or roughly four times the worst Bush-era deficit.

• At minimum, the entire $800 billion "Stimulus" must be removed from all budgets going forward. That is non-negotiable.

• Why? Because failure to do so will mean certain downgrades and economic calamity.

• The Stimulus was a scam. Only 6% of its funds were used on "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. The rest of the money, borrowed money mind you, was used to fund a Soviet-style grab-bag of failed social programs, welfare, and other wealth redistribution schemes.

For the sake of our children, the "one-time Stimulus" must be removed from the baseline budget. If not, then the Democrats can pass the Cut, Cap and Balance bill. Those are their only choices.

Call us when you Marxist crackpots make up your mind.

See? It's just that simple.

President Obama unveils his deficit plan: We can only pay our bills if others will continue to lend us $125 billion a month

I'm paraphrasing of course.

The President has yet to release a spending plan. Senate Democrats have yet to release a spending plan.

The real reason Democrats have refused to publish a budget for 815 days is this: they know that the rating agencies will downgrade the U.S. if they reveal their plans to continue spending like drunken liberals.

A downgrade is likely no matter what comes out of current negotiations. Specifically, Standard and Poor's has indicated a $4 trillion deficit reduction package is necessary by Aug. 2 to avoid a downgrade...That simply is not possible given the president's aversion to genuine spending cuts -- evidenced by his failure to table concrete spending cut proposals -- and the insistence on no new taxes by many members of the Republican House caucus.

Stand strong, Speaker Boehner: the House of Representatives has done its job:

• The Republicans passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies while raising the debt ceiling.

• The Republicans passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

Any economic spasms felt as a result of this reckless spending is the fault of three people: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who piled more debt on the backs of the American people than any President and any Congress in history.

And 2012 is coming.

Time for a Tea Party: the most fiscally irresponsible President in history blasts Congress, saying it 'should be responsible and do its job'

In trying to describe President Obama's behavior over the last few weeks, several adjectives spring to mind: "Petulant"; "Condescending"; "Arrogant"; "Un-presidential"... to list but a few.

After a tense 50-minute meeting with congressional leaders at the White House on Saturday, President Obama blasted lawmakers for "reckless political games" and reasserted his refusal to sign a temporary measure to raise the debt ceiling.

In a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney, the White House said that Obama refused again to sign a shot-term deal, saying it "would be irresponsible to put our country at risk again in just a few short months with another battle over raising the debt ceiling."

"Congress should refrain from playing reckless political games with our economy," Carney said. "Instead, it should be responsible and do its job, avoiding default and cutting the deficit."

Hysterical: the most profligate, reckless spender in world history is calling the Republicans "reckless" for passing the most responsible piece of legislation in recent memory.

The Republicans passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies while raising the debt ceiling. The Republicans have passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

In fact, two-thirds of the American people favor a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

And the Democrats still have no written plan. The President has no written plan. Nothing. Just talk. Because that's all he's capable of doing.

The progressive left represents the outliers, the kooks, the fringe, the cult. We are the American people, fortified by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, our highest law.

Speaker Boehner, it's time for an up-or-down vote in the U.S. Senate on Cut, Cap and Balance. Don't pass anything until the Senate votes on it.

Time for a Tea Party

Sue emails the following for those who live in the Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky tri-state region (near John Boehner's district):

Brown County, Liberty Alliance of Cincinnati, Cincinnati East, West Chester, Glendale, Anderson in Ohio and a Northern KY Tea Party group all responded YES to joining in and organizing a rally.

The earliest effective rally would be Monday 7/25, gathering around 4:30 pm and taking letters in around 5 pm, prior to local offices closing at 5:30.

The idea is to get tea party members to bring hand delivered/signed letters to John Boehner.

This would give the weekend for people to compose letters. For anyone who cannot attend the rally, they could email their letters to Tea Party leaders/members attending for hand delivery.

Seems like now we need to rally at John Boehner’s office with the message for him hold firm, he controls the gavel. John Boehner needs to tell Senate that not one bill will be brought to the House floor until the Senate votes up or down on the Cut Cap and Balance, to have the decency to vote on the bill, and not just table it. If the government shuts down, it is because the Senate did not vote for an Amendment that Americans want.

John Boehner holds the power here.

Boehner's West Chester Office
7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B
West Chester, Ohio 45069

If you don't live in the area, Boehner's office numbers are (513) 779-5400 (West Chester, OH), (937) 339-1524 (Miami, OH), and (202) 225-6205 (Washington, DC).

Make your voice heard: according to a CNN poll, 66% of the American people favor a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

Tell John Boehner that we want a vote in the Senate on 'Cut, Cap and Balance' and we want it now. We have a would-be dictator in the White House and his agenda of fiscal destruction must be stopped.


Update: Yep, a would-be tyrant all right: 'This would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own'.


Linked by: Protein Wisdom. Thanks!

Stating that "We've run out of time" to avert a debt crisis, workaholic president summons peasants to White House... at 11am tomorrow

Citing a growing concern that his direct line to the taxpayers' wallet may be shut off, a petulant and narcissistic President Obama demanded that Congressional leaders show up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to bang out a deal. Or at least sometime around 11am. Let me guess: he's got an early tee time Saturday.

President Obama unleashed a tirade of frustration, anger and disappointment toward Republicans Friday after House Speaker John Boehner announced he was withdrawing from negotiations with Obama.

The president, in possibly his most emotional and stern appearance to date, said in no uncertain terms that he is summoning congressional leaders to the White House on Saturday morning.

“I want them here at 11 o'clock tomorrow,” Obama said. “We have run out of time, and they are going to have to explain to me how it is we are going to default.”

Obama’s fury toward Boehner was on full display as he several times accused the Speaker of walking away from the talks... “I think one of the questions the Republican Party is gonna have to ask itself is can they say yes to anything,” Obama said.

...The president repeatedly used words like “inexcusable” and “irresponsible” to blast House Republicans, saying Democrats had stepped up and been willing to sacrifice on entitlements.

...To that end, Obama asked Republicans “how serious are you” about wanting to address debts and deficits.

Uhm, Mr. President, the Republicans have passed a plan that avoids a downgrade by the rating agencies.

Mr. President, the Republicans have passed the 2012 Ryan budget that saves the dying entitlement programs.

Hell, by a 2-to-1 margin, adult Americans support a Balanced Budget Amendment!

Democrats have proposed nothing. Nothing at all. For an inexcusable 813 days, unprecedented in American history.

Where's the budget, Democrats?

Hold firm, Republicans. Any default, any economic catastrophe, any fiscal constipation -- beyond that which Obama has already levied upon us -- will be the Democrats' responsibility alone.