Debt ceiling crisis - Republicans or Democrats, who can we trust?

The saga continues as the "deadline" of August 2nd approaches.   You know the crisis is reaching a boiling point when both Obama and Boehner felt the need to interrupt Hell's Kitchen!   We now have had two bills passed by the House, one bill proposed by Boehner, one bill proposed by Reid and something or other proposed from Obama although nobody can explain what it is.

So who is looking out for America?   In recent polling there seems to be a growing consensus among people that spending needs to be curtailed - with 55% disapproving a tax hike and Gallup finds a majority opposed to raising the ceiling in the first place!  Pew polling finds similar numbers with people split on whether going past August 2nd! Wow.  So far so good, nice to see fellow Americans not getting snookered by the Teleprompter in Chief or the likes of NPR who are both beating the drums of death in case Congress *gasp* does not allow our greedy Government to borrow more money.   As discussed before, the issue of default is nothing more than a blatant lie, with just over 200 Billion in interest annually that can be easily covered by over a Trillion in tax receipts that the Treasury currently brings in.  Obama's recent TV appearance also attempted to scare the dentures out of our senior citizens by suggesting Social Security checks will stop, an odd accusation considering in 2010 the Treasury brought in more Social Security Taxes then it paid out.  Hmmm.

So far, the only remotely credible suggestion I have personally seen was that of Senator Coburn's Back to Black proposal.  A combined effort to cut save 9 Trillion over the next ten years by shrinking Government 25% and reforming defense and entitlement.  Of course Coburn got flack from Republicans who noticed a one trillion dollar increase in revenues, but it was an increase in revenue by broadening the base not by raising taxes.  In fact most of the gains were from removing loopholes while lowering rates - a most welcomed proposal.   Coburn then went ahead and shot himself in the foot by rejoining the Gang of Six and standing behind a different proposal that not only lowered the total savings by many trillions, but went after Social Security by redefining CPI thereby stripping away payments to seniors.  Terrible.

Then came John Boehner's proposal which will be voted on by today.  Not only will that bill be killed in the Senate, but had to be rewritten because the CBO found the bill did not actually cut the amount that Boehner claimed.  As of today, CBO released the scoring of the rewritten bill and found that by 2021 the bill would save, ok get ready, big breath, 915 Billion dollars.  Yes, 10 years.  Yes, I am serious.  No, it is not a typo.  How much is the current deficit?  Great question!  About 1.5 Trillion, just for 2011!  See, John is pretty stoked about this piece of crap he wrote because he gets away with two very important things.  Sticks to his pledge of not raising taxes and back-loads the cuts.  In other words the majority of the cuts and restraints will be happening the future at the discretion of future Congresses.  More on that later.

At the same time Harry Reid released his proposal claiming almost 2.7 trillion dollars in cuts.  Two immediate problems with Reid's claims.  First, CBO scored the bill and found a $500 Billion shortage and more importantly, as explained by Paul Ryan a trillion of the "savings" come from not spending a promised amount of money.  An example would be if Congress planned to cover every square inch of our interstate highway system with provolone cheese at a cost of 18 Trillion dollars, but then scrapping the project for a savings of 17.99 Trillion (expenses for provolone samples non-refundable).   In Reid's case it was for winding down expenses on defense that were either already accounted for or were never going to happen in the first place.  Oddly enough after all the bullsh*t, Reid's plan offers more savings than Boehner's bill although also suffering from back-loaded cuts.

What is the problem with the back-loaded cut?  Beyond the fact that our Congress constantly utilizes propaganda to sell their legislative accomplishments and have lost all ability of operating in an honest fashion, the back-loaded cuts pose a practical challenge.  There is just simply no way for our current Congress to demand or promise any future politicians to perform these cuts.  Impossible.  Neither Boehner or Reid can go on TV and promise to make 900 Billion or 1.25 Trillion or any other future cuts because they will be happening in future Congresses!  Elected officials in 2016 can just as easily raise spending with absolutely no regard for whatever piece of junk will be passed in the coming weeks.

Therefore, both Republicans and Democrats have bamboozled the American public in amost stunning display of arrogance while completely skirting their primary responsibilities.  Instead of tackling trillion dollar YEARLY deficits Americans are now relegated to bickering over 90 to 110 Billion a year in cuts that are not even guaranteed to happen!  Amazing eh?   Our politicians are ineffectual, our President is useless and the financial burden is growing and growing.   Credit can only be given to the brave handful of Republicans who are refusing to go along with the Boehner plan, a number that barely exceeds 30 people.  Out of 535 members of Congress, less than 10% understand the gravity of the situation.