[shooz]

Biden falls asleep d

He's doing his imitation of a post Reagan air traffic controller.
Boy, do those guys need their union back, or what?

[Nesster]

In general the minority party votes against.

Or Not.

Usually the 'nay' voters do so because it is a meaningless vote, and can come from either party (e.g. Obama's nay that he now regrets).

Usually both parties have grown-up, reasonable and responsible majorities who ensure the right thing gets passed.

[Nesster]

And, the Bush years provide some sad commentary on the Republicans... where the Democrats seem to come out as the more fiscally conservative.

Honest Debate Is Needed Around Vote to Increase Debt Limit | OMB Watch

The following statement by Adam Hughes, OMB Watch Budget Policy Director, was released in response to the Senate vote to increase the national debt ceiling on March 16, 2006:
Today the Senate voted 52-48 to increase the nation's statutory debt limit once again. The limit now sits at almost $9 trillion. The vote to increase the debt limit was necessary in order to avoid a government default, yet Senate Republican leaders pushed hard for this vote to take place without proper debate and without giving Senators a chance to offer amendments, some of which could potentially help to slow the rapid run-up of debt in years to come.

This increase marks the fourth time Congress has needed to increase the debt limit in the five years since President Bush took office, ushering in a debt that has ballooned by more than 51 percent over that time. The vote highlights the abysmal record for both the President and Congress. At the start of the Bush administration - when the national debt was $5.95 trillion and large surpluses were projected for the government - Bush told Congress and America we could afford both tremendous tax cuts and paying down the debt. This turned out not to be true and the days of surpluses are long gone. Instead of dreaming of all we could provide and invest in for our country, we are confronted with mountains of debt and are continually let down by our leaders in Congress who are more concerned managing the political fallout of raising the debt ceiling again than actually debating how to fix the problem.

The need to increase the debt limit yet again is a direct result of the fiscal policies and practices implemented by Bush and Congress over the past five years. While the administration blames the increase in U.S. debt on both the 2001 recession and the costs of the war on terrorism, in reality the cost of his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, ringing in at $225 billion in 2005 alone, carry far more of the blame for the burgeoning rise in national debt.

Democrats demanded as much as eight hours of debate and up to three separate amendments to the debt limit legislation, but Senate GOP leaders preferred to try to ignore the problem and avoid a much-needed public discussion on the causes and solutions to our current and growing debt troubles. In the end only one amendment was considered (and rejected), which sought a Treasury Department study on foreign investment in the United States.

Frist blocked Democrat attempts to offer another amendment on pay-as-you-go rules (PAYGO) that would have been an excellent first step toward stemming the irresponsible fiscal policies of this Congress and president. In the last few months, the PAYGO amendment has been offered often by Democrats, twice last fall and once this week. All three times it has been rejected by razor thin margins, with all but a handful of Republicans voting against it, leading many to question if the GOP has abandoned its fiscally conservative roots. Clearly, far too many Republican Senators felt fine burdening future generations with hundreds of billions of dollars of new debt every year, dampening future economic prospects for the country and seriously threatening our national economic security.

Unfortunately, Republican leaders were once again unwilling to take even the smallest step to redirect the nation's course toward sound and sustainable fiscal policy. And while the GOP is turning a blind eye, they continue plodding through their annual budgetary work, seemingly oblivious to the results of their actions. Nothing illustrates this more plainly than tomorrow's possible adoption of the FY 2007 budget that will add additional hundreds of billions of dollar to the government's debt next year.

I would suggest that in reality, the Tea Party and the Democrats would be natural allies against the fiscally irresponsible, free spending mainline Republicans, except that the TP has targeted the Democrats as anti-Christ in all things and is concentrating on leveraging the Republicans instead.

[TallGuyNW]

How many times did the GOP vote to raise the debt limits under Mr. Bush?
Answer honestly please.

The stats I've seen are that the debt ceiling was raised 7 times under Bush, raising the ceiling by more than $6.4 trillion.

