Panetta Calls Congress on Serial Budget Crises

 

Today Defense Secretary Leon Panetta charged Congress with putting national security at risk by “lurching from budget crisis to budget crisis to budget crisis” in a downward spiral of political gamesmanship aimed at partisan gain.

“My fear is that there is a dangerous and callous attitude developing among some Republicans and Democrats alike that these dangerous cuts can be allowed to take place in order to blame the other party for the consequences,” Panetta said.

At the same time, Panetta applauded President Obama’s recent request to postpone the March 1 deadline for the $1 trillion ($500 billion for defense) in spending cuts known as “sequestration” in return for modest spending cuts and tax reforms.

Panetta derided the Congressional impulse to ‘kick the can down the road” on various budget deadlines but said he supported Obama’s action in urging Congress “to at least pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms to delay sequestration until a permanent solution is developed.”
In a Georgetown University speech Panetta hit on familiar themes from his two years as Defense Secretary in warning that massive across-the-board cuts would lead to a “hollow” military and devastate training and readiness.

He made no mention of the Pentagon’s plan to extend new benefits to the spouses of gay military personnel, including housing and commissary privileges.
The extension of gay rights in the military, including the scrapping of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, along with the end of the direct ground combat exclusion rule for women, would form two of the mainstays of Panetta’s legacy as the top civilian leader of the Pentagon.

The 74-year-old Panetta was expected to retire to his walnut farm and the Panetta Institute for Public Policy in Monterrey, Calif., as early as next week if former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) is confirmed by the Senate as his successor.

In what was likely to be his final trip to Capitol Hill, Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will face the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on Thursday on the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

In his Georgetown speech, Panetta outlined what he described as “perhaps the most urgent task facing the nation – and that is overcoming the partisan dysfunction in Congress that poses a threat to our quality of life, our national security, our economy, and our ability to address the problems confronting the nation.”


“It has become too politically convenient to allow crisis to drive the issues,” said Panetta, who served 16 years in the House as a Democrat. “When the crisis gets bad enough, both parties are forced to respond to it. It’s a good way to avoid making tough decisions, because you can blame the crisis for forcing you to do what you have to do.”

“But there is a real price to be paid for this approach,” Panetta said. “You lose the trust of the American people and you create an aura of constant uncertainty that pervades every issue and gradually undermines the credibility of the nation.”

“I don’t think you have to choose between protecting our national security and protecting our fiscal security,” Panetta said. Panetta said he came to office with a deal in place to cut $487 billion from defense over 10 years. The deal was workable with the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and with the smaller and leaner military planned under Obama’s national defense strategy, Panetta said.
 
But the entire plan would be undermined by the $500 billion in additional cuts that would come with sequestration, Panetta said. Read complete Article:

What I would like to say about the politicians I will not reduce to writing. What I will say is that all of them, Congressional leaders and Hussein Obama are playing this game with the future and security of this country,  and they are literally going to sink us in a hole that is so deep and so broad that we will be unable to recover. They are allowing the military budget to be cut to the bone which includes pay and benefit to active and retired soldiers. And makes no mention of the Pentagon’s plan to extend new benefits to the spouses of gay military personnel, including housing and commissary privileges.  

What pisses me off is that politicians care about one thing…….”THEMSELVES”  If they genuinely cared about this country there would be no bickering. They would look at the financial crisis as a crisis that needed to be solved everyone on both sides work for the common good of America, and the common good of the American people, and above all our veterans, who have kept this country free.   What I see coming out of Congress makes me cringe, there is not but a handful of congressional leaders that are worth their weight  in salt.

If there are cuts to be made, how about cutting these worthless chucks of flesh!!

Barack Obama – President US – Born: USA, Hawaii 1961 – Married – Children: 2

• Annual: USD 400,000.00
• Monthly: USD 33,333.00
• Weekly: USD 8,000.00
• Daily: USD 1,600.00

The Obama family, in tax returns released Friday 13, 2012 by the White House, reported an adjusted gross income of $789,674 for 2011, down from $1,728,096 in the previous year. The family income topped $5.5 million in 2009. The president earns a salary of $400,000 for his day job. His total earnings are much higher because of his books sales.
Note: the VIP Salary Check is based on a 5 days working week and 2 weeks holiday per year.

NetWorth: between $1 million and $2.5 million

Joe Biden – Vice President of the USA – Born: 1942 USA, Pennsylvania – Married – Children: 3

• Annual: USD 225,521.00
• Monthly: USD 18,793.00
• Weekly: USD 4,510.00
• Daily: USD 902.00

Huffingtonpost December 28th, 2012: As of March 27, 2013, federal employees will see a half to one percent pay increase. Biden’s pay will increase to $231,900.
Returns for 2011 released by the White House on April 2012 show the Bidens paid $87,900 in federal taxes on adjusted gross income of $379,035. Their income was $143 below their 2010 return, but their tax bill was $1,274 higher. In both cases, the effective tax rate was just over 23 percent. Most of the couple’s income came from the vice president’s salary of $225,521 and Mrs. Biden’s wages of just over $82,000 for teaching at Northern Virginia Community College.

