It's a Clash of the Old and New World Thing

Dear America,

It's what happens when pro-choice and pro-life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness meet, the Marco Rubio way --  (allow me to explain, using his own words):

Let me close by saying this. For many of us who were born and raised in this country, including me, it's sometimes easy -- sometimes easy to forget how special America really is. But I was raised by exiles, by people who know what it is like to lose their country, by people who have a unique perspective on why elections matter, or lack thereof, by people who clearly understand how different America is from the rest of the world. And they've taught me this my whole life.

And they taught me, by word and by deed, that what makes America great is not that we have more rich people than anybody else. What makes America great is that there are dreams that are impossible everywhere else but are possible here. And why is that? It's because of the choices that people that came before us made.

Almost every other country in the world chose to have the government run the economy. They chose to allow government to decide which companies survive and fail. They chose to allow government to determine which industries are to be rewarded. But the problem is that when government controls the economy, those who can influence government keep winning, and everybody else just stays the same. And so in those countries, the employee never becomes the employer, the small business can never compete with a big business, and no matter how hard your parents work or how many sacrifices they make, if you weren't born into the right family in those countries, there's only so far you can go.

Now, we've had our excesses here in America, but for the better part of 234 years, Americans have chosen something very different, Americans chose individual liberty instead of the false security of government. Americans chose a limited government that exists to protect our rights, not to grant them.

 Americans chose a free enterprise system designed to provide a quality of opportunity, not compel a quality of results. And that is why this is the only place in the world where you can open up a business in the spare bedroom of your home.

That is why this is the only place in the world where a company that started as an idea drawn out on the back of a cocktail napkin can one day be publicly traded on Wall Street. That's why this is the only country in the world where today's employee is tomorrow's employer. And yet, there are still people in American politics who, for some reason, cling to this belief that America is better off adopting the economic policies of nations whose people who immigrate here from there.  

skipping over a wee bit...

 The final verdict on our generation will be written by Americans who haven't even been born yet. Let us make sure they write that we made the right choice, that in the early years of this century, faced with troubling and uncertain times, there were those who believed that the great American story had run its course. But we did not agree. Fear did not lead us to abandon our liberty. Uncertainty did not lead us to abandon the entrepreneurial spirit. We fought for and held on to those things that made us exceptional. And because we did, there was still one place in the world where the individual was more important than the state. Because we did, there was still at least one place in the world where who you come from does not determine where you get to go.

For the full transcript, go here.

Looking back, America has made poor choices  -- one, by electing Barack Obama, and two, re-electing Barack Obama.

But let's get one thing straight:   America was bamboozled.

Conservative media and popular websites are currently affixed upon a campaign video dating back to Obama's first campaign;  the Fraud-in-Chief was so convincing, and so affirmative in his disgust, way back when...


"The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up the national debt from 5 trillion for the first 42 presidents — number 43 added 4 trillion dollars by his lonesome, so that we now have 9 trillion dollars of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic."


And even as a Senator, Obama was pontificating about the recklessness of such a path.  This is from MARCH 2006   (and while I would love to tell you I found it all by myself, I didn't -- my papa passed this little gem off to me in an email weeks ago....it was just waiting for the right moment in time to present itself, taking notes from a master and commander.  xoxoMDC)  so here you go:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.  It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills.  It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.  Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.  Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.'  Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.  Americans deserve better."

He said, "America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership."

And then,  as if all that isn't enough to question our choices, here is our president -- just yesterday -- talking to George Stephanopoulos:

"Well- I understand.
Which is why, at some point, I think I take myself out of this. Right now, what I'm trying to do is create an atmosphere where Democrats and Republicans can go ahead, get together, and try to get something done. And, y- you know- I think what's important to recognize is that- we've already cut- $2.5- $2.7 trillion out of the deficit. If the sequester stays in, you've got over $3.5 trillion of deficit reduction already.
Um, say what?   First, what you just said is a lie; you have not shown ANY REAL CUTS in the deficit, and you won't, until real numbers prove it.  But second, what is this :   "If the sequester stays in, you've got over $3.5 trillion of deficit reduction already." 

Um, but whatever, let's keep going...What do you mean, Mr. President?  Have you lost  your mind, I mean, the urge to put the fear of God into all Americans over the sequester cuts, as if NOW, at least on this day, for this audience, you consider these cuts to be a good thing and a complete benefit to you, and maybe all of America?  How can you sit there and count them 'in' when every day for the last two weeks you have demagogued the GOP for letting them happen?

And, so, we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. WHAT?  

In fact, for the next ten years, it's gonna be in a sustainable place. WHAT THE...??  

The question is, can we do it smarter, can we do it better? And- you know, what I'm saying to them is I am prepared to do some tough stuff. BUT YOU'RE NOT prepared to do the tough stuff...you just said "at some point" you will take yourself out of this...(see preceding remarks, you can't miss it)    Neither side's gonna get 100%. That's what the American people are lookin' for. That's what's gonna be good for jobs. That's what's gonna be good for growth."

