Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 9:35 pm CST on April 11, 2011.
Eliminate business subsidies from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Federal spending is on an unsustainable path that risks disaster for America. Runaway spending has increased annual federal budget deficits to unprecedented levels, adding $2.7 trillion to the national debt in the past two years alone. Each year’s huge federal deficit increases the mountain of national debt borrowed from future generations of Americans. Congress needs to cut federal spending sharply and quickly. This paper sets forth $343 billion in available spending cuts.
Over the past two years, Congress has added $2.7 trillion to the national debt, including a record $1.4 trillion deficit for fiscal year (FY) 2009 and a $1.3 trillion deficit for FY 2010.[1] If Congress does nothing and simply continues existing taxing and spending policies, federal deficits will grow, reaching a projected $2 trillion deficit in just 10 years—and even that assumes a return to peace and prosperity.[2]
America cannot live with such deficits interminably. Deficits mortgage the livelihoods of future generations of Americans and ultimately put U.S. economic growth, stability, and reliability at risk.
Soaring spending drives these dangerous deficits. By 2020, federal spending is set to soar to 26 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), after having averaged 20 percent after World War II. Revenues will likely return to their post–World War II average of 18 percent of GDP by 2020, even if the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are made permanent.[3] Thus, given current spending and taxing policies, spending is clearly the variable that drives up the deficits.[4] To reduce deficits, Congress must cut spending.
The costs of federal entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—and interest on the national debt will drive future deficits, and Congress must promptly and carefully decide how best to reduce those costs. However, entitlement reforms will take time, and spending cuts cannot wait. Congress needs to start cutting spending now.
________________________________________
Randy Goodrum is another famous Arkansan. Wikipedia notes:
Randy Goodrum toured extensively with guitarist Chet Atkins and performed and produced cuts on many of Atkins’ albums. As a co-writer with Chet Atkins, Randy wrote “To B or not to B” and “Waltz for the Lonely” among others. Goodrum’s song “So Soft Your Goodbye” won a Grammy award for Chet Atkins, and Mark Knopfler, in 1991.
Goodrum has conducted numerous seminars for aspiring songwriters over the years and urges songwriters to be patient, noting that he had written songs for over 10 years before any were recorded by other artists. According to Goodrum, his biggest hit, “You Needed Me” was rejected at first because it did not have a chorus.
“When I took them “You Needed Me” they told me it wouldn’t work, that it needed a chorus. And I said “No, it doesn’t.” I had been writing a really long time at that point and I knew there were a lot of songs that were hits that did not have a chorus, like “When Sunny Gets Blue” for example. Now a less experienced writer might go back home and write a chorus and end up with a seven minute piece of garbage.” said Goodrum in a recent interview.
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 8:15 am CST on April 11, 2011.
This may be our one moment in history for greatness. And I sincerely hope that we rise to the challenge because I believe the future of the republic depends on it.
I do agree that we must “rise to the challenge” because “the future of the republic depends on it.” However, just cutting less than 2% is not rising to the challenge.
Last year when the Democrats had overwhelming majorities, they decided to skip putting in a budget. Actually 1974 was the last time that had happened. Why were they not rising to the occasion last year? I believe it was because they were busy trying to shove all their liberal agenda down our throat before they lost control once they realized in January of 2010 (with Scott Brown’s victory) that the people were against their policies. They knew that in November they would lose control and they spent every waking moment shoving their bills through and never once took time to pass a budget.
There’s much more, a confusing and wasteful mix of other departments, independent agencies, and commissions. In the main they are unnecessary, duplicative, bloated, or all three. They are nothing that a legislative buzz-saw would not solve. Along with them should go excessive congressional staff. Legislators need resources to oversee the government. But if Congress was no longer attempting to run America and the world, legislators would need far fewer employees. .
Rather than view a government shutdown as an unfortunate necessity to wring spending concessions, closure should be seen as good policy. Not every department and bureau should stay shuttered, but many agencies should be permanently shut. It is necessary to think the unthinkable in Washington. With Uncle Sam facing his largest deficit ever, we must begin eliminating programs now.
