Obama is MIA:

reply to post by jjf3rd77


The Right needs to quit its whining. They agreed to the Super Committee and it was only invented to avert the crisis they created by holding our economy hostage by risking default. They also agreed to the automatic triggers that would kick in if THEY -- the Super Committee everyone agreed to -- could not come to some accord. And now they can't come to an accord because the Right still demands we protect the rich, despite all historical evidence showing our economy has always been healthiest when tax rates were more progressive, despite all data showing the tax cuts for the rich are the number one contributor to our growing debt, despite the tsunami of data that show ten years of these tax cuts have yielded NO new jobs from the supposed "job creators" (another total lie). Only consumers create jobs because they create demand. The simple fact remains the rich no longer need the American consumer because they can grow profits simply by selling to consumers outside the USA and that's what's been happening. Increasingly, a minority percentage of big company income comes from outside the US. The American consumer is no longer needed, yet the Right continues it lies and myths and their uninformed masses lap it up like catnip.

Now these same Republicans want to try to put blame on anyone else. That was all part of their original plan, because they know the American public is uninformed and has the attention span of a gnat. So they bombard the media with lies they know the media will not correct for fear of seeming not to be impartial.

I hope the triggers go in to effect. Our military budget is a joke an reflects our new position as global war monger. Calling the spending "defense" spending is an insult to our intelligence and genuinely Orwellian. We spend more than our 22 most friendly nations combined. We outspend China 4:1 (en.wikipedia.org...). The USA accounts about 50% of global military spending. That does not count the billions spent each year militarizing our police nationwide.

Adjusted for inflation and excluding state and local paramilitary spending, we already spend more than 2x on our military than we did in year 2000. Fraud is rampant. Waste is rampant. Cronyism is an epidemic. As others have said, cutting our military budget should be a no brainer. Only the dumbest among us reflexively reacts negatively to the thought of trimming our obscene level of war spending.

Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by jjf3rd77

 

Maybe he doesn't think stopping defense cuts is paramount, and personally when all else is considered, I don't think stopping defense cuts is the priority. These cuts are where we should begin, imo, and that is not from a dreaded liberal perspective, but from someone seeking common sense, without partisan opinion.

Agreed.
I'm Australian, so I don't have much of a vested interest in this either way - but if I had to declare a position I'd say I align more with Republicans than democrats.
I think it's important to be fair on these issues though.

I guess the question is... is this action (or lack thereof) an omission on Obama's part, or is he actually trying to reign in spending? Personally I doubt the latter, but I think the former is probably a bit of a stretch too.
We'll have to wait and see how this pans out.

Hmmmm, wasn't it actually the GOP (and dems) which wanted these cuts, and now is backing away from them? Rand Paul is the only one sticking to his guns.

The sequester was basically designed for caterwaulers. In order to extend the debt limit through to 2013, most Republicans and Democrats eventually agreed to $1.4 trillion of “triggered” cuts—sequesters. Half of the money would be taken out of domestic discretionary spending over 10 years; half would be taken from the defense budget over 10 years, a slash of around 8 percent.

www.slate.com... ats_are_serious_about_cutting_.html

www.slate.com...