Those Lying Dogs

Tonight, I watched the press conference by Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and Chuck Schumer.  It was an absolute disgrace.  If that conference had lasted another minute, I would have thrown something large at the television.  While I don't have the exact quotations, here is the gist of what I heard:

• We have come up with a bipartisan compromise plan in the Senate, and all we're asking for is an up or down vote on that plan.
• We've tried to work with the Republicans, but Senator McConnell refused to participate.
• We heard all day that Majority Leader Boehner was going to pass a bipartisan plan that we could support.  We waited all day, and then he sent over a partisan bill that we can't support.
• The Republicans can only say no.
• The Tea Party extremists are running the Republican Party.  They are preventing the compromise needed to pass a bill.

I think my head might well explode tonight.  How can you complain about what the Republicans have done?  They are serious and committed to doing what is needed to solve the problems.  Some have voted for nothing because everything so far is against their principles.  They don't believe any of these bills cut enough from the budget.  These Republicans are ready to change the accepted practices in Washington that have gotten us into this MessAPolitico.  Many refuse to vote for anything short of a bill that forces a balanced budget bill.

Somehow this lack of political acumen is what is most appealing about the Republicans, especially the freshmen.  They're still principled.  They don't figure out what will play well in the press.  They don't support things they know will be bad for the country, even if they can use it against their opponent in the election.  They remember why the people voted for them and the job they were hired to do.

A lot of folks thought that John Boehner and the Republicans would cave before this week was over.  I have to admit that I was a little worried myself.  I thought they would be worried about being strapped with the disaster, whatever it turns out to be on August 2nd.  The Democrats have certainly tried to sit back and do nothing, avoid a difficult vote on a real reform bill, and blame the Republicans.  Only a consummate politician would have the kahonies to even try that.  But something amazing has happened over the past few days.  Even with the gloom and doom, demagoguery, and fear mongering of the Democrats and their minions in the main stream media, Americans actually have remained resolute.  They want changes, NOW.  They aren't buying the lies anymore.  Americans would rather wait and see what happens on Tuesday than accept another compromise.

Hang in there America.  It's a pretty sure bet that this Tuesday the sun will come up in the east and set in the west.  It'll happen again on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and . . . .      Do we really believe anything Obama says?  In 2008, in August or September not long before the upcoming election, Obama used exactly this tactic to change the discussions in his favor.  If you recall, the McCain/Palin ticket was making some gains in the polls, primarily because the price of gasoline was getting really high.  McCain and Palin were talking about drilling for oil to increase the supply and keep gasoline prices in check.  All of a sudden, Barack Obama told us there was a big crisis in the housing market because so many mortgages were heavily leveraged placing the lending institutions in a crisis that needed to averted.  We can't stop the flow of credit in the economy because we would be in a depression.  He talked our economy into a deep recession.  Then Senator Obama was able to get a big-time spending bill passed to save the day.  He did such a good job of it, Obama was able to get lots of money to spend on rewarding his political cronies and turned our country into the United Socialist States of America.  Then he hung the problem around the necks of the Republicans like an anchor, even though that practice of making loans on houses to unqualified borrowers with nothing down was started by Jimmy Carter and encouraged and greatly expanded by Bill Clinton.

Now, once again Barack Obama is trying this tactic.  Tell everyone the sky will fall on Tuesday, August 2nd.  Then tell us the Republicans won't compromise and pass a "reasonable" bill, and the blame is once again placed on them, right???  Wait a minute.  The people aren't buying it.  They know that this problem will only get worse if we wait to fix it.  The public isn't yelling at the Republicans and demanding the compromise.  Quite the opposite.  They are demanding that the Republicans hold their ground.  I love it.

Don't blink Republicans.  Hold your ground.  End this MessAPolitico NOW.

A Complex MessAPolitico

Do the politicians know the eventual outcome of the Debt Ceiling Crisis?  Maybe.  Should the Tea Party take what they have gained and live to fight another day?  Hmm . . .  At the beginning of this standoff, the Democrats were demanding a tax increase; now that's essentially off the table.  It's true that the only bills with a snowflake's chance don't even have real cuts.  The fundamental problems with our federal spending aren't even addressed.  The only bill that would satisfy the Tea Party and a majority of Americans is Cut, Cap, and Balance.  Harry Reid won't even let the Senate vote on that one.  He doesn't want any of the Democrats to have to explain their vote against a balanced budget.  Of course, everyone says that the president would veto it anyway, so what's the point of voting on it.

