Well, it looks like the conservatives are going to get the government shutdown they want. In fact, they are already celebrating.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann says “We’re very excited. It’s exactly what we wanted, and we got it.” She believes that the GOP will be rewarded for standing firm in their demands. “People will be very grateful.”
Texas Congressman John Abney Culberson says “It’s wonderful. We’re 100% united!”
The national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots applauded Republicans “for their courage and their refusal to be cowed by the Senate and the president.”
They also refuse to learn from history. Even though House Speaker John Boehner warned his Republican colleagues about how a similar (but less severe) shutdown in the mid-1990s caused massive political damage to the Republicans, conservatives have dismissed it. Congressman Tim Huelskamp responded “He has an opinion. It’s an opinion based on experience in the last century.”
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George Santayana quoted,
“Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. ” from his book Reason in Common Sense, the first volume of his The Life of Reason.
A man is best known, not by his friends, but by his enemies.
And based on that, if Obama’s enemies are best represented by Ted Cruz and Michele Bachmann, the prosecution rests.
previous experience was previous millenium, if only 18 years ago.
Congressman Tim Huelskamp responded “He has an opinion. It’s an opinion based on experience in the last century.”
Wow, there’s a wonderful symmetry to this quote. Remember John Boehner telling the Congress, apropos the CBO’s estimate that Obamacare would reduce the deficit, “Well, that’s their opinion.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24327335 Good article from BBC News about why Republicans are seemingly so happy to jump off a cliff.
Oh, and I just lost any respect I ever had for Rand Paul. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/29/rand-paul-obamacare_n_4012938.html
You ever had respect for Rand Paul? Why?
I never comment but always read the articles and comments. Today I feel I have to comment. It is regarding the picture with Reagan and Obama. I went to check the numbers because this would be too good not to re-post to FB and such but I won’t because the information is not correct. Reagan tripled the national debt from $900 billion to $2.8 trillion. Obama cut the deficit as percentage of GDP. Two very different metrics that measure different things.
It is quite interesting though that Reagan tripled the national debt and is still considered the greatest republican that ever lived. I wonder what kind of names the current GOP would call Obama if he tripled the national debt? Just going with whats good for the goose thing on this one.
Love reading the web site. Keep up the great job!
References for reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics (Fiscal Consequences section)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/09/24/has-obama-cut-the-budget-deficit-in-half/
So my question is, what is the apples-to-apples comparison? As a percentage of GDP, how much did Reagan increase the deficit?
Here’s an article that claims that Reagan “nearly” tripled the deficit — http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/02/05/142288/reagan-centennial/ (although they don’t provide details).
Here’s a better article, which says that Reagan “nearly doubled” under Reagan (from $790 billion to $1.55 trillion), and gives a link to evidence. But they don’t state it as a percentage of GDP. http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/08/13/reagan-ryan-and-exploding-deficits/189313