Good Press Conference on Friday

President Finally is Hitting All the Right Notes

by Maxwell Johnson

I thought that the President did a good job on the press conference regarding the debt limit on Friday July 15, 2011. I thought that he finally hit all the issues and the hypocrisy of the other side. He seems to be stressing the issues that brought us to this point, and a history of the votes on raising the debt ceiling in the past. Stressed that the rich are going to have to pay a little more. President Obama talked about the proposal that he put forward.

"The least I can do is to say that people who are making a million dollars or more have to do something as well. And that’s the kind of tradeoff, that’s the kind of balanced approach and shared sacrifice that I think most Americans agree needs to happen," said Obama.

Obama criticized the House resolution that does not close tax loopholes, "But if you’re trying to get to $2.4 trillion without any revenue, then you are effectively gutting a whole bunch of domestic spending that is going to be too burdensome and is not going to be something that I would support. "

"So I have not seen a credible plan -- having gone through the numbers -- that would allow you to get to $2.4 trillion without really hurting ordinary folks."

"Chuck, you have 80 percent of the American people who support a balanced approach. Eighty percent of the American people support an approach that includes revenues and includes cuts. So the notion that somehow the American people aren’t sold is not the problem. The problem is members of Congress are dug in ideologically into various positions because they boxed themselves in with previous statements," said Obama.

"We don’t need more studies. We don’t need a balanced budget amendment. We simply need to make these tough choices and be willing to take on our bases."

These are all good points. The one missing point that the President was unwilling to further muddy the waters, and that was the debt was caused by the Congress. They decided not to pay for two wars. They decided to not fund a prescription drug benefit and the "No Child Left Behind" bill. Most of the current Congressional leadership were on a drunken spending spree for the last 10 years, and now they have found religion. They have to violate their Grover Norquist doctrine or bankrupt the Medicaid, space program, education department, and Department of Interior.

Now You Have to Govern

by Max Johnson

We have seen these swings for the past 25 years at the federal level, so we can weather the changes in the House of Representatives. In addition, there is this internal war going on within the Corporate party which will eventually lead to a Day of Reckoning. I mean these tea baggers will wake up and realize that their partners in bed were the very people who ran up the deficit. They will realize that Dan Coats was a lobbyist and long time Congressman who brought the pork to Indiana. They will realize that Marco Rubio and Rick Scott in Florida are businessman who are more interested in enriching themselves and improving the business climate than being a populist. They will see that the amount of discretionary funding available to cut is so small that it is meaningless. The Corporate Party will have to cut defense, transportation, education, social security, and Medicaid (all popular programs) to make any impact on debt. When this day of realization comes will be interesting to stand back and watch the feud.

I have to wonder if the corporations of America held off hiring until after the election to make sure that they would have a favorable election. There is nothing comparable to motivating people to vote for the party out of power like unemployment. It certainly would be a good strategy to reverse the Obama gains to keep the economy sluggish. I just have to wonder.

Where we have to worry is state government and especially Ohio. Kasich of Ohio, Perry from Texas, Scott in Florida, Brewer in Arizona, and many others are facing huge budget deficits and have made pledges that they will not raise taxes. There is no way to cut enough out of the budgets to get a balanced budget. Even if the economic climate improved today that would not raise enough dollars to balance the budget with additional income tax in the next year. So, what is left? The only choice left is to sell off public assets. They will have to sell public parks, roads, and maybe even schools, parking meters, and public utilities. Anyone want to buy Interstate 70 or 71 for $8 billion? We are not going to have a train, so in order to get to Columbus we will have to pay a toll. We will have to pay for a quality elementary charter school, and the poor kids will go to the crappy public schools. There is nothing else to do when these right wingers have painted themselves into a corner. The entire state except Cuyahoga County is now red, and they break it, they buy it.

The Song Remains The Same

When is someone going to Challenge These Jokers?
by Max Johnson

Representative Tom Price of Georgia appeared on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon on September 11 to lay out the game plan for the November election for Republicans. I do not understand why the media never challenges these guys. This is the Contract with America all dressed up for the 2010s. Here are the three things that Price said was the winning ticket for Republicans:

1. Decrease spending in the federal government to provide some stability.
2. No increases on taxes on anyone. (EVEN BILLIONAIRES???)
   
3. Provide an incentive to job creators.

Price stressed repeatedly that he did not want to "punish job creators." Let's go back to the source. Here are a few of the relevant passages from the Contract with America:

1. THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: A balanced budget/tax limitation amendment and a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses.

5. THE AMERICAN DREAM RESTORATION ACT: A $500 per child tax credit, begin repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and creation of American Dream Savings Accounts to provide middle class tax relief.

8.THE JOB CREATION AND WAGE ENHANCEMENT ACT: Small business incentives, capital gains cut and indexation, neutral cost recovery, risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis, strengthening the Regulatory Flexibility Act and unfunded mandate reform to create jobs and raise worker wages.

Why couldn't Simon ask these questions of Price as he was spouting the party line:

1. Which specific programs do you want to cut in the federal budget?
2. Why did you not make the Bush tax cut permanent when you had all the power?
3. At what point in our history are Republicans going to call for tax increases? I mean if the thinking is do not raise taxes after just coming out of a recession then why was it the same policy in 2004 or even 1998 when we had record surpluses?
4. When do Republicans propose to fix our infrastructure, solve homelessness, get everyone in America healthcare, reduce poverty, expand access to higher education?
5. In light of financial trickery on Wall Street that led to the collapse, the poor response to Katrina by government, the food scares that caused huge egg recall, and the inability to protect the gulf coast against the oil spill, do you think that we should expand government's oversight role and provide more dollars for regulations?
6. If you support the troops, how do you intend to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without tax increases?
7. On a related issue, how do you intend to pay for the veterans suffering traumatic brain injuries in the next 30 years without a tax increase? If you truly care about our troops and this is not just a slogan for you then you would propose a way to make sure that our veterans receive the best possible care when they come back injured fighting the wars that you sent them to fight.
8. There were 18 specific pieces of legislation proposed in the Contract with America, and three were passed. The last few Congresses of the Bush Administration were called "Do nothing Congresses." So, what can you point to from the last 20 years that Republicans have done while in power that would give taxpayers confidence that they could trust you with the keys to the economy and democracy?
9. If your upcoming election strategy is "don't punish the job creators," are you going to apologize to America for denigrating the automobile bailout, which has saved millions of jobs in America?
10. Isn't the easiest way for government to generate more jobs is to create more government jobs? So, why not support a massive state budget bailout to prevent massive numbers of layoff and some expansion for mine safety, food safety, and thinning the forests to prevent forest fires in the West?

The media has to stop letting these guys off easy. In an attempt to seem balanced, they let stupidity pass. If an elected official says something stupid like "don't punish the job creators," they have to challenge them. No one is ever asked to prove it or told to stop spouting slogans. Politicians are allowed to say outlandish things like increasing taxes to the level they were in 1998 on rich people will hurt job creation, and the media isn't forcing them to prove it. The Republican party is no longer about leadership, but has become the party of slogans. "We will reduce your taxes" is not a strategy to govern.