The Quiet Conservative September 10, 2011
Pass This Bill Now!
I was stuck Thursday night in a place I didn't want to be, with CBS on the television when the
President addressed a joint session of Congress. By the end of the broadcast I thought he should look
more tired than he did, because the entire CBS news team performed fellatio on him both before and
after the speech.
“NORAH O'DONNELL: Scott, the President is facing an economy that just won't move forward or
create jobs so this is a huge speech for him tonight. That's why his advisors wanted to make it before
a joint session of Congress and, as we've first reported, this is going to be a plan with a price tag of
over $400 billion. More than half of it will be tax cuts – tax cuts for every working American, tax
cuts for every small business. Infrastructure spending, help for the unemployed to try and get them
back to work. So this is an extraordinarily bold plan by the President.
PELLEY: Agree or disagree with the President's proposals, Bob Schieffer, I think you have to admit
he took it to them tonight.
BOB SCHIEFFER: He really did. I mean, he threw the high hard one at them. And, you know,
from the very beginning. I mean, this is not the cool, detached college professor that some people
have accused Barack Obama of being. This was a guy who knows his back is to the wall and he
called the Congress in there and had them sit down while he told them 'I'm talking to the people
out there' and he made them listen. This is very different. A very different approach for this
president to take. I mean, he really went at them tonight. I mean, very – a lot of Harry Truman in
this speech tonight.”
It was a pathetic lead in, watching grown adults prostitute themselves.
In the past I have taken the approach of deconstructing columns or speeches to show how people don’t
tell the truth, twist the truth, leave the truth out, or show where they are wrong. Since the President
never says in one word what he can say in one hundred, it would make a very long column. Instead, I
will address the broadest points possible on the themes presented, and will illustrate why the President's
ideas will fail just as they have failed in the past. And, no matter how many times they are tried in the
future, they will fail. This will not change. What the President proposes cannot succeed.
That isn't a biased statement. That isn't a statement from a mean racist. That isn't a statement from a
“teabagger.” When someone disagrees with the President he is automatically marginalized by the Left.
“What the President proposes cannot succeed” is not a statement of personal animosity. That is a
statement of reason. The Left doesn't do reason. But if you can corner one that isn't on a CBS News
team, at least you can try it out with them.
In the speech the President repeatedly said to "pass this bill." But, bills originate in the House if they
are spending bills. What bill number is it? If it isn't a spending bill, and originated in the Senate, what
senate bill number is it? There is no number as there is no “bill.” What the President has is the outline
of a plan. The speech to Congress was intended to put political pressure on anyone who would
disagree with this plan outline. CBS was trying to help.
“I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs
Act.” Well, send it. Make it a bill that everyone can read, and then the merits can be discussed.
Congress and the people can decide if it should be passed “right away.” The President sounded too
much like a used car salesmen. Don’t demand that everyone support something they haven’t seen,
and you won’t put out there for them to see.
“Pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new
workers or raise workers’ wages.” Congress could not pass the bill, because no bill had been sent to
them to pass even if they drank the Kool Aid and repealed the laws of economics. So no, the day
after the speech nothing was changed. The President used the address to the joint session of Congress
for a sales pitch. To try and push his opposition into a corner. It was the hyper partisanship he
demonstrates in everything he does.
The only true and lasting applause during the speech from the other side of the aisle was for the
following:
“Now, I realize that some of you have a different theory on how to grow the economy. Some of
you sincerely believe that the only solution to our economic challenges is to simply cut most
government spending and eliminate most government regulations.”
Yes! That is it exactly! Only, from that statement you can see that he is diametrically opposed to the
one thing that can save the private sector, because he doesn't believe in the private sector. Or
capitalism. That section was meant to marginalize the opposition. It was meant to show contempt for
their views. What that statement shows is that President has no intention of doing anything for the
economy based on personal freedom or the rights of the individual. The President doesn't believe in
the private sector. He believes in government and an economy centered on and directed by that
government. The President believes in socialism.
Back to that last thought in a moment. By going to the White House web site there is an outline of the
plan. It lists five key components:
• Tax Cuts to Help America’s Small Businesses Hire and Grow
• Putting Workers Back on the Job While Rebuilding and Modernizing America
• Pathways Back to Work for Americans Looking for Jobs
• More Money in the Pockets of Every American Worker and Family
• Fully Paid for as Part of the President’s Long-Term Deficit Reduction Plan
From the speech and from what is listed on the White House site, it is possible to get an idea about
how Socialism sees the path to grow an economy. The first idea, tax cuts, is a good idea. But, the
difference between a plan and a bill is what is actually done. The first is to cut the payroll tax in half.
OK, but for how long? Is it a permanent cut or only for one year? Why would a business hire
someone who they know will immediately cost more in one year? Plus, there is a tax cut for hiring new
people...for a year. Both ideas mean that a business hires people for less money, which is good, but
only for a short time.
Now, here's the kicker, why hire them at all? Businesses hire people to fill demand. Businesses hire
people because they need people to work. If they don't need the people, telling them it won't cost as
much to hire people you weren't going to hire isn't going to do much. So it is a nice idea in a growing,
booming economy to get it going even higher, but it isn't going to make a lick of difference in a sick
economy.