John Kerry – United States Secretary of State – Born: 1943 USA – Married – Children: 5

• Annual: USD 199,700.00
• Monthly: USD 16,641.00
• Weekly: USD 3,994.00
• Daily: USD 798.00

Huffingtonpost December 28th, 2012: As of March 27, 2013, federal employees will see a half to one percent pay increase. Kerry’s pay will increase to $174,900.

NetWorth: Estimated between $2.3 to $3.2 billion

Eric Holder – United States Attorney General – Born: 1951 USA New York – Married – Children: 3

• Annual: USD 199,700.00
• Monthly: USD 16,641.00
• Weekly: USD 3,994.00
• Daily: USD 798.00

Leon Panetta – Secretary of Defense – Born: 1938 USA California – Married – Children: 3

• Annual: USD 199,700.00
• Monthly: USD 16,641.00
• Weekly: USD 3,994.00
• Daily: USD 798.00

Janet Napolitano – United States Secretary of Homeland Security – Born: 1957 USA New York – Single

• Annual: USD 199,700.00
• Monthly: USD 16,641.00
• Weekly: USD 3,994.00
• Daily: USD 798.00

Wikipedia:’For calendar year 2010, the annual rate of pay for Level I is $199,700.’

Eric Shinseki – United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs – Born: 1942 USA Hawaii – Married – Children: 2

• Annual: USD 199,700.00
• Monthly: USD 16,641.00
• Weekly: USD 3,994.00
• Daily: USD 798.00
  

  Rank	<2 Years Experience	4 Years Experience	6 Years Experience
  Private (E1)	$18,194**	—	—
  Private (E2)	$20,398	$20,398	$20,398
  Private First Class(E3)	$21,449	$24,178	$24,178
  Specialist or Corporal (E4)	$23,756	$27,659	$28,840
  Sergeant (E5)	$25,913	$30,359	$32,490
  Staff Sergeant (E6)	$28,285	$33,833	$35,226

  
  You tell me who needs to have their salary cut, all this does is to confirm that politicians care only about NUMBER 1 BABY, themselves….
  God bless You and may God bless our men and women of the military, this to shall pass…

Another Executive Order

The anointed one is not asking, he is DEMANDING the republicans agree to raise the debt ceiling. No negotiations, nothing, Obama is flat “DEMANDING”. A far far cry of his 2006 stance when he was adamant against raising the debt ceiling…Here is what Obama had to say just 6 years ago…

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.” Source

Obama hit the nail squarely on the head in his closing sentence, “AMERICANS DESERVE BETTER.” Yes we do Hussein Obama, we deserve better, so much more than you will ever be able to deliver. Your goal is give the “LAZY” a free ride, the illegal immigrant a free place to live and a country that you have stripped of its constitutional rights

Hussein should forever be known as the “FREE CHEESE“ president the president who will take the National Debt to uncharted heights, somewhere in the area $20 TRILLION DOLLARS. When you leave, if you leave, the country will lay ruins, with no hope of recovery for hundreds of years. That will be your legacy. Something I am sure you will be quite proud of.

Do you have any idea what is going to happen? The the debt ceiling, with or without the consent of congress will be raised. The liberal democrats are advising the anointed one to go ahead with raising the debt ceiling by use of Obama’s favorite tool, the Executive Order. Obama uses the EO as it is to rule the United States. I also believe that Obama will allow the Country to enter into default, step shrug his shoulders and blame the Republican Party.

This action will cause the following, delayed social security payments, Department of Homeland Security agents not being paid, United States Customs and Border Protection Agents, not being paid, mortgages, bank payments not being met when due, and most importantly, the United States of America entering into default for the first time in our nations history. The borders will be protected by agents who will not be paid on time, this tells you some much about a man who claims to care about the United States. A man who refuses to negotiate with anyone, it is either his way or the highway.
Here is the Democratic take on the looming debt crisis…

Senate Democratic leaders urged President Barack Obama to take any steps he can to pay U.S. financial obligations if congressional Republicans don’t support a debt-limit increase that Democrats deem acceptable.

In a letter to Obama yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and three other top Democrats said Obama “must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without congressional approval, if necessary.”
The Democrats’ letter sharpens the dispute with Republicans over the borrowing limit, which the U.S. hit at year’s end. Amid Republican opposition to raising the debt ceiling without spending cuts, some Democrats have proposed invoking the Constitution’s 14th amendment and minting a platinum coin with a face value of $1 trillion to pay government bills.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both Republicans, have said they will seek substantial spending cuts in exchange for any debt-ceiling increase. Boehner has said cuts must match or exceed the amount the ceiling is raised.
McConnell said yesterday that Democrats “are falling all over themselves in an effort to do anything they can to get around the law — and to avoid taking any responsibility for Washington’s out-of-control spending.”

In a statement, McConnell added that “avoiding this problem will only make it worse, which is why many of us view the upcoming debt-limit debate as a perfect opportunity to face up to Washington’s spending.”