(b. 1947) – Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, this Grammy award winner is considered to be one of the best adult contemporary music songwriters and producers. Goodrum has penned hits in all areas of music-pop, rock, a/c, r&b and country. Some of his best-known hits include “You Needed Me” recorded by Anne Murray, “Foolish Heart,” “Oh Sherrie,” and “Bluer Than Blue.” He has had songs recorded by such stars as Ray Charles, Phoebe Snow, Judy Collins, Helen Reddy, The Commodores, Kenny Rogers and Dottie West, Jefferson Starship, England Dan and John Ford Coley who made a hit of Goodrum’s “It’s Sad to Belong (to Someone Else) When the Right One Comes Along,” and Tricia Yearwood among others. He has produced for the likes of Michael Bolton, Chet Atkins, and Olivia Newton-John. www.randygoodrum.com
_________________________________
I have another state lawmaker below:
Jon Eubanks State Representative District 84.
Jon and his values
Jon and his wife, Janet, bought their poultry and cattle farm near Paris, Ark., in the fall of 1976 and still live on and operate that farm, having bought additional acreage over the years. They have raised four children – Chris, Nick, Stacy and Andrew. They also have three grandchildren. In the mid-’80s, while running the farm, he went back to college at Arkansas Tech and completed his accounting degree, graduating with honors in 1990 and passing the CPA exam. Jon has eight years experience working as a certified public accountant. However, farming is his career preference.
Jon has been actively involved in education, youth groups and agriculture throughout his life. He is a former school board member in the Paris School District. While serving on the Paris School Board he was able to secure the donation of used computers from IBM to set up a computer lab for the school. He has been actively involved as a volunteer for local Boy Scout Troops and as a coach for youth baseball teams. He is a past president and board member of the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Paris. Jon currently serves on the board of directors of the North Logan County Farm Bureau and served a three- year term as its president.
Jon and Janet’s emphasis on hard work, education and conservative values can be seen in their children. Chris graduated from the University of Arkansas and is a Southeast U.S. forage agronomist and sales manager for Land O’Lakes. Nick attended Texas Tech University before taking a job for a landscape contractor and now manages a landscaping crew and also owns a lawn care company in Texas. Stacy recently graduated with a master’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas and works in New York. Andrew will begin his junior year at the United States Naval Academy this fall.
Jon is a strong supporter of the following issues: traditional marriage, pro-life, gun rights, tax relief for working families, improving education, fiscal responsibility, and reducing the size and spending of government.
Over the past few years, Jon has maintained a cattle herd of about 200-250 cows.
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 8:35 pm CST on April 10th.
It is our time to lead. This may be the greatest challenge of our generation, of any of us who are in this chamber who are serving either in the House or Senate right now.
We have been going done the path of expanding the federal government for over 80 years now. To be a true leader, you must change the direction of the country. We no longer need to be raising the amount of control we give the federal government in our lives. That is what the whole Tea Party uprising was about Boston so many years ago.
If you want to just continue down this same path then JUST IGNORE ALL THESE GOOD SUGGESTIONS YOU GET CONCERNING CUTTING THE FEDERAL BUDGET. You asked for them with this youtube video clip (as seen above) and now I have started giving them to you.
HUD is a piggy bank for developers. No form of residential or commercial building goes unsubsidized. Yet the epicenter of the financial crisis was the mass of federal housing subsidies. Interior also enriches interest groups. Most of the land that it manages should be sold off. Environmentally sensitive refuges could be transferred to environmental groups.
The Transportation Department is little better. There are some legitimate interstate transportation issues, but most roads and bridges should be a state and local responsibility. Transportation bills have been among the most ostentatiously wasteful pork dispensed by Congress. There’d be little harm in leaving DOT permanently closed.
_____________________________________________
Another famous Arkansan below.
the battle of new orleans..the original version was done by this man jimmie driftwood,
(1907-1998) – Noted folk singer and songwriter who was born on a farm near Mountain View. While serving as superintendent at Snowball, he wrote his big hit “The Battle of New Orleans.” He is also known for another composition, “The Tennessee Stud.” Today, Jimmy Driftwood’s Barn in Mountain View is the setting for performances.
