I’ve heard you on numerous occasions speak of tax increases and raising the debt ceiling. You’re a nice man and a good conservative, but you just don’t get it.
When you describe the Tea Party caucus as being too strident or inflexible, I’d like to remind you how those other republican guys in congress contributed heavily to the mess we’re in, with their affability. The ones who pride themselves on reaching across the aisle, bipartisanship and meeting half way to get things done.
Is this what you call half way Ben? Can’t you see compromising has been unfair, a 1-way process of yielding/losing? No budget for four (4) years? Please, a congress of yester- year could never contemplate such a thing. It’s a complete failure of the legislative process, owing to a lack of leader- ship and intransigence of them, not us!
With the purple gang’s help democrats have taken us down this road, amassing a national debt that makes the Eurozone blush, Japan blink and Greece shudder. It also makes the likes of China, Russia & Iran jump with glee, portending an American future growing bleaker by the minute.
The answer is to balance the budget, and keep it balanced!
The answer is to demand that a percentage of the budget be devoted to debt reduction and guarantee any tax increases must be offset by spending cuts in the ratio of 10:1 – each new dollar of tax causing a $10 cut in spending. That’s it. No deals. This is the medicine we must take if we’re to get our fiscal house back in order.
Raising the debt ceiling simply facilitates their ability to procrastinate and delay, to kick the can down the road for the next guys to handle. We must stop this insanity and face our demons, be they democrats, us, whoever. We can’t keep spending money we don’t have, with no thought to consequences. Plainly it’s leading to bankruptcy, a devaluation of the dollar, a weakening in our national security, and a loss of preeminence in the world.
We must stand firm in the stream, brace against these currents of irresponsibility and profligacy. We cannot run the country like a charity, hoping collections will flow to meet desired benevolences. There are no adequate revenues to cover current expenditures, because we are out of control and without a plan.
The debt ceiling should not be raised. Tea Party members must stand firm and demand it can only be raised if 1) a budget is passed 2) spending is cut and 3) taxes are raised in the prescribed ratio of 10:1 with cuts.
These are non-negotiable. If America’s credit rating goes down, too bad. If government shuts down momentarily, tough. If we lose face in the world, so be it. Most importantly, if millions on food stamps and other entitlement beneficiaries are served notice the free ride is over and the goodies are gone, it will do them good. We must break the cycle of dependency and generational welfare that have contributed so heavily to our predicament.
No more nanny-state. Time for those who are able to pick themselves up and take care of business; for a thorough spring-cleaning; for an overhaul of social security, Medicare & Medicaid; for a complete review of gov’t house as to structure, mission & constitutionality.
We can’t go to the ballgame Ben, until this is done. Can’t kick the can or pass the buck. We need Tea Party’ers to send a message: we need liberals, progressives, bleeding hearts, whoever to get that message. There are not enough rich people to finance their party; it’s become too big and raucus; too many crashers, too much waste.
I like you Ben. I like most of your stuff. But when you go on national media and talk nice-nice and touchy-feely, you hurt the cause. When you tell Gutfeld on O’Reilly the rich guys can pay more, it won’t hurt them & they won’t care, you don’t provide a working definition of rich, leaving us to assume you accept Obama’s threshold of $250K. Earth to Ben! Earth to Ben! People making in the $250K>$750K definitely care! They’re not rich! They won’t pay more!
Gutfeld’s other even more important point, which you discounted or ignored, is levying more tax is simply feeding the beast; a voracious monster of unlimited appetite, being given free reign to gorge at will from the public trough, with no worry about running out of fuel or going hungry.
We have learned the hard way many times over democrats make empty promises, misrepresent rates of increase, re-allocate/consolidate spending programs and rob Peter to pay Paul. Call it something different, change the timing, move it to another venue, tack on, back date, push forward.Every trick in the book to get their way. Pull the wool over dopey republicans & dissemble/equivocate as reality comes.
We’re sorry, but we didn’t know this, or that, would happen! Now we’ve got new priorities, new emergencies. We can’t go back and undo what was good at the time but now gone bad. We can only go forward, to the next spending opportunity and play the game all over again.
Fool us once, twice, nine times, shame on you, you tricky liberals. But ten(10) times, ten times in a row with the same old story and excuses? SHAME ON US! Shame on every Ben Stein who never learns his lesson!
If conservatives don’t draw a line and stand firm, they are useless and un-American. If liberals think they can change this country into some kind of statist/socialist paradise with a vanishing middle class and exploding public sector, they too are an enemy of America. You cannot think this way and be a patriot. You are a pseudo-marxist/socialist, totally incompatible with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the American way of life.
You’ve been reading Shaneview
I’m Al Shane
Footnote:
Ben, if you’re reading this, I suggest you check the letters section of this blog and you will find a couple of previous letters I sent, C/O Ron Robinson with Young Americas Foundation, pleading with you to re-think your position and change your stance. I must assume they never came to your attention, since here you are over a year later espousing the same faulty positions.
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