Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
Obama: Tomorrow We Scrimp, But Tonight We Spend Like There's No Tomorrow!
The
ever-credulous Washington Post reports just the facts in a
science-fictional piece titled "Stimulus
aside, Obama vows future budget restraint." Read some details
and decide for yourself whether the truth is out there:
Two weeks away from assuming the presidency, Obama vowed Tuesday to "bring a long-overdue sense of responsibility and accountability to Washington" and called the need for budget reform "an absolute necessity."...
"Many will focus on the upfront cost of this legislation," [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)] was to tell a House Democratic Policy and Steering Committee forum, according to an excerpt of her prepared remarks. "While we are not discussing small sums, focusing on the price tag alone ignores the cost of inaction and the real payoff in terms of job creation and increased revenues to our Treasury."
While promising to fight waste and to make tough budgetary decisions, however, Obama warned that the nation could face trillion-dollar deficits for years to come. Eight years ago, the federal budget ran a surplus; the deficit on Sept. 30 was about $455 billion. That was before the government began spending nearly half of a $700 billion bailout fund for the financial sector....
Obama has not detailed solutions for vexing problems such as growing demands on Social Security and Medicare. His prescriptions to make government accountable could easily run aground, much like those of predecessors who vowed to tackle government waste, fraud and abuse.
That's the same Obama who's pulling for a $775 billion stimulus package. And who has been trotting the spend-now, save-later line to sellout crowds for months now. That's the same Nancy Pelosi, by the way, who came into power saying the Dems would enforce fiscal discipline and then pushed a farm bill that blew the stops out on subsidies and whatnot.
The good news is that Obama is not from Texas. Both LBJ and George W. Bush spent like not just drunken sailors but like falling-down-drunk drunken sailors. Inflation-adjusted discretionary spending increases during the past half-century have averaged 1.7 percent, with LBJ and Bush hitting high notes of 6.6 percent to 14.8 percent. Who wants to bet Obama's first budget comes closer to the high numbers than the low?
To stoke your fears of a unified government and spending (and that was all before we became the bailout nation), go here.
Elemenope|1.7.09 @ 10:22AM|#
That soup must have a mighty reputation, because he sure seems pretty excited.
LurkerBold|1.7.09 @ 10:22AM|#
I hope that he is going for full nationalization of all corporations rather than these ineffective 1% solutions.
|1.7.09 @ 10:28AM|#
How telling, that Pelosi sees the real payoff as increased tax collections down the road.
|1.7.09 @ 10:28AM|#
Ah, the Voracity of Hope. It can end in only one way:
CONGRESS: And finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint.
MR. OBAMA: Nah.
CONGRESS: Oh, sir, it's only a tiny, little, thin one.
MR. OBAMA: No. Fuck off. I'm full.
CONGRESS: Oh, sir. Hmm?
MR. OBAMA: [groan]
CONGRESS: It's only wafer thin.
MR. OBAMA: Look. I couldn't eat another thing. I'm absolutely stuffed. Bugger off.
CONGRESS: Oh, sir, just--just one.
MR. OBAMA: [groaning] All right. Just one.
CONGRESS: Just the one, monsieur. Voilà.
[vomiting and a fatal explosion ensue]
phalkor|1.7.09 @ 10:30AM|#
why would full nationalization of corporations be effective?
effective at doing what?
can someone explain to me the advantages of governmental control
over all means of production? isn't that kind of like how France
is?
furthermore, why am i on H&R at work? don't I have something to
do? should I be worried?
LurkerBold|1.7.09 @ 10:30AM|#
Dean,
If we had a sensible economic system in this country we could
eliminate taxes in less than a decade.
Nigel Watt|1.7.09 @ 10:32AM|#
While we are not discussing small sums, focusing on the price tag alone ignores the cost of inaction and the real payoff in terms of job creation and increased revenues to our Treasury.
