Monday, March 4, 2013

Democrats Now Forced To Show Their Hand

                                                       
The Democrats are getting ready to do something this week that they haven't done in over four years; present a budget.    Seems they've been operating under a system called "Continuing Resolution".  Now as near as I can tell, here's how a Continuing Resolution works in Washington.  (And please allow me to put this as simply as possible).

Imagine you're sitting at the kitchen table with all your monthly bills stacked in front of you.  You take out the family checkbook and you begin writing checks to cover all of your expenses.  However, there are two caveats; 1) you are never allowed to see the total of your expenses and 2) you are never allowed to see your checking account balance.  Eventually, your bank is going to come calling and let you know you've dug yourself a huge fiscal hole and they'll no longer honor those "rubber checks".

This is the way the Democratic Senate has been managing their budget for the last four years!  And, of course, this method of budget accounting has two distinct advantages.  You need never worry about how much you're spending, and neither are the voters.  After all, it's not easy having to show what you're spending that costs $1 trillion dollars more than you're taking in.

The Democrats have been pounded year after year for failing to present a budget.  Apparently, they have weighed the advantages of "sleight of hand" accounting versus the American people's deep concern about rising deficits and have decided they had better "show their hand".

So, uber liberal Senator Patty Murray from Washington state is putting together a budget that she and her liberal brethren have promised to submit to the Senate floor for a vote.  This will be the first budget vote the Senate has had since they voted Barack Obama's budget down by a vote of 99-0.

Ms. Murray is convinced that when the American people see all the wonderful programs that their $3.6 trillion dollar budget funds they'll support the Democrats come November 2014.  I guess we'll see if, given the fact we're running trillion dollar annual deficits, and given the fact that most of that deficit is funded by the Chinese, if we really need to fund rat preserves in San Francisco, if we really need to fund research on the mating habits of orangoutangs, if welfare recipients might get by without government furnished free cell phones, and whether we can continue to afford supporting 20 million illegals.

Ms. Murray further avows that the House Budget (the Ryan budget) calls for $4.5 trillion dollars in cuts over the next ten years and the American people simply won't stand for that kind of parsimony.  Even under Ryan's draconian budget cuts the annual deficits do not stop until the year 2023 and won't put a dent in the current $16.7 trillion dollar national debt.  We are now paying .43 cents of every dollar just on interest on the national debt.  The Congressional Budget Office says that, if we make no spending cuts, by 2023 we will be spending over .60 cents of every tax dollar to service the debt.

So,  let's see if Ms. Murray is right.  She says the Democrats will have a shiny new budget, on paper for the first time in four years, for everyone to see.  She says it'll be out in less than two weeks.  That's marvelous!  The Democratic budget will be coming out just as Americans begin opening their checkbooks to pay their annual tax bill.  Won't that be fun!

Good luck with that polker hand, Ms. Murray!  Hope you bluff well!




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