CBO: ObamaCare repeal bill would reduce deficits by half a trillion dollars over 10 years

Plenty of Americans choose to reject ObamaCare to save themselves a boatload of money. Republicans in Congress believe the US budget should have that choice, and the CBO agrees with them that it would work, too. Their latest analysis of a bill that would repeal the major components of ObamaCare through the reconciliation process concludes that it would reduce federal deficit spending by $516 billion over the first ten years:
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Fed Chair: ‘Deficits Will Rise to Unsustainable Levels’

Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, referencing the Congressional Budget Office's long-term budget projections, told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress today that under current policies the federal government’s deficits “will rise to unsustainable levels.”

In the 10-year budget projections it released in April, the CBO estimated that the federal government will run $7.618 trillion in deficits from 2015 through 2024. At the same time, the CBO projected that the federal government’s debt held by the public would rise from $11.983 trillion at the end of fiscal 2013 to $20.947 trillion by the end of 2024.

Read more at CNS News Read More......

GOP.com: Obama By The Numbers

7/11/2011 - Obama’s Treasury Secretary Says It Is “Ridiculous” To Judge The President Based On The Facts – You Be The Judge... GOP.com/PDF

Eye-popping numbers! --bc
(Hat tip: D'Ann Mathews) Read More......

Why the Greatest Depression of All Time Has Begun

WAYNE ALLYN ROOT'S BLOG, 6/2/2011 - [Excerpt] "Here's where the story gets downright frightening. This time the results are going to be dramatically worse than 1929. This time we are facing The Greatest Depression ever. ∴ Why? Because The Great Depression had NONE of [the] problems and obligations we are now facing." Read full essay...

Wayne Allyn Root is a successful businessman and former Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee. Read More......

WSJ: The Presidential Divider

WALL STREET JOURNAL/REVIEW & OUTLOOK, 4/14/2011 by Joseph Rago and Steve Moore - Obama's toxic speech and even worse plan for deficits and debt.

Did someone move the 2012 election to June 1? We ask because President Obama's extraordinary response to Paul Ryan's budget yesterday—with its blistering partisanship and multiple distortions—was the kind Presidents usually outsource to some junior lieutenant. Mr. Obama's fundamentally political document would have been unusual even for a Vice President in the fervor of a campaign.

The immediate political goal was to inoculate the White House from criticism that it is not serious about the fiscal crisis, after ignoring its own deficit commission last year and tossing off a $3.73 trillion budget in February that increased spending amid a record deficit of $1.65 trillion. Mr. Obama was chased to George Washington University yesterday because Mr. Ryan and the Republicans outflanked him on fiscal discipline and are now setting the national political agenda. Read more at WSJ...

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The GOP Path to Prosperity

Our budget cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years and puts the nation on track to pay off our national debt.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), writes, "Congress is currently embroiled in a funding fight over how much to spend on less than one-fifth of the federal budget for the next six months. Whether we cut $33 billion or $61 billion—that is, whether we shave 2% or 4% off of this year's deficit—is important. It's a sign that the election did in fact change the debate in Washington from how much we should spend to how much spending we should cut." Read more at WSJ... Read More......

Our burgeoning budget and the politics of avoidance

WASHINGTON POST, 11/22/2010 by Robert J. Samuelson (Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) - America's budget problem boils down to a simple question: How much will we let programs for the elderly displace other government functions - national defense, education, transportation and many others - and raise taxes to levels that would, almost certainly, reduce economic growth? What's depressing is that this question has been obvious for decades, but our political leaders have consistently evaded it. This includes and indicts Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, liberals and every president since Jimmy Carter, particularly Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who clearly understood the problem. Read more at Washington Post...

"Our political culture prefers delusion to candor." Could Samuelson be talking about Corvallis? --JHD
Did Samuelson forget that GWB crossed the country stumping for SS reform, which fell on deaf ears? --bc Read More......

Was America Built on a House of Cards?

Excerpt from Government of Deceit by Pat McConnell, Chapter 37, Page 206:

"Was Twentieth Century America built on a mountain of debt?

Federal Government infrastructure
How about the interstate system with all the bridges? Were they ever paid for? We are now in need of repairing or replacing some bridges, but did we ever pay for them the first time?

The Interstate Highway system is the largest public works project ever completed in the U.S. Its construction started in late 1956 and continues today. The original system was budgeted at $25 billion and was to be completed in 12 years. However, the originally planned interstates were completed in 1992, taking about 36 years to complete. Alas, the costs grew, and soon the price tag ended up at $114 billion (adjusted for inflation, the cost might approach $1 trillion.) The actual funding of construction was 90% federal and 10% state. The feds financed the 90% with bonds to be paid back through federal gas taxes.

Only for the years 1956, 1957 and 1960, did the Federal Government balance the budget. Examining the deficits for the years thereafter; it is obvious that when the bonds came due, they were just paid off with new borrowing. So, in essence, we never paid for the interstate system. In addition, we have been paying interest on the interstate system ever since. Now, if the Interstate Highway system is the largest public works project in our history and it is not paid for, I think that a logical conclusion could be reached that little of our Federal Government infrastructure was paid for after about 1930, when Deficit Spending became a national addiction. Oops."

