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| Thanks For What? |
| 2010-04-18 |
| Rather than protesting the greatest expansion of government in U.S. history, Tea Party attendees should be thanking Big Government for all it's done. At least, that's what President Obama thinks. As the Associated Press reported Thursday, the president said he was "amused" by the Tea Party faithful gathering in cities across America to protest soaring government spending, ballooning debt and the explosion in taxes that will be needed to pay for it all. "You would think they'd be saying thank you," he said. And why should they be thankful? As the president himself said on his weekly radio address a week ago, "one thing we have not done is raise income taxes on families making less than $250,000; that's another promise we kept." In fact, that wasn't his promise at all. Here's what candidate Obama really said in September of 2008: "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." Got that? "Not any of your taxes." The claim of no tax hikes on those below $250,000 as a result of the current administration's policies is completely and utterly false. A report from the House Ways & Means Committee's GOP members notes that, since January 2009, Congress and the president have enacted $670 billion in tax increases. That's $2,100 for each person in America. At least 14 of those tax hikes, the report says, break Obama's pledge not to raise taxes on those earning less than $250,000. Roughly $316 billion of the tax hikes -- 14 increases in all -- hit middle-class families, the report says. This comes in addition to recent data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office showing U.S. spending and indebtedness growing at an alarming rate. Government spending now totals 25% of GDP, a quarter above its long-term average. By 2035, it will hit 34% of GDP at current trends -- a 70% increase in the real size of government in just 25 years. More spending means more debt. In 2008, total federal publicly held debt was about $8.5 trillion -- an amount Uncle Sam took 220 years to accumulate. By 2020, that will soar to $20.3 trillion, a 139% jump. No surprise the Government Accountability Office last week said the U.S. is on "an unsustainable long-term fiscal path." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #13 It will be interesting to see how quickly they try to progress through the Cap and Trade then VAT wickets. Following their trail William Tecumseh Sherman style will be difficult. The meme is always that cutting taxes is too expensive. In actuallity the expense is the government spending. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2010-04-18 20:33 |
| #12 And to split hairs further, Marie Antionette didn't say 'let them eat cake' anyway. Wasn't it the mistress of Louis XIV, Madame la Pompadour? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-04-18 19:06 |
| #11 Brioche, I think it was, specifically. Brioche is like stale, tasteless cake. Bread is superior, IMO. And to split hairs further, Marie Antionette didn't say 'let them eat cake' anyway. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-04-18 18:49 |
| #10 I think cake was also a colloquial name for a low-quality bread. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2010-04-18 15:23 |
| #9 No, but Marie Antoinette did. I think she got a haircut or something. True a haircut. Of course what she was doing is pointing out that there was no bread due to price controls, while the uncontrolled price of cake allowed allowed a surfeit of flour into the fancy confectionary industry. Cake was relatively cheap. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-04-18 15:19 |
| #8 Didn't King George say the same thing? No, but Marie Antoinette did. I think she got a haircut or something. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2010-04-18 14:55 |
| #7 Count De Monet - Sir, the peasants are revolting! King Louis - You said it. They stink on ice. -- History of the World, Part I |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-04-18 13:08 |
| #6 "You would think they'd be saying thank you," he said Funny. Didn't King George say the same thing? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-04-18 12:38 |
| #5 Wonder how "amused" he is with his recent drop in the polls and the pending conservative victory in the upcoming November election? Very amused---with peple who think ballots still mean anything. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-04-18 12:21 |
| #4 US History is not required course unless Jeff Foxworthy is in front of the class. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-04-18 12:08 |
| #3 As the Associated Press reported Thursday, the president said he was "amused" by the Tea Party faithful gathering in cities across America to protest soaring government spending, ballooning debt and the explosion in taxes that will be needed to pay for it all. Wonder how "amused" he is with his recent drop in the polls and the pending conservative victory in the upcoming November election? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-04-18 11:17 |
| #2 "Let 'em eat cake!" Right, Barry? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-04-18 11:08 |
| #1 He is clueless about our passion for freedom in this country? Many good people have died in the name of freedom (ours and others) over the past several centuries. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-18 08:34 |