[JohnInIndy]

Nesster, in 2006 you didn't have a true Republican Congress. They are what is termed RINO. Republican In Name Only. They were as bad if not worse than the democrat party when it came to spending. That's why many if us now consider ourselves Conservative. Rarely do we call ourselves a republican anymore. They need to earn our trust again. You had a surplus after 96 because you had a true conservative congress. And Clinton was smart. He followed what the country wanted because he wanted a second term. If congress was democrat during that time there would have been no surplus. And if Clinton didn't "see the light" Dole would have won. Obama isn't Clinton.

[shooz]

Republican/conservative/TPer/libertarian.
All pretty much the same thing.
Differing only in their hate for America and Americans.
All that changes is the lies they spew.

[JohnInIndy]

Republican/conservative/TPer/libertarian.
All pretty much the same thing.
Differing only in their hate for America and Americans.
All that changes is the lies they spew.

What's the difference between a democrat, socialist, communist, Marxist then? All want to have control. Total control. And they want to do it on the backs of those who can actually make money. What's the saying?

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.

That got old a long time ago.

Actually Shoozie, we as Conservatives have a great love for this country and what it once was. I just am not sure about the libs feeling the same. They want us to be like Europe. Or France.

[Parallax]

To be a Democrat.............

You must believe that being a drug addict is an entitlement.

You must believe that folks who work for their money should be taxed at a high rate, to subsidize those who do nothing.

You must think that the best way to fight terrorism is to appease our enemies, and defer to the rest of the world when they demand our money.

You must believe that if you count the votes enough times, you will finally get a tally you like.

You must always be the one to sign the back of checks and never the front. You must believe that you have a right to a job, or at least a check. You must believe that anyone working for minimum wage is doing their best, and will never move ahead unless the government intervenes on their behalf, even if that intervention makes them complacent, and removes any incentive for them to do it on their own.

You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides aren't.

You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

You have to believe that wealthy is evil, and the definition of wealthy is anyone who has more money than you.

You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.

You have to believe that offending a Christian or a Jew is o.k., but those of other religions and atheists are off limits.

You have to believe that as long as there is a Republican in the White House, they are responsible for everything from the direction the wind blows to vaccinating the entire world for a flu that 116 people have contracted. If however, a democrat is in the White House - the responsibility no longer exists.

You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites, and bestiality should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

You have to believe that the ACLU knows more about raising your children than you do.

You have to believe that a person's Constitutional rights should be protected. (Well, the ones you personally favor, anyway)

[shooz]

Damn!
And I thought I was liberal.
Oh well.

[shooz]

All want to have control. Total control

Sounds like wallstreet. So they're commies now?
Who knew.

[JohnInIndy]

And to add to being a Good Democrat: (Now isn't that an oxy-moron)

What You Must Believe to be a Good Democrat

• You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

• You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

• You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.

• You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.

• You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

• You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

• You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but loony activists who have never been outside of San Francisco do.

• You have to believe that self esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

• You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make The Passion Of The Christ for financial gain only.

• You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

• You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

• You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.

• You have to believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and is a very nice person.

• You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and a sex offender belonged in the White House.

• You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Chinese government is somehow in the best interest to the United States.

1. Drug addiction is a disease that should be treated with compassion and understanding...unless the addict is a Conservative talk show host.


2. The United States should be subservient to the United Nations. Our highest authority is not God and the U.S. Constitution, but a collective of tinpot dictators (and their appeasers) and the U.N. charter.


3. Government should relax drug laws regardless of the potential for abuse, but should pass new and unConstitutional anti-gun laws because of the potential for abuse.


4. Calls for increased security after a terrorist attack are "political opportunism," but calls for more gun control after a criminal's spree killing is "a logical solution."


5. "It Takes a Village" means everything you want it to mean...except creeping socialist government involvement in the nuclear family.


6. Disarming innocent, law-abiding citizens helps protect them from evil, lawless terrorists and other thugs.


7. Slowly killing an unborn innocent by tearing it apart limb from limb is good. Slowly killing an innocent disabled woman by starving her to death is good. Quickly killing terrorists, convicted murderers and rapists is BAD.


