Author Topic: Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending  (Read 397 times)

dario73

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Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending
« on: March 30, 2011, 05:51:13 AM »
Republicans Thankful for Sen. Schumer's Faux Pax
by Kimberly Schwandt | March 29, 2011
 
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he was thankful after Sen. Charles Schumer accidentally spoke before a recorded conference call started.

"Chuck Schumer did us a favor. He exposed their tactic. He's telling his members to deem any spending cut as unreasonable. I don't see how we can do anything if they're not set serious." Cantor said.

Schumer had scheduled a conference call with reporters, but apparently didn't realize journalists were already on and started giving off pointers on how to talk to reporters about the budget process.

Like many other news outlets, Fox News was rolling on the conference call ahead of time and caught the Schumer misstep.

He expressed appreciation for lawmakers getting on the call and then lashed into Republicans and told fellow Democrats that they should frame the GOP view as "extreme" and associated with the Tea Party.

" always use the word extreme, that's what the caucus instructed me to do the other week, extreme cuts and all these riders, and [House Speaker] Boehner's in a box. But if he supports the Tea Party there's going to inevitably [be] a shutdown," Schumer could be heard saying.

At this point the line goes silent and reporters can be heard asking what happened and others remarking that they were listening to something that was not meant for them.

The call did finally go on as planned and the word "extreme" was eventually used. Democratic Sens. Boxer, Cardin, Carper and Blumenthal weighed in on the issue, stressing the urgency of the matter and that both sides will have to compromise.

Lawmakers are embroiled in a tough showdown over the budget, and facing another Continuing Resolution that will keep the government funded for a short amount of time or face a shutdown.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, also referenced the call in a news conference saying that while Schumer is framing the conversation, they've actually been doing leg work on the issue.


http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/03/29/republicans-thankful-sen-schumers-faux-pax?test=latestnews#

Soul Crusher

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Re: Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2011, 05:52:56 AM »
With far left madoffs like schumer - its no wonder we are in the fiscal mess we are.

dario73

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Re: Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2011, 05:53:43 AM »
What's up with Democrats, microphones and recorded calls? So many times they are caught saying something they thought was said in private.

whork25

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Re: Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2011, 06:24:03 AM »
 schumer = Retard

George Whorewell

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Re: Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2011, 06:50:21 AM »
Dario you beat me to the punch. I was going to post this article today. I'll let it slide this time. But your on notice.

Soul Crusher

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Re: Proof that Democrats are not serious about cutting spending
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2011, 05:29:25 AM »
March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue
Monday, April 04, 2011
By Terence P. Jeffrey

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/march-madness-feds-spent-more-eight-time






Erskine Bowles, co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsbility with his co-chair former Sen. Alan Simpson (R.-Wyo.) (AP photo/Alex Brandon)

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Treasury has released a final statement for the month of March that demonstrates that financial madness has gripped the federal government.

During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.

At the same time, the Treasury paid out a total of $1.1187 trillion. When the $65.898 billion in tax refunds is deducted from that, the Treasury paid a net of $1.0528 trillion in federal expenses for March.


That $1.0528 trillion in spending for March equaled 8.2 times the $128.179 in net federal tax revenue for the month.

The lion’s share of this federal spending went to redeem Treasury securities that had matured during the month—most of which were short-term Treasury bills that have terms of one year or less.

In fact, during March the Treasury redeemed $705.3 billion in Treasury securities of which $623.9 billion were short-term bills with a term of one year or less.

After the disbursements made to pay off the $705.3 billion in loans that came due in March, three of the other top four federal spending items for the month were entitlements programs. The other top item was payments to defense contractors.

The Treasury paid $49.8 billion in Social Security benefits in March, $47.4 billion in Medicare benefits, and $22.575 billion in Medicaid benefits. It also paid $37.9 billion to defense contractors.

To help pay off its $1.0528 trillion in monthly bills on only $128.179 in monthly tax revenue, the Treasury turned primarily to new borrowing. During the month, according to the Treasury statement, the government sold $786.5 billion in new securities. It also drew down its cash balance from $190.6 billion at the beginning of the month to $118.1 billion at the end of the month. It also reaped $18 billion from the sale of assets in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The federal government’s cash-flow situation was summed up pungently in Senate Budget Committee testimony by Erskine Bowles, who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and is now the co-chair of President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility. (See video below.)

“I'm really concerned,” Bowles told the committee last month. “I think we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. A lot of us sitting in this room didn't see this last crisis as it came upon us. But this one is really easy to see. The fiscal path we are on today is simply not sustainable.

“This debt and these deficits that we are incurring on an annual basis are like a cancer and they are truly going to destroy this country from within unless we have the common sense to do something about it,” said Bowles.

“I used to say that I got into this thing for my grandchildren,” Bowles said. “I have eight grandchildren under five years old. I'll have one more in a week. And my life is wonderful and it is wild. But this problem is going to happen long before my grandchildren grow up.

“This problem is going to happen, like the former chairman of the Fed said, or the Moody's said, this is a problem we're going to have to face up,” he said. “It may be two years, you know, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. But if our bankers over there in Asia begin to believe that we're not going to be solid on our debt, that we're not going to be able to meet our obligations, just stop and think for a minute what happens if they just stop buying our debt.

“What happens to interest rates?” asked Bowles. “And what happens to the U.S. economy? The markets will absolutely devastate us if we don't step up to this problem. The problem is real, the solutions are painful, and we have to act.”