‘Extraordinary’ Measures

The U.S. reached the statutory borrowing limit on Dec. 31, and the Treasury Department is using what it terms “extraordinary” measures to finance the government. The Congressional Budget Office estimates those steps will be exhausted by mid-February.
Obama must act on his own to prevent default “in the event that Republicans make good on their threat by failing to act, or by moving unilaterally to pass a debt-limit extension only as part of unbalanced or unreasonable legislation,” wrote Reid of Nevada and Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois, Charles Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Jan. 9 that the administration was “not going to negotiate” on the debt limit. He said Obama won’t send aides or Vice President Joe Biden to Capitol Hill to negotiate with Republicans over their demand for at least a dollar in spending cuts for every dollar that the debt ceiling is raised.

14th Amendment

Obama also won’t summon congressional leaders to the White House to discuss a debt-ceiling deal, Carney said. (This statement speaks volume)

Carney repeated that the administration doesn’t think the president has the power to unilaterally raise the limit under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, an argument advanced by some congressional Democrats, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

“You must make clear that you will never allow our nation’s economy and reputation to be held hostage,” Reid and his colleagues said in their letter. “We support your view that an extension of the debt limit is not something for which Democrats should have to negotiate.” Source

You can see how ignorant Harry Reid is, just by his very statement. Reid in my opinion has dementia, if not his ability to comprehend is severely limited by some other form of mental illness….STUPIDITY.
We the people had I opportunity to take control of our country again……but we failed to do so, we have no one to blame but the people that put this puppet into office in the first place, the progressive RADICAL LIBERALS.

I am not sure if any of you remember this incident, I do and I will share it with you again, this short clip and Obama’s open mic just goes shows you who Hussein Obama really is…Just sayin, that’s all.

Obama Asks For Another 1.2 Trillion Dollars

 

It Was All Bushes Fault, Really!

As a Police Officer in Texas you have the authority to take a person to the hospital to have that person evaluated by a professional to determine if "this" person presents a danger to himself or to others, its call an Involuntary Commitment.

Well I have come to the conclusion that someone in Obama's administration needs to take this man to get some serious help, like NOW! This cat has no idea what in the hell he is doing.

Facing the difficulties of trying to make ends meet in this country and already so far in toilet that our debt now equals our total economy for the first time in this country's history and now Obama wants has asked for another &1.2 Trillion to the $15 Trillion we already owe.

I used to write off Obama as just being stupid, but now I see this man is in serious need of PROFESSIONAL HELP. If there are any Democratic libbers that are mental health professionals and have any inclination of saving this nation, please go have this man evaluated soon because he is just plain off his rocker asking for another 1.2 Trillion. I felt like I walked into a brick wall when I saw that...GOOD LORD man don't you know what your asking for? Apparently not or you would not ask for it in the first place.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama asked Congress Thursday for another $1.2 trillion increase in the nation’s debt limit, a request that is largely a formality but which carries election-year implications.

It was the third and final such request the president was allowed under a deal the White House reached with lawmakers in August to prevent a government default.

Congress has 15 days to reject the president’s request. Majority House Republicans, eager to criticize the president’s spending policies, immediately announced they would hold a vote next week on a resolution of disapproval.

But such a resolution would not clear the Democratic-led Senate, and the White House says Obama would veto an objection, anyway, in order to avoid default.

Obama originally planned to make this request in December, but with Congress on vacation until mid-January, lawmakers asked the president to delay his request so they could vote on the matter when they returned. Source:  

All I can say if Obama and his henchman stay the course, we will one look in the mirror one day very soon and and reflect on how great the United States Of  America once was.  All that we will have will be our memories of what it was like to be FREE,  because that is all we will have left is our memories. I want my son  and your sons and daughters and their families to be able to live in a nation that is free and proud.  A nation that stands up for democracy is not FREE, it was paid for in BLOOD, by our forefathers and by the greatest military in the History of mankind.

I leave you with this quote from Ronald Reagan,

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in their bloodstream.  It must be
fought for, protected, and handed down for them to do the same,
or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what
it was once like in the United States where men were free......
Ronald Reagan

Members Of Congress Grow Wealthier Despite Recession

You know, while you and I and the rest of what is left of America have toothpick soup, members of Congress dine and just plain get fat. I am talking about SALARIES. You know the real truth about MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. They wanted to get elected for one reason,  to make money, so they could get Money FAT. . At one time I had the utmost respect for our elected lawmakers. Not anymore, I compare most of them, not all of them, but most to a nice fresh warm cow pie, freshly deposited in my pasture, at least I get some decent return from the cow pie, it fertilizes my pasture.  Members of congress,  ain't worth zip, in my opinion, they are just fertilizing us with lies. What a shame, to what it once was.   

(Huffington Post) Despite the economic recession and declining household wealth, the net wealth of members of Congress continues to rise, according to a Roll Call analysis of financial disclosure forms.

Members of the House and Senate have a collective net worth of $2.04 billion, up from $1.65 billion in 2008. The vast majority of the increase goes to the wealthiest members of Congress, who also account for most of Congress' net worth.

Members' net wealth may be much higher, however, since Roll