The Debt Ceiling Debate

Fringe groups on each side of the political spectrum, but especially The Tea Party, are holding America hostage, while sensible voices who understand the importance of America’s perfect sovereign debt rating desperately seek to restore common sense.

It is my view that at this late date, the debt ceiling had better be raised to avoid near-term default, and that active efforts continue to establish adequate budget measures to restrain the now interested Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s (NYSE: MHP, NYSE: MCO). By the way, it really bugs me that now that this issue is on the tongue of every American, the agencies suddenly determined America’s debt position was of great short short-term importance and warn of ratings change even with a new ceiling. The levity of such a change is not well understood, especially by the agencies who horrifically rated Mortgage-Backed Securities ignorant of the potential for home price decline, driving a booming MBS market and playing key role in creating the financial crisis.

I want to know your opinion on this highly important debt ceiling issue and balanced budget measures. Please feel free to range widely across these topics. With a week to go before America defaults and life as we know it perhaps expedites its transformation into something far less appealing, tell us where you stand on:

The Debt Ceiling Debate

DEBATE TOPICS ARCHIVE

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Did Democrats Trade Important Economic Programs to Preserve Liberal Crown Jewels

Difficult circumstances call for virtuous resolve

We will not know the full details of the brokered agreement between the negotiating teams of Congressional Republican John Boehner, Democrat Harry Reid and President Obama's Administration until Monday. However, it would appear that the $38.5 billion in agreed upon budget cuts marks a significant political trade-off. I'm concerned that the Democrats gave ground on important national programs for the sake of liberal crown jewels.

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Did Democrats Trade Important Economic Programs to Preserve Liberal Crown Jewels

The deal should be digestible for most Republicans despite Tea Party pipe dreams for a $60 billion reduction, as it marks the largest annual spending cut in the nation's history. The President said, "Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful." I really don't like to hear that, knowing just how vulnerable our economy still is. He continued, "Programs people rely on will be cut back. Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed." It sucks that the Republican Party, which hasn't been frugal in decades, is suddenly interested in cutting off job creating funding and blaming the other party for wasting tax payer dough. Remember when Iraq was costing us $12 billion a month for a family vendetta?

President Obama said that "Beginning to live within our means is the only way to protect those investments that will help America compete for new jobs." Republican Congressman Ryan, who I predict will be the GOP nominee for president (and probably your next president), agreed, saying "This is good news for job creators in America." Really? Good news for jobs? I disagree, as this will pull the rug out from under programs that directly create jobs. That's why we spent money to build out our infrastructure in order to escape the Great Depression. Tell me how pulling funding meant to stimulate growth at a time when it is called for will not cost the economic recovery some steam. It's not like we're cutting taxes; we're cutting spending. Though, that's not generally a bad thing; It seems we've just chosen real poorly as to which spending to cut.

The President said we are making "investments in our kids' education and student loans; in clean energy and life saving medical research." He continued, "We protected the investments we need to win the future. At the same time, we also made sure that at the end of the day, this was a debate about spending cuts, not social issues like women's health and the protection of our air and water." He said these are important issues that deserve discussion, just not during a debate about the budget. I disagree, and I retract something I said in an article about the budget a couple days ago. We need to cut the tangential programs, and those include Planned Parenthood and its near $400 million gift. Let rich health care and consumer companies like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) educate people on birth control and give out condoms, and let people kill their own kids with their own money at market price. In reality, the cost is priceless anyway; it probably costs most their souls in fact.

I suppose Wall Street will throw a party on Monday, because it's possible that funding that was intended for its policing will be pulled back for the sake of preserving things like abortions. And I heard a rumor that the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) may have received a haircut, or worse. This program supplies infant formula and other nutritious foods to low-income families. Did the Democrats sacrifice WIC for the sake of abortion, or for that matter, clean air? If so, I have a real problem with it, and will be calling for the voting down of this legislation. Look for it to reach the public domain Monday morning; we'll know the details then.

Where are the priorities of this nation? I know they're not with a growing number of its citizens living near or under the poverty line. One line spoken by our nation's leader last evening sums up the mistaken route taken rather clearly. He said, "I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances." I think a wise man once said, or is saying now, difficult circumstances call for virtuous resolve.

