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Originally Posted by spence
That's why Alan Simpson said you have to hit every cow. Entitlements, pork, international aid, corporations, wealthy etc... make everyone feel a little pain and you can solve the problem.
-spence
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you've mentioned Simpson a couple of times as though he may have some credability with you....
August 11, 2011 4:00 A.M.
Alan Simpson on Obama’s Leadership
The president needs to put forth a budget plan.
As a former senator who served under four different presidents, Alan Simpson (R., Wyo.) is perplexed at the way the current one has “led” since taking office in 2009. “One thing that’s puzzled me from the beginning of this administration is that, on every major piece of legislation, he’s said, ‘Let Congress decide,’” Simpson tells National Review Online. “With every other administration in the past, whether it was Carter, Reagan, Bush, or Clinton, whenever they wanted to do something big, those of us in Congress would always say, ‘Okay, where’s the White House bill?’ They always had a plan to show us.”
Unfortunately, Simpson argues, President Obama has failed to adopt this approach, opting to let Congress take the lead on legislative matters, even those of paramount importance, such as health care, the federal budget, and — most recently — the debt ceiling.
“I’ve never seen that done before,” he says. “Congress is never going to hammer out a sensible bill if they don’t know what the White House is going to do with it.”
Only House Budget Committee chairman
Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), he points out, has had the gumption to step forward with a plan to “slay the biggest mastodon in the kitchen” by tackling the biggest driver of the national debt — entitlement spending — and face the inevitable “howling, shrieking, moaning” of the political class. “The president will say that he has a plan,” Simpson says. “He gave a speech and said he wanted to cut $4 trillion, which is a minimal number, but then he’s not going to touch Social Security and Medicare, for crying out loud.” That just won’t cut it.
The same goes for the AARP and others who refuse to acknowledge the need for meaningful entitlement reform. “If you can’t figure out where these programs are going, you’re off your rocker,” he says.
And contrary to what most Democrats like to argue, the new health-care law did nothing to improve their long-term outlook. “You can call it Obamacare, or Elvis Presley care, or whatever you want to call it, it can’t work. It can’t sustain itself.”
Simpson says the Tea Party has been “a force” in the deficit debate, but suggests their role is being over-hyped by the media. “There are some very good people in the Tea Party, and there are just as many screwballs, lightweights, and boobs as there are in the Democratic and Republican parties,” he says. “They get all the play because the media is only interested in conflict, confusion, and so on.”
Funny, he didn't mention the Tea Party as an obstacle...he does chastise Grover Nordquist and cite him as an obstacle with regard to tax reform but in terms of calling for the necessary cuts on a scale that he seems to believe are needed...the Tea Party Terrorists is the only group out there that I'm aware of actually demanding these large cuts ...