Trust the Onion to get the scoop on just how heartless the GOP can be with their mania for budget-cutting:
WASHINGTON—Leaders from both parties announced Tuesday that Congress has voted to cut funding for its 26-year-old stepson, Jeremy, whose education and living expenses have been federally subsidized since he and his mother moved in with the legislative branch in 1998.
“My colleagues and I realize this decision may not make us very popular,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said of the measure that, effective June 1, will halt the $975 in monthly aid for Jeremy’s apartment in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington. “We have listened to Jeremy’s concerns at length and truly sympathize with him, but with our national debt now exceeding $14 trillion, the American people simply cannot foot the bill for him any longer.”
“There’s no denying it; these cuts are going to be painful,” McConnell continued. “But he’s nearly 30 years old, for Christ’s sake. Enough is enough.”…
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The first round (in the budget debate) clearly went to the GOP. This could be a sort of political rope-a-dope played by the president to goad the Republicans into over-playing their hand when the next, and more important, budget negotiations come into play. Let’s hope so. I suggest to Obama that if he doesn’t start swinging soon he’ll be a one term president. His most ardent supporters will have a tough time supporting him if he makes major concessions on medicare or taxes in the coming months. It’s time to play tough with the debt ceiling debate looming. As a minimum Obama needs to insist on these concessions:
1. Medicare must not be privatized
2. Taxes on the richest Americans must be increased. This could be done by way of lowering the rates while eliminating loopholes that apply to the rich. We can start by eliminating tax exemptions for second homes and capping the exemption for a first home.
3. Fund Social Security properly by eliminating the earnings cap.
4. Cut the military budget. Why is there not more discussion about this bloated monstrocity?
5. Stand firm in further cuts to social programs such as planned parenthood.
Obama needs to remember his base before it’s too late. Even if he gains admiration from a few moderates the folks who got him elected will leave in droves if he doesn’t grow a spine. Time is growing short for Obama and the USA.