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Is Abortion Holding Up the Budget and Shutting Down the Government

Politics

Is the topic of abortion holding up the budget and shutting down the government? Really? Who is telling the truth among these monkeys up on Capitol Hill? Democrats say the ideological issue of abortion is the sticking point, while Republicans say it's purely budget cuts. Is the political agenda simply to make Obama look like he forgot to pay the electric bill? Yeah, I think that's it. But the abortion funding aspect to this budget battle is valid nonetheless.

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Is Abortion Holding Up the Budget and Shutting Down the Government?

Just hours away from a government shutdown, the focus of the entire nation is on Washington DC. The midnight deadline looms, and the President's demand for a morning compromise failed to frighten the GOP. In fact, I believe it showed desperation in the Administration. It is in the President's interest to preserve the vulnerable economy, because the perception of a government shutdown on the street would be one of an Obama failure. Thus, I expect the Democratic position will give more than the Republican stance in the end, or more likely, a short run government shutdown will occur.

But who is telling the truth with regard to abortion, the GOP or the Dems? And is the abortion issue really holding up the budget and shutting down our government? Is it a worthy blockade?

In a morning interview and from the floor of the Senate, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said that as of last evening, women's care funding was the sticking point between the two parties. Reid said that it's illegal to use federal funds for abortion, and what this political agenda of the GOP is actually doing is closing clinics that serve 5 million American women, providing free screenings and other tests for those who cannot afford it otherwise. We're talking about cancer screenings and all sorts of services and tests provided to poor Americans.

Planned Parenthood has made claim that 90%+ of its government funding (less than $400 million) goes toward preventive care, based on an interview I witnessed of a PP representative. So what about the other portion? It seems the other portion would be the abortion portion. Abortions provided at clinics are cheap because of the government's support of Planned Parenthood. So, while government aid does not go directly to individuals, paying for abortions, it still facilitates abortions by making them cost significantly cheaper. This is taken directly from Planned Parenthood's website, "Costs vary depending on how long you've been pregnant and where you go. Hospitals generally cost more."

It seems that because Planned Parenthood provides abortions, it is the GOP's intention to strangle funding to it, sort of like how it wants to kill the latest health care legislation opening up services to many who would otherwise go without (but also different). Based on an interview of Presidential possible and Congressional Representative Bachmann, that will be the focus of the 2012 budget battle.

If government aid does not directly assist people by paying for abortions, but still makes them cheaper, then it's arguable whether the GOP is improperly circumventing the system to make its way despite existing laws standing in the way of its ideological hopes. Money needs to be cut from somewhere and I'm all for making abortions harder to get, but it would seem the GOP is choosing the wrong battle to wage, with some $33 billion in cuts likely already agreed upon, and with a vulnerable economy hanging in the balance on a fogged abortion issue.

Still, While I Side with Dems on the Budget Issue, I Stand Firmly Against Abortion. Maybe clinics should not be providing abortions at all. I do not want my tax dollars going toward facilitating it. It makes it easier to get an abortion, cheaper, and so we are in fact assisting in the process. In that regard, we are helping, and for that we must answer. The question to ask is, what is the percentage of abortion procedures at clinics today versus other women's services provided there? How does that ratio compare to the percentage at private doctor practices? I expect you'll agree that the degree to which abortions occur in clinics is significantly higher than in private practices providing relative women's services. I expect that even in cases where people can afford an abortion privately, they go to the clinic to find a supporting and isolated environment. I say to whomever that applies, if it doesn't feel right, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it. And it's not my intention to place blame on people who have had an abortion, or to judge anyone, as I am an imperfect person also, and certainly not capable of judging anyone. Judgment is for a higher power, in my view, which is supposedly a popular view.

What I can control is my representative government and the direction of my tax dollars, and so can you. It seems both political parties are exaggerating their arguments to gain popular support. So what's new? Abortion is an important issue, worthy of deep debate, but the Planned Parenthood portion of the budget is relatively small. Planned Parenthood serves some good purpose, in my view, in its efforts to educate people with regard to STDs and prevention of pregnancy, and so strangling it is neither in my interest nor America's interest - restructuring it is though. The main point is that this abortion argument will keep us bogged down forever if we allow it to, and so it is an improper battle to wage today, when our economy needs no disruption. I think that wherever we stand on abortion, we should agree on a budget for 2011 outside of that issue. If you want to take it up for 2012, okay, but get started on it early and don't place the economy at risk in the process, because much more evil would result.

