The Budget

[Gaspar]

I think it's horrible that President Obama paid 18%.  No one should have to give up that amount of their income!

[heironymouspasparagus]

I think it's horrible that President Obama paid 18%.  No one should have to give up that amount of their income!

Absolutely true!

But since we have had 20 of the last 33 years run by Republican spending addicts, setting the pace by running the national debt up from $900 billion to many, many trillions, and absolutely refusing to do what is necessary to get back to the surplus situation of the Billy Bob administration....what can ya do?

[Gaspar]

Absolutely true!

But since we have had 20 of the last 33 years run by Republican spending addicts, setting the pace by running the national debt up from $900 billion to many, many trillions, and absolutely refusing to do what is necessary to get back to the surplus situation of the Billy Bob administration....what can ya do?

Cut spending.

[Conan71]

As in 2011, the rest of their charitable contributions were spread across a range of charities, including the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity and the National Congress of Black Women.

I wonder why he didn't donate to the National Congress of White Men?

[heironymouspasparagus]

Cut spending.

That has always been one of the two things I have advanced....neither one of them by themselves is enough, though.

[guido911]

Absolutely true!

But since we have had 20 of the last 33 years run by Republican spending addicts, setting the pace by running the national debt up from $900 billion to many, many trillions, and absolutely refusing to do what is necessary to get back to the surplus situation of the Billy Bob administration....what can ya do?

We can stop paying for research on duck junk...

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/384949-federal-study-looks-plasticity-duck-penis-length

[heironymouspasparagus]

We can stop paying for research on duck junk...

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/384949-federal-study-looks-plasticity-duck-penis-length

We could definitely and perhaps should.  But for $300,000+, I would rather see them stop doing the unfunded wars for trillions of dollars...then I will worry about duck junk...

When we get to the point where we can legitimately say the only wasteful Federal spending we have to worry about is research on duck ducks, then I don't think I'm even gonna care about it....'cause it ain't ever gonna get that good!!

[guido911]

We could definitely and perhaps should.  But for $300,000+, I would rather see them stop doing the unfunded wars for trillions of dollars...then I will worry about duck junk...

[heironymouspasparagus]

That is the subject of the sentence - you are trying to make the point that the government has certain levels of wasteful spending.  I was agreeing.  And pointing out the FACT that worrying about a couple hundred thousand dollars in possibly silly spending is itself ridiculously silly until the really BIG amounts of wasteful spending are addressed.  Wouldn't go to your adherence to The Script, though!


And salad is overrated!  Pork in any form, however....!!

[Conan71]

That is the subject of the sentence - you are trying to make the point that the government has certain levels of wasteful spending.  I was agreeing.  And pointing out the FACT that worrying about a couple hundred thousand dollars in possibly silly spending is itself ridiculously silly until the really BIG amounts of wasteful spending are addressed.  Wouldn't go to your adherence to The Script, though!


And salad is overrated!  Pork in any form, however....!!

I disagree.  Any amount of wasteful spending which is not scrutinized only leads to more hubris and more of bureaucrats and legislators viewing this money as theirs to to with any way they see fit.  The war spending is winding down, comparing a few million here and a few hundred thousand there as insignificant due to huge war costs is ridiculous.  There is absolutely no prioritizing of spending going on in government right now.  If I wouldn't personally donate to a particular type of research, why should the government be taking my tax dollars and spending it on that very thing?  Why do we need to know the elasticity of duck penises?  I find little useful return to society for such a study and thousands of others which are pure waste, but labeled as "funding education and scientific research."

[Gaspar]

I disagree.  Any amount of wasteful spending which is not scrutinized only leads to more hubris and more of bureaucrats and legislators viewing this money as theirs to to with any way they see fit.  The war spending is winding down, comparing a few million here and a few hundred thousand there as insignificant due to huge war costs is ridiculous.  There is absolutely no prioritizing of spending going on in government right now.  If I wouldn't personally donate to a particular type of research, why should the government be taking my tax dollars and spending it on that very thing?  Why do we need to know the elasticity of duck penises?  I find little useful return to society for such a study and thousands of others which are pure waste, but labeled as "funding education and scientific research."

