Eve of Government Shutdown---What will we miss?

[Gene Scarborough]

I'm listenig as I blog to Good Morning America. The lead story is about a pendng shut down of government. The Speaker of the House, John Baner, had an extensive interview which only continues the lack of cooperation among our Executive and Legislative branches. It seems to me this is a classic example of "EVERYONE IS IN IT FOR HIMSELF."

Big Daddy Weaver has an ethics summation at Baptists Today which essentially says, "We have lost our voice as Moderate Baptists in recent years." I would have to agree with him!



*We have attacked almost all the Middle East now---is there any end in sight for Middle East conflict?
*Why do we "make war and not love?" It's Viet Nam on steriods!
*We all know $10 or more is being spent by Washington for every $1 collected in taxes = guaranteed inflation ahead soon!
*Corporate America got bailed out and Sunday's evening show (20/20 I think) clearly outlined how most corporations pay little of no tax into this extreme time of expense.
*The real difference between political parties was summed up well by my father: "A Republican is just a former Democrat who made big bucks and wants to keep it all!"

Somebody has to pay for our public needs. Somebody has to make more wise decisions on practical matters of infratructure deterioration / excess Welfare / no one wanting to work anymre. Who has an ethical word here???

[Gene Scarborough]

This morning reports an emminent shut down---BUT Congressional pay continues!!!!

Imagine that!!!!!!

[Jim]

[Gene Scarborough]

I vote Jim for Tea Party president!!!!!

[Jim]

[Gene Scarborough]

Then-----what you are really saying is, "George could do it, but Barak can't!!!!" The most imperial presidencies we have had in recent years were Regan and Bush.

Does this really mean that "anything Republican is OK / anything Democratic is from the devil???"

Now----the question I asked in the beginning was "What can we do about this mess?"

The answer so far is "Just blame it on Obama!" That's no answer or constructive solution to an obvious mess of non-coopertion.

[Jim]

[Sandy]

Jim, you may not have mentioned Bush, however, it is fair to compare Obama's actions in Libya to Bush's actions regarding Iraq. The hypocrisy of those who are being critical of Obama on Libya is absolutely astounding. The Bush administration distorted and presented deliberately deceiving intelligence information to Congress to win their support for attacking Iraq. There was no military action on the ground in Iraq, no opposition group requesting military aid or assistance from either the US or the UN, and the whole bill of goods was sold to the American people as a necessary step to avenge the 9-11 attacks, in which, regardless of the nature of Saddam's regime, he was not involved. In Libya, there was a recognized military opposition already engaged in action against the forces of a national leader who is a declared international outlaw because of his proven involvement in a terrorist attack against a fellow UN and NATO member, and our closest ally. The Senate ratified the US agreement to international law recognizing Qadaffi as an outlaw years ago and that obligates us to participate in UN or NATO action against him, which Obama has done. Bush took action without any of that being in place, spent a trillion dollars, the lives of thousands of American troops, and accomplished nothing. It's a fair comparison that provides clear evidence of Bush's incompetence which is why there is so much squealing about making it.

Ironically, the Republican leadership in Congress seems to think Obama isn't doing enough in Libya. This is, after all, a muslim country, and so they want to bomb the heck out of it and send in troops. McCain is particularly edgy about advocating for this. Mitch "flip flop" McConnell can't decide from one day to the next exactly what we should do, but he is consistent in his criticism that just contributing to the air support isn't enough. But Bush gets mentioned, Jim, because if you were a squawking hawk for Iraq, you are a hypocrite if you are bad mouthing Obama over Libya.

As to the issues swirling around the government shutdown, the GOP continues to engage in a foot-shooting contest, and seems determined to hand back control of the House to the Democrats, as well as hand Obama his re-election. By the time the 2012 election rolls around, the Tea Party will have done enough damage to the GOP to give whoever they nominate about as much of a chance against Obama as Mondale had against Reagan in '84. They took it down to the 11th hour, and caved when their internal polling showed that they were going to get the blame if there had been a shutdown.

