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The biggest news to report this week is that Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Chair of the House Budget Committee is ready to reveal his blueprint for a new 2014 budget. Rumors are circulating that Ryan's budget includes severe cuts to Medicare with inclusion of a voucher program for all those currently under 65 along with additional cuts to Medicaid (assistance to the poor). Although that may sound innocuous to some, it is a drastic change of the plan Ryan was selling to the American Public when running with Mitt Romney on the GOP Presidential ticket as recently as just five months ago. As many recall, Ryan's then modest position for reforming "entitlements" was soundly rejected by the voters! But how can you make that claim when the election was "really so close?" Because the election was NOT really that close, and Ryan did not even win his own State of Wisconsin! So why the major change today? I submit Ryan's budget plan is not a real deviation from what he planned all along. Remember, Ryan and Romney promised major changes to the existing tax code, including "entitlements", but boldly claimed specific details would only be disclosed after they were elected. In other words, they told Americans to just "trust them." The American Public's reaction to this pitch? No Sale!
So now we are witnessing the real intent of the GOP-led House. Speaker Boehner claims he will not agree to allow any Bill to get to the Floor for a vote if it increases revenue in any way. According to Boehner, President Obama "got all of his tax increases" when negotiating the end to the self-imposed "fiscal cliff." But did Obama really raise tax rates? In reality, Obama simply allowed the Bush Tax Cuts to expire, which the Republicans wrote into the Bill when it was originally enacted in 2001, 2003 and extended in 2010. Is it possible Republicans never believed they would ever allow those "temporary tax cuts" to really ever expire? 'Ya think? So if Sequestration is all Obama's fault, shouldn't responsibility for the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts then fall at the feet of the GOP that approved the temporary tax cuts in the first place? Or were they not telling the truth about the cuts being "temporary?" You can bet they would have all been extended permanently under a President Romney Administration!
President Obama has claimed all along that he has been proposing to cut over $2 Trillion from our budget deficit, but Boehner and GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have insisted instead that Obama has offered "nothing" and that the House has been doing all it can to work on a new budget. Speaker Boehner even went as far as to claim the Senate needed to "get off their ass" and propose an alternative to the GOP budget plans. Ironically, the Senate actually did propose a Bill to avoid Sequestration but the House had already gone on vacation...again. Now it turns out, following this weeks dinner out by some Republican Senators with Obama, that the president's previously offered proposals for deficit cuts had never been communicated to the Senate GOP rank in file. Seems throughout the past several months while the Ideologically Oriented For-Profit Media (aka Right Wing Miscommunication Machine) railed against Obama for playing "unfair" and not offering anything to reduce the budget, he had in fact offered such cuts all along. And when some GOP Senators under the condition of anonymity claim they were only just informed of the Obama cuts at dinner with the president, one has to ask what kind of game is being played by their Congressional "leadership?" Seems the Right Wing "Fair and Balanced" news outlets can't help themselves from disseminating misinformation about hoaxes and smear campaigns whenever Obama is involved. Do I sound too partisan to make this statement? Not when it has been disclosed that the nomination of Chuck Hagel was held up based upon a hoax and the media ran with a smear campaign against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NY) that was based upon a hoax too! So what if Obama may have been telling the truth on his plans for deficit reduction all along? Fox and their related media audiences still seems to have a voracious appetite to swallow any news that fits their negative narratives and talking points. After all, what kind of World would we be living in if we didn't hate our President and Government?
When will Americans begin to realize they have been misled by a Media that has abdicated its role as the Fourth Estate of our democratic-republic? Is it any wonder that 80% of the Anti-Government groups existing today were established since Obama was elected President? Could there possibly be a connection between the Anti-Government groups and the lies spread by our misguided Media?
But as most Americans know, all budget matters must be initiated in the House and then approved by the Senate. The President has no authority when it comes to budget matters except his veto power. Only after the money transfers to the OMB, does any president have the power to "adjust" spending. So when will we all begin to demand our leadership in Congress begin to promote the best interests of America over Political Party rhetoric or special interests? As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues." It is more important now than ever that our leaders "Get Real!"
So now we are witnessing the real intent of the GOP-led House. Speaker Boehner claims he will not agree to allow any Bill to get to the Floor for a vote if it increases revenue in any way. According to Boehner, President Obama "got all of his tax increases" when negotiating the end to the self-imposed "fiscal cliff." But did Obama really raise tax rates? In reality, Obama simply allowed the Bush Tax Cuts to expire, which the Republicans wrote into the Bill when it was originally enacted in 2001, 2003 and extended in 2010. Is it possible Republicans never believed they would ever allow those "temporary tax cuts" to really ever expire? 'Ya think? So if Sequestration is all Obama's fault, shouldn't responsibility for the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts then fall at the feet of the GOP that approved the temporary tax cuts in the first place? Or were they not telling the truth about the cuts being "temporary?" You can bet they would have all been extended permanently under a President Romney Administration!
President Obama has claimed all along that he has been proposing to cut over $2 Trillion from our budget deficit, but Boehner and GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have insisted instead that Obama has offered "nothing" and that the House has been doing all it can to work on a new budget. Speaker Boehner even went as far as to claim the Senate needed to "get off their ass" and propose an alternative to the GOP budget plans. Ironically, the Senate actually did propose a Bill to avoid Sequestration but the House had already gone on vacation...again. Now it turns out, following this weeks dinner out by some Republican Senators with Obama, that the president's previously offered proposals for deficit cuts had never been communicated to the Senate GOP rank in file. Seems throughout the past several months while the Ideologically Oriented For-Profit Media (aka Right Wing Miscommunication Machine) railed against Obama for playing "unfair" and not offering anything to reduce the budget, he had in fact offered such cuts all along. And when some GOP Senators under the condition of anonymity claim they were only just informed of the Obama cuts at dinner with the president, one has to ask what kind of game is being played by their Congressional "leadership?" Seems the Right Wing "Fair and Balanced" news outlets can't help themselves from disseminating misinformation about hoaxes and smear campaigns whenever Obama is involved. Do I sound too partisan to make this statement? Not when it has been disclosed that the nomination of Chuck Hagel was held up based upon a hoax and the media ran with a smear campaign against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NY) that was based upon a hoax too! So what if Obama may have been telling the truth on his plans for deficit reduction all along? Fox and their related media audiences still seems to have a voracious appetite to swallow any news that fits their negative narratives and talking points. After all, what kind of World would we be living in if we didn't hate our President and Government?
When will Americans begin to realize they have been misled by a Media that has abdicated its role as the Fourth Estate of our democratic-republic? Is it any wonder that 80% of the Anti-Government groups existing today were established since Obama was elected President? Could there possibly be a connection between the Anti-Government groups and the lies spread by our misguided Media?
But as most Americans know, all budget matters must be initiated in the House and then approved by the Senate. The President has no authority when it comes to budget matters except his veto power. Only after the money transfers to the OMB, does any president have the power to "adjust" spending. So when will we all begin to demand our leadership in Congress begin to promote the best interests of America over Political Party rhetoric or special interests? As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues." It is more important now than ever that our leaders "Get Real!"
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