Well there is a point.  Let's make the Democrats in the Senate go on record voting against something that their constituents want.  If some of them do vote for it, the president will be forced to veto a bill that is supported by so many people.  Either a bunch of Senate Democrats get a black eye or some Senate Democrats and the president get a black eye.

At this point, House Majority Leader John Boehner should say to the world that the last plan has been voted on in the House.  They sent over Cut, Cap, & Balance, and the ball's in their court.  He should also announce that Harry Reid's and any other plan -- gang of six or whatever -- from the Senate is DEAD ON ARRIVAL in the House.  The Republicans may only be in control of 1/3rd of the process that creates the bills, but that 1/3rd has the ability to stop everything.  The shoe needs to be shifted to the other foot.  The reality is that the Democrats have been given an opportunity to end this whole MessAPolitico, but they refused.  Amazingly, the Democrats have managed to do absolutely nothing but say no, no, no, and somehow the impression in the country and the position brought forth in the media is that the Republicans are holding up the works.

The Senate has been sent two bills already -- Cut, Cap, & Balance and the Paul Ryan plan.  They had a chance to take Cut, Cap, and Balance and either pass it or adjust it and send it back to the House.  Instead, for purely political reasons, it never even came up for a vote.  Harry Reid did this so that his people, who painted themselves into a corner, don't have to make the tough choice.  Do they protect their liberal base that likes big spending government programs, or do they vote against the majority of Americans that want Cut, Cap, & Balance and ultimately want a Balance Budget Amendment?  We have to force that choice to be made, because the Democrats lose either way.

I don't think it's too late.  REPUBLICANS PLEASE STOP NOW!  Don't bring up or vote on any other plans.  The Democrats are in a MessAPolitico right now, and the Republicans don't seem to know it.  Make it their fault Republicans.  By the way, it is their fault.  Stop trying so hard and getting slapped around for your trouble.

Politics is a messy business.  In fact, it's a MessAPolitico!

What a MessAPolitico

Boy, do we ever have a MessAPolitico going on in Washington this week.  Everybody is finger-pointing, saying the problem is somebody else's fault.  They can't agree on one of the several plans being floated about by the House and the Senate.  The president says he won't sign any plan without a "balanced approach" that includes taxes on the people making over $250,000/year.  In the primetime speech on July 25, President Obama said this:  "What we're talking about under a balanced approach is asking Americans whose incomes have gone up the most over the last decade – millionaires and billionaires – to share in the sacrifice everyone else has to make."  Wow, that sounds fair.  In tax year 2008, the returns in the top 1% of adjusted gross income, $380,354 and above, paid 38.02% of the personal income taxes.  That's really not fair, is it?  These folks pay 38.02 times their fair share, but it's not enough to satisfy the big spenders in Washington.

Now when we look at these plans to "cut" spending by the federal government, only the so-called Cap, Cut, & Balance bill did anything reliably effective.  But that one will never see the light of day, because the senate majority leader won't even bring it up for a vote.  After all, that solution came from the other party, and we wouldn't want to pass something that works and allow them to take the credit.

The other plans out there are ripe for accounting gimmicks and fake cuts that don't really materialize.  Or maybe they are listing budget cuts that were already planned.  Of course, the most annoying and infuriating thing is the budgeting method that only Washington politicians could devise.  They build in inflationary increases to the budget automatically every year.  That runs about a 7% increase per year.  If they come up with a budget that makes the increase only 6% larger next year, then that's considered a cut in Washington speak.  Imagine that, a budget that has a cut, but still gets larger.

Enough already!

Everyone is all worked up about expanding the debt ceiling because we're spending more than we take in, and our credit limit has been reached.  The president and the treasury secretary have called the credit card company and asked for an increase in the credit limit.  Finally congress (i.e. the credit card company) has said, whoa, wait a minute folks.  We're not going to raise the limit unless you slow down the spending.  BUT THEY'RE STILL NOT PRODUCING PLANS THAT BALANCE THE BUDGET!