If you are spending more than the increased revenues to "your Treasury", that's not a benefit, you ignorant bitch.
|1.7.09 @ 10:32AM|#
I have a cunning plan. Let's set payroll deductions to 100%, then the government can refund what it thinks we each need on April 15 ("National Pay Day"). From each according to his ability, to the government according to its bottomless need.
Xeones|1.7.09 @ 10:33AM|#
That picture is hilarious for some reason.
Course, we bought that soup for him.
|1.7.09 @ 10:35AM|#
What is that, minestrone? Fuckin' Europhile--American soups not good enough for him?
|1.7.09 @ 10:37AM|#
Let's set payroll deductions to 100%
But what about the rich?! It's only fair that they pay more. 170%
ought to do it until we get all the ponies distributed.
Then we'll scale back. Promise.
Other Matt|1.7.09 @ 10:39AM|#
Change!
How telling, that Pelosi sees the real payoff as increased tax
collections down the road.
Pelosi would see a real payoff in being raped by a donkey if it
involved a political position giving her control of others.
Elemenope|1.7.09 @ 10:39AM|#
What is that, minestrone? Fuckin' Europhile--American soups
not good enough for him?
Funny. I'm having minestrone for lunch.
|1.7.09 @ 10:40AM|#
isn't that kind of like how France is?
No, actually, it isn't.
And, for heavens sake, stop feeding the troll.
Elemenope|1.7.09 @ 10:40AM|#
Course, we bought that soup for him.
Are you opposed to paying your employees? That's pretty odd.
Elemenope|1.7.09 @ 10:41AM|#
And, for heavens sake, stop feeding the troll.
But, but, but...if we feed him and make him big & fat, we'll
have a *waddling* troll! Won't that be neat?
|1.7.09 @ 10:45AM|#
Both LBJ and George W. Bush spent like not just drunken
sailors but like falling-down-drunk drunken sailors.
As a former drunken sailor I object to the absurd charcterization
of inebrieted mariners as spendthrifts. I drank in the cheapest
waterfront holes all around the Pacific rim amply demonstrating
that drunken sailors possess far more fiscal responsibiligty than
politicians in D.C.
If this were Canada I'd be hauling Niuck Gillespie before a Human
Rights Commission.
|1.7.09 @ 10:50AM|#
NBC news (the regular nightly one) reported on Joe Biden being
sworn in as Senator last night thusly:
"Biden has continued to receive his salary as a Senator throughout
the presidential campaign. Biden is not a wealthy man."
[emphasis mine]
And that was it. Can someone explain that qualifier to me? What's
the standard and why is it relevant other than as an apology?
|1.7.09 @ 10:51AM|#
In the past 20 years we have tried every combination of government; Dem President/Dem Congress, Rep President/Rep Congress, Rep President/Dem Congress, and Dem President/ Rep Congress. Only the last one has ever given the country any sense of fiscal sanity. If the voters are not smart enough to divide the government in 2010, then they deserve going bankrupt.
Tyler|1.7.09 @ 10:54AM|#
We all know what's going to happen. If the economy gets any
better, it will be attributed to the stimulus and public spending
will continue to increase.
But if it gets worse, which is more likely, then it will be said
that we just didn't spend enough, and spending will increase.
The problem is the widespread belief in Keynesian economics, made
worse by the fact that politicians never actually decrease spending
and raise taxes when times are good anyway.
phalkor|1.7.09 @ 10:55AM|#
Frbunny, there is no consistent standard. By any rational
measure (that is based on average household assets) Biden is a
wealthy man. The qualifier is just so stooges can think "oh he's
just like me!".
The attempts to show wealth as a bad thing in public life baffle
me. Wasn't the opposite true in centuries of yore?
I promise, no more feeding of the trolls, I just assumed I was also
a troll, trolls gotta eat you know.
Elemenope|1.7.09 @ 10:56AM|#
Only the last one has ever given the country any sense of
fiscal sanity.