So many people have asked me about the full clip. Here it is!! The late and great Jimmy Driftwood home on his ranch in Timbo, Arkansas playing on his famous guitar! This is a tune that he called “Guitar Medley”. Although Jimmy had a bad accident a couple of months before this was taped he could still play the guitar in a very uniquely way!!
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 11:07 pm CST on April 9th.
Health and Human Services, the home of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is a spending behemoth. Yet if this bureaucracy has any legitimate role, it is a small one. The principal social services safety net should be private. If government steps in, it should primarily be at the state and local level. If there’s any cause for federal intervention, it should be very limited.
For instance, Social Security and Medicare are middle class welfare. Politicians have lied about the programs being social insurance in order to win political support: there are no real trust funds, individual accounts, or legal obligations to pay. Yet the programs are fiscal time bombs, with trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities. Individuals should save their own money for retirement; retirees should buy their own health insurance. People who are poor should be helped because they are poor.
Not much else the federal government does makes much sense. The Agriculture Department is a special interest bureaucracy par excellence, enriching people because they are farmers. Why do the rest of us owe farmers a living? They work hard, but so do most other Americans. Welfare should be for poor people, not influential people. Department buildings should be sold off for condos.
The same principle applies to the Commerce Department. While some bits of the bureaucracy perform legitimate functions (such as conducting a census for legislative apportionment), most of the department’s programs are forms of corporate welfare. American business should make money from customers, not steal money from taxpayers.
The analysis is similar for the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior. Most federal subsidies for energy have been the equivalent of flushing money down toilets at the DOE headquarters. Big Oil and little green like their respective subsidies, but taxpayers have gotten no benefits commensurate to their forced generosity.
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 10:05 am CST on April 9th. I am on the way out the door to see my 14 yr old son Wilson play a soccer game in Searcy. I know Mark’s kids are about the same age since we taught in the 4 yr old dept Learning Center at church together about 10 yrs ago when our sons were about the same age.
Are we so blind as to not be able to see that we need to put everything on the table, that this is a time for great leadership and sacrifice and we all have to give up something to get this done?
Yes I do agree that everything should be on the table. Our founding fathers did know what “great leadership and sacrifice” was. Senator Pryor brought them up in this speech. However, I just don’t see actions. All I see is the proper words. If someone says they want the federal government to sacrifice like the normal American family is, then THAT MEANS BALANCING THEIR BUDGET!!!! I could not imagine the founding fathers sitting around arguing over cutting 1 or 2% out of a bloated budget that needs to be balanced immediately. Earlier in Pryor’s speech he talked about the difference between Statesmen and Politicians. I wish we had some more statesmen, but they are hard to come by.
Not much else the federal government does makes much sense. The Agriculture Department is a special interest bureaucracy par excellence, enriching people because they are farmers. Why do the rest of us owe farmers a living? They work hard, but so do most other Americans. Welfare should be for poor people, not influential people. Department buildings should be sold off for condos.
The same principle applies to the Commerce Department. While some bits of the bureaucracy perform legitimate functions (such as conducting a census for legislative apportionment), most of the department’s programs are forms of corporate welfare. American business should make money from customers, not steal money from taxpayers.
The analysis is similar for the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior. Most federal subsidies for energy have been the equivalent of flushing money down toilets at the DOE headquarters. Big Oil and little green like their respective subsidies, but taxpayers have gotten no benefits commensurate to their forced generosity.
______________________________________
Johnny Cash was one of my favorite Famous Arkansans.
June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at the age of seventy-one. June had told Cash to keep working, so he continued to record and even performed a couple of surprise shows at the Carter Family Fold outside Bristol, Virginia. (The July 5, 2003 concert was his final public appearance.) At the June 21, 2003 concert, before singing “Ring of Fire”, Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written shortly before taking the stage. He spoke of how June’s spirit was watching over him and how she had come to visit him before going on stage. He barely made it through the song. Despite his poor health, he spoke of looking forward to the day when he could walk again and toss his wheelchair into the river near his home.
Johnny Cash died less than four months after his wife, on September 12, 2003, while hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was buried next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
One of Johnny Cash’s final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, entitled American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted in the #1 position on Billboard Magazines Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006.
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 3:28 pm CST on April 8, 2011.
I’m also reminded in the New Testament when Jesus is talking to political and religious leadership of his day. He says “Are you so blind?”
