Sitting here thinking about the hysterical reaction on the Right about the budget deal.
Foremost among those saying that this is the end of the Trump presidency is Rush Limbaugh. I love Rush and admire his intellect and his instincts. He reflects the opinion of millions of ordinary people, the people that elected Donald Trump.
So I decided to do a little research. I’m a number guy and when I heard about a budget deal that allocated $1.3 trillion dollars for the next six months I began looking for numbers. That's a lot of money but what is the perspective? We always want to ask: compared to what?
Total federal spending has been rising almost every year since 1900, the exception being the years just after WWI and WWII. Federal spending fell sharply after we were no longer at war. In 2008 spending was $2.98 trillion and in 2009 that figure rose to $3.65 trillion, a 22% jump in one year. The Obama budget for 2017 was $4.15 trillion.
With that as background, it’s hard to determine just how bad the bill that Congress just passed was. That $1.3 trillion funds the government through October. Although I have not read the bill I’m willing to admit that the bill apparently funds just about everything that Democrats wanted. That’s just the rumor. Not in the bill (I’m told) is funding for The Wall, something that Trump campaigned on, his supporters want, and most Congressional Republicans never really supported.
One thing it does is increase defense spending, giving the military an opportunity to rebuild after years of malign neglect by the Obama administration. In an increasingly dangerous world, with challenges from a resurgent Russia, an aggressive China, the global cancer of Islamo-Fascism, and a very dangerous nuclear armed North Korea, fixing the military should be the number one priority of the Trump administration.
But back to the topic: looking at this bill dispassionately, we may register disappointment that the Welfare state is getting a transfusion instead of shrinking, but we refuse to engage in apocalyptic pronouncements with all due respect to our hero, Rush Limbaugh. It could be as bad as he says, but I need to be persuaded that it’s time to give up on Trump.
As a parting thought, the guy in charge of all that spending, the holder of the $1.3 trillion dollar checkbook is none other than Donald John Trump. It will make a big difference.
2 comments:
Agreed the reaction has been somewhat hysterical, but then it is disappointing that some of the things that Trump campaigned for aren't in the bill. The thought has even crossed my mind that Ryan and McConnell still don't like Trump and are not on board with his agenda and aren't going to help him activate it.
In reaction to the calamity I noticed the sun still came up today, Trump is still president, he has been nothing but resilient through the whole ugly Mueller process and I believe that lemonade can even be made from this lemon. Besides John Bolton is now on the scene and I believe he is one guy who can get rid of some of the Trump saboteurs in the administration. Its still a ways from the midterms and the more David Hogg and his friends talk, the more Republicans should be motivated to go to the polls.
I am going to look at this optimistically. Trump has made some great moves including Jerusalem. That's a great arrow in his quiver of accomplishments. He has so far beat the odds and my hope is he continues to do so because the alternatives are far uglier than the present course.
We'll see, maybe Rush will have a revised attitude on Monday.
As I see it, Trump rope-a-doped the Dems. He can spend or not spend any monies in the Omnibus as he sees fit with the following maneuver. Plus he will use the Army Corps of Engineers to build the wall. Just wait, every time peeps go nuts with one of DJT's decisions, it turns out to be a brilliant move.
On Friday, POTUS sent a memo to the Speaker (Congress) advising The President has notified Congress that he's invoking the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-letter-president-speaker-house-representatives-president-senate-21/
Obummer used this declaration extensively. In a nutshell, it basically gives POTUS exclusive authority of where to spend the money from the Omnibus bill just signed into law.
More here:
http://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-president-has-notified-congress.html
http://adriennescatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2018/03/omnibus.html
https://comonocreerendios-lem.blogspot.com/2018/03/trump-outsmarts-them-again-and-i.html
A civics lesson on budgets.
https://news.unclesamsmisguidedchildren.com/omnibus-spending-bill-and-why-different-what-you-think/
Liberals and Marxists are not happy about this...so prepare yourselves for the inevitable "DICTATOR" screams from the commies when they find out Trump will get his whole wall using Pentagon funds and the Army Corps of Engineers to do it.
DJT is like the RoadRunner Cartoons of yesteryear! He is the RoadRunner and the Marxists are the Coyote. Outsmarts them every time.
I do worry about Mueller but, I think the IG and the assigned Dep. Atty Gen with them will take Mueller out soon enough.
Over 18,500 sealed indictments country wide on the books right now. Usually less than 1,000 per year. Major news next month per POTUS is probably the IG/Dep Atty reports. Sessions is a sleeper who said, "we no longer say who/what we are investigating"...
Then there is the question of "Q". Real or not? Haven't a clue but it is good for the soul.
Good times ahead although the low information voters/readers don't bother to do the legwork required. Sad...
ROTFLMAO @ the commies and Never Trumpers
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