I’ve been called a fascist by communists and a communist by fascists.  I’ve been called a pagan by Christians and a Christian by pagans.  I’ve been called an optimist by pessimists and a pessimist by optimists.  All of us have been labeled by others.  We’ve all been called this by that and that by this, we’ve all had people try to insult us by how they refer to us, but when people insult our intelligence they are usually showing their ignorance. 

The actions of the second-stringers, stand-ins, and understudies from the theater of the absurd who now pass for leadership in our Republic not only insult our intelligence, they act as if the American people have the IQ of a potted plant and the attention span of someone riddled with ADD.  There is one good thing about people who insult our intelligence; they’re probably misunderestimating the true level of our understanding. 

Our President tells us that killing the Keystone Pipeline is no big deal.  Instead he tells us “However many jobs might be generated by a Keystone pipeline, they’re going to be a lot fewer than the jobs that are created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance.”  Making decisions that kill the opportunity to create real jobs is offset by the jobs created by extending payments made to those who are unemployed.  That doesn’t make sense to anyone outside the beltway 

At the same time this oxymoronic newspeak pours from the White House, the valiant leaders of the loyal opposition in the House vote to deny our spendaholic President another trillion all the while knowing that they already gave him the money last year.   

You see, according to the debt increase law which was supported by all of the Republican Congressional leaders, the debt limit is automatically raised fifteen days after the president officially notifies lawmakers that the government is close to the current $15.2 trillion cap.  That is unless Congress votes to deny the borrowing increase and the President signs the bill.  This is where the Republican leaders add insult to injury by staging a symbolic vote to hold the line against an ever rising debt they already approved.  Their powerless measure passed the House with ease. Yet they knew all along it was DOA in Harry Reid’s Democratic-controlled Senate.  And even if by some miracle it was voted on and passed by the Senate, President Obama would veto it guaranteeing the increase will go through as planed and the debt will grow by another 1.2 trillion. 

While Mr. Obama may work day and night to kill projects that might actually provide some work for the rest of us he has no problem investing billions of our dollars in green energy boondoggles that turn a profit for his donors and cronies.  Then when the flimflams are about to be exposed as the money pits they are, on the eve of an election, the Energy Department which turned a blind eye to the initial foolish investment suddenly becomes involved and the announcement is delayed until after the marks, I mean voters, have cast their ballots. 

In foreign policy our Commander-in-Chief announced the date for our withdrawal from Afghanistan at the same time he announced the same type of surge he was against in Iraq.  Now he decides it’s time to negotiate with the Taliban.  Are we supposed to believe these highly dedicated, highly motivated, and religiously fanatic battle hardened warriors will rush to make concessions?  Won’t they instead hang tough, demand concessions, and pick up the pieces as our leader leads our valiant, though under-cut warriors, for the door?  Does anyone doubt that Karzai, our creature in Kabul, will be on a jumbo jet filled with American dollars before our last soldier gets home?  All this is presented as a rational settlement instead of an abject surrender and jaded political maneuver. 

There’s no inflation.  At least that’s what the Federal Government wants us to believe.   Everyone who goes to the supermarket buys gas or pays to heat their home can evaluate the reliability of that piece of government information for themselves. 

How could anyone ever see through any of this unless of course they have at least the IQ of that potted plant mentioned earlier?  This may be insulting, it may show us what the perpetually re-elected think of their constituents, but it also shows that they’re giving us an advantage.  We’re smarter than they think we are so we should be able to blind side them with organizational skills and motivational abilities far beyond what they’ll expect. 

They are counting the Tea Party out because we aren’t holding mass rallies.  They believe they’ve won the organizational battle because they were able to mobilize the occupy everywhere crowd to gather for a street party and pollute some major cities.  They believe that since the conservative vote is currently split in the GOP they will manage to nominate the next Bob Dole/John McCain moderate to play the part of the Washington Generals in a Harlem Globe Trotter game: good but never quite good enough.  In 2012 they see the Republicans, like the Washington Generals, there to provide a platform for the chosen winner to shine.   

The parties of power treat us with such disdain it’s obvious they believe we’re the sheep they work so hard to make us.  They believe Americans have been dumbed down enough and fattened with enough entitlements that we’ll barely bah bah bah as they lead us to the shearing shed one more time.  Our Progressive leaders in both parties see that election is the one that counts.  This is the election that will either drive us over the cliff into the shabby abyss of collectivist conformity or the one that will give us one last opportunity to return to limited government, personal liberty, and economic freedom.  