Are we so blind that we can’t see the forest for the trees here, that we can’t understand how important it is for this country to get our debt and deficit where it needs to be?
Sometimes I wonder if some politicians are blind. They realize they are elected by the voters back home, but then they go out and try ignore these same voters when they vote. For instance, clearly the voters rejected the big government type of Democrat in Jan of 2010 when Scott Brown was elected to take Ted Kennedy’s senate seat, but what does President Obama do? He rams through healthcare anyway.
What bugs me most about this congressional redistricting nonsense in Little Rock is that Democrats have been trying to save themselves artificially through imaginative gerrymandering rather than by ideas, issues and honest policy debate.
Sustaining success can never be achieved in politics by running from the people. It can only come from persuading the people
I think that the liberals in Congress can not see what is happening to European countries like Greece? Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute wrote a fine article called “The Greek Tragedy…America’s future?” He states:
In my darker moments, I have sometimes warned audiences of what will happen when a majority of voters in a country or a state become dependent on government. In such an environment, it obviously becomes much more difficult to put together an electoral coalition that will lead to fiscal changes that shrink the burden of government and curtail the predatory state. This is what has happened to Greece, and what is soon going to happen in other European nations (and, barring reform, what will eventually happen in the United States).
Health and Human Services, the home of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, is a spending behemoth. Yet if this bureaucracy has any legitimate role, it is a small one. The principal social services safety net should be private. If government steps in, it should primarily be at the state and local level. If there’s any cause for federal intervention, it should be very limited.
For instance, Social Security and Medicare are middle class welfare. Politicians have lied about the programs being social insurance in order to win political support: there are no real trust funds, individual accounts, or legal obligations to pay. Yet the programs are fiscal time bombs, with trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities. Individuals should save their own money for retirement; retirees should buy their own health insurance. People who are poor should be helped because they are poor.
____________________________________
Johnny Cash is too big a figure to just have one post about.
Live @ San Quentin Prison
This film footage was shot at a high school prom in Texas 1955 with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis and Buddy Holly.
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself at 9:18 am CST on April 8, 2011.
I’m reminded many times in the Bible, we’re always encouraged to do right, to do justice, to show mercy. We want to be upright and true. I think that’s what they call us to do and what they want us to do.
I also believe the Bible just like you do. However, I believe that the Bible has directed both individuals and churches to help the poor. The federal government has done a horrible job of helping the poor.
Welfare may have started with the best of intentions, but it has clearly failed. It has failed to meet its stated goal of reducing poverty. But its real failure is even more disastrous. Welfare has torn apart the social fabric of our society. Everyone is worse off. The poor are dehumanized, seduced into a system from which it is terribly difficult to escape. Teenage girls give birth to children they will never be able to support. The work ethic is eroded. Crime rates soar. Such is the legacy of welfare…
Private efforts have been much more successful than the federal government’s failed attempt at charity. America is the most generous nation on earth. Americans already contribute more than $125 billion annually to charity. In fact, more than 85 percent of all adult Americans make some charitable contribution each year.
Even the Justice Department is a dubious creature. The duty of ensuring “justice” is real, but the bureaucracy of justice — laws, police, prosecutors, courts — primarily belongs at the state and local levels. Federalization of the criminal law, under Republicans and Democrats alike, and support for social engineering, such as de facto racial quotas, have increasingly sacrificed Americans’ liberties. Much of the bureaucracy should be shut down.
The Treasury Department, or something like it, is necessary as long as Uncle Sam collects taxes and spends money. But it should do far less of both. Moreover, much of Treasury’s work would be criminal if conducted by anyone else — invading taxpayers’ privacy, enforcing economic sanctions, conducting financial spying.
_______________________________________________
I have been doing a series on Famous Arkansans. Johnny Cash is one of my favorites. I grew up with a guy named Paul Garrett who went to my school and church. His uncle was Johnny Cash. I went to the 1978 Billy Graham Crusade in Memphis and got to hear Johnny sing. Right there sitting on the stage right behind him was Paul.
A 23 years old Johnny Cash performing “I walk the Line” live at The Tex Ritter Show.
This is the real roots of so many things.
I WALK THE LINE.
