Thursday, April 11, 2013
Political Mayhem Thursday: The Obama Budget
First of all, let me mention that it is supposed to snow a lot here in Minnesota today. Which is messed up.
Second, it appears that an intriguing group of celebrities (including all three Kardashians, Ron Howard, Will Smith, Cameron Diaz, Russell Brand, Scarlett Johannsen, Demi Moore, and others) have sent the president a letter which (among other things) expressly promotes what I have been pushing for a while-- that the president "under the Fair Sentencing Act, extend to all inmates who were subject to 100-to-1 crack- to-powder disparity a chance to have their sentences reduced to those that are more consistent with the magnitude of the offense," and "form a panel to review requests for clemency that come to the Office of the Pardon Attorney." Interesting! More news to follow on all that.
Finally, I'm fascinated by the new Obama budget proposal which includes significant cost-saving measures within social security and medicare. As Waco Farmer and I have agreed in the past, any real solution to long-term deficits will require both cuts of this sort and increases in revenue. Now that the President has proposed both, it appears that the first attacks are coming from his left.
Do others agree that this budget proposal is a step in the right direction?
Second, it appears that an intriguing group of celebrities (including all three Kardashians, Ron Howard, Will Smith, Cameron Diaz, Russell Brand, Scarlett Johannsen, Demi Moore, and others) have sent the president a letter which (among other things) expressly promotes what I have been pushing for a while-- that the president "under the Fair Sentencing Act, extend to all inmates who were subject to 100-to-1 crack- to-powder disparity a chance to have their sentences reduced to those that are more consistent with the magnitude of the offense," and "form a panel to review requests for clemency that come to the Office of the Pardon Attorney." Interesting! More news to follow on all that.
Finally, I'm fascinated by the new Obama budget proposal which includes significant cost-saving measures within social security and medicare. As Waco Farmer and I have agreed in the past, any real solution to long-term deficits will require both cuts of this sort and increases in revenue. Now that the President has proposed both, it appears that the first attacks are coming from his left.
Do others agree that this budget proposal is a step in the right direction?
Comments:
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By antagonizing his supporters to get Republicans to respond in kind it’s not called a compromise, it is called passive aggressive and I don’t know why I have a feeling it’s not going to fly.
Mark Osler and the Kardashians-- It could be a whole new show, like "Khloe and Kim take Miami." (My daughter watches, so unfortunately, I can speak Kardashian fairly well.)
I don't want to throw cold water on this effort, but I guess I will. I continue to think what the President proposes lacks seriousness. That his supporters on his left are griping merely highlights the fact that they are so "unserious" that they are repelled by a pretense of seriousness. As for the GOP, until they are willing to consider a real increase in revenues, they are also "unserious."
There was a time when I thought we might be able to manage a soft landing. I am now more and more convinced that nothing short of an illusion-shattering economic disaster will break this impasse.
There was a time when I thought we might be able to manage a soft landing. I am now more and more convinced that nothing short of an illusion-shattering economic disaster will break this impasse.
Generally I agree with the idea of spending cuts and possibly tax increase as the solution to the deficit.
Deficit reduction is tough because some people say yes, we need to reduce the deficit but do not do anything to reduce any benefits or service I receive from the Government. Too much special interest. Maybe we need a national conversation to get some consensus around what we value collectively as a country.
I favor less spending on incarceration as one of the ways to reduce the deficit. That would require some long term investments to help keep more people out of jail and prison in the first place.
Deficit reduction is tough because some people say yes, we need to reduce the deficit but do not do anything to reduce any benefits or service I receive from the Government. Too much special interest. Maybe we need a national conversation to get some consensus around what we value collectively as a country.
I favor less spending on incarceration as one of the ways to reduce the deficit. That would require some long term investments to help keep more people out of jail and prison in the first place.
# posted by 
: 7:05 PM
: 7:05 PM
I don't think President Obama's proposals lack seriousness. He has ALWAYS seemed a moderate,reasonable and responsible person to me. I agree Social Security, and especially Medicare (end fee for service and focus on best outcomes based treatment protocols) need to be modified. FICA is currently a regressive tax (even with new 2013 0.9% increases for individuals earning over $200K and couples earning over $250K); low- to mid-wage workers always pay the employee portion (7.65%) for the entire year, while (non-self-employed) high earners are done paying (effective 2013, 8.55%) - anywhere from February 1st to June 1st, depending on the size of their paychecks.
Bowles-Simpson was a reasonable road map to the aforementioned "soft landing". It is interesting that it has never even been given a fair discussion in the Congress. More evidence that no one is interested in being serious about the problem. They (Congress) really Do......Not.......Care. That's the only conclusion I've been able to reach.
That's because, like governors in some states, they keep being reelected.
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That's because, like governors in some states, they keep being reelected.
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