Monday, July 19, 2010

So Lacy Wants To Talk About Hypocrisy

So Lacy came out today and chided the Republicans for not wanting to extend jobless benefits. He believes that it is hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans for wanting to a way to pay for this extension. This is, of course, the new strategy from Obama, Pelosi and such. We sawe Clair McCaskill saying the same thing last week. All I can say is, oh Lacy and company; how little you seem to understand the problem.

Let me explain it to you and I will try and use basic terms so you can understand it. I would not want to talk over your head.

  1. You are upset that the Republicans voted for two “unauthorized wars” as well as the Bush tax cuts. - There are a couple of problems with this statement.
    • Congress authorized the President to go forward in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Just because you voted against it does not mean it was unauthorized.
    • The Bush tax cuts were not to blame for the fiscal problems; it was Congress spending above the budgeted baseline. Additionally, the original Bush tax cuts helped bring the economy back after the 2001 economic downturn.
  2. You also stated, "The people objecting to the extension of unemployment benefits because they're not paid for never talked about that when they passed two tax breaks for the rich.” - The reality is the tax cut actually benefited the lower income brackets more than it did the rich. In 2007, according to CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation data, the increased child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, 10 percent bracket, and AMT were to have a combined budgetary effect of $114 billion. By comparison, capital gains, dividends, and estate tax cuts were projected to reduce 2007 revenues by just $36 billion. Based upon that alone, you can see that tactic of pitting the Republicans as pro rich does not really apply.
  3. You stated “I know that there are thousands of Missourians who need their unemployment benefits”. – I have no doubt that there are many people who are in need of some form of wages. That said, these benefits have been extended several times. We CANNOT continue to extend these benefits without end. Let’s face it. Many of these jobs were eliminated. They are no coming back. As long as the government continues to dole out money for free, there is no reason for these people to go and find another job. And don’t you dare say there are no jobs because that is an outright lie. There are plenty of jobs available, unfortunately too many people are not willing to take an entry level position with a company or they are not willing to take the money they have been given to get job training.

Lacy, the American people are tired of government reckless spending. This is not just a Republican thing, this is across the board. There is a reason that Republican and Democrat incumbents are being booted from office. The government is not living within its means.

Think of it this way. My family and I have a budget. We use it to pay our bills, donate to charity and do fun things like rent movies, etc. When we want to make a purchase, we have to save money to do so. If we have to make a purchase, like our furnace goes out, etc., we will either put it on the credit card or work out financing terms. When we work out financing terms, we know that we will have to pay it off within a time limit. Now, if we have too many things on credit, we cannot get credit anymore and have to either do without or get rid of one set of payments to deal with making another set.

The American people are demanding that our government do the same. We are tired of all of Congress running reckless with our hard earned money.

So yes Lacy, is there a bit of hypocrisy among some Republicans. Yes. But they are at least learning their lesson. The American public will not stand for it.

Oh and by the way. I do not know if your mother ever told you this, but two wrongs do not make a right.

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