Mr. McConnell continues the chapter with state & local government and John Q. Public's addiction to credit; though hardly comparable to the fed.

Doesn't Rep. DeFazio (D-OR) serve on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure? Read more about Government of Deceit. --bc Read More......

IBD: Beyond Our Means

INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY/OPINION, posted 07:05 PM ET - Health Care: The California Senate voted last Thursday to create a government-run single-payer medical care program. Do the 22 lawmakers who voted for this bill realize that the state will run out of cash before April? ∴ The state is facing a $20 billion deficit. It's bleeding money. To close the gap, Sacramento will probably cook up some brew of tax hikes, pay cuts for state workers and program cuts. ∴ Despite the deep troubles, the Senate wants to add a program that is expected to cost $200 billion a year, which, in fact, is likely far short of what the plan will actually cost. Read more at IBD...

Good grief! --bc Read More......

SNL pokes fun at the president and the NYT issues a warning

It's a big deal when generally left-leaning Saturday Night Live parodies the president as it did regarding Obama's recent meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Bejing and Jintao's resultant lecture on America's mounting deficits and dangerous fiscal policies including ObamaCare. This video indicates a crack in the absolute confidence the left has shown toward Barack Obama.

Then, according to MoneyNews.com (Newsmax), the New York Times wagged its finger at the Obama Administration. U.S. Racing Toward Debt ‘Shock’ - A page one, top-of-the-fold New York Times report Monday warns that U.S. debt is rising so fast that the federal government is careening toward a "payment shock" in the not-too-distant future. ∴ The Times lead headline read: “Federal Government Faces Balloon in Debt Payments: At $700 Billion a Year, Cost Will Top Budgets for 2 Wars, Education, Energy.” ∴ The Times headline appears eerie just as the Senate moves to push forward on a radical healthcare reform — with CBO estimates for a final bill costing nearly $1 trillion dollars over the next year. Read More......

Bend the Revenue Curve

WASHINGTON POST, 10/13/2009 - Health Reform Alone Won't End Deficits ∴ Anyone who thinks that health-care reform alone is going to close the massive current -- and even larger projected -- U.S. budget deficit is deluded. President Obama has pledged that health-care reform will not make matters worse. But that isn't good enough. There is no way to restore this nation to fiscal health without higher taxes -- for the middle class as well as for the rich. The only question is when. Those increases should be enacted now, phased in gradually after the recovery is well established, and tied to the increased spending that health-care reform will generate. Read more at the Washington Post...

(h/t: John H. Detweiler)
John writes, "Gee golly whiz. I thought we were going to get a free lunch." Read More......

ORGOP: Republicans' Back to Basics Budget

PRESS RELEASE, 5/22/2009 - State Budget Forecast Confirms Need for Republicans’ ‘Back to Basics Budget’

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Republican Party Chairman Bob Tiernan commented today on the state revenue forecast released by the state economist showing a worsening state revenue picture. “This confirms what we have been saying: now is not the time to raise taxes on Oregon families and small businesses. At a time when Oregon currently has the second highest unemployment rate in the country at 12.1% and a business climate which is struggling with the worst economic downturn since the great depression, we need solutions focused on growing our economy. Democratic plans to raise taxes on Oregonians will only prolong the current economic situation.”

Tiernan also said, “Now that we know revenues will be worse than previously expected, the principles of responsible spending and lower taxes outlined in the “Back to Basics Budget” proposed by Republican legislators represent a viable solution to dealing with the current budget crisis.”

Without the need to raise taxes, the Republican plan funds a full school year, protects prioritized service areas like public safety and human services by giving them the same funding levels they received in the last two year budget and creates a $1.374 billion surplus for targeted legislative add-backs and contingency reserves.

“To understand the current budget crisis, we need to understand how we got here,” Chairman Tiernan continued, “under Democrat control, the out of control spending during the last few budget cycles has lead to unsustainable budgets that are out of line with the spending priorities of the majority of Oregonians – school spending, public safety and helping those who are truly in need. What we see instead is the Democrats choosing to give pay raises to bureaucrats rather than funding these crucially important priorities.”

“The Democrats’ insistence on increasing taxes and fees at this point in Oregon’s recession will make it longer, deeper, and harsher for families and more difficult for business to generate the jobs and incomes Oregonians need to recover financially, “ Tiernan added. “Their continued reliance on higher taxes and untenable spending levels is why we are facing our current situation. Now is the time for Oregonians to say NO to the Democrats’ plans to increase taxes and hold them accountable in the next election.” Read More......

WSJ: Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich

WSJ: Opinion Journal, 5/18/2009by Arthur Lafer and Stephen Moore - Americans know how to use the moving van to escape high taxes. ∴ With states facing nearly $100 billion in combined budget deficits this year, we're seeing more governors than ever proposing the Barack Obama solution to balancing the budget: Soak the rich. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50% increase in the income tax rate on the wealthy because this is the "fair" way to close his state's gaping deficit. Read more at Opinion Journal... Read More......