Boehner and company are glowing. They should be. Harry Reid and the President gave speeches written by the Republicans last night. The House Speaker “grabbed ‘em by the nose and kicked ‘em in the ass”, to quote Old Blood and Guts.
But before any champagne corks are popped remember that the annual deficit was cut by 38.5 Billion which still leaves…(I’m gonna go on a total tangent here: I just tried to use the calculator on Dashboard to subtract $38.5 Billion from $1.6 Trillion and I ran out of spaces. And the total government debt has an additional digit, as well. This is how immense these figures are.) So, subtracting 38.5 Billion leaves something like $1.5 Trillion. In other words, to put it optimistically, we cut $0.1 Trillion from an annual deficit of $1.6 Trillion.
Big whoop. Numbers like that actually make a government shutdown sound good. That’s why Bachman voted nay. It, quite frankly, wasn’t enough savings. Cut 38 Billion another 40 times and you almost get to where we’re supposed to be. That’s the gravity of the situation.
It looks like Prosser will get re-elected in Wisconsin. What a strange little footnote, but proof positive of the anti-debt momentum sweeping the country and a possible indication of further successes from a series of GOP governors that are fighting government unions to balance their state budgets. Christie, Snyder, Kasich, and Walker are winning--at least at the moment.
In the Federal arena, here’s how I think things could pan out: The new continuing resolution will become law as will the bill that takes the budget through September. I won’t speculate on how the debt ceiling fight will play out but it may result in deeper cuts and further debt at the same time. Then the Ryan bill or something close to it will pass the House and linger in the Senate--unresolved. And I know it’s a sticking point for some, but that’s when Planned Parenthood and NPR lose their federal subsidies. You see, it’s not about abortion or left leaning news. It’s simply about public funding. It’s about cutting spending. You’ve heard of the Tea Party? By the way, it doesn’t mean that these two institutions will cease to exist. It just means that they’ll have to operate off of their private funding which finances the majority of their budgets, as is. If NPR can’t figure out how to operate with 90% of their budget and Planned Parenthood can’t be resourceful enough to figure out how to function off of 66% of their budget then perhaps they shouldn’t be offering news and opinions or administering medical treatment.
In a side projection, Greg Gutfeld will be approached to replace Glenn Beck’s time slot. He’ll consider it seriously but ultimately refuse. UPDATE: Gutfeld, literally, just made that very replacement announcement on Redeye as I typed these words. He was kidding but still…that’s kinda weird.
Concerning predictions for Mr. Beck, his future endeavors will make the left beg for his return to a mere single hour in the afternoon. I realize some won’t get this, but the Glenn Beck Show is, in my opinion, the best commentary television program ever made. And before you spit vegetarian meat substitute all over your I-pad, please hear me out. Look… I have few areas of expertise but I was raised in a political family and I grew up watching Crossfire, This Week with David Brinkley, Capital Gang, The Mclauglin Group, and even Firing Line. Out of all of them, I find that Glenn Beck simply offers more. He broke ground in his field, successfully defying the taboo that you couldn’t do a 20 minute monolog in cable news; and he offers his demonstrably, prop heavy explanations in a retro, low fi setting that feels like a faster paced version of the old Drudge show back in the 90’s. There are a lot of pundits I agree with and even more that I don’t agree with, but when it comes to quality showmanship Beck takes the cake. It provides a dynamic format filled with unique insights rarely found elsewhere and has proven to be a hedge against government mismanagement, garnering actual resignations from the White House. I don’t buy all the theories and I don’t agree with some of the predictions but I think the tone is more than appropriate. Things are devolving. Everybody feels it and we’re even beginning to see it. So, I don’t think you just wanna laugh at the guy that’s voicing what everyone’s wondering--are things actually going to shit? Quite frankly, I think he deserves a standing ovation. And I happen to like the chalkboards and the magnets. Honestly, I’m very curious to see what he does next.
But I’m chasing rabbits and there is a Federal budget in question here. Yeah…the Ryan proposal probably won’t pass in 2011. The difference between now and next year is that in all likelihood the Senate will go Republican, but not of course with the 60 seats needed to control the votes. So, that may slow down, curtail, or even defeat the Ryan budget. However, a GOP led Senate would still significantly increase the chances of passage in the upper chamber.
And of course, more than likely it will easily pass the House beforehand. After the 2012 election I think the GOP may lose some seats but will still retain the gavel.
So, there’s significant chance, with the proper amount of public support, that this monumental bill will pass both chambers, but there’s still the question of the President’s signature, and that will squarely rest on who wins the election. An Obama victory would mean a likely veto; but a Gingrich, Trump, Paul, Palin, or Pawlenty win would usher in a new reign of financial sanity in Washington and approve this desperately needed reform as law.
