Rich Man / Poor Man: A Must See Video

A great video to send any of your Liberal, Progressive and Democrat friends. 

Credit Rating Lowered -- President Obama Owns it!

All through the debt ceiling debate we were told by the elected elite in D.C. how important it was to protect the credit rating of our country. Many did not want to hear the call of a strong few in D.C, supported by us so-called crazy & uneducated Tea Party people, that the only way to save the credit rating from being lowered was to cut spending and NOT through raising the debt ceiling.

The media, always including the latest GOP  "Tea Partier's are Hobbit's" attacks, continually hammered home the beltway blab from President Obama and his band of befuddled bureaucrat's on how we must raise the debt ceiling in order to keep us from going into default and to save our credit rating from being lowered.  

After stomping his feet,  using quotes from Ronald Reagan to beat House Speaker John Boehner into capitulation, and in the name of "saving our credit rating" by threatening to veto anything that he did not approve of, President Obama held strong and got what he thought was best for the American people to save our credit rating.

And the Credit Agencies responded...

From JS Online -- (Emphasis Added)

The U.S. had its AAA credit rating downgraded for the first time by Standard & Poor's on concern spending cuts agreed on by lawmakers to raise the nation's borrowing limit won't be enough to reduce record deficits.

S&P dropped the ranking one level to AA+, after warning on July 14 that it would reduce the rating in the absence of a "credible" plan to lower deficits even if the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit was lifted. The U.S. was awarded the top credit ranking by New York-based S&P in 1941. It kept the outlook at "negative."

"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics," S&P said in a statement today.

Demand for Treasuries has surged even with the specter of a downgrade as investors saw few alternatives to the traditional refuge during times of risk as concern increased global growth is slowing and Europe's sovereign debt crisis is spreading. The action could still hurt the U.S. economy over time by increasing the cost of mortgages, auto loans and other types of lending tied to the interest rates paid on Treasuries. JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimated that a downgrade would raise the nation's borrowing costs by $100 billion a year.

"It's a reflection of the fact that we haven't done enough to get our fiscal house in the order," Anthony Valeri, market strategist in San Diego at LPL Financial, which oversees $340 billion, said in an interview before the downgrade. "Sovereign credit quality is going to remain under pressure for years to come." »Read Full Article

So it looks like, once again (Stimulus, TARP, Bailouts, etc...), the financial and fiscal wisdom of President Obama has failed to live up to what he said it would be, or should we say for what some people "hoped".

Mr. President -- you own this one!

Senator Jim DeMint calls Boehner's plan the "Boehner/Reid Plan"

The following is from Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) commenting on Speaker John Boehner's blunderous back tracking on the House passed version of Cut, Cap & Balance (CCB) for his own Budget Control Act of 2011.

DeMint goes on to note the obvious shortcoming and failures of Boehner's  proposal and how it closely (maybe not so mysteriously) resembles Senator Majority Leader Harry Reids plan.

It's almost as if Boehner only went through the motions on CCB as a show.

From Politicons --

I have troubling news. I’m very careful about criticizing my party’s leaders, but what is happening in Washington right now cannot be ignored.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has abandoned the Cut-Cap-Balance Act and is now pushing a new plan that is nearly identical to the one proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

The Boehner-Reid plan gives the President an immediate increase in the debt limit and only promises to cut spending in the future. It violates all three principles of the Cut-Cap-Balance Pledge because it does not substantially cut current spending, it does not truly cap future spending, and it does not require the passage of a strong Balanced Budget Amendment before raising the debt limit.

In short, I oppose the Boehner-Reid plan because it won’t balance the budget and stop the debt that is destroying our country.

The Boehner-Reid Plan

You will hear many claims about this plan over the next few days as it is pushed through the House and Senate. Some of these claims will be true, but many will be false. Here are the facts. The Boehner-Reid plan:

• Provides two increases in the debt limit – $900 billion and $1.6 trillion — totaling $2.5 trillion. It gives the President an immediate $900 billion increase given that Congress does not vote to disapprove it. It gives the President another $1.6 trillion increase next year if a bill written by a new Super Committee passes both houses and becomes law.