Let's make this simple.  And it really is simple.  Each month the government collects a certain amount of tax dollars.  Then they pay out dollars for bills, bond interest, government worker salaries, etc.  For the first nine months of fiscal year 2011 (October - June), the following deficit has occurred:
    Receipts                   $1,734,033 million
    Outlays                   -$2,704,557 million
    Surplus/Deficit         -$970,524 million

That works out to a deficit of $107,836,000,000 per month.  Thats a lot of money, and the bleeding must stop as soon as possible.

Why doesn't congress divide this monthly deficit by 5 ($107,836,000,000 / 5 = $21,567,000,000)?  Then they could drop the expenditures by this much starting in September and continue subtracting an additional $21.567 billion each month for six months altogether.  By the sixth month, the government would run a surplus of over $21 billion.

In months 1 and 2, the cuts would be pretty easy.  There are definitely programs in our government that don't deliver value anywhere close to the cost.  There are programs that just flat aren't vitally important to our country.  These can be cut up front in a hurry.

When we get to months 4, 5, and 6, the cuts are getting serious.  The discretionary spending is only about 1/3rd of the total budget.  This is talking about cutting out almost 36% from the budget, and discretionary spending can't completely disappear.  That means congress must go back and re-write laws that set so many of the most expensive programs on "auto-pilot."  They can't wait until halfway through month 6 and start discussing (that's Washington speak for arguing) what gets cut.

I'm confident that 36% can be cut from the budget and nobody will even notice the difference, except those bureaucrats that lose their jobs.  All government programs have plenty of waste.  Knock it out, and keep the substance.  Can the government really cut out waste???  I don't believe they can, because government is definitely a MessAPolitico.  The smart politicians are going to privatize everything that can't be just flat eliminated.

Hey congress!  It's time to get started.  MR. CONGRESSMAN, TEAR DOWN THIS MessAPolitico!

Out Of Control Debt

We've heard a lot about out of control spending, especially over the past couple of years. The Republicans say it is 100% because of the spending of the Democratically run congress and the presidency. The Democrats counter that the rich people don't pay enough taxes. They believe that everyone has the right to certain things like food, housing, and medical care and that we are a rich enough country to let the more "fortunate" among us pay the bill for the poor. The conservative politicians out there tend to appeal to our left brain by talking hard numbers and statistics that show that we can't afford all of the government programs touted by the left. The left then counters with a "touchy, feely" right brain response that is wrought with emotion. A good liberal might say "the Republicans don't care if your poor old grandmother starves to death, as long as they can get a tax break for their rich CEO's."

Being a conservative, I would like to take a look at the budget numbers. Here's a little information to feed your left brain:

	Billions of Dollars
Fiscal Year	Receipts	Outlays	Surplus
2007	$2,568.0	$2,728.7	($160.7)
2008	$2,524.0	$2,982.6	($458.6)
2009	$2,105.0	$3,517.7	($1,412.7)
2010 est	$2,165.1	$3,720.7	($1,555.6)
2007-2008	$5,092.0	$5,711.3	($619.3)
2009-2010	$4,270.1	$7,238.4	($2,968.3)
Difference	($821.9)	$1,527.1	($2,349.0)
Source:  The 2011 Statistical Abstract of the United States

At the bottom of this chart, I have compared the tax revenues and expenditures during the last two years of the George W. Bush administration to the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency.  It is easily seen that there was a marked increase in spending of over $1.5 trillion under Barack Obama.  However, this doesn't tell the whole story.  There was also a reduction in revenues of more than $820 billion in the past two years.

What's going on here?  Revenues come from personal and corporate income taxes.  Of course, corporate income taxes are charged against profits.  If profits are reduced or a company takes a loss, they pay less taxes or none at all.  Personal income taxes are paid on salary, wages, dividends and capital gains.  If you are unemployed, you pay no taxes.  If your employer asks you to take unpaid leave of absence or take a pay cut, you pay less taxes.  If the company where you own stock has no earnings, you are unlikely to receive a dividend and pay tax on it.  With the stock market "in the tank," it is difficult to sell shares of your stock at a capital gain.