We may not be demonstrating in the streets.  We may not be organizing boycotts.  We may not be united behind one candidate.  However, we are awake.  We are educating ourselves.  We are determined that this great experiment in human freedom shall not perish from the face of the earth.  Vote for the Constitution.  Vote for personal liberty.  Vote for economic freedom.  If we all do what we can do we will accomplish what must be done.  We will keep the faith.  We will keep the peace.  We shall overcome! 

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College.  He is the author of the History of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2012 Robert R. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com  Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens

The damage was done last year when Congress voted to spend even more money that we didn’t have.  The result is that the US debt is now greater than the US Gross Domestic Product.

A Little History

 In August of 2011 Congress authorized a debt ceiling increase of between $2.1 and $2.4 trillion.  The increase was to happen in up to three steps, and as the ink was drying on the President’s signature the administration raised the total debt limit from $14.3 trillion to $15.2 trillion (an increase of around $900 billion) to match ‘cuts’ that were in the bill.  The cuts were mostly meaningless, and were spread out over 10 years (while the debt increase was instant) but it gave cover to those who wanted to vote for it.  The story was that any increase in debt would be matched with offsetting spending cuts

A Super-Committee was formed to come up with another $1.5 trillion in cuts by December 23.  If they failed this would trigger ‘automatic’ cuts of $1.2 trillion beginning in 2013.  The final spending reduction was to be added to the $900 billion increase from August.  To nobody’s surprise the committee was not successful, which means that the total increase is supposed to be limited to $2.1 trillion.

Where we are Today

The Federal Government announced on December 30th that they had had used up all but $100B of the debt ceiling increase.  That is $800 billion dollars in just 150 days, which means that the government is borrowing $5.34 billion dollars every day, not the $4 billion that is widely reported.

So the President now wants to increase the total US debt from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion, or 112% of GDP.  Congress reserves the right to disapprove of this increase, but the President can veto such an action.  The “Resolution of Disapproval” is not as forceful as an actual law and would be something as simple as stating that Congress disapproves of the President’s exercise of authority to increase the debt limit.  Difficult to say since they voted for it in the first place.

The Republicans, especially in the House where they are all up for election, will probably decide to make a big show and vote against the increase, forcing Obama to nullify the vote with a veto.  This is the best political strategy because it gives them cover in November (or in a primary) and allows them to make Obama out to be the bad guy.  And since they won’t have the votes to override the veto everyone will get the extra money anyway.

You would think that Representatives who voted for the increase in 2011 will have a difficult time voting against it this time.  The excuse they might try is that they were made promises that were not kept, which isn’t true.  They were promised a vote on a balanced budget amendment and that a Super Committee would be put together to find cuts to offset the debt limit increases.  Both of these happened.  A balanced budget amendment was brought to the floor in November of 2011.  It was a bad amendment (see why HERE) but with the exception of a few true conservatives many in Congress voted for it anyway.  The Super Committee did not choose their own cuts but, in theory, the offsetting cuts will be made for them.

(Aside – The definition of Irony – Get a promise to vote on a balanced budget amendment by voting for a bill that puts the budget more out of balance.)

The only other excuse I see for those who were in favor of it in 2011 but now want to come out against it is that they didn’t really know what was going on the first time.  But the “I voted for it before I vote against it” doesn’t play well to conservatives, and no congressman wants to admit that they might have made a mistake.

There is one other option.  They could do nothing and just hope it passes by without notice.  But they should know by now that we are watching.

This is a short week in the House of Representatives.  The Senate does not come back into session full time until next week. 

The House and the Senate readies the start the second session of the 112th Congress with very low expectations.   The next big decision point for Congress will be the expiration of the payroll tax deal in the end of February.  There is a vote this week in the House to reject the President’s request for a $1.2 trillion increase in the borrowing authority of the Obama Administration.  The Wednesday House vote is really for show, because the process was designed for failure. 

Read More →

This is a short week in the House of Representatives.  The Senate does not come back into session full time until next week. 

The House and the Senate readies the start the second session of the 112th Congress with very low expectations.   The next big decision point for Congress will be the expiration of the payroll tax deal in the end of February.  There is a vote this week in the House to reject the President’s request for a $1.2 trillion increase in the borrowing authority of the Obama Administration.  The Wednesday House vote is really for show, because the process was designed for failure. 