Beyond that, it's become shocking how the president responds any questions related to fiscal responsibility or anything else for that matter.  I watched the press conference this morning and it seemed like the reporters questions were distractions that he would rather not deal with.  He actually responded to one reporter with "Maybe I should just pack up and go home."  He regurgitated campaign promises from 2008, blamed congress for allowing the sequester initiatives, that he signed into law because he could not get a budget through the Senate.  His own base is getting pissed at him for, as Vanity Fair puts it, his "laid back style."  To date he has spent about twice as many hours on the golf course or on vacation than he has on the economy.  His words are hollow and his actions shallow.  Today, he promised again to close down GITMO, and the press corpse almost burst into laughter.

Heiron may be smarter than you think.  To focus on the president tackling or even addressing debt is as useful as expecting the Kardashians to develop a cold fusion reactor.  This thread is dead.  The president has no intension to, and will never curtail spending or implement a budget.  It is what it is.

This administration is done.  It's simply a combination of autopilot and damage control now.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I disagree.  Any amount of wasteful spending which is not scrutinized only leads to more hubris and more of bureaucrats and legislators viewing this money as theirs to to with any way they see fit.  The war spending is winding down, comparing a few million here and a few hundred thousand there as insignificant due to huge war costs is ridiculous.  There is absolutely no prioritizing of spending going on in government right now.  If I wouldn't personally donate to a particular type of research, why should the government be taking my tax dollars and spending it on that very thing?  Why do we need to know the elasticity of duck penises?  I find little useful return to society for such a study and thousands of others which are pure waste, but labeled as "funding education and scientific research."

Which exactly makes my point about the ridiculously silly of trying to address a few hundred thousand compared to a couple of trillion!

I don't know about the ducks, other than the fact that I enjoy duck hunting (followed by eating them!) a great deal.  If there were some issue with reproduction that might be adversely affected by elasticity, well then it might just impinge on my consciousness.  Don't know until it's done, though.  Many years ago, there was the same plaintive bleating about studying frogs and toads - which it turns out had some good information - but if it had not been done, there would be major gaps in our knowledge, most likely including the importance of how these and other amphibians are "bell-weathers" - early indicators for problems with other species in a given environment.  But that certainly has interfered with the "you know who" efforts to gut environmental concerns and actions.

These kind of things fall into the general category of stuff that cannot be shown to benefit a bottom-line, so in the private sector, would NEVER be done.  Vast amounts of this type of research will only be done when there is no for-profit motive.  Who would have ever dreamed of commercial space travel - well, lots of people dreamed it, but it would NEVER have happened without government research, funding and implementation leading the way.  


But still - doesn't lend itself to adherence of The Script does it?

[heironymouspasparagus]

Heiron may be smarter than you think.  To focus on the president tackling or even addressing debt is as useful as expecting the Kardashians to develop a cold fusion reactor.  This thread is dead.  The president has no intension to, and will never curtail spending or implement a budget.  It is what it is.

This administration is done.  It's simply a combination of autopilot and damage control now.

No doubt.

Here is the lament about working (or not!) on a budget...which involves trillions of dollars....and yet, there is umbrage because there is no attention to $300,000...??  Yeah...that make sense... par for the course, to use the local favorite golf metaphor!

[Conan71]

Which exactly makes my point about the ridiculously silly of trying to address a few hundred thousand compared to a couple of trillion!

I don't know about the ducks, other than the fact that I enjoy duck hunting (followed by eating them!) a great deal.  If there were some issue with reproduction that might be adversely affected by elasticity, well then it might just impinge on my consciousness.  Don't know until it's done, though.  Many years ago, there was the same plaintive bleating about studying frogs and toads - which it turns out had some good information - but if it had not been done, there would be major gaps in our knowledge, most likely including the importance of how these and other amphibians are "bell-weathers" - early indicators for problems with other species in a given environment.  But that certainly has interfered with the "you know who" efforts to gut environmental concerns and actions.

These kind of things fall into the general category of stuff that cannot be shown to benefit a bottom-line, so in the private sector, would NEVER be done.  Vast amounts of this type of research will only be done when there is no for-profit motive.  Who would have ever dreamed of commercial space travel - well, lots of people dreamed it, but it would NEVER have happened without government research, funding and implementation leading the way.  


But still - doesn't lend itself to adherence of The Script does it?

Why don't you run for Congress? Your fiscal mentality would be a perfect fit!

[heironymouspasparagus]

Why don't you run for Congress? Your fiscal mentality would be a perfect fit!

No.  I would be working hard to stop the wasteful spending of trillions in unjustified and unfunded wars.  That would never fly well with the Oklahoma mentality exemplified by your post.