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July 19, 2011

Obama, In Plain Language ...

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Let there be no doubt; if Barack Obama was to really tell the truth about the deficit debate, he'd have to begin by admitting that he's a slippery, slimy, untrustworthy, conniving, amoral, ideologically-driven, scoundrel (hat tip to Mike at Cold Fury for the attributes of "slippery, slimy, untrustworthy, and conniving"). And his own words and actions provide more than sufficient evidence to prove that this is the case. In fact, almost nothing he says actually means what he colors and implies it to mean.

As Jeffrey H. Anderson writes in his "Dissembler in Chief":

'I'm the president of the United States, and I want to make sure that I am not engaging in scare tactics. And I've tried to be responsible and somewhat restrained so that folks don't get spooked.' So said President Obama at his June 29 debt ceiling press conference. Two weeks later, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley asked Obama whether he can "tell the folks at home that, no matter what happens, the Social Security checks are gonna go out on August 3?" President Obama replied that whether it was Social Security checks, veterans' checks, or disability checks, "I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3 if we haven't resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it."

These statements are representative of Obama's contradictions, in word and deed, over the course of the entire deficit debate. Gelatinous is an apt description (to paraphrase Speaker John Boehner) of the president's rhetoric, for Obama has been slippery and irresolute -- the opposite of the responsibility and restraint he touts.

To be responsible, a leader should express ideas to the American people in clear and informative language. Yet the deficit debate has been marked by Obama's fondness for referring to "revenues" (taxes), "investments" (spending), the need to "reduce spending in the tax code" (increase taxes), and the importance of "further improving Medicare" (cutting Medicare) by further empowering the Independent Payment Advisory Board, whose cuts -- at least under current law -- would go to fund Obamacare, not cut the deficit.

He has misled people and incited envy by repeatedly suggesting that wealthier Americans don't pay their fair share of taxes. Yet Congressional Budget Office (CBO) figures show that if the citizenry is divided into quintiles by income, the top two quintiles pay 99 percent of all federal income taxes, and the top 1 percent pays 40 percent. Nor is this merely reflective of disparities in income: The top two quintiles make three times as much money as the bottom three quintiles but pay 75 times as much in income taxes.

And take Obama's statement about not having the money for Social Security, veterans' checks, or disability: The federal government takes in roughly $180 billion every month. (It also borrows $135 billion a month.) Social Security payments are about $60 billion a month, payments to all military personnel (veterans and otherwise) are about $12 billion, and payments to disabled veterans are about $6 billion. That totals about $78 billion. To say that "there may simply not be the money in the coffers" to pay for these items is plainly false. One might even call it "engaging in scare tactics."

There's lots more here. And while you're reading, keep in mind that, as Anderson aptly notes, Obama has yet to submit a single debt ceiling proposal to Congress for a vote, has yet to submit a budget to Congress that would cut federal spending by so much as $1, and according to Obama's own budget, mandatory spending alone will surpass total federal revenues this year.

Posted by Abdul at July 19, 2011 3:08 PM

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