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time.
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I’ll admit I’m a fool for you
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I’ve known proves that it’s right
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
You’ve got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can’t hide
For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
(1932-2003) – This “Man in Black” was born to a Kingsland, Arkansas sharecropper on February 26, 1932. His first big hit was “Folsom Prison Blues” which rose to the Top Five in country singles in 1956. “I Walk the Line” became Cash’s first No. 1 hit. In 1957, he made his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, and by 1958, he’d published 50 songs, sold more than six million records and moved to Columbia label. Some of his other well-known recordings include “A Boy Named Sue,” “Orange Blossom Special,” “Ring of Fire” and “Jackson,” which he recorded with his wife June Carter Cash. He starred in “The Johnny Cash Show” (ABC, 1969-71) and “Johnny Cash and Friends” (CBS, 1976). He also appeared in the movie “Gunfight” (1970), the television miniseries “North and South” (1985), and made guest appearances on various television shows. His 11 Grammys include a Lifetime Achievement Award and the 1998 Grammy for Country Album of the Year for “Unchained.” Cash was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1980), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992). www.johnny-cash.com
Johnny Cash Hurt what Makes this Song and Video so Great is that Its possibly the Saddest Song ever he sang before he died and singing about his life like When june died and Same Clips of his life one of my favourite Songs
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. (This latest email went at 7:15 am CST on April 8, 2011).
Right now I know there are six of them (Tom Coburn, Dick Durbin, Mark Warner, Saxby Chambliss, Mike Crapo, and Kent Conrad) meeting. I know at some point once they come out and once they’re ready to announce what they want to do, many others will join that effort. I think that we need to cheer them on and encourage them to finish this very hard task that they’ve begun.
When I think about those six sitting in various rooms around the Capitol, I’m reminded of the phrase in the Declaration of Independence right before our founding fathers signed that great document where they say “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” This is our time to put it all on the line. We need to put our political lives on the line, our political fortunes on the line, and our honor. We need to honor the commitment we’ve made to this country when all 535 stood up and took the oath that we were going to do what was right for this country.
We have to start eliminating programs or the USA will end up like the European countries that are heading toward economic disaster. Real courage is facing our problem which is spending too much and deal with it now decisively.
The Department of Veterans Affairs grows out of the Department of Defense, since the federal government has an obligation to care for those wounded in America’s wars. But it would be better to integrate their care into the nation’s medical system — and especially to make fewer veterans in the future by staying out of stupid and unnecessary conflicts. Yet the Afghanistan war, in particular, continues to generate casualties, creating huge future “unfunded liabilities” for the VA.
The State Department is legitimate, but much of what it does is not. Misnamed “foreign aid” traditionally takes money from poor people in rich countries and gives it to rich people in poor countries. Indeed, a lot of foreign aid has been counterproductive, discouraging authoritarian and socialist states from adopting desperately needed reforms. The Foreign Service bureaucracy could be further pared if Washington was not attempting to constantly micro-manage other societies. A Vatican-sized embassy in Baghdad is merely the worst example. The American government should have a much smaller foreign footprint.
(b. 1955) – Born and riased in Hampton, Arkansas, this former Little Rock high school speech teacher and football coach who is now one of the hottest producers in Hollywood. His hits include “The Fall Guy,” “The Blue & The Gray” mini-series (1983), “Designing Women,” “Evening Shade,” and “Hearts A’Fire.” He has been nominated for numerous awards including an Emmy, Director’s Guild Award, and a People’s Choice Award – among many others. www.mozarkproductions.com/principals
Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:
Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have done so (at 4:04 pm CST on April 7th, 2011, and will continue to do so in the future. Here are a few more I just emailed to him myself.
In fact, if you look back at the time that we call “The Battle of Britain,” one of the things Winston Churchill said that always stuck with me. He said “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” And he was talking about those brave men who flew those airplanes over Great Britain to protect the skies and protect the British people and really to win the war, to stop Nazi Germany from invading and defeating the British Empire.
