Stage is set for budget battle
Boehner
Republicans are once again throwing around the s-word — that’s right, socialism.
Of course, the rhetoric is aimed at President Barack Obama’s budget plans. With $410 billion dedicated to spending on government programs and a push for universal health care, it’s to be expected.
Harsh words
It’s been shown already that Democrats have control in congress. The stimulus bill passed without a single Republican vote in the House. So Republicans know that if they want to win a fight, they have to pull out the big guns. And it shows.
John Boehner, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, on Friday called Obama’s new budget proposal and recently passed economic stimulus plan “one big down payment on a new American socialist experiment.”
Loud voices, minimal effect
It’s likely that the Republicans’ ranting won’t amount to much as far as blocking the budget from passing. After all, the gigantic economic stimulus package passed with only three Republican votes.
Every little bit
But there were those three, and it needed those three to pass. From my point of view, it seems the “socialism” battle cry is aimed at making sure that every single Republican is on the same page regarding the budget.
And it appears it might be working. Those three Republicans who voted for the economic stimulus package have already expressed reservations about the budget proposals.
Tug of war
No one on either side of the aisle is denying that the budget plans are expensive. Some Democrats are showing reservations, too.
“While President Obama inherited much of the deficit he’s battling, his budget has eye-popping numbers, and its size and scope concern me. In particular, I’m not sure raising taxes is the best way to go in these times,” Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said.
Predictions
Nelson
As we all know, the budget will go through plenty of changes before it’s passed.
I predict we’ll see a situation similar to what happened with the stimulus package. The president’s version was $825 billion. The Senate version ended up being $838, and the version the House signed off on was $819. The final, signed, sealed, passed version was considerable less than both of those, at $787 billion.
Ok, I think that most people who like to decry socialism haven’t really studied what it means, which involves reading Marx. If a person were to do so, they would stumble on to the idea that 1. Socialism is a utopian idea, not a concrete one and 2. Marx is incredibly boring. I’m not for a grand socialization of America, because it reduces the incentive to innovate, but I think that there are some structural changes in order on some levels. Health care being made a bit more accessible is definitely among the things needing to be fixed.
Do you know why we are basically sitting by the curd twiddling with our fingers going practically nowhere? It’s because of arrogant people like these. There is no communication and team work. I’m sure the president knows exactly what he’s getting into and the detailed work involved in reaching that goal. On top of that, he has advisors available to offer a second opinion and President Obama is not a type of person to pass up an idea without first allowing some room for consideration. We are in desperate need of a resolution. These political leaders should quit bickering about gibberish and focus more on how they could be of assistance; our country depends on it.