It is fairly easy to be fiscally sane when you have a lot of
money...less so when you don't. I think in all honesty the
performance of the economy during those periods was a greater
determinant of the fiscal austerity of the government than the
party affiliations of the leaders of the branches of
government.
Xeones|1.7.09 @ 11:01AM|#
Are you opposed to paying your employees?
Of course not. But then, i didn't hire him.
I bet it's Spaghetti Os, and dude looks like he saw his own name in
it. Which, i'll admit, is pretty exciting.
|1.7.09 @ 11:02AM|#
No, no, feed the troll. Then, at the appropriate time,
give him a wafer-thin mint.
Elemenope,
I kid, of course. Minestrone and pasta fagioli are among my
favorite soups.
|1.7.09 @ 11:09AM|#
...drunken sailors possess far more fiscal responsibiligty than politicians in D.C.
Yeah, next he'll be calling politicians prostitutes or whores, thus
libelling that noble profession.
Elemenope|1.7.09 @ 11:09AM|#
Of course not. But then, i didn't hire him.
Your company did, so you might wanna start dealing with that fact.
Don't be "that guy". ;) I always found the left-wing move to start
saying "Bush, he's not my president!" to be really
obnoxious.
I bet it's Spaghetti Os, and dude looks like he saw his own
name in it. Which, I'll admit, is pretty exciting.
ROFL.
|1.7.09 @ 11:16AM|#
What the hell is the painting in the background of that
picture?
A shining example of the shitty art the social realism movement
creates?
Mark|1.7.09 @ 11:24AM|#
It seemed like no one cared about fiscal before Obama got
elected so I'm not exactly impressed by any Republican
band-wagoners who now want to cry about anything Obama does that
they've been doing the last 8 years or so.
OMG he's increasing the Debt! Yeah, I've had to listen to Neal
Boortz tell me how great the federal debt is and how we shouldn't
worry about it because we'll out grow it anyway. Of course, now
he's changing his tune.
*sigh* I hate it when either party gets so wrapped up in the power
struggle that they'd rather destroy the country just to spite the
other party.
cunnivore|1.7.09 @ 11:25AM|#
Is that Colin Powell in the background?
This picture is amazing on so many levels. Still not the greatest picture
in H&R history though, not by a long shot.
ed|1.7.09 @ 11:28AM|#
the Dems would enforce fiscal discipline
"Enforce fiscal discipline."
Translation: Lie through their botoxed lips.
|1.7.09 @ 11:31AM|#
I bet it's Spaghetti Os, and dude looks like he saw his own
name in it. Which, i'll admit, is pretty exciting.
Yeah, but that kid over his shoulder looks awfully bummed out. I
bet he took it from the kid. That's stimulus eating for ya.
And besides, it is clearly Chunky soup. It's the only soup that
garner that type of reaction from its customers, at least going by
the commercials.
creech|1.7.09 @ 11:31AM|#
Time to bring a "long overdue sense of responsibility and
accountability to Washington." What is this code for?
"My party has controlled Congress for two years already and did
nothing. I was too busy running for President and promising goodies
to notice the irresponsibility and lack of accountability. Cong.
Frank assured me, however, that there was no problem with Freddie
and Fannie. Besides, it is all Bush's fault. Thank goodness,
Americans are extremely gullible. Now, I've seen the light .
Believe me, you can hope I've changed."???
|1.7.09 @ 11:32AM|#
With the picture, headline and story together, Reason has
achieved thee perfect confluence of snark.
Bravo!
Other Matt|1.7.09 @ 11:34AM|#
Translation: Lie through their botoxed lips.
Followed by a fit of joe-like "I never actually SAID I was going to
enforce it! And, discipline means that you SPEND it quickly, yeah,
that's it!"
Nigel Watt|1.7.09 @ 11:40AM|#
This picture is amazing on so many levels. Still not the greatest picture in H&R history though, not by a long shot.
