Congress is set to begin debate on a provision to allow the federal government to borrow an additional $1 trillion over the next few weeks. Before borrowing this money, the Senate must move legislation to raise the federal debt limit beyond $12.1 trillion. The House has already quietly raised the debt ceiling, for the second time this year, to $13 trillion. Passage of the $787 billion ‘stimulus’ package required Congress to raise the debt ceiling to its current $12.1 trillion limit. The debt ceiling is the maximum borrowing power of the federal government, its credit limit.
In a 2006 speech that preceded a Senate vote to extend the debt ceiling, then Senator Obama said, “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.” This year’s deficit, under the leadership of President Obama and the Democrat Party, is expected to hit a record $1.6 trillion.
The World Economic Forum's global competitiveness report 2009-2010, released Tuesday, indicates that the United States has lost its place as the world's most competitive economy, mainly because of the financial crisis and accumulated fiscal deficits. The U.S. has been replaced by Switzerland. Cheng Siwei, head of China's green energy drive, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed's recourse to "credit easing." "If they keep printing money to buy bonds it will lead to inflation, and after a year or two the dollar will fall hard. Most of our foreign reserves are in US bonds and this is very difficult to change, so we will diversify incremental reserves into Euros, Yen, and other currencies. The U.S. spends tomorrow's money today. He who goes borrowing, goes sorrowing," said Mr. Cheng, quoting U.S. founding father Benjamin Franklin.
Why does everyone seem to understand the need to stop this pattern of spending, borrowing and taxing; except the politicians in Washington DC? Obama campaigned on a platform of change. This platform won largely because of a backlash against the Republicans who had failed to follow their conservative principles during the Bush administration. Obama’s change seems to be taking our country in the wrong direction. I have been very pleased to see Americans standing up to the Statist Tyrants who are trying to ‘change’ America to something that was never envisioned by the founding fathers. We are not angry mobs, Nazi’s, hate-mongers or racists as has been charged by the media and even some elected officials. We are parents and grandparents, employers and employees, teachers and students and we have simply had enough. It is time for the politicians to stop spending and get our financial house in order.
Instead, we get a debate on government healthcare. The so-called public option or whatever Obama tries to rename it to in tonight’s speech to Congress will do one sure thing – raise the deficit. Who is naive enough to believe that Obama's plan would be deficit-neutral? Who believes that major cost containment could be achieved without drastic rationing? Who believes that so-called reforms to Medicaid and Medicare will pay for healthcare for all? The federal government administers both programs and is responsible for the waste in each that needs to be reformed. Why should they be trusted to administer another social experiment that will control 1/6th of the U.S. economy? Where is this power granted in the Constitution?
Obama and the Democrat majority are arrogant. They fail to recognize a movement of ordinary Americans when it is in their face on a daily basis. President Obama recently said “I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess." Well President Obama, we don’t like the cleaning crew and we don’t like there solutions. Have you noticed that your approval rating has crashed to less than 50%, from almost 80% a short time ago? The coalition of voters who elected you is leaving in droves - still, more arrogance. Bill Clinton was smart enough to move to the middle and embrace many conservative ideas when the American people began to become disenchanted with left-wing liberal policies. Obama, in sharp contrast, held a meeting at the White House yesterday to discuss healthcare with Congressional leaders – well, Democrat Congressional leaders, that is. Not a single Republican was invited to the meeting. I guess Obama didn’t want to hear Republicans do a lot of talking, or any talking for that matter.
Instead of hearing the thousands of citizens who are speaking out against Obama’s healthcare takeover scheme and while ignoring polls that show Americans strongly opposed to the type of healthcare plan that Obama and his cronies are pushing, Obama is continuing down the road to nationalized healthcare. He delivered a speech to union supporters yesterday and stated that his opponents have no alternative to his plan – a complete and total lie. Several Republican plans have been presented including the Patients’ Choice Act, a comprehensive health-care reform plan that uses market principles to solve part of the problem. President Obama, stop playing politics with the future of my country. If you will close your mouth and open your ears you will see that there are alternatives. My fear is that your goal is not reform at all, but instead, control through an increased government bureaucracy.
Christopher Pegg
Rock Spring
Chris.pegg@hotmail.com
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Dear Editor:
If we already know where the waste and fraud is within our government run health care programs, why isn’t something already being done about this wasteful allocation of our tax dollars?
Democrats, Republicans – you’re all guilty of letting this go on far too long. You're in charge of the "checkbook". According to the president you’re not doing a very good job of watching our money. Clean up yourselves first in Washington, DC before you come to us for more.
Sincerely,
Karen C. Frantzen