Total Bullshit: With All Due Respect
That’s the only thing I can call Harry Reid’s statement after President Bush’s news conference. Let’s start with his most insulting accusation:
Bush Sets Up Straw Man: Unnamed Democrats Want to Raise Taxes While Bush Has Been Fiscally Responsible. “Our job is to work with Congress to have wise fiscal policy. And wise fiscal policy means not only keeping revenues low, (sic) but it also means being wise about how we spend the people’s money…(Democrats) will couch it in all kinds of language. But really what they’re saying is, ‘We’re going to raise your taxes.’” (Press Conference, 6/14/06)
FACT: President Bush Turned Record Budget Surpluses into Record Deficits. President Bush inherited a unified budget surplus of $236 billion from President Clinton, the largest surplus in American history. Budget surpluses were expected to continue for another ten years when President Bush took office in January 2001. By 2002, however, the unified federal budget had returned to a deficit of $158 billion and has since reached historic highs. This year, the budget deficit is expected to reach $336 billion. (Office of Management and Budget; Congressional Budget Office, 03/06)
When Reid represents as fact that “President Bush Turned Record Budget Surpluses into Record Deficits”, he’s conveniently forgetting about this thing called 9/11. In the aftermath of 9/11 a couple trillion dollars were pulled from the American economy. Factor in the cost of waging a war we had to fight to the lost tax revenue and it would’ve taken an act of God to not run huge deficits.
Of course, Reid doesn’t want people to think that the deficit is shrinking because that would doom Democrats’ chances this November. Too bad. We’ll continue trumpeting the latest deficit reduction figures that the CBO is reporting. What’s more is that the deficit is dropping like a rock as a percentage of GDP.
Notice, too, that Reid doesn’t knock down the President’s “straw man” that Democrats would raise taxes. He’s hoping you won’t notice. Sorry, Harry, but that won’t work with the Right Blogosphere translating your misstatements.
Here’s another bunch of BS:
Last year, the Congress called on the President to make 2006 a year of significant transition in Iraq and yet halfway through this year, the President is simply maintaining the same tired mantra, ‘as Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.’ Yet at the same time more Iraqi security forces are in the field, U.S. force levels have actually increased in recent weeks. This is not a real plan and is not acceptable. The President must take responsibility for laying out a strategy for stabilizing Iraq and bringing our troops home.”
TRANSLATION: Last year, most Democrats and a few faint-hearted RINO’s said that they didn’t like President Bush’s strategy, that it wasn’t fast enough. They told him that they didn’t have the steadfastness and fortitude to stay the course.
Democrats are the only ones now who think that we don’t have a plan for victory. That’s because they haven’t expressed a consistent desire for victory. Instead, all they’ve offered is an endless litany of complaints. Chief among those complaints was that we hadn’t killed or captured Zarqawi. The minute the report broke that he’d been killed in an airstrike, they switched to saying that this was a nice accomplishment for the military but that it was mostly a symbolic event. RIGHT!!! They first said that killing Zarqawi should be our first, second and third priority, then they say the military’s killing him was only symbolic. And these idiots can’t figure out why they aren’t taken seriously on national security issues? Scary.
Technorati Tags: Harry Reid, Iraq, Budget Deficits
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
June 14th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
Harry Reid must still think this is 2004. He’s reciting balony from way back then…
June 14th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
With all due respect?
First, the comments that you attribute to Harry Reid were not his, but a fact check on some of the wild distortions and misrepresentations Bush would like you to believe. Calling the truth-challenged administration on its lies and deceipt is the job of the opposition, as you should well know.
Really? And you’re not forgetting the tax cuts rammed through both before and after 9/11? This is the only time in the history of this nation that we’ve seen tax cuts during a war. Sacrifice, schmacrifice… with a Bush in the White House, no billionaire will be left behind!
But as to your translation, let me offer one with a bit more even-handed perspective: Since the country is fed up with the Administration’s mistruths and distortions, let’s leave the reason why we’re in Iraq out of the question for a moment and try to figure out how we’re going to get out of there, leave the region with some stability, and not spend our great-grandchildren’s legacy (since we’ve already spent our children and granchildren’s). W is the president, and it’s his job to lead us. More of the same is not leading; it is merely being unwilling to admit some mistakes, correct them, and get back to the job at hand.
Finally, calling the Democrats idiots is the pot calling the kettle black… or do I need to remind you that the deficit, which you say is shrinking, is the largest it has ever been, the national debt is growing faster than we can print money, the stock market is still, five years later, below where it was when Bush took office… I could go on all night, but I think this is falling on deaf ears.
Afterall, the republicCONs are a bunch of borrow-and-spend con men. What are we going to do when our grandchildren look up to us and say “You mean you spent every dime we are trying make back at the turn of the century? What are we supposed to do now?”
June 14th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
First, the comments that you attribute to Harry Reid were not his, but a fact check on some of the wild distortions and misrepresentations Bush would like you to believe. Calling the truth-challenged administration on its lies and deceipt is the job of the opposition, as you should well know.
Are you that stupid? These comments were part of Reid’s official press release. If they don’t represent his thinking, don’t put them in his official statement.
Really? And you’re not forgetting the tax cuts rammed through both before and after 9/11? This is the only time in the history of this nation that we’ve seen tax cuts during a war. Sacrifice, schmacrifice… with a Bush in the White House, no billionaire will be left behind!
As a result of those tax cuts, we had the shallowest recession in modern history. And those same tax cuts are bringing in increased revenues. By the time Bush leaves office, we’ll almost be back to a balanced budget. Get your tax-hiking idiot ass out of here.
What type of drugs are you using? I didn’t mention WHY we’re in Iraq. As for how we’ll “get out of there, leave the region with some stability, and not spend our great-grandchildren’s legacy”, go read the news conference transcript to see Bush’s detailed, comprehensive plan. As for “spending our great-grandchildren’s legacy”, see my above answer. We’re already running deficits that are smaller as a portion of GDP than during Clinton’s first term. And he inherited a growing economy, something that President Bush didn’t have the benefit of.
Your comments aren’t just stupid, they’re intellectually vacant. Please keep making them because they tell the world what a disaster a Democratic congress would be.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Ambien cr….
Ambien….