Buffett Doesn't Get It

Warren Buffett made a quote today...

"While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks... My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."

~ Warren Buffett in a New York Times op-ed called "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich"

Here's the deal, Warren Buffet is to the Left what Donald Trump is to the Right - nuts. But why not put your money where your mouth is, Warren, and build some libraries ala Andrew Carnegie? Or fund a watchdog group to cut down on government waste?

My contention and gripe here is - if you feed the tumor more money, no matter who's it is or where it was earned - you're not solving the government spending problem. You're feeding the damn tumor.

Notes on the Budget

Here are some reviews of Mr. Obama's Budget... (ouch)

“He whiffed…” USA Today

“Gutless…Far worse than merely bad.” IBD

“Obama's budget shies away from tough choices… In a crucial way, it lacks honesty.” San Francisco Chronicle

“[Obama]Turned away on leading the nation back from an impending fiscal nightmare.” Dallas Morning News

“What Mr. Obama’s budget is most definitely not is a blueprint for dealing with the real long-term problems that feed the budget deficit…” New York Times

"The larger problem with the budget is the administration's refusal to confront the hard choices that Mr. Obama is so fond of saying must be faced." The Washington Post

“The American people also want a President to lead, and this budget is so transparently cynical it may help Republicans make their case that if they don't lead, no one will.” Wall Street Journal

Increases Taxes By $1.6 Trillion, More Spending, Debt:

“Obama budget resurrects rejected tax increases.” Associated Press

“[Obama] raises taxes by $1.6 trillion over the coming decade…” Associated Press

"The administration says it will reach $15.476 trillion by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, to reach 102.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- the first time since World War II that dubious figure has been reached." The Washington Times

“disappointed the Obama administration has decided to double down on the status quo… continues to act as if government spending is the way to prosperity.” Denver Post

Leading Democrats Say Budget Falls Far Short – “Focusing On the Politics of the Problem and Not the Problem:”

“[The budget goes] nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare.” – Erskine Bowles, Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff and President Obama’s Fiscal Commission Co-Chair

“[Obama] is focusing on the politics of the problem and not the problem…If you address only the politics of the problem, the problem doesn't go away. There's a real world out there. There is a bond market out there. And there are people who vote, including a lot of people in the middle of the political spectrum, who care about the issue of long-term fiscal sustainability." – William Galston, Former Domestic Policy Advisor , Clinton White House

Wow! With EVERYONE so pissed - he must have nailed it! Right? Right guys? Hello?
Note: Super shout out to Marathon Pundit who compiled all the links - Go to him to follow the quotes.

Debt Ceiling

Top White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee warned Sunday that a congressional failure to rise the nation's debt limit early this year would be "catastrophic."

"It pains me that we would even be talking about this," Goolsbee told ABC's "This Week." "This is not a game. You know, the debt ceiling is not something to toy with. … If we hit the debt ceiling, that's essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on the economy would be catastrophic. I mean, that would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008."More

Uh, yes. Catastrophic that two Administrations spent enough to have to even discuss raising the debt ceiling - again.

We'll just give the alcoholic driving the car in the school zone a couple more shots. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Hell - why even have a debt ceiling? They're spending like there's no tomorrow anyway - what's some arbitrary stop sign going to do to slow them down now? They'll just move the goal post a couple more times until we have to give everything back to the Cherokee Nation. Perhaps they'll buy it back for a necklace and some small pox infected blankets? They're going to be super pissed to see what we did to the place. We probably won't get our security deposit back.

Wimpy CA Notes

I can't get this thought out of my head...
"The State of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today"

For anyone who's not following the story, or has money coming to them for work they did for the State... California sent out $3.3 billion in IOU’s. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get a slip of paper.

Technically, and since the Bank of America is accepting it - along with the paltry amount of interest generated by this 'bond-like' issue of paper - it's legal tender being printed by the Treasury of California. Hey, they're already two steps further along the secession than Texas right now! And speaking of secession - the people of California had better hope that paper being printed is worth more than Jefferson Davis Confederate Notes.

And it seems that the ratings agencies are downgrading the notes to BBB status.

That puts your notes at .85 cents on the dollar.
But, there is a chance you can sell 'em on eBay as a souvenir.

In the meantime, the folks who are paying attention - or at least should be - would be the Democrats in Washington. It seems that the healthcare discussion is hinging on the very openly public fiasco in California. There's a place to point to now. A wagging finger of shame - over spending makes your economy crap out. And your dollar becomes 'worth-less' than what you owe.

Granted, California's orgy of spending and programs to solve all of the voters problems makes Obama's Third Stimulus package (to be fair, the first was George Bush's in April '08) makes DC spenders look armature in comparison. The California deficit this year is now north of $26 billion. The U.S. federal deficit will be, according to the latest numbers, almost 70 times larger.

Wonder if anyone will notice? Will it kill Obama's plans?

Hopefully, the increasing public concern about deficits - heightened by the California crisis, there are two possibilities. Either the Obama plan will come crashing down or Senate Democrats will concoct some bill that has health in the title but costs almost nothing and does even less - which is expected, except for the cost part. With Al Franken arriving in the Senate and providing Democrats with that crucial 60th vote, the latter seems most likely. Let's hope.

Balls

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that federal budget deficits were growing so large that they threaten the nation's financial stability. "Cuts in spending or increases in taxes will be necessary to stabilize the fiscal situation," Bernanke said. The warning dragged down U.S. stocks.

That's balls. Bernanke spends 2 Trillion dollars over the budget - then warns Congress that insane spending might harm the country.

Congrats Ben, you're Blasphemes Hypocrite of the Week!

Deep Impact

How much debt can the Chinese buy anyway? No wonder Hillary back-peddled on China's human right's "issues" until she got back home.

Oh heck, why not just toss in 20 Billion more in there for another Hoover Dam and we'll just call it an even 3 Trillion.

Thanks for Reader "C" for the tip on the graphic.