[Dave Roberts]

Of course, it's not a budget, just another continuing resolution which forces us to endure the next round of this soon. We haven't passed last year's budget, much less considered this year's budget. When, if ever, will Congress get down to work instead of all this posturing?

[Gene Scarborough]

"Dance, little children----DANCE!!!"

This has been the most rediculous waste of news time in quite a few months, but we seem to love it! How in the world can we think ourselves such a "world leader" when all we can do is chase our tails like mad dogs.

Is it possible this is enough tail-chasing for us to call for Term Limits?

I'm getting tired of the endless doing of nothing really / spending money in war which is better spent on infrastructure / letting corporate America get by paying little or no taxes / watching a widening gap between rich and poor / funding a "porch-sitting" bunch of drug-and-crime experts while bitching about immigrants who are willing to work for our lost dream of success through honesty and hard work.

[KeithE]

[Gene Scarborough]

[Jim]

S: Jim, you may not have mentioned Bush, however, it is fair to compare Obama's actions in Libya to Bush's actions regarding Iraq.

J: Absolutely not! Bush received authorization, as he was required to do, from the Congress. Obama simply attacked a sovereign nation representing no threat to this country. Comparison is out of the question.

S: The hypocrisy of those who are being critical of Obama on Libya is absolutely astounding. The Bush administration distorted and presented deliberately deceiving intelligence information to Congress to win their support for attacking Iraq.

J: Untrue! The intel agencies of many nations agreed with the intel in the U.S., and the Congress believed it. You have no proof of any deception whatever. Everything was transparent in this and all the other nations. If you believe Bush was hypocritical or deceptive, you have to believe the Congress was, too, including such democrats as Biden. I believe Saddam had the WMD and transported it probably to Syria between September 2002 and March 2003. By contrast, Libya transported his entire nuclear effort to this country in 2004 and has presented absolutely no threat to this or any other country for many years. Obama simply tried to kill Qaddafi for reasons of his own, and we don’t even buy his oil.

S: There was no military action on the ground in Iraq, no opposition group requesting military aid or assistance from either the US or the UN, and the whole bill of goods was sold to the American people as a necessary step to avenge the 9-11 attacks, in which, regardless of the nature of Saddam's regime, he was not involved.

J: Absolutely nothing was said about 9/11 with respect to Saddam. However, you’re entitled to your personal opinion. The Congress had something like five months to pursue the matter before any action was taken in Iraq but found nothing to support your personal opinion.

S: In Libya, there was a recognized military opposition already engaged in action against the forces of a national leader who is a declared international outlaw because of his proven involvement in a terrorist attack against a fellow UN and NATO member, and our closest ally.

J: When did that attack take place? Do you mean Britain? Their current antagonists are mostly home-grown Muslims. Qaddafi had been removed from the terrorist list, at least as far as this nation was concerned. There was no military opposition to Qaddafi, only people in the streets, as is the case all over the Middle East practically all the time.

S: The Senate ratified the US agreement to international law recognizing Qadaffi as an outlaw years ago and that obligates us to participate in UN or NATO action against him, which Obama has done.

J: Just the other way around, of course. Obama didn’t join NATO in the action; rather NATO joined him after he had bombed Libya and then made it plain that he had done all the damage he intended, notwithstanding all the people he murdered on his own authority. Britain, France, Germany and Spain buy Libyan oil, so their participation is easily accounted for.

S: Bush took action without any of that being in place, spent a trillion dollars, the lives of thousands of American troops, and accomplished nothing. It's a fair comparison that provides clear evidence of Bush's incompetence which is why there is so much squealing about making it.