• Reduces spending by only $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. This amount won’t even come close to balancing the budget, as the debt is expected to grow by as much as $10 trillion over the next decade. The plan also reduces spending by only $6 billion in 2012. Considering that our government currently spends $10 billion a day, $6 billion is far too little to cut over the first year of the plan.

• Calls for a vote on the Balanced Budget Amendment but does not require its passage. Without passage of a strong Balanced Budget Amendment, Congress will never break its addiction to spending.

• Makes it virtually impossible to stop the debt limit from going up. The debt ceiling increases can only be stopped if Congress passes a resolution of disapproval and then votes to override the President’s veto with two-thirds support in the House and Senate.

• Creates a new, 12-member Super Committee to write another “grand bargain” to reduce the deficit by at least $1.6 trillion. It does not, however, prohibit the Super Committee from writing a bill to raise taxes and destroy jobs. The bill can then be fast-tracked through the House and Senate with no amendments.

Why It Should Be Rejected
After reviewing the details of Boehner-Reid plan, I cannot support it.

• It won’t balance the budget and stop the debt. Even if the cuts called for in the plan were real, the debt will still increase by $7 trillion over the next ten years.

• It won’t protect our AAA bond rating. According to financial reports, this plan will not reduce long-term spending by enough to prevent a downgrade. If we lose our AAA rating, it will create higher interest rates and cause our debt to grow even faster.

• It will likely result in higher taxes that will destroy even more jobs. The unemployment rate is over 9 percent. We cannot afford to lose more jobs when so many Americans are struggling to find work.

You can read the whole letter by clicking here.

Please note the only GOP Congressman from Ohio voting against Boehner's Budget Control Act of 2011 and making himself a target for political retribution, was Congressman Jim Jordan (OH-4). Thank you Congressman Jordan for being your own man and placing the well being of our country over poorly thought out partisan politics that would drive us deeper in debt!

Quickly forgetting they are in D.C. not because of Speaker Boehner, but because of the Tea Parties, the freshmen GOP Congressmen from OH chose to ignore the calls, emails and faxes from most of the Tea Parties in Ohio urging them to VOTE NO on Boehners Plan and voted to support the Boehner/Reid Bill.

Debt Ceiling Deal is Near - Contact Congress Now!

After passing the Budget Control Act of 2011(H.R.2693) through the use of political thuggery that would make a SEIU leader proud, it is being reported that House Speaker John Boehner, Senate President Harry Reid & Speaker John Boehner have come to a ‘deal’ over the debt ceiling debacle.

The reported deal is;

• A debt ceiling increase of up to $2.1 to $2.4 trillion (depending on the size of the spending cuts agreed to in the final deal).

• They have now agreed to spending cuts of roughly $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

• The formation of a special Congressional committee to recommend further deficit reduction of up to $1.6 trillion (whatever it takes to add up to the total of the debt ceiling increase). This deficit reduction could take the form of spending cuts, tax increases or both.

• The special committee must make recommendations by late November (before Congress' Thanksgiving recess).

• If Congress does not approve those cuts by December 23, automatic across-the-board cuts go into effect, including cuts to Defense and Medicare. This "trigger" is designed to force action on the deficit reduction committee's recommendations by making the alternative painful to both Democrats and Republicans.

• A vote, in both the House and Senate, on a balanced budget amendment.

This proposal falls far short of the House passed version of Cut, Cap & Balance, and the far weaker and open ended Boehner "Budget Control Act of 2011."

Votes on this deal are expected sometime today and Senator McConnell has acknowledged the debt ceiling limits are already exceeding those in the above deal.....

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says negotiators are "very close" to nailing down an agreement that would avert a default of the nation's debt obligations.

McConnell tells CNN's "State of the Union" that lawmakers are looking at a $3 trillion package that would raise the debt ceiling in two stages through the elections next year.

Action Alert

Please contact the below GOP Congressional members from Ohio, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and urge them to vote NO on this new proposed plan.

Please tell them to stop playing political games with the financial future and national security of the United States. Ask that without hesitation they act to protect the Full Faith and Credit of the United States, ensure payment of Social Security to our seniors and military.

There are several bills currently sitting in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, that would enable this to be done, two of them being the Full Faith and Credit Act (H.R. 421 & S.R.226) and the PROMISES Act (H.R.2496).