OK, so how about putting workers back to work while rebuilding and modernizing America? Building
railroads and roads and schools and...well here's the speech part:
"This is inexcusable. Building a world-class transportation system is part of what made us an
economic superpower. And now we’re going to sit back and watch China build newer airports and
faster railroads? At a time when millions of unemployed construction workers could build them right
here in America?
There are private construction companies all across America just waiting to get to work. There’s a
bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that’s on one of the busiest trucking routes in
North America. A public transit project in Houston that will help clear up one of the worst areas of
traffic in the country. And there are schools throughout this country that desperately need
renovating. How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart?
This is America. Every child deserves a great school – and we can give it to them, if we act now.
The American Jobs Act will repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools. It will put people to work
right now fixing roofs and windows; installing science labs and high-speed Internet in classrooms
all across this country. It will rehabilitate homes and businesses in communities hit hardest by
foreclosures. It will jumpstart thousands of transportation projects across the country. And to make
sure the money is properly spent and for good purposes, we’re building on reforms we’ve already put
in place. No more earmarks. No more boondoggles. No more bridges to nowhere. We’re cutting the
red tape that prevents some of these projects from getting started as quickly as possible. And we’ll set
up an independent fund to attract private dollars and issue loans based on two criteria: how badly a
construction project is needed and how much good it would do for the economy."
Whether it is Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, or Hu Jintao, that section was direct from the heart of a
socialist. What he is talking about isn't the private sector, he is talking about what can be done by
taking from the private sector-you- and giving it to the politicians to decide where it goes. "No more
bridges to nowhere" That was a nice. It is all a bridge to nowhere! The entire first trillion dollar
stimulus was a bridge to nowhere. The only problem with Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was that he
had an "R" after his name and not a "D." If he had the other letter, then the original bridge in Alaska
would have been just the project for this effort.
What about pathways back to work for Americans Looking for Jobs? The most telling feature about
this "pathway" is that it asks for an extension of another year of unemployment benefits. That means
going down that pathway can wait for a year. It also goes back to the tax cut for businesses for one
year to hire someone they don't need to hire to begin with. The pathway leads nowhere.
But, what about more money in the pockets of working Americans? Surely that is a good thing! Yes,
yes it is. Which goes back to the less government, less spending, less regulation thing. Instead what
the President is saying is that the government is graciously deciding to take a bit less of your
money, which you earned, and was yours to begin with, because they think they can take it from
somewhere else. But make no mistake, you should be grateful they are letting you keep any of it at
all. How generous.
Which gets us to the part that makes me giggle. The plan is fully paid for by the President's Long-
Term Deficit Reduction Plan! What a masterstroke! It won't cost us a thing! Pass this plan now!
Why not? If it is free, then do it! We can put everyone back to work, rebuild our infrastructure, save
the economy, and keep more of our money!
Fantastic! This nebulous unworkable plan will be paid for by some other nebulous unworkable plan
that no one has ever seen! That would be the long term deficit reduction and weight loss thingy. The
President has submitted only one budget in his term in office. It didn't get a single legislative vote. Not
one. The President is going to pay for this whole mess with something that doesn't exist.
"The agreement we passed in July will cut government spending by about $1 trillion over the next ten
years. It also charges this Congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by
Christmas. Tonight, I’m asking you to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the
American Jobs Act. And a week from Monday, I’ll be releasing a more ambitious deficit plan – a
plan that will not only cover the cost of this jobs bill, but stabilize our debt in the long run."
In July the President didn't pass anything. He was pushed by both parties and both houses and ended
up signing whatever was put in front of him. He didn't come up with a thing. When the President says
this plan is paid for, he means that Congress should pass it and someone else will have to figure out
how to do it. He thinks Congress can find all the money.
Yet, the socialists there will not consider anything less than more spending on social programs and
increasing their spending. The very debt commission nominated to cut this existing mythical trillion
dollar spending has on it Democrat Senators Patty Murray, John Kerry, and Max Baucus, and
Representatives James Clyburn, Xavier Becerra and Christopher Van Hollen. Not a small government
social program cutter in the bunch. So where is this reduction coming from? If it isn't the military, it
isn't happening. The President realizes this too. So he is lying when he tells anyone that Congress is
going to pay for this plan. Joe Wilson was right. "You lie!" should have rung out in the chambers
during the speech. If there are no cuts, that means tax increases or debt.
"Regardless of the arguments we've had in the past, regardless of the arguments we’ll have in the
future, this plan is the right thing to do right now. You should pass it. And I intend to take that
message to every corner of this country. I also ask every American who agrees to lift your voice and
tell the people who are gathered here tonight that you want action now. Tell Washington that doing
nothing is not an option. Remind us that if we act as one nation, and one people, we have it within
our power to meet this challenge."
Not only no, but hell no. The fitting rebuttal is in the President's own words:
"The only solution to our economic challenges is to simply cut most government spending and
eliminate most government regulations.” That should have been the entire sum of the President's
speech to the joint session of Congress. One sentence.