Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Great FedGov Budget Debacle Of _____

Aw, heck, pick a year, any year: the Feds have been circling the bowl of paper insolvency off and on for just about my entire life and to add injury to insult, it's unlikely that the Feds have had enough money to pay their debts at any time, if you suddenly called "olley-olley-oxen-free" and all parties had to settle up on the spot.

So when the President climbs up inside my TV and makes long faces about the debt -- and combative ones about takin' it to the brink -- or when his opponents dish up sanctimonious sound-bite snippets about how they would never, ever, ever raise taxes* -- all I can do is laugh, because whoever wins, we'll lose: you, me, the guy gliding by in the Hummer limo and the bum dozing in the bushes, we all lose.

They're gonna go back and forth however many rounds; they'll puff up and they may even "bring the Federal Government to a standstill," though not their paychecks, air-conditioning or in-house diner; none of the present 3.5 wars will stand down and you can depend on the FBI, DEA and bATFe will all be at the same old stand during the "standstill," still employing mother-shooters, rousting California cancer patients and sneaking guns across borders. (What I wanna know about the last-named Bureau is, do they smuggle smokes and booze, too?) Count on IRS still being in their counting-house, too; in short, none of FedGov functions that pick your pocket or break your leg (or the other guy's) will shut down; nope, they'll turn out the lights on some highly-visible widows-and-orphans stuff, then go on TV and sob about how their opposite number(s) in the Legislative or Executive branch just don't care about decent, hardworkin' 'Murricans and/or balancing the Federal budget.

Eventually, they'll "compromise:" make token cuts to a costly feelgood program like MediCare and raise taxes a bit; they'll each blame the other side for the bit that smells worse to their core, you and I will will get socked with the bill, and the Federal budget will go right on running a deficit.

If any individual or business tried to run with a negative balance all the time, it would be fraud. When the FedGov does it, after putting on a medicine show to sell us on their patent snake-oil, hiding the fact that it's only degrees of insolvency under discussion (as opposed to, you know, not spending more than they take in from us poor marks), why, it's got tradition and "the great workings of Our Gummiement" all over it, and we're supposed to obediently pick sides and spat with those who back the other team.

Bedammed if I will. The Emperor and all his court is naked -- and bankrupt. Shut 'er down, Mr. Obama, Mr. Boehner; sell off what you can and shut 'er down. We'll have to run on State governments while we figure out what to do next.

(Don't hold your breath waiting on that -- but don't get sucked into the budgetary pantomime, either. No matter what they do, you will end up worse off when it is resolved).
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*The call-and-response then has The Prez intoning that "the rich" should pay "their fair share," to which I have to point out that in terms of using Fed-provided and/or funded in whole or part from Washington City goods and services, is it the wealthy or the poor who make most use of 'em; and if it's the poor who use 'em most and the rich who use 'em least, what's "fair share" even mean in this context?

14 comments:

Carteach said...

All I can say is... Amen, and copy that.

Joseph said...

I just love the fact that the country is on the brink of insolvency and the people we elected are still playing politics. Not what we elected them for. Apparently they didn't learn anything over the past couple of years.
Next time I'm writing in Mickey Mouse. He may have a high squeaky voice and a tail, but I doubt he's this stupid.

Roberta X said...

"On the brink...?" No, over it; if the Fed's creditors were able to say, "Settle up now," the government wouldn't be able to.

Stuart the Viking said...

We'll live with the state governments? Last I checked, most of the state governments were just as broke as the federal government
is.

I think a complete re-structure needs to happen, complete with a flat tax (everyone pays the same percent, that is what I call fair) and a requrement that the government spend no more than it takes in. PERIOD. No borrowing allowed at all. If the government can't provide a service with the tax proceeds that it gets, then we really don't need it.

s

Drang said...

"Fair Share"=It gets whichever polytickian happens to be speaking what he or she deems to be his or her fair share of the vote.

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

"On the brink...?" No, over it

Or, to put it another way, the car has gone over the cliff and we're in free-fall, while the D's and R's are arguing whether to turn the wheel right or left and the people in the back seat are telling them to hit the brake pedal harder because the car isn't stopping.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Breaking News: Ron Paul announced he won't run for Congress Again; rolling the Dice for the Presidency.

I'm sure when he wins in a Landslide, all the members of the Next Congress will be glad to go for his Fiscal Policy, and the United States will saved!

However, in the Real World....

Cormac said...

So...the Social(ist) Security vault is empty?
What about all those people (read: We The People) who have been "investing" for their entire working lives?

Wasn't there a guy who, recently, got caught spending and misappropriating other peoples' investments? That Madoff guy...what ever happened to him?

Can the .gov be sentenced to federal prison? Maybe build a cell around the White House and all the federal buildings?
Talk about shovel-ready jobs!

Anonymous said...

Please read about our family's encounters with Bigfoot in western Oklahoma. http://roostershamblin.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

It really doesn't matter anymore, does it?

Hunker down and hope for the best. Keep your loved ones close and your fingers crossed, pray to whatever gods you pray to, and know most of us had the privilege to live through the most prosperous times and most prosperous nation in all human history.

The period of 1880-2000 - particularly the last 50 of those years - in the United States of America will live through history books as a "Golden Age" as long as there are history books.

The back-to-nature people will likely get their wish...and possibly live to regret it.

But hopefully ... maybe ... I'm entirely full of it.
Q

rickn8or said...

So, it's sort of an American form of Kabuki Theater??

Roberta X said...

Its worse than that; if you took every tax increase and budget cot on the table right now and applied them all? If it added up to a ten percent difference in the debt, I'd be surprised.

It's sleight-of-hand, is what it is. It's three-card monte.

misbeHaven said...

To Anonymous Spammer:

Did your family encounter Bigfoot at a fundraising event for his presidential bid? Because if you did, I might be tempted to vote for him.

Roberta X said...

Yeah, I had to leave that. Wouldn't click on the link, though.