Contact Info

Senator Rob Portman

D.C. Office Ph#: (202)224-3353
Website: http://portman.senate.gov/public/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/robportman
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/robportman

Senator Sherrod Brown

DC Office Ph#: (202) 224-2315
DC Office Fx#: (202) 228-6321
Website: http://brown.senate.gov/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/sensherrodbrown

Rep. Steve Chabot, OH-1

D.C. Office Phone: (202) 225-2216
D.C. Office Fax: (202) 225-3012

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RepSteveChabot

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/repstevechabot

Website: http://chabot.house.gov
Email: https://chabot.house.gov/contact-me/email-me

Rep. Bill Johnson, OH-6

D.C. Office Phone: (202) 225-5705
D.C. Office Fax: (202) 225-5907

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RepBillJohnson

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RepBillJohnson

Website: http://billjohnson.house.gov

Rep. Steve Stivers, OH-15

D.C. Office Phone: (202)225-2015
D.C. Office Fax: (202)225-3529
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rep-Steve-Stivers/116058275133542

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/RepSteveStivers

Website: http://stivers.house.gov 

Rep. Jim Renacci, OH-16

D.C. Office Phone: (202)225-3876
D.C. Office Fax: (202)225-3059

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/repjimrenacci

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/repjimrenacci

Website: http://renacci.house.gov

Rep. Bob Gibbs, OH-18

D.C. Office Phone: (202)225-6265
D.C. Office Fax: (202)225-3394

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RepBobGibbs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/repbobgibbs

Website: http://gibbs.house.gov

House Leadership

Speaker John Boehner, OH-8

D.C. Office Phone: (202)225-6205

D.C. Office Fax: (202)225-0704
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johnboehner

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SpeakerBoehner

Website: http://www.johnboehner.house.gov

  

Rep. Eric Cantor, VA-7 / Majority Leader

D.C. Office Phone: (202)225-2815

D.C. Office Fax: (202)225-0011

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ericcantor

Website: http://cantor.house.gov

 Click here to send Congress a FREE Fax now! 

Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) supports Gang of Six Plan & Debt Ceiling Increase

In a recent interview on ABC's "Top Line" Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) indicated his support for the short on fact & long on empty promises "Gang of Six" proposal. Senator Portman also supports raising the debt ceiling....

From ABC's "Top Line" --

The bipartisan “Gang of Six” proposal on the deficit continues to draw attention from rank-and-file senators, even as House leaders come out in opposition to any plan that includes new revenues as part of a deal.

“It's a step in the right direction,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who was budget director under President George W. Bush, told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today. “It's the one effort out there where you've got Republicans and Democrats coming together. And I think it could actually mesh well with what I think is the ultimate solution here with regard to the debt limit increase.”

Portman said he disagrees with those in his party who say it’s not critical to increase the debt ceiling.

Please contact Senator Portman and remind him he was elected to stop the spending addiction in D.C., not make deals that allow even MORE spending! Tell him we do not need another Senator George Voinovich!

Senator Rob Portman Contact Info

Website: http://portman.senate.gov/public/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/robportman
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/robportman

D.C. Office Ph#: (202)224-3353

Cleveland Office Ph#: (216)522-7095

Cincinnati Office Ph#: (513)684-3265

Toledo Office Ph#: (419)259-3895

Columbus Office Ph#: (614)469-6774 / Toll-Free: 1-800-205-6446 (OHIO)

RedState's Open Letter Senators Kelly Ayotte, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rob Portman, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio

Erick Erickson of RedState posted the following letter to Senators Kelly Ayotte, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and our Senator from Ohio, Senator Rob Portman.

We could not agree more!

From RedState --

Welcome to the Senate.

It ain’t easy, is it?

Here’s the thing you need to know. Right now, you are probably telling yourself you need to be reasonable. You are probably telling yourself you need to cut a deal.

I’m willing to bet you are telling yourself you should do something short term and in six more months or whenever, after everything has calmed back down, revisit the issue.

Senators, you are fooling yourselves. And I bet you know it.

We have had, in the past 30 years, 17 deficit commissions. After almost each one, taxes have gone up, but the spending cuts have never happened.

Republicans before you have been quite reasonable. So reasonable in fact that the country is on the verge of bankruptcy.