Now what about the extra expenditures of late?  The government has certainly paid out more unemployment compensation.  If your insurance was lost along with your job, you might need Medicaid if you have an illness or injury.  Then there were the bailouts and financial support payments that were supposed to lessen the blow to the US economy, keep people employed, and prevent a recession.  I've lost track of all that money that was either allocated or actually spent -- over a trillion dollars.

What happened to all that money???  Was it actually all spent or just set aside in some sort of an ineffective slush fund?  Did it lessen the blow?  Were any jobs actually saved?  Would there have been a recession without these huge expenditures?  Who knows -- it's impossible to prove one way or the other.  According to the blog at the Weekly Standard, the numbers coming from the white house show "the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion."  Wow, that was $277,500 per job saved.  Why didn't we just give these folks a pay check for $50,000 each and save the taxpayers almost $550 billion?

The past two years have been the typical MessAPolitico that almost always happens when government does anything.  The actions have done almost nothing -- at least you can't prove to me that the economy is better than it would have been without the so called "stimulus."  The inefficient government spends too much doing the nothing.

The only way to fix the deficit is to get people working again and get corporate America profitable again.  That will not only take care of the revenue side of the equation, but we won't need stimulus anymore.  All those personal support payments that help the unemployed get by would be eliminated by an improving employment picture.

Of course, that only gets us back down to smaller deficits in the hundreds of billions annually.  We still need to take drastic steps to eliminate waste and unnecessary government programs.  Just getting down to a balanced budget doesn't get rid of the national debt.  We would need to run a surplus of $500 billion for 28 years to get rid of the debt already accumulated!  And that's what the goverment MUST do to get us out of this MessAPolitico.

Introduction

Welcome to the introduction of MessAPolitico!

For as long as I can remember, I have thought that our United States government does a poor job of operating anything.  That's not to say that I don't think it's the best government on Earth; there is none better.  However, private business is much more efficient and effective than any organization run by government.

Businesses are driven to efficiency by profit.  Provide a higher quality of product or service, and your customers will pay more for it.  Eliminate waste, and the costs of providing a service will go down.  Different businesses that compete for the consumer dollar often provide similar products with different bundles of features and service so that they are positioned differently in the eyes of the consumer.  They appeal to different groups (target market segments).  The result is a marketplace with many different choices at various prices, allowing individuals to get the features and benefits they want at an affordable price.  A business that can't deliver enough value to the consumer at a cost allowing acceptable profits simply goes out of business or reorganizes.

By contrast, the government tries to write a rigid and detailed set of rules (laws) that govern the operation of any government entity.  There is no reason to strive for efficiency, because no one profits from it.  The products or services offered are "one size fits all," and the employees don't treat the constituents like customers.  Do you have any choice about where you purchase your license plates for the car?  Can you take your kids to another school that is paid for with your tax dollars?

Until recently, the growing national debt was something undesirable, but there didn't seem to be anything that could really stop it.  Although it was growing, the rate of growth was relatively slow, and the danger seemed to be far off into the future.  Now the growth of national debt has taken off exponentially, and the liberals in congress and the white house can't seem to find any spending in the federal government that we can do without.  Even the conservatives seem to be afraid of taking the drastic actions needed to turn this mess around.  However the recently elected Tea Party candidates "get it."  They know that the large majority of Americans will support cuts in government programs.

My personal belief is that the cuts in the federal government should be done with a double-bit axe.  It's too late to trim with a scalpel or a steak knife.  Huge chunks of government must be completely eliminated.  Government is so inept at running anything, it should run almost nothing.  In fact, government should be limited to only those things that must absolutely be done only by government.  Anything else should be privatized.  Whole departments must shut down, just the way businesses do it when the economy takes a down-turn.

In this blog, I plan to analyze where we spend government dollars.  This will be done using a business approach to decide what can be cut.  I'm betting that we can run a budget surplus, pay down the debt, and receive better services all at the same time.  The only thing that can stop this is the MessAPolitico that we have in Washington today.  Please join me in this journey to find the answer and convince the politicians to implement it.