That is an epic thread.
|1.7.09 @ 11:44AM|#
I'm not exactly impressed by any Republican band-wagoners
who now want to cry about anything Obama does that they've been
doing the last 8 years or so.
You realize that game never ends, right? You're doing exactly what
you decry: deferring an objective judgment of his actions/ideas
based on the Red v Blue game.
Still not the greatest picture in H&R history
though.
How is that link not lobster girl?
|1.7.09 @ 11:49AM|#
"I think in all honesty the performance of the economy during
those periods was a greater determinant of the fiscal austerity of
the government than the party affiliations of the leaders of the
branches of government."
In fairness though, the economy wasn't as good as people remember
in 93 through 96. The boom really took off after 96. Clinton and
Gingrich really did pass some sane policies. Granted they were busy
investigating and trying to destroy each other, but in the mean
time spending didn't go through the roof and a few things got done.
I think Obama could do the same thing if, and this is a big if, the
Republicans could give him someone to work with. As it is with Reid
and Pelosi running things, we are fucked.
|1.7.09 @ 11:53AM|#
Nicodemus,
I think it reigns because of the thread it created, which will
definitely be in the Hit & Run coffeetable book.
We could even point them to Epic Threads... my noms.
Your Tears Are So Yummy and Sweet
There's
Safety in a Union
Also, one of the early Palin threads was just fucking nuts, but I
can't seem to google the right one up...
Xeones|1.7.09 @ 11:58AM|#
Your company did
Sort of true, but the metaphor has gotten all soggy at this
point.
I just noticed that the other guy in the picture looks ridiculously
stoked too.
Other Matt|1.7.09 @ 11:59AM|#
There's Safety in a Union
That was vintage joe, you're right, it should be in a coffee table
book.
Not that it has anything to do with Obama's apparent willingness to
spend double digit multiples of income, though.
|1.7.09 @ 12:20PM|#
First, the greatest Hit & Run photo ever was, of course, the
Lobster Girl. The Santorum thread was the greatest snarkfest
ever.
Second, that is Colin Powell.
Third, the painting is Young Obama Vomiting America (in
oil).
stuartl|1.7.09 @ 12:59PM|#
What is that, minestrone? Fuckin' Europhile--American soups
not good enough for him?
How can you be so insenstive? That is good old american senate navy
bean soup.
eah|1.7.09 @ 1:21PM|#
OMFG! It's Keynesian economic stimulus 101. The horror. The
horror. The end is niegh.
Never mind, of course, that the overwhelming majority of the
world's economists--those individuals who actually know what they
are talking about--are more or less New Keynesians.
|1.7.09 @ 1:25PM|#
Widespread stupidity will suddenly morph into genius, eh? Reality by democracy. Neat.
Phil Gomes|1.7.09 @ 1:32PM|#
Oh... *This'll* work...
http://www.reuters.com/article/economicNews/idUSN0748633420090107
The answer for reigning in gov't spending is to create a new
senior-level cabinet position focused on reigning in government
spending?
*sigh*
guy in the back row|1.7.09 @ 1:34PM|#
What the hell is the painting in the background of that
picture?
I thought it was Obama's good angel whispering in his ear.
|1.7.09 @ 1:52PM|#
new senior-level cabinet position
But don't you see? He's doing something! He's taking
action! He's moving forward! He's exploring creative solutions!
He's...
Aw Christ, I can't even mock it without vomiting. Win!
On a positive note, I now have a new cache of dead-baby jokes
thanks to SugarFree's Epic Threads.
Xeones|1.7.09 @ 2:02PM|#
Second, that is Colin Powell.
Actually, if you click on the
picture, the man in the background turns out to be Chairman of
the Louisiana Recovery Authority Dr. Norman Francis, the soup is
gumbo, and the setting is a New Orleans restaurant called... Dooky
Chase. Reality, then, is almost as funny as conjecture. No mention
is made of the terrible painting.
|1.7.09 @ 2:15PM|#
Okay, that is gumbo, on closer inspection. I didn't know that
Colin Powell owned a New Orleans-style restaurant. That's great
food.
