It’s been at least two weeks since the impending “fiscal cliff” disaster was avoided at the last minute. That means it’s time for our grossly dysfunctional, leaderless government to stumble into crisis mode, again.
This time, the deadlines are in March and April, and one of the key issues is the debt limit. The debt limit now stands at $16.4 trillion — that $16,400,000,000,000 — but that staggering sum is not enough for our debt-ridden, spending-obsessed, deficit spending-addicted country. At a press conference yesterday, President Obama said Republicans should just raise the debt limit, without insisting on spending cuts. We’re not a “deadbeat nation,” he said, and the full faith and credit of the United States should not be a “bargaining chip.” If agreement on raising the debt ceiling can’t be reached, he says, Social Security and veterans checks might be delayed.
It seems awfully early in the game to play the Social Security card and scare seniors and veterans. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones who are frightened by another crisis brewing. This morning, global markets are stalling due to concerns about the debt limit, and the ratings agency Fitch says if the debt ceiling issue isn’t resolved promptly America’s credit rating could drop.
At his press conference, the President said he was willing to talk about spending cuts to stabilize the debt, but that such spending cuts should be discussed separately. We’ve heard that song before, but cuts never get made, programs never get eliminated, and trillion-dollar deficits go on and on. For all of his talk, talk, talk, the President has shown no willingness to take the courageous spending reduction steps that truly are needed to get our debt problems under control. Like Wimpy, the President would rather promise to pay us Tuesday for buying him that hamburger today. After four years, however, the bill hasn’t been paid, and there is no sign it will be paid.
I think Republicans have concluded that, deep down, President Obama would be perfectly comfortable to let the spending and big deficits continue until he leaves office, and that is exactly what will happen if he isn’t forced to sit down at the table and bargain. If the Republicans see the debt ceiling as a fail-safe means of forcing some hard negotiations with the President that produce real progress on federal spending and the deficit, the President has only himself to blame.
The latest evidence of this phenomenon comes from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which 
Of course, it’s too much to expect that any political debate these days could be done at a reasonable decibel level, without yelling or over-the-top metaphors. Nevertheless, I thought the discussion (if you can call it that) itself said something about the selection of Ryan. Rather than arguing about whether the pick would help Romney politically in this state or with that constituency, the commentators were talking about something of actual substance — the budget, our debt problems, and how we deal with them. How refreshing it would be if this election actually involved consideration of those crucial, meat-and-potatoes issues, rather than phony, grossly overheated topics like whether the evil Bain Capital caused a woman to die of cancer!
The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that this year’s deficit will be $1,170,000, 000,000 — $1.17 trillion. That breathtakingly huge number comes on the heels of the $1,300,000,000,000 deficit in the last fiscal year. Our deficits topped $1,000,000,000,000 during each of President Obama’s three years in office.
There’s plenty of blame to go around. Congress has shirked its responsibility to pass honest budgets and specific spending bills, administrators have wasted tax dollars, and huge segments of the American public have an apparently insatiable appetite for federal benefits and perks. But I have grown sick to death of President Obama’s constant attempts to dodge his share of the blame for the ignominious failure of the government that he — and he alone — heads. Successful Presidents are able to lead and work within our political system to deal the issues of the day. President Obama, in contrast, throws out unrealistic budgets that don’t even receive the votes of members of his own party in Congress and then blames his predecessor — the one who left office more than three years ago — for our mounting debt problems. Meanwhile, the spending and deficit binge continues. I don’t view President Obama’s approach as quality leadership. In fact, I don’t view it as leadership at all — and if a President doesn’t lead, he has failed on the most fundamental part of his job.
This is the kind of story that, obviously, can become the subject of jokes and double entendres — but I think the jollity just obscures a deeper, serious question. When the federal government pays for medical care, what is it supposed to be paying for?
What I find interesting is not that Toledo is having a problem with abandoned houses — Toledo, like many Midwestern cities, has been hard hit by our ongoing economic woes and home foreclosures — but that the demolition effort is being funded in significant part by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is contributing more than $1 million toward the total cost. Although the story linked above doesn’t identify the specific source of the federal funds, a look at the HUD website suggests that the funds are part of 
According to a federal database, the American embassy in Paris spent more than $8,300 on Dreams From My Father in French. Embassies in Indonesia, Turkey, and South Korea made similar purchases. The embassy in Egypt led the way, spending a whopping $37,000 on copies of Dreams From My Father. According to a State Department spokesman, diplomats “often use books to engage key audiences in discussions of foreign policy” and he notes that “[t]he structure and the presidency of the United States is an integral component of representing the United States overseas.” He says the books stock “information resource centers” that are located around the world and include books about U.S. culture, history and values, and that the State Department also provides “key library collections with books about the United States.”
According to the CBO, 
The bird is the sage grouse. In the last two years, the USDA will have paid $112 million to farmers and ranchers in 11 western states to implement practices to preserve the bird’s habitat. Yet, the sage grouse — which is found in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and California — is too numerous to be included on the endangered species list. Indeed, 10 of the 11 states where the bird is found allow it to be hunted.
It’s like an old fan dance, where the flashing fans of the dancer seek to tantalize while hiding what lies beneath. The Senate has contributed the ill-defined “Gang of Six” proposal. The House Republicans passed “cut, cap, and balance.” President Obama continues to insist on a “balanced approach.” Everybody uses every opportunity to trumpet that everybody else is behaving abominably and making outrageous proposals. And the latest report is that the 
The Post story found that in recent years more than $400 million in HUD money has been spent on stalled or abandoned projects. In some cases, money was loaned and projects never got underway. Many of the people to whom money was given had no experience in construction or had questionable qualifications for getting the federal booty. The overall picture painted by the article suggests that our tax dollars were spent with little concern for how they would actually be used, and then with little attention to how they were actually being spent.
The first part of the plan deals with domestic spending. The President’s description of this part is found in a paragraph that reads:
The 