Oh, and here's a good one:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And he said he's challenging you to come forward with a budget that also reaches balance. Are you gonna do that?

 

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: No.

...And then goes into cutting Paul Ryan's balanced budget to pieces... just go to read it here.

But then George picks it up right back up again (hardcore journalism at it's best):

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Balanced by any point?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: -that he's put before. No. I think that there is a possibility. Look, balancing the budget in part depends on how fast you grow. You remember- you were in the Clinton administration. The reason that you guys balanced it was a combination of some tax hikes, some spending cuts, and the economy grew.

 

And, so- you know, my goal is not to chase- a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. My goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that we're gonna be bringin' in more revenue. If we've controlled spending and we've got a smart entitlement package, then potentially what you have is balance. But it's not balance on the backs of, you know, the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families who've got disabled kids. That's not the right way to balance-

...Yeah, what's the fun in chasing a balanced budget for the sake of balance....fiscal solvency, a decent credit rating, and presenting a solid economic footing to create the very conditions for a prosperous future for our children and grand children?

But let's not quibble over fives and dimes, right.

How about this line?

"And, so, we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt."
Oh, okay.

In 2006, we apparently had an immediate crisis in terms of debt, "shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren" and everything.

In 2008, we apparently had an immediate crisis in terms of debt, and called such recklessness "irresponsible" and "unpatriotic."

In 2009, adding one more quote for good measure -- the president actually said this:

"I refuse to leave our children with a debt they cannot repay," he said in remarks opening the one-day summit at the White House. "We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end. ... We cannot simply spend as we please."

Of course, in 2009, he was just kicking in the propaganda stream to get his Obamacare into legislation, to become law.  His selling point then -- pledging to cut the 1.3 Trillion dollar deficit IN HALF! before the end of his FIRST term.   As the CNN post explains, "[Obama] identified exploding health-care costs as the chief culprit behind rising federal deficits..."

[But then! went on to create a brand new entitlement program -- one that is set to cripple the health care industry for life; one that forces the very essence and principles of the FREE MARKET to become fully extinguished by virtue of big government and the nanny state; all the while, stealing 710 BILLION dollars from Medicare to fund it and having the CBO re-calculate its total costs and finding out it will cost taxpayers three times as much -- at 2.7 TRILLION dollars!   For the full story, go here.]   ...reminding all of us to beware of fine print...and just maybe we should all beware the Ides of March...just sayin'

Today, we are still running  1.3 trillion dollar deficits; and instead of cutting the deficit in half, instead of adding 4 trillion dollars to our national debt over eight years (or 2 trillion in four), as his predecessor, OBAMA added SIX TRILLION in debt over his first four years (and is currently running on a trajectory to 22 trillion before he finishes his second term).

I guess we could say it's whole new world for President Obama in today's context.   Or, perhaps in the old world --  of 2006, 2008, 2009 -- he was just being a wee bit disingenuous with all of us (just a nice way to say, he fibbed and bamboozled his way into office and through the power of free choice, and American liberty, he got to stay there for four more years).

But make no mistake:   We chose a fraud and a liar in 2008; and no surprise, surprise, once again in 2012.  

2016 awaits, but at this point, it surely can't come fast enough.

The thing is, we don't necessarily have to be led by a tyrant to experience tyranny;  while  history proves time and time again, ideology masquerading as progressive never equates to real progress.

So let's go back to something Rubio said:

"We fought for and held on to those things that made us exceptional. And because we did, there was still one place in the world where the individual was more important than the state. Because we did, there was still at least one place in the world where who you come from does not determine where you get to go."

And "it's all because of the choices that people that came before us made."

amen, Marco, amen.


Make it a GOOD Day, G

Epi-blogue

 

Speaking of progress --  reading headlines over the last couple of days makes me wonder what century we have dropped into:  Introducing Francis,  the first pope from the "New World."   wow.  Does the queen know about it yet?

And this one...leftover from yesterday, or the day before...believe it to be a combination of the pony express having sequester delays and me toiling in the back forty collecting beans, so forgive me if it's old news to you:  "Obama couldn't eat at Hill meeting without food taster."  alrighty then,  henry the eighth I am, I am.   If every Senator in the room was eating the lobster salad with blueberry pie  -- me thinks it was okay.  But what's with that, anyway?  LOBSTER?   The White House cancels WHITE HOUSE tours, cuts military tuition assistance (see here)  and all things that instantly make our skin crawl with disdain on just the pettiness factor alone, but LOBSTER?    Catered lunches, dinner's out, fresh flowers, private jets, should all be slashed -- at least in half, before the end of the day.

And yet NO WHITE HOUSE STAFF has been adversely affected by the sequester, as yet.  Can you just imagine having a 711 MILLION dollar annual budget for your company?  Think about it.  Dream about it until I see you again...

 I can't wait to talk about our new pope!