The key to understanding Obama and the tenor of his administration
is this: What's in the gumbo? If it's a shrimp gumbo, that
indicates weak character and lack of resolve. If it's crawdad, then
he's got character but will be cursed by bad luck. Only if it's a
true seafood gumbo (mixed with Gulf shellfish and fish but
including at least oysters and redfish) will he have a successful
term in office.
What does he use to thicken the gumbo? Filé or okra? If he uses
both, he's a damned fool. And if the roux is not dark, then he's
incompetent as well.
|1.7.09 @ 2:19PM|#
Okra is the reason I know that there is no God.
Or only, at best, an idiot Demiurge.
|1.7.09 @ 2:26PM|#
I grew up hearing my mother tell me that I loved fried okra. I'd
say, "No, I don't", then she'd come back a few months later and
insist on my okra love again. She did the same thing with fried
liver. I bet she tells her friends today about me loving fried okra
and liver as a meal. I get my revenge by constantly referring to
Oprah Winfrey as Okra Winfrey.
Along similar lines, to this day, my younger brother gets a little
annoyed when I remind him about Mom giving him a German chocolate
cake for his birthday, telling him that she made sure to get his
favorite. Wrong! That would be the other boy's favorite. I
laughed and laughed and laughed that day, let me tell you. And ate
lots of cake. It's good to be the first born.
I'm okay with okra in gumbo, but I prefer the filé option.
|1.7.09 @ 2:35PM|#
filé > okra
Strangely, I like pickled orka and no other form. Pickling almost
completely breaks down the mucilaginous interior hideousness.
Nice on the cake trick.
|1.7.09 @ 2:46PM|#
I like the think that my mother's error was due to some sort of insidious and criminally subtle maneuvering on my part. Not that I'd do that to my brother now--I'd jump on an H-bomb for him today. Go figure.
Other Matt|1.7.09 @ 3:30PM|#
Not that I'd do that to my brother now--I'd jump on an
H-bomb for him today. Go figure.
Getting older does have that effect, I've noticed myself. 'cept
towards my youngest alcoholic brother that gets drunk and goes on
obnoxious rants, age doesn't seem to fix that.
|1.7.09 @ 3:32PM|#
My brother's worthy of me being turned into some sort of mutant superhero from a nuclear blast.
|1.7.09 @ 3:39PM|#
Query for the Obama fans: If Obama found the One Ring, would he
attempt to wield it or to destroy it?
I'm not a fan, but I vote wield it.
Other Matt|1.7.09 @ 4:09PM|#
Oh, he'd wield it. Are you kidding?
Agreed, but I'm not an Obama fan so I'm not the target group.
cunnivore|1.7.09 @ 4:32PM|#
First, the greatest Hit & Run photo ever was, of course,
the Lobster Girl.
Sorry, I disagree. While I definitely appreciate photos of
top-heavy scantily clad women striking romantic poses with dead
invertebrates, every time I look at that Santorum family picture I
find something new to laugh at. We need some sort of playoff
system.
|1.7.09 @ 4:36PM|#
cunnivore,
Lobster Girl is part of our culture; Santorum girl is part of our
history. Big difference.
|1.7.09 @ 5:10PM|#
We'll Bust
Up Al Qaeda Just Like We Busted Up AT&T absolutely must be
included in the Classic H&R Threads coffee table book.
"Big terror" needs competition.
|1.7.09 @ 5:56PM|#
J sub D,
Even without rereading that thread, I hasten to agree with
you--that's definitely one of my very favorites. Big Terror,
indeed.
|1.7.09 @ 7:26PM|#
You guys make it far too easy to procrastinate ;)
Too bad calculus homework and wine thirty don't mix.
"Pah, rum! I never mix my pies!"
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245