8. Every religion should be respected and promoted in public schools the name of diversity, so long as that religion isn't Christianity or Judaism!


9. The best way to support our troops is to criticize their every move. This will let them know they're thought of often.


10. Sexual harassment, groping and drug use are degenerate if you're the governor of California, but it's okay if you're the President of the United States.


11. Sex education should be required so that teens can make informed choices about sex, but gun education should be banned because it will turn those same teens into maniacal mass-murderers.


12. Minorities are blameless for the hatred of the racist; women are blameless for the hatred of the rapist; but America is entirely at fault for the hatred of Islamofascists.


13. Poverty is the cause of all terrorism...which is why the leaders of al Qaeda are typically U.S.-educated and were raised in wealth and luxury.


14. The Patriot Act is a horrific compromise of Constitutional rights, but anti-Second Amendment laws and Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential Order 9066 must be regarded "reasonable precautions."


15. We should unquestioningly honor the wishes of our age-old allies, even when said allies no longer act like our allies and have vested economic interests in propping up our enemies.


16. Socialized medicine is the ideal. Nevermind all those people who spend every dime they have to get to the United States so they can get quality medical care...that their nation's socialized medical community can't provide.


17. Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky and Natalie Maines are perfectly qualified to criticize our leadership, but Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlton Heston, and Dennis Miller are just ignorant political hacks.


18. Jesus, may or may not be the son of God, God may or may not exist! Religion may or may not be good, depending on if the use of religion furthers our agenda or not.


19. Bush's toppling the Saddam regime was a "diversion," but Clinton's lobbing a couple of cruise missiles at Iraq in the thick of the Lewinsky sex scandal was "sending a message."


20. A president who lies under oath is okay, but a president who references sixteen words from an allies' intelligence report should be dragged through the streets naked.


21. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning Second Amendment rights and shopping the courts for judges sympathetic to causes that wouldn't pass in any legislature.


22. "The People" in the First Amendment means The People; "the People" in the Fourth Amendment means The People; "the People" in the Ninth Amendment means The People; "the People" in the Tenth Amendment means The People; but "the People" in the Second Amendment (ratified in 1791) means the National Guard (created by an Act of Congress in 1903).


23. You support a woman's "right to choose" to kill her unborn child, but don't believe that same woman is competent enough to homeschool the children she bears.


24. Proven draft-dodging is irrelevant, but baseless claims of AWOL status is crucial to national security.


25. Threatening to boycott Dr. Laura's and Rush Limbaugh's advertisers is exercising Freedom of Speech, but threatening to boycott CBS's "The Reagans" and Liberal actors over their asinine anti-American remarks is censorship and McCarthyist blacklisting.

26. You have a life partner instead of a wife

You have to believe that the posting of this list is a part of a vast, right wing conspiracy

[JohnInIndy]

Sounds like wallstreet. So they're commies now?
Who knew.

Only those who are liberal fat cats on wall street and are putting money in the Pharaoh Obama's pocket.

[shooz]

Or maybe they are just corporate commies.
And will continue to be until we dis-allow it.

Who's zoomin' who?

[redrockcoulee]

Only those who are liberal fat cats on wall street and are putting money in the Pharaoh Obama's pocket.

It is amazing how much you hate the Democrats and Obama considering that they are almost to the man/woman moderate conservatives. Do you really know what socialism and communism actually are and how far away from it any of the policies coming out of Washington are? Of course if as always you use your own definitions perhaps they are.

New definition of a communist or socialist; anyone who believes that laws, rules or regulations or even taxes should apply to corporations.

Our far right Conservative government has done more in the way of what you call "socialism" during the recession than Obama and the Democrats even tried. It was called by them responsible government, of course the end result of our regs and polices are no bank failed to make a profit and much less unemployment. But live in your world that all union workers are dishonest and any government regulations of business is communism.

[shooz]

John is at his best when he is avoiding answering questions.
He needs a union organizer to help him get his act together.