Read More →

Pursuant to the Budget Control Act, brought to you by the GOP leadership’s sellout, Obama notified Congress yesterday that the federal debt is approaching the statutory ceiling of $15.194 trillion. [The actual total debt is already $15.237 trillion, but a small amount is not subject to the limit.]  As such, he is calling on Congress to grant him another $1.2 trillion in debt, conveniently enough to last him until after the election, with the possibility of saddling his successor with a tough decision over yet another debt limit increase.  It is really more of a notification than a request.  Obama will automatically receive his $1.2 trillion supercharged credit card unless two-thirds of Congress votes to disapprove of the request within 15 days.

In just three years, he has accrued $4.6 trillion in debt, more than Bush amassed during his entire eight-year tenure.  Now he will add another $1.2 trillion by the end of his first term, and, thanks to the horrendous budget deal, which was cheered on by the same outlets that are now fawning over Mitt Romney, there’s nothing we can do about it.

But here’s the question: If Congress is in recess and cannot fulfill its responsibility to advice and consent, as the President has suggested, how can Obama fulfill his obligation of submitting a certification to Congress?

The Budge Control Act requires the following of Obama:

“the President submits a written certification to Congress that the President has determined that the debt subject to limit is within $100,000,000,000 of the limit in section 3101(b) and that further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments, the Secretary of the Treasury may exercise authority to borrow an additional $900,000,000,000, subject to the enactment of a joint resolution of disapproval enacted pursuant to this section. Upon submission of such certification, the limit on debt provided in section 3101(b) (referred to in this section as the ‘debt limit’) is increased by $400,000,000,000.”

Is this submission invalid?  Do we need a new submission to start the 15 days Congress has to disapprove of the increase in debt?  How was the House able to file the resolution of disapproval and set up a vote for next week?   After all, Congress is all but gone, according to Obama.

If Obama wants Congress to issue $1.2 trillion of debt while their gone, imagine what they can do when they’re “in session.”

Pursuant to the Budget Control Act, brought to you by the GOP leadership’s sellout, Obama notified Congress yesterday that the federal debt is approaching the statutory ceiling of $15.194 trillion. [The actual total debt is already $15.237 trillion, but a small amount is not subject to the limit.]  As such, he is calling on Congress to grant him another $1.2 trillion in debt, conveniently enough to last him until after the election, with the possibility of saddling his successor with a tough decision over yet another debt limit increase.  It is really more of a notification than a request.  Obama will automatically receive his $1.2 trillion supercharged credit card unless two-thirds of Congress votes to disapprove of the request within 15 days.

In just three years, he has accrued $4.6 trillion in debt, more than Bush amassed during his entire eight-year tenure.  Now he will add another $1.2 trillion by the end of his first term, and, thanks to the horrendous budget deal, which was cheered on by the same outlets that are now fawning over Mitt Romney, there’s nothing we can do about it.

But here’s the question: If Congress is in recess and cannot fulfill its responsibility to advice and consent, as the President has suggested, how can Obama fulfill his obligation of submitting a certification to Congress?

The Budge Control Act requires the following of Obama:

“the President submits a written certification to Congress that the President has determined that the debt subject to limit is within $100,000,000,000 of the limit in section 3101(b) and that further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments, the Secretary of the Treasury may exercise authority to borrow an additional $900,000,000,000, subject to the enactment of a joint resolution of disapproval enacted pursuant to this section. Upon submission of such certification, the limit on debt provided in section 3101(b) (referred to in this section as the ‘debt limit’) is increased by $400,000,000,000.”

Is this submission invalid?  Do we need a new submission to start the 15 days Congress has to disapprove of the increase in debt?  How was the House able to file the resolution of disapproval and set up a vote for next week?   After all, Congress is all but gone, according to Obama.

If Obama wants Congress to issue $1.2 trillion of debt while their gone, imagine what they can do when they’re “in session.”

It’s worse than we thought.

You may have been sickened by the reports that theUnited Stateswas borrowing money to cover its reckless spending at the rate of about $4 Billion per day.  But with some information that came out over the weekend it is very easy to see that the rate has increased dramatically.

At the beginning of August, 2011, after much end-of-the-world talk, Congress agreed to allow the Obama Administration to raise the debt ceiling by as much as $2.4 Trillion.  At the time the limit was set to $14.3 Trillion.  The idea was that as Congress found new cuts the President could increase the debt ceiling.  The initial bill included $900 Billion in spending reductions (over 10 years, which will probably never happen).  The administration quickly took advantage of this and over the next few months upped the limit to where it is today – $15.2 Trillion.