And each time, they’ve gotten to the breaking point and decided, “let’s just do something to get us some breathing room and revisit it again in a few months.”

If you don’t fight, if you decide to take deal, make a compromise, or “let cooler heads prevail” at some point in the future, you’ll be no better than those who got us to this point. You will become them.

You went to Washington because Washington is broken. Pay very careful attention to the choices you are about to make. Because I suspect many of you are about to make the same choices the people before you who broke the system made. Don’t let fear, uncertainty, and market upset govern your decision making processes.

The only way out of this mess is to think different — to actually care enough to fight.

TPP Co-Founders tell John Boehner: "Get a Backbone"

We know actions speak louder than words. So far, causing many to question his integrity, leadership skills and intestinal fortitude, Speaker John Boehner has been long on words and short on action . 

In the below op-ed, Tea Party Patriots co-founders, Jenny Beth Martin & Mark Meckler, challenge Speaker Boehner to grow a backbone and do the job he was elected to do...

From The Hill --

America’s debt ceiling was quietly raised 10 times over the past 10 years. Only now has it become a national debate. The elephant in this room is not the GOP. It is the millions of Tea Party activists who have shifted the national debate to government overspending — a debate that was long overdue.

But a debate is just a debate. Words are just words. We saw how worthless words can be earlier this year.

The GOP said all the right words leading up to the 2010 midterm elections, but once the new leadership was sworn in this year, their promised spending cuts dropped from $100 billion to $31 billion and eventually to nothing.

Now it is time to back up those words with backbone.

We believe in Ronald Reagan’s adage, “Trust but verify” — but with a new twist: “You go first.”

If the president wants the debt ceiling raised and the GOP wants spending cuts, you must say: “You go first. Spending cuts first, then we’ll talk.”

The same goes for the GOP leadership. Show the millions of Tea Party Patriots you are serious about putting an end to overspending, then We the People will consider trusting you.

It has been more than six months since this Congress was sworn in. That’s half a year that could have been used to stop this government overspending. Half a year that could have been spent living within our means. Politicians from both sides have found the time to debate this issue around the clock, across all media and even on the golf course. But they have still not found a single moment to find a wasteful government program to cut?

What did our leaders find time to do these past six months?

The American people know there’s waste in the government. They see it every day from their local post office to the observance of Nancy Pelosi’s taxpayer funded jet. Just recently, we found out the National Institutes of Health is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on studies of toenails.

The Washington Post reported in February that Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) , the one in charge of the funds, has a community college student commons center, a fire training center, a water park, a boulevard, a drive and a parkway named after him in his district in gratitude for $40 million he had brought to the area.  Were those all legitimate government spending or a way to keep his 30-year career in Congress secured?

The president and his administration can’t look through their departments and find anywhere to cut. Congress can’t put a moratorium on nonessential programs until a review of the entire budget is completed? Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) seems to be the only one capable of coming up with real cuts.

Again, what have these “leaders” been doing?

Our president found time to characterize his opponents as wanting to put “a gun against the heads of the American people to extract tax breaks for corporate jet owners.” This is a strange thing to hear in this new era of civility. Then Obama threatened to push Grandma off a cliff unless he got a deal to raise the debt ceiling so he can overspend even more, saying, “I cannot guarantee that those [Social Security] checks go out on Aug. 3.”

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) found time to commend the president for making the case to raise the debt ceiling, saying on July 11: “I would agree with the president that the national debt limit must be raised. I’m glad he made the case for it today.”

It is clear they are not serious about cutting wasteful spending or they would have found a way to do it. When a family is on the brink of bankruptcy and can’t make ends meet, what do they do? They cut back on their spending. It’s very simple.

No, we’re not sophisticated Washington power players. We’re just Tea Party Patriots. But it seems to us that, in a debate over raising the debt ceiling, perhaps the best opening position is not to commend the person across the table for wanting to raise it.

Try our “you go first” method. If the president wants the debt ceiling raised, tell him “you go first” on cuts. If the GOP wants the Tea Party Patriots to believe they have backbone, show it to us first. 

If you can’t find your backbone, you can borrow some of ours. We the People have plenty.

Meckler and Martin are the co-founders and national coordinators of America’s largest Tea Party group, the Tea Party Patriots.