Quote of the Day
A man on the street is pointing up to the sky. "Look, an angel!" he yells. Passersby laugh. "You fool, that is only a cloud."How wonderful it would be to see angels where there are only clouds. How sad it would be to see only clouds where there are angels.
Anonymous
President Obama Signs FY2011 Budget Deal: All Hat, No Cattle: Thumbs DOWN!
I thought that the GOP should have been going for deeper, broad-based cuts, not holding up the rest of the government over uprooting, say NPR or Planned Parenthood money. (Don't get me wrong: I strongly support defunding these sources. This is more of an issue of political prudence, and patience is a virtue.) I think you can only do the latter if you have majority control in the Senate and a GOP President. The GOP cannot allow itself to be defined by the opposition as putting narrow partisan funding battles above the far more serious deficit and debt issues.
But the recent CBO report that the much-vaunted $38B cut is actually more like $352M is infuriating: is this what the country went through weeks of angst and this is the best effort to economize over a $3.5T budget? What are some of the "cuts"? Accounting gimmicks. For example, the CHIP program had some $3.5B in reserve as incentives for states to enroll qualifying children; most states won't qualify for the incentives (although if they end up qualifying in the future, they're still entitled to the money); other examples include unused Census money and highway funds. Then there was the nearly $5B reserve for a Crime Victims Fund, but no short-term disbursements were expected. There were also some funded Obama czar positions that have gone vacant. Then there was about $3B in savings from high-speed rail projects that were cancelled (Wisconsin, Ohio, and/or Florida?) In other cases, there was a roll-up of previous budget concessions or cuts Obama had previously conceded.
In the real world, cuts involve things like hiring freezes, reduced hours/compensation and/or laying off workers, reducing training or travel funds, deferring projects, or consolidating facilities: things that reduce the nature and extent of federal checks being cashed, not potential federal checks.
Obama Overheard By Reporters: "You Think We're Stupid?"
Is This a Trick Question? YES!
Before the "nonpartisan politics" President starts mocking Speaker Boehner, accusing Congressman Ryan (R-WI) of being a hypocrite on fiscal conservatism, and noting the incompetence of telecommunications workers in the White House not being able to fix ongoing phone problems, he might first make sure there's not an open mike carrying his comments back to the White House press room.
Now John Boehner and Paul Ryan are big boys and don't need me defending them. But I want to discuss a few points from the overheard conversation at a fundraiser.
First, Obama ridiculed attempts by the House GOP to defund certain healthcare law bureaucratic buildups and/or Planned Parenthood. I do not underestimate the difficulties of defunding given a Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House, but there are multiple things Obama is overlooking: first, he can't get the funding without House sign-off, and there will be a political price; second, the federal deficit and the healthcare law are political problems for Obama, who's tied his all-time low of 41% (with a 35% approval rate by independents), and any opportunity the GOP has of reminding voters of these issues is not good for Obama; third, the GOP can use these issues to help energize their traditional voter base.
Second, Obama wants to personally attack Congressman Ryan as hypocritical for supporting the prescription drug entitlement and the "unpaid-for" Bush tax hikes and wars/occupations. This is the sort of the Big Lie that Clinton used in questioning GHW Bush's credibility ("no new taxes")--and then, after his election, suddenly discovering instead of a tax cut, he needed a tax increase.
Several points. Obama can talk all he wants about hypocrisy but the largest deficit under the GOP-controlled Congress was less than $500B; the Democrats since FY2009 have tripled the worst GOP deficits. Federal tax collection reached an all-time high after the Bush tax cuts, and decades of experience show that federal tax collections hold up against drops in highest-level tax rates (e.g., the 1920's, the 1960's, and the 1980's). This is because tax cuts stimulate economic activity. But Obama didn't reject the bulk of Bush's "unpaid-for" tax cuts, i.e., for the middle class. When it came to the prescription drug entitlement, Obama and Dems have increased the unfunded mandates by closing the so-called doughnut hole. During the 110th and 111th Congress, furthermore, the Democrats made no attempt to pay for the Medicare drug benefit or the wars.
Fukushima Nuclear Incident Update
It turns out even the terminology used to describe the Fukushima Daiichi events is particular. Apparently you use the word 'incident' to refer to events up to 3 (on a 7-point scale); the word 'accident' is used for events 4 and above. Just note that I'm using unofficial terminology; I don't normally use 'accident' in reference to acts of God like hurricanes or earthquakes.
There aren't a lot of new details across the various blogs. IAEA reported 'white smoke' (steam?) arising from reactors 2 through 4 yesterday, and silt fences are now in place at all 4 reactor inset streams. In addition, a backup supply line of freshwater was being established this past Wednesday. Atomic Power Review in yesterday's late night note suggested it might be next month before the basement and trench contaminated waters are dewatered because of storage capacity constraints. NEI notes that contaminants have risen nearly 38 times in sub-drain pits over the past week. The Hiroshima Syndrome blogger criticizes the lack of integration among various Japanese nuclear safety organizations giving incomplete or inconsistent data across reactors and notes the US State Department is softening its Hiroshima Syndrome-influenced Japan evacuation plan for US citizens.
Political Humor. I didn't realize until now that I was so busy writing the rest of yesterday's post, I forgot to include my regular political humor segment. So today I'm making that up with a double dose of jokes/ad libs.
"Obama called on Americans to have more grandchildren. Probably so there’s more of them to pay off our debt." - Jay Leno
[On a separate note, Obama called for continued federal subsidies to the nation's largest abortion services provider, Planned Parenthood. Another example of the payoff to progressive government "investments": 41% of US births involve unmarried mothers. Perhaps Obama's plan to increase the number of grandchildren involves federal government subsidies for "Ladies Night" in bars...]
"Oprah says that the president and first lady will appear on her April 2 show. At the end, she’ll be giving them away." - Jimmy Kimmel
[And I wrote "refused, return to sender". Isn't it time somebody took a stand against gifts of unwanted fruitcakes?]
"President Obama laid out his plan to reduce the $14 trillion national debt. Unfortunately for Sasha and Malia, it involves selling a lot of girl scout cookies." - Jimmy Kimmel
[Sasha and Malia asked for a $200B advance on their allowance, so they can pay for cookies for families whom can't afford to buy the cookies, given the higher food and energy bills under their father's administration.]
Political experts are saying NBC should take “Celebrity Apprentice” off the air because if Trump runs for president, he could use it as an unfair platform. Because nothing says “leader of the free world” like someone who can’t stop a fight between Meat Loaf and Gary Busey. - Conan O'Brien
[Donald Trump insists that the show illustrates how he will keep Democrats in check: if you can handle the eccentricities of Gary Busey, you can deal with Nancy Pelosi, and if you can keep Meat Loaf's temper in check, you can cope with acerbic Congressmen like Anthony Weiner and Louise Slaughter.]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
ABBA, "Does Your Mother Know?" One of my personal top 5 ABBA hits. I think this is the only ABBA hit I remember where one of the men (Bjorn) sang lead while the ladies sang background. (I don't know if the Chipmunk-like tail end of the chorus by the ladies is a recording gimmick or natural, but it's very cute.) There was/is a continuing controversy over whether ABBA should have been elected to the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame (in reference to their more pop sound), but this hit is definitely within the rock 'n roll camp. This is a really fun, flirty song; Frida looks like she's having a blast doing the video.
