Bad Budget Bill Passes House, Heads To Senate

"Public affairs go on pretty much as usual: perpetual chicanery and rather more personal abuse than there used to be." --John Adams

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The highlight of the House vote was that Congresswoman Giffords voted. Despite her "yes" vote, it was great to see this courageous woman, who had been shot in the head mere months ago, up and around and serving her nation once again.

Most of the Tea Party Freshmen refused to vote "yes" (though a disappointing few, including one of my favorites, Allen West, did vote "yes"), holding on to their principles, and their pledge that they would work to cut spending, and not allow a raise in the debt ceiling.

There are no spending cuts in this bill, only a promise to spend less in the future - of which there is no guarantee that promise will be honored - while still giving the liberal Democrats a raise in the debt ceiling (meaning the okay to spend more and more and more...).

Granted, as Paul Ryan has explained, there are caps in spending in the bill that he's been working on for years. But real spending cuts won't be achieved until the federal government is forced to cut spending - which could have been accomplished by refusing to raise the debt limit.

Understand, this bill represents a betrayal by the professional politicians, who refuses to listen to the people, the Tea Party, or common sense.

The Tea Party Freshmen get it - this is not about ideology, or about re-election. This is all about stopping the unsustainable madness we see the leftists propagating.

We will not see change in Washington regarding federal spending until they get serious about the fundamentals, and are willing to drop the lies about their threat of default if the debt ceiling isn't raised.

Both the establishment Republicans, and the liberal Democrats, have come to an agreement that clearly is not a compromise as they are calling it, but a compromise of our future, of our children's future. Unsustainable spending remains in place, and a special joint committee is supposed to make it all good - but the committee is filled with them - the ones that can't stop spending.

In the end, this deal does not fix the problem. It merely delays resolution, and moves us closer to becoming like Greece.

Raising the limits on my credit, and then spending madly, wouldn't be good for my own personal budget, and it is no good for the federal budget as well.

Telling my wife that if we didn't get a raise in the limit for my electronics store credit card we wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage is idiotic, the claim doesn't make it true, and she would see through such a lie immediately. Yet, we are supposed to believe that if they don't raise their credit limit in Washington, there will be a default.

Can they not prioritize their spending?

They tell us this budget bill is full of spending cuts. As if the politician's promise of future cuts is believable - their word isn't exactly rock solid, in my opinion.

Experience has taught us that the Washington cesspool lies. In 1982 Reagan had been promised that if he raised taxes, the cuts in spending would exceed the amount of taxes raised - and Reagan believed the Congressional Democrats. What happened was the biggest raise in taxes in history, and not a single cut. The Democrats lied, and Reagan learned a valuable lesson.

How is it that the conservative Republicans of today that voted for this turkey has fallen for the exact same lie?

Granted, there was no tax increases (or so the politicians claim) - but the spending cuts claim is a lie. And for that matter, their definition isn't even in line with what we want - they aren't cutting spending - they are merely claiming they will spend less in the future.

And mark my words: This claim that there are no tax increases is a lie - they will find a way to kick up the tax rates.

This deal raises the debt limit by about $2.5 trillion dollars without making substantial and immediate cuts, while they say the opposite.

We are being lied to.

Promises mean nothing in Washington.

The federal government spends more than it has coming in, and the problem isn't revenue, it is over-spending. You cannot run any economy in that manner. It is unsustainable. It will catch up to you eventually. Printing trillions more does not create jobs, it does not create demand, it does not encourage consumer spending, and it does not reduce unemployment. Printing trillions simply pushes us closer to disaster.

The only way to turn this economy around is to act fiscally responsible, balance the budget, cut back the incredible spending, and reform entitlements.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary


Gabby Giffords returns to Congress and helps House pass debt compromise - Yahoo News

Boehner debt ceiling bill's 22 'no' votes: Who's who - Politico

Paul Ryan Explains Debt Limit Deal - Right Scoop

AP: ‘ALMOST NONE’ OF DEBT DEAL’S SPENDING CUTS WOULD OCCUR UNTIL 2014 - The Blaze

How the Freshman Voted - American Spectator

Why I Opposed the Debt Limit Increase - Tom McClintock