The so few that we have today could be named and their names are Tom Coburn, Dick Durbin, Mark Warner, Saxby Chambliss, Mike Crapo, and Kent Conrad. Those few have been meeting for weeks, even months to try and come up with a comprehensive budget agreement based on the blueprint that the debt commission has given us. I would say that these six senators, they’re not politicians. They’re statesmen. They’re trying to do what’s right for the country. They’re trying to do what’s in the country’s best interest, not their own best interest. I can guarantee you, each one of the six will face tremendous criticism from their own parties and from other quarters about what they’re trying to do. To me that’s courage, to me that’s leadership, to me that’s what being a Senator is all about.
We have to start eliminating programs or the USA will end up like the European countries that are heading toward economic disaster. Real courage is facing our problem which is spending too much and deal with it now decisively.
Start with the Defense Department. Obviously, defending America is vital, one of the few necessary tasks of government. But most of what the Pentagon does these days has nothing to do with protecting America…
Perhaps even dumber is subsidizing the defense of Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other populous and prosperous allies. The Europeans have a bigger GDP and population than America, but the U.S. government insists on defending them. Washington redraws national borders in the Balkans and creates alliances in Central Asia. Most of these ventures diminish U.S. security by creating geopolitical threats and liabilities.
If the Pentagon isn’t going to protect us, then there’s a need for something like the Department of Homeland Security. But this bizarre mix of everything from customs to immigration to disaster relief isn’t very good at keeping Americans safe. Especially since Congress is most interested in passing out grants as pork and agency bureaucrats prefer to provide “security theatre” to create the illusion of safety. The best policy would be to stop making additional enemies who want to harm Americans by bombing, invading and occupying additional countries.
(b. 1946) – In the early 70s, 200 women sent soul sensation Al Green a signed petition begging him never to get married. That, in the proverbial nutshell, captures the amazing popularity of this sweet crooner from Forrest City – especially among women. “The phenomenon of women is love,” Green once said, trying to explain his female fans’ attraction to him. “Men are more into their careers, making money and achieving goals in their lives, but a woman will turn down a career to say, I love you, and really mean it.” Al Green’s secret weapon, then, was that he understood love. That and a lot of talent plus some lucky breaks led him from a sharecropper’s shack in the Delta to the top of the soul charts. Soon Green had audiences swooning with his own hits such as “Tired of Being Alone” and “Let’s Stay Together,” followed by “Call Me,” “I’m Still in Love With You,” and “You Ought to Be With Me.” In 1972, Green was named rock “n” roll star of the year by Rolling Stone. But even as he was seducing millions with his songs about secular love, Al Green was feeling a pull toward something else. “I ran from it,” he told Rolling Stone. Green eventually became an ordained minister and bought the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis, assuming full-time duties as its pastor. Over time, he gave new meaning to the term “soul” music, blending his sweet R & B style with gospel. In the early 1980s, his “The Lord Will Make a Way” won his first Grammy but not his last. He still preaches every single Sunday. Today, Al Green understands a deeper kind of love. www.rockhall.com/inductee/algreen
April 5 (Bloomberg) — Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, talks about the possibility of a government shutdown if Democratic and Republican leaders fail to reach a budget compromise by April 8, when current funding authority expires. Edwards, speaking with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack,” also discusses House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget plan. (Source: Bloomberg)
In Washington, the blame game has become par for the course. It’s become just become politics as usual. In fact, it’s one thing that people in my state are sick and tired of and one of the reasons why they’ve lost confidence in Congress and in our government.
Besides that, how in the world does holding press conferences and pointing fingers at others help resolve anything? It’s not true. The truth of the matter is that we are in this fiscal situation that we’re in today because of decisions that all of us have made over the last decades.
In fact, I saw yesterday in the paper where Speaker Boehner was talking to his caucus about getting ready for the shutdown and there were ovations over there. There are no ovations over here for a government shutdown. We do not want to see it. I’m not just talking about the Democrats in the Senate. I don’t know of any Republicans in the Senate who want to see a shutdown.
One of the tests I use when I look at politicians is the louder they are and the more often they have press conferences to blame other people, it probably means they are more to blame for the problems we have today. I certainly hope as the elections roll around next year the American people will remember many of the politicians’ attempts here in Washington to avoid responsibility for this terrible fiscal crisis.
