Comments on: Congressional Budget Office warns the US is falling off a fiscal cliff

By: Your_Uncle_Karl

Your_Uncle_Karl — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:20:00 +0000

”…guided by Adam Smith’s invisible hand,”

Hi, Don. Way, way back in the mid to late 19th Century, there were quite a number of political economists espousing the virtues of the “Free Market” and insisting that if left to its own devices, the market alone would deliver the best possible outcomes for everyone. One of the consequences then was the forced dispossession of starving farmers during the Potato Famine in Ireland. At about the same time, your Uncle Karl published a little book, simply titled “Capital”, in which he began with Adam Smith’s assumption of perfectly functioning markets free of interference and went on to predict that the logical outcomes of Adam Smith’s utopian hypothesis were primarily two: First, that Monopolies and Oligopolies would arise to destroy the essential competitive element; secondly that there would be an increasing polarization of distribution, with increasing wealth at one pole, and increasing misery at the other. I ask you, whose predictions have been borne out by history?

By: Mike Cook

Mike Cook — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:43:00 +0000

BOTH Establishment Republicans and Democrats have bankrupted America. RON PAUL IS THE ONLY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WHO HAS PLEDGED TO CUT SPENDING SO THAT OUR COUNTRY CAN BE SAVED. Why don’t people get this…. Reps and Dems only want to cut INCREASES in spending– this is not a spending cut. END THE FED.

By: fortbuckley

fortbuckley — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:50:00 +0000

The Republicans in Congress have tried passing a budget. Budgets—the most basic ways to manage spending. Democrats refuse to do that. You read that right…for FOUR years the Democratic Party-led Senate has REFUSED to fulfil its legal duty and pass a budget.

It’s also rich to see a Democrat extolling the virtues of divided government—AFTER a Democrat-dominated Congress steamrolled over Republicans in passing Porkulus and Obamacare. (Remember when Barack Obama responded to Republican complaints that they were being shut out of the legislative process in 2009, by saying “I won?” You were saying something about bipartisanship, David?)

The American people responded by thrashing the Democrats at the polls nationwide in 2010 and putting the House of Representatives back in Republican hands.

Republicans believe in an economy that’s guided by Adam Smith’s invisible hand, not Nancy Pelosi’s partisan one.

BTW, was that a symbolic choice of pictures there? Are we supposed to vote for Ron Barber out of respect/sympathy for Gabrielle Giffords?

By: CascaRufio

CascaRufio — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:26:00 +0000

Do you really believe there is a difference between the agendas of Republican and Democrat politicians? Even just watching CSPAN and actually paying attention to the hours of intentionally boring rhetoric you should know better. And this is where they know they are being observed. Imagine what occurs behind closed doors. Spend some time actually reading what has been passed under both democrat and republican congresses.

By: CascaRufio

CascaRufio — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:53:00 +0000

There is certainly a lot of wasteful government spending, however any job eliminated at this point will further damage the economy, government or otherwise. The elimination of any lower middle or working class job whether in the government or some corporate office just means more people unemployed. The unemployed will either still be supported by government spending or crime which also costs the taxpayer even more. If you don’t know you can put someone to work doing something more productive than what they are doing now, and have a plan to make it happen, don’t eliminate that job. Some form of employment in government programs or at some level in the military must always be available to anyone willing to work. If a country has far too many in these jobs then we must look at ways of making employment in the private sector resource development and distribution more attractive than the government programs. If we as a country had any problem producing all the food, clothing, housing, transportation, and luxuries we could possibly need, then excess persons in government and military jobs might be an issue, but we do not have this problem. The only problem we have is that the productive workload and the distribution of the vast wealth we have is poorly managed. As a country we are like a group of hungry people, with food all around, arguing with each other about who will pick the food, who will cook it, and who will clean up after until the food rots.

By: BajaDemocrats

BajaDemocrats — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:23:00 +0000

Of course Republicans want the economy to fall off a cliff – if Obama wins reelection they’ll blame the recession on him. If Romney wins, they’ll blame the recession on Obama. Unfortunately, a “win-win” for Republicans is always a lose-lose for the middle class.

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:13:00 +0000

The Repubs WANT it to fall off a cliff – just ask Grover Norquist. Either we get a Dem Congress or he’ll drown it in his bathtub.