Damned If We Do and Damned If We Don’t? Or Just Damned If WE Don’t?

Two great reads that got me thinking. That is always a sign of danger.

First let’s visit A Conservative Teacher, who recently wrote: “Obama’s Transparent  Game for America”. In this article, ACT describes Obama’s plan to win in 2012.   ACT relates that the 2012 election season is coming quickly. He describes an America that is at a crossroads. Will we follow the Democrats into the grey abyss or will we follow the Republicans and make the tough adult choices and decisions that are necessary.  ACT tells us

 Until recently, I could not imagine any way that Obama could be re-elected to the Presidency, but via memeorandum, I read this on Powerlineblog:

Obama’s game is transparent, isn’t it? He is playing a game of chicken. He puts forward a series of proposals that he knows are more or less insane; but he also believes that Republicans will come to his rescue. They, not being wholly irresponsible, will come up with plans to reform entitlements–like, for example, the Ryan Roadmap. Ultimately, some combination of those plans will be implemented because the alternative is the collapse, not just of the government of the United States, but of the country itself. But Obama thinks the GOP’s reforms will be unpopular, and he will be able to demagogue them, thus having his cake and eating it too. Is that leadership? Of course not. But it is the very essence of Barack Obama.

ACT found some very similar views at the Chicago Boyz. Here is some of what ACT shared from this blog:

Obama is betting that he can force the GOP to make their proposed cuts, which he can blame them for, which he can truthfully say he does not support. Then he can attack the Republicans for making the cuts. He will appeal to the people who are suffering from the cuts, and strip away GOP support. They will be angry and mobilized. Obama then plans to force the GOP into a funding crisis just as Clinton did. Obama plans to destroy the GOP reform wave of 2011 just as Clinton destroyed the GOP reform effort in 1995.

 If Obama wins, then the GOP / Tea Party effort is over and the Democrats have won the whole ball game. Obama gets reelected, the GOP is finished as a political party, and we have a mess for some number of years while a new party forms. But odds are it will be too late by then. A majority of people will be dependent on the Government.

 ACT is worried and rightfully so. as he says “It is a serious game with serious consequences.” The good teacher leaves us with this ominous thought:

…the day is fast approaching when democracy will rule and those who have political power will outnumber those who do not and will use the power of the state to steal from others and bring tyranny and injustice to America, as it is in every other nation in the world. This is a serious game- you all better be up for it. Obama is…

In my opinion, ACT and the sources he quotes are exactly right. This is the game that Obama is playing and he is being obvious about it. Obama is dictating the game. The game is Texas Hold’em for the highest stakes ever. We are playing to determine if we will be allowed to pass on the “American Dream” to future generations or will we allow Obama to destroy the “American Dream” once and for all.

Obama is “all-in” on the current budget battle. He is not going to wait for 2012. We, represented by the Republicans in Congress for better or worse, must decide to call or to fold. Which will it be? Steve McCann, writing for American Thinker has some thoughts on this question.

Steve titled his article “Will Senate Republicans Snatch Budget Defeat from the Jaws of Victory?” and this is why:

Are the Senate Republicans going wobbly, again?  A CNN report indicates that negotiations are underway after several Republican leaders indicated they might accept a short-term spending bill as long as it included at least some spending reductions, and not necessarily the deeper cuts the House approved last weekend.

… privately House leaders are acknowledging the need for a stopgap measure to continue funding the government while they negotiate spending levels for a longer term bill to fund the government through October 1

… one member of the Republican leadership let the cat out of the bag: they are intimidated by the prospect of a government shutdown.  He said: “Everyone knows that, no matter the truth, we would be blamed [for a government shutdown], so it would be a dumb political move.”

It sounds like our Senate Republicans are thinking of folding. But Steve provides us with a long list of reasons of why we shouldn’t fold. Here are just a few. Please read the complete article. It is very well done.

 

 

 

 

With that attitude the leadership has essentially surrendered to the Democrats who will, with their cohorts in the media, simply dangle the threat of a shutdown whenever they choose and they will have the upper hand. 

 

This is not the United States of 1995 and the Democrats will not succeed in blaming any shutdown, if one occurs, on the Republicans.

In 1995 the unemployment rate was 5.6%; today, 9.4%.  The U-6 unemployment rate was 9.9%; today, 17.0% (the U-6 unemployment rate counts not only people without work seeking full time employment but also marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons.)  The unemployment rates are up 68 and 72% respectively. 

The federal budget deficit in 1995 was $172 Billion by the end of fiscal 2011 it will be nearly $1.6 Trillion.  (adjusting for inflation: the annual deficit is up by 543% or a factor of 5.4x)   The deficit as a percent of GDP in 1995 was 3.2% in 2011 it will be 11.3%

In 1995, the federal government budget was $1.6 Trillion; President Obama has proposed for 2011 a budget of $3.75 Trillion.  (adjusted for inflation: an increase of 67%)   

Another point of economic comparison is the price of oil.  In 1995 it was $17.99 a barrel, today it is $105.00.   (an increase of 304% adjusted for inflation )

 

 

 

 

His list is much longer and it is worth reading the whole list. Steve’s point is that we are holding a good hand. We should not fold. Here is how he raps-up:

 

The nation is too far down the road to fiscal and social ruin and these tactics will no longer work as has been shown in the Wisconsin budget battle.  The Republicans in Congress need to stop living in the past and once and for all realize they represent the vast majority of the people.  They must cease falling for the same tired tactics of the Left.  All members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans must grow-up.  The Congress is not a high school debating society wherein cliques and social acceptance is paramount and the game of gotcha is obligatory.  The future of the United States is in their hands.

 

 If  the Senate Republicans decide to call Obama’s all-in bet, things will undoubtedly get very ugly. Think Madison, Wisconsin 100 times worse. It will be the defining moment for America. Do we have a choice? Are we damned if we do and damned if we don’t? Or can we wait until 2012 to enter the war that Obama is starting now? I don’t know if we ar damned if we do. But, I’m pretty sure we will be damned if we don’t. What do you think?