So here we are, six full months after the time our Congress was Constitutionally mandated to pass the fiscal 2011 budget. The government has been kept running by a series of temporary resolutions for continually since January of 2009. Lost in this entire debate over who’s fault it will be if the government is forced to shut down, is the fact that we are here in the first place because the Democrats shirked their responsibility by not acting prior to October of last year. It is not as if they would have had a difficult time in passing anything. They enjoyed a super majority in the Senate and a huge voting advantage in the House. It simply was a political decision not to vote on anything which would have hurt their electoral chances in the midterm elections. Now that the Conservatives are taking initiative in the form of some long missing leadership, we are being assured that small children, grandparents, and puppy dogs will suffer. We are being told, by the absentee President himself, that a refusal to compromise, (which in Democrat speak means capitulate to our demands and abandon completely your position,) would be irresponsible.
Thinking back to another time when the Conservative movement actually held some sway, I also seem to remember being told that Grandma would starve if we did not conform to the ideals of the social welfare state. When Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980, and then for reelection in 1984, the mantra of those mean old Republicans want to destroy social security and force Granny to eat cat food was being heralded to the four corners of the Earth. When George Bush, 41, ran for the Presidency in 1988, we were assured that Granny, this time would surely perish under the strain of those wascalwy wepubwicans, who now had moved into the territory of flat out wanting to kill grandmothers across the fruited plain. The message of saving seniors, who by the way were actually still doing fine was a major theme of Bill Clinton’s campaign. Bob Dole, himself a senior citizen, was characterized as the Grinch who would steal even the cat food for Granny to nibble on while she was forced into an early grave. In 2001, Al gore, in a losing effort this time told us that seniors would surely suffer under a Bush 43 Presidency. After 8 years of George Bush, and the seniors are doing fine. My own Grandmother, actually survived Reagan and Bush 41. It was Bill Clinton who actually did her in. I am certain it was a coincidence, and I am comfortable saying that, as I recognize that demagoguery is no way to win a political debate, nor to govern a nation. Unfortunately though, this tactic makes up 100% of the Democrats part in this debate. I guess that is what frustrates us conservatives the most about the tactics used by the leftists in general, that absent substance, honest disclosure of positions, honest disclosure of intentions, we are left with an endless supply of anecdotal stories, adhominem attacks, straw man arguments, and flat out lies with which to contend. Don’t believe me about the hysteria of the Debate coming from the left? Have a listen to Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House.
Now, here is a question for Nancy, out of the $3.5 Trillion being spent currently, why are you proposing to cut spending on feeding 6 Million seniors, and not Cowboy Poetry? I hope the American People don’t fall for this baloney this time around. Saving 30 Cents on every Hundred Dollars is not so draconian that we will be knee deep in displaced starving seniors, shoeless children, or even lost puppy dogs. As a matter of fact, we could very easily do this and not see a single needed benefit be lost.
Something else to ponder, the last time the government, “shut down,” Rasmussen did a survey of Americans to see who was affected. The results showed that zero percent of Americans not working for the government were adversely affected. If that survey were conducted for any private enterprise in the world, there would be a rethinking on the management level of that enterprise.
Crossposted at Musings of a Mad Conservative.
Tags: Budget Crisis