J: No. Bush took action with authorization from Congress and has to at least some extent neutralized what at least I believe was a definite threat of WMD. The entire Middle East has him to thank for saving it, especially Saudi Arabia, which was his actual destination when Saddam invaded Kuwait on Bush 41’s watch and was thrown out. Check the Internet or another segment of this thread for the pronouncements of a host of the most powerful democrats regarding his action in Iraq. The fact that wars cost lives and money is nothing new, so your screaming about that is blowing in the wind.

S: Ironically, the Republican leadership in Congress seems to think Obama isn't doing enough in Libya.

J: I disagree with them and the democrats who say to pour it on. There’s no excuse for this blatant attack on a country with a total population two million less than that of New York City and a military of 76,000 men.

S: This is, after all, a muslim country, and so they want to bomb the heck out of it and send in troops.

J: I doubt if you’ll find Obama bombing any other Muslim country just because it’s Muslim. That would mean bombing the entire Middle East. The weakest one was an easy target, especially considering oil for “friends” who probably were tired of paying Qaddafi under the table, a practice of most dictators.

S: But Bush gets mentioned, Jim, because if you were a squawking hawk for Iraq, you are a hypocrite if you are bad mouthing Obama over Libya.

J: Bricks and stones may break my…

[Gene Scarborough]

What are your PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS to reducing the spending where the Republicans did little or nothing this week?

[Jim]

[Gene Scarborough]

[Sandy]

[KeithE]

[Gene Scarborough]

Jim--the ball's in your court, my brother!!!!

[Dave Roberts]

It's time all our Congress quit posturing and put together a real budget for our country. If they can't put together a budget and have to operate solely by continuing resolutions to fund at some other year's levels, no wonder they can't address deficits, adventurous spending on military events, and the real problems of poverty and wealth distribution in this country. Funny, I can't do my budget that way. I have to figure out spending levels and paybacks for every check. Neither party seems to want to address real issues, just posture to make the other party look bad. We wouldn't miss Congress if it took a 3-month hiatus without pay.

[Jim]

[Gene Scarborough]

Jim---

You are not answering logically--just shrieking your hatred of our President "duely elected" just like George Bush!

Do you REALLY BELIEVE that Sadam's WMD could not have been detected from space by spy satellites which can detect objects as small as 1 foot? Do you think Bush would not have pulled out the photos if he really had any evidence? Give me a break---surely you are not that gullible!!! Every time you fill your gas tank, don't you start some serious thinking about who is administering the corn cob without any K-Y jelly? Bush was big oil and is still such!!

Face some facts: We went to war on distorted information / we have spent enough in the Middle East to have easily gotten our infrastructure back in shape / the financial industry and autos crashed over poor management spending billions to keep current representatives in office doing their bidding / it was the Bush Administration in power when heads were turned on financial laws and the well head in the Gulf which ruptured and is still doing damage to the environment / we have oil globs now coming into shore on the Outer Banks of NC = it's not over yet!

Frankly, I'm tired of the Conservative Republican BS which filled the news last week over the budget. I'm tired of a wealth-backed Tea Party formenting discord. It's time somebody inside the beltway quit the posturing and got down to really helping us poor taxpayers with our own money!!

[Dave Roberts]

We are now getting ready for this week's battle--the debt ceiling. Must we be put through this again all in the name of 2012?

[Gene Scarborough]

Fraid so!!!

The same mentality which ran Conservative Resurgence runs the Republican Party---it means "we don't stop until we win even if it destroys what we are going to win in the process!"

[Gene Scarborough]

This failed economy is taking it's toll now at NOBTS:



Frankly, as a businessman trying to run a Tree Surgery company which had been highly successful until 4 years ago--"Welcome to the world of reality!!!"

For the last 4 years I have been at 30% or earnings. Count your blessings rather than admit you have lived in a world funded by false trust and sacrificial giving. Now the "sacrifice" means a choice between paying the light bill or giving what you did to the church. Sacrifice is one thing---sitting without lights and water is another!

Frankly, I have a hard time shedding too many tears for government or religious people crying the blues!!!!