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Fat City
What is going on in Washington?
By Patrick J. Buchanan Human
Events
Posted: December 12/15, 2009 "It's time to
stop worrying about the deficit -- and start panicking about the debt," the
Washington Post editorial began. "The fiscal situation was serious before
the recession. It is now dire."
The editorial continued:
"In the space of a single fiscal year, 2009, the debt soared from 41 percent
of the gross domestic product to 53 percent. This sum, which does not
include what the government has borrowed from its own trust funds, is on
track to rise to a crushing 85 percent of the economy by 2018."
What are the risks of an exploding U.S. public debt?
The Chinese, Japanese and Arabs still buying that debt will begin to suspect
they are holding onto paper on which the United States will default, or will
cheapen by inflating its currency -- as the Germans did in 1923 to avoid
paying war reparations.
When they do, they will stop buying U.S. debt and start dumping. The Fed
will then have to raise interest rates to attract borrowers, throwing the
economy into a tailspin.
Is Congress even aware of what is happening?
Harry Reid is talking about doubling Medicare rolls to include folks 55 to
64. Facing a second straight $1.4 trillion deficit, Congress is moving to
raise the debt ceiling by another $1.8 trillion.
And the lead story in the Post Monday began:
"The Senate cleared for President Obama's signature on Sunday a $447 billion
omnibus spending bill that contains thousands of earmarks and double-digit
increases for several Cabinet agencies."
Total cost of the Senate bill passed Sunday was "$1.1 trillion, including
average spending increases of 10 percent for dozens of federal agencies."
Ten percent hikes for federal agencies? What is going on?
Democrats say the money is needed to make up for the neglect of the George
W. Bush years. But the Bush years were the fattest years for federal social
spending since the Great Society.
Sen. Dick Durbin says the spending is necessary "to keep cops on the street
... so that families feel secure. ... Money spent to help our first
responders, firefighters and policemen is a critical investment."
But aren't cops and firemen a state and local responsibility?
"It is business as usual, spending money like a drunken sailor, " said Sen.
John McCain. "And the bar is still open."
But when sailors get drunk and spend crazily, they are on shore leave and
spending their own money. When they get back aboard ship, they sober up and
shape up, and do the vital work they enlisted to do.
These congressmen never stop bingeing. They are addicts. They are
alcoholics. And they are spending our money. According to Taxpayers for
Common Sense, there are 5,200 earmarks in that one Senate bill, which
averages out to 12 pork projects for every House member -- and 52 for every
senator.
What is going on in Washington?
Essay continued below...
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Democrats are following the Rahm Rule of White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emmanuel. "Don't allow a crisis to go to waste. ... There are opportunities
to do big things."
And from the standpoint of self interest, this makes sense. Most government
employees are Democratic voters, as are most beneficiaries of government
programs.
Moreover, Democrats have to get the money out the door before the midterms,
where the party is going to take a bath and lose power.
How else to explain this lead story last week in USA Today:
"The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded
during the recession. ...
"Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14
percent to 19 percent of civil servants during the recession's first 18
months -- and that is before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.
"Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time -- in pay and
hiring -- during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private
sector."
When the recession started, the Defense Department had 1,868 civilian
employees earning $150,000. Defense now has 10,100. The Transportation
Department had one person earning $170,000 when the recession began.
Transportation now has 1,690 employees earning above $170,000. Recession in
America means boom times in D.C.
The financial crisis that almost sank the capitalist system was the work of
Washington and Wall Street. The Fed created the bubble. The White House and
Congress goaded banks into making all those subprime mortgages. Fannie and
Freddie bought up the lousy paper and turned it into securities. Wall Street
banks bought them up and put them on their books as Triple A assets. Federal
regulators looked the other way.
Yet happy days are here again on Wall Street. And Washington never saw
better times, with federal workers now earning, on average, $31,000 a year
more than workers in the gutted private sector.
Is this the government the Founding Fathers dreamed of -- or is this the
kind of arrogant government they took up arms against?
Mr.
Buchanan
is a nationally syndicated columnist, former Presidential advisor, best
selling author and one of the premier conservative intellects in America.
Copyright © 2009 HUMAN EVENTS. All Rights
Reserved. |
Templates for
Conservative
Leadership 2012
1. Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican Vice
Presidential Candidate. Her 2009 State of the State address to
Alaskans
2.
Michael Dolan, Executive
VP for Exxon Mobile talks about 21st Century energy with some foundational
perspectives on why Cap and Trade is terrible for the economy and the
nation.
3.
Dr. Thomas Sowell
Hoover Institute
scholar on why Republicans should stay focused on applying conservative
thought to policy making.
4.
Phyllis Schlafly,
Commentator on how
marriage can be saved from the gay lobby.
5.
Representative Louie Gohmert
on why the "Hate Crimes" bill violates the First Amendment rights of the
Constitution.
6.
Lee Walker
and Joseph Bast, Senior Fellow and President of the
Heartland Institute respectively on why blacks should naturally
embrace conservative policy.
7.
Dr. Kim R.
Holmes,
Heritage Foundation scholar on Obama's First 100 Days of liberalism.
8.
Aryeh Spero,
Radio Talk Show Host on why Republicans should stay conservative.
9.
Doug
Patton, Columnist,
political speech writer and policy advisor on conservative women and
leadership.
10.
Pat
Buchanan,
is a nationally syndicated columnist, former Presidential advisor, best
selling author and one of the premier conservative intellects in America.
11.
Human
Events, (Petition) National Security.
Human Events is the news source President Reagan called his "favorite
newspaper" and we still hold high the Reaganesque principles of free
enterprise, limited government and, above all, a staunch, unwavering defense
of American freedom.
12.
Lt. Colonel Oliver North. Nationally
syndicated columnist and the author of the FOX News/Regnery books, "War Stories:
Operation Iraqi Freedom," and "War Stories III: The Heroes Who
Defeated Hitler."
Lt. North hosts "War Stories" on Fox News
Channel.
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