But over the weekend the administration stated (fairly quietly) that it needed another raise in the spending limit.  They said that the $15.2 Trillion was no longer enough and they now needed $16.4 trillion, announcing that by December 30th they had expected to be within $100 Billion of the limit.

So – here is the simple math:

August 1, 2011 – Debt Ceiling of $14.3 Trillion reached

December 30, 2011 – Within $100 Billion of the $15.2 Trillion limit

That is $800 Billion dollars over a matter of 150 days, which works out to $5.333 Billion ($5,333,333,333) per day that we are borrowing.

When they authorized the limit to climb to $16.4 trillion they did it to keep it from being an election issue.  The idea was it would last until 2013.  Well, bad news for the Obama administration – at the current rate they will hit the max again before September.

If you are like most Americans you remember much ado about Republicans who voted for an increase in the debt ceiling (I still maintain, a huge mistake) in exchange for a chance to vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution before the end of the year.  Well – how did that turn out?

What Happened to the 2011 Balanced Budget Amendment?

Remember the epic Balanced Budget Amendment that was to be voted on before the end of the year?  The one that the “tea party hobbits” wanted?

On November 18th, just after the national debt crossed the $15,000,000,000,000 mark, a  roll call vote failed to get the required 2/3 majority in the House.  Unless you were paying very close attention it probably escaped your notice.  For some reason Republicans didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, and the media didn’t find it interesting enough to put in the spotlight.  Maybe everyone knew it was justWashingtongoing through the motions.  Republicans had used the promise of a balanced budget amendment as their cover for increasing the debt limit earlier, and now nobody really cared whether it passed or not.  After all, we were told, it would have died in the Senate.

The Balanced Budget Amendment was rotten anyway

There were a few good points, but if you are going to amend the Constitution you need to do it right and not just settle.  The amendment required the President to submit a balanced budget, and it did allow an exemption if we were at war.  But, if 2/3 of Congress approved, the amendment allowed the budget to be balanced with a tax hike.  Simply let Democrats, or big government Republicans, get a majority and that hurtle would barely be a speed bump.

Republicans who voted to raise the debt limit earlier certainly felt they had to vote for the amendment as cover, whether they liked it or not.  To their credit, a handful of true conservatives voted against the resolution, including two of my favorites – Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.  Their main complaint was that it allowed the budget to be balanced by raising taxes.  Representative Gohmert said that given the choice he would rather have a cap on spending.  Paul Ryan had pushed for a tougher version of the amendment that would have also set tight caps on annual spending.  Maybe in 2012 we can elect Representatives who will follow their lead and we can get something that conservatives can be proud of.

Those of you who have read my pieces in the past know that I was pushing for congressional Republicans to fight for deficit reduction on the continuing resolution.  This didn’t happen.

Instead, explained the GOP, (1) it would be so much easier and risk-free to use the debt limit, and (2) besides, they were about to unveil a budget which would be widely applauded because (A) the press loves Paul Ryan and (B) no one could attack Medicare changes which left benefits intact for everyone over 55.

Uh…

But, predicted I, if Republicans held up the debt limit, all sorts of sycophantic, sleazy, Obama-worshipping economists would crawl out of the woodwork in order to predict financial Armageddon.

And crawl they did, whining about the cataclysmic consequences of “default” on the U.S. debt.

Well, it turned out that predictions that the U.S. would “default” on making debt payments were -– to give the distinguished economists the benefit of the doubt and to put the best face on their motives –- a contemptible lie.

Read More →

Those of you who have read my pieces in the past know that I was pushing for congressional Republicans to fight for deficit reduction on the continuing resolution.  This didn’t happen.

Instead, explained the GOP, (1) it would be so much easier and risk-free to use the debt limit, and (2) besides, they were about to unveil a budget which would be widely applauded because (A) the press loves Paul Ryan and (B) no one could attack Medicare changes which left benefits intact for everyone over 55.

Uh…

But, predicted I, if Republicans held up the debt limit, all sorts of sycophantic, sleazy, Obama-worshipping economists would crawl out of the woodwork in order to predict financial Armageddon.

And crawl they did, whining about the cataclysmic consequences of “default” on the U.S. debt.

Well, it turned out that predictions that the U.S. would “default” on making debt payments were -– to give the distinguished economists the benefit of the doubt and to put the best face on their motives –- a contemptible lie.

Read More →