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Government Shutdown on Budget Bill Legislation Shenanigans

Topic of Debate

Let's debate shall we... With Republicans saying one thing and Democrats saying another, this latest quarrel ringing through Congressional halls is pumped full of political agenda. We want see if we might glean some new perspective for our readers by opening this up to debate to our readers.

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Government Shutdown on Budget Bill Legislation Shenanigans

Here's my Independent view:

It's my view that the GOP has two distinct ingredients to stew in this hardball it's playing, a tasty treat and a bitter beat. I do believe that the Republican Party is backing up its hypocritical calls for balanced budget after years of the Bush Administration's spend-away game-plan. It's an old argument Republicans having become accustomed to making against the stigma of spend-easy Democrats. The Tea-Party was born because of it.

Whatever the purpose, I do believe a portion of the Republican motive to play hardball is driven by an honest goal to better balance the budget, and I think the Blue Dog Democrats want the same. For that matter, I think the whole of America wants this now, and for good reason. And oh by the way, I'm all for balancing the budget over the long-term, so we have a future that includes government spending for something other than entitlement programs. At the same time, I know it's too early to be focusing in extreme fashion on the budget over the revival of the economy, which is still vulnerable.

I'm also certain the Republican Party knows very well that by driving a government shutdown, it would feed perception among the average Joe voter that the Obama Administration has somehow failed to pay the bills. That should go a long way to garnering votes against him come election day, and yes, it's savvy politics but a disgusting example of one character of mankind - selfishness. And now, he'll make a case against the Commander-in-Chief to veterans and to his soldiers, who need to be loyal to be effective, by forcing him into a position to veto legislation funding the Defense Department, but not the rest of government. So when poor soldiers who are barely paying their mortgages for families back home cannot make that payment, how are they going to feel about standing in the line of fire for the man who signs those checks?

Here's why I am undeniably independent, after being a registered Republican for most of my life and never a registered Democrat; though I find myself far from alien to many Democratic views these days. I happen to agree with the GOP that government funding should not go toward paying for abortions! I dare any Republican to call me a liberal now. I'm a true conservative, in the truest form of the word, who truly cares about the less privileged, and one who will not give on "values" to fit into a party slot. I'm an American, and I don't have to agree with everything any party stands for that I do not.

Now, there's got to be give from both sides of the table on matters that normally dictate how these things come together. The most important goal of our elected officials now should be to reach agreement on a best fit price, not the lowest price. Either pass a budget or pass a full stop-gap measure, and get a budget done fast and right.

In conclusion, I do not like it at all that the GOP is attempting to bypass some of the repercussions of failing to pass a budget, by legislating stop-gap rules for portions of the government. Representative Boehner is seeking to pay military personnel while not paying everyone else. If you want your military to work, either pass another stop-gap bill for the whole of government or come to the table on a budget.

The other deal is that it's one thing to allow abortions and it is another thing to assist in them. So, as far as the Democratic argument goes that this is an ideological position not appropriate for the budget debate, well that is completely wrong. You are not changing legislation around the abortion issue by not paying for them. A majority of the funding to Planned Parenthood goes to preventive efforts, but some goes to paying for abortions, and none has to. The argument goes that most abortions are committed by the poor, who cannot afford abortions otherwise. Well, there are a lot of things the poor cannot afford that should take priority over this.

You want to help the poor? Well then stop policing them over every penny they receive in desperate need, while passing tax breaks for the richest of Americans. And stop expecting the lowest class of our society to fit into rigid rules that cut them off from aid for missing an appointment or misunderstanding a letter. I witnessed a poor old lady attend a required social services meeting with a hospital band on her wrist; she left the hospital, so she would not lose her benefits. You want to help the poor? Then raise the income threshold for food stamps so that starving people, who supposedly make too much money, can eat. You want to help the poor? Then don't impale Medicaid. There are many better ways to help the poor then helping them kill their children.

That's my view. This is America and I'm all about freedom of speech and I don't choose friends who agree with everything I say. I've seen the yes-man society in person, and it fails. So, please let's hear your view, which is respected and heard here as long as it is clean and relative.

How do you feel about this potential government shutdown and budget debate?

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