Comments about ‘Will Washington get serious about deficit reduction?’

Mr. Webb accuses President Obama of demagoguery and chicanery. These words add nothing to the debate and are merely cheap shots. He also says we must choose between free markets and a "government to wipe your nose, buckle your booties and tie on your little mittens." Obviously, this is hyperbole (albeit poorly constructed in my opinion). It might also be called demagoguery. I don't always agree with Mr. Webb, but I respect him. Today's column was beneath him.

Alan Greenspan just said on "Meet The Press" that all the Bush tax cuts need to be expired, although ordinarily he believes tax cuts are stimulative. We're in some dangerous waters.

Mike Lee, on the same program, had a smirk on his face. Will Republicans leave their dogma behind long enough for us to resolve the national crisis? Obama and the Dems need to do likewise.

Ryan claims to cut almost 6 trillion in spending. The non-partisan CBO says it's 4.3 trillion but hey that's still good. Oh wait, Ryan also has 4.2 trillion in lost revenue due to his tax cuts that are primarily for the rich. So... his budget plan reduces the deficit by 150 billion over 10 years. So the question posed was "will washington get serious about deficit reduction?". Perhaps... Obama's plan actually reduces the deficit over 10x the amount Ryan's does. (his 4 trillion is also over-stated but he's left with 2-3 trillion).

How can you take any of this seriously when Utahns (and others around the country) talk about deficit reduction, yet have their hands out to take as much money as they can from the federal government? How can Sen. Mike Lee be taken seriously when he voted for the duplicate F-35 jet engine that the Pentagon itself said it did not need and was wasteful? The demagoguery is off the charts! This is about political gamesmanship, not about leading. Paul Ryan's plan is nothing more than a shift of tax revenue to the affluent, and it will mean a hidden tax increase to the rest of us. The tea party has the wrong people in their cross hairs.

Will Washington get serious.....? I don't think so until we change the whole bunch of them by voting them out. If the newly elected wants to joing the spend club, then vote him out also. Eventually we will get the message to them, hopefully before it's too late.

Mr. Webb makes one salient point. Every one of us wants this budget problem solved. Every one of us wants the spending brought under control before there is no financial future in this country for generations to come. Everyone want the good old days back.

BUT, no one wants it to happen if it is going to affect them personally. I have maintained before and will again that there is no such thing as a true liberal or true conservative anymore. There is no such thing as a true Tea Party"ier". Every one of us has their own pet entitlement program which we want protected at all costs.

If it is our program, we are "liberal, spend away". If it is not, we are "conservative, not with my money". And congress is reacting based on the polls as to who will keep them re-elected. Sadly, our nation is going down the toilet with the waste.

The budget can be balanced, but not until "we" indicate to congress that the sacrifice will be allowed, expected and nothing else matters. Arguing about who is right is just feathers in the wind until we give up our personal greed.

Until they abolish agencies like the TSA and the private federal reserve system, nothing will change.