One thing we need to keep in mind is that we’re talking about this week in terms of shutting down the government. I hope that doesn’t happen. But what we’re talking about this week is really only important for the next six months. We’re only talking about for the rest of this year. The only fight that we need to have is over the long-term fiscal policy of this country. So for the next six months, I don’t want to say that it’s not important because it is but I would say it’s time for us to demonstrate to the American people, to the markets, and to the world that we can come up with political solutions to the very challenging problems that we have.
I’m also very concerned in this fragile economy that if we do shut down the government, that might be something that would shake this economy and, possibly, stop it in its tracks. I hope not reverse it, but I do have concerns about what an abrupt cutoff of government spending will do to the economy.
You will notice the words that I have put in bold print.
One of the tests I use when I look at politicians is the louder they are and the more often they have press conferences to blame other people, it probably means they are more to blame for the problems we have today. I certainly hope as the elections roll around next year the American people will remember many of the politicians’ attempts here in Washington to avoid responsibility for this terrible fiscal crisis.
I too hope the voters will remember who has been in favor of cutting the budget and who has not. That is the cause of the “terrible fiscal crisis.”
Legislators continue to negotiate a budget deal to avoid a federal government shutdown. Most everyone in Washington assumes that the public would be angry if the bureaucrats were sent home. But a new Rasmussen poll indicates that 57% of Americans like the idea if it is the only way to get deeper budget cuts.
No doubt, the budget needs to be pared. Uncle Sam will spend about $3.8 trillion this year. The deficit will run a record $1.65 trillion.
But the Democratic leadership has decided to stand fast on behalf of Big (Really, Really Big) Government. The budget plan released by President Barack Obama earlier this year relied on the usual “rosy scenarios” to understate future outlays and overstate future revenues, yet still predicted that the annual deficit will remain above $600 billion throughout the coming decade. More realistically, the red ink over that period is likely to approach $10 trillion. Congressional Democrats are acting like there is no program, no expenditure in the entire federal Leviathan that is not essential.
Republicans have taken up the cause of the taxpayers. Of course, their conversion to the cause of fiscal responsibility came late: President George W. Bush and his GOP Congress squandered money on virtually every program known to man — and some previously unknown ones too. Republicans share the blame for today’s fiscal mess. But at least they are now using the phrase “budget cuts” in polite company.
It’s obviously hard to quickly close such a huge gap, especially since the 2011 federal fiscal year is about half over. But given the budget crisis facing America, Congress still should make a serious start.
From all of the sound and fury coming out of Washington, one would think that the two parties were arguing about something important. Presumably the GOP is proposing budget cuts of, oh, a few hundred billion dollars? No. How about a couple hundred billion dollars? No. Well, certainly at least $100 billion? No. Think $61 billion. And that amount — about 1.6% of federal outlays — has the Democrats in full battle cry. Imagine! Cutting federal expenditures by 1.6%! Doing so would destroy America!
It makes me wish for last year’s Snowmageddon, which closed the federal government in Washington for an unprecedented four days. Amazingly, the country staggered on without guidance and nurture from Uncle Sam. The economy continued to function, contra President Obama’s recent warnings about the impact of a government shutdown. In fact, Americans did a lot better without having to look over their shoulders those four days.
As the majority of the population recognizes, there’s no reason to fear a government shutdown this year. We have grown far too reliant on Washington. It is time to regain our independence. Even the most essential agencies waste a lot of time and money on non-essential tasks.
(b. 1950) – Born and raised in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, Tess Harper attended Missouri State University in Springfield and began acting in theater production and appearances in theme parks, dinner theaters and children’s theater. In 1982 she won the role of Robert Duvall’s younger wife in the film “Tender Mercies,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She appeared in the TV mini-series “Chiefs” (1983) and “Celebrity” (1984), as well as many made-for-TV movies. Also in 1983, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Chick Boyle in “Crimes of the Heart.” She also had roles in “Ishtar” (1987), “Far North” (1988), “The Man in the Moon” (1991), “The Jackal” (1997) and “Loggerheads” (2005). She had a regular role in the CBS TV series “Christy” from 1994 to 1995. She shared a Screen Actors Guild Award in the Best Ensemble Cast category with her fellow cast members in 2007’s Best Picture, “No Country for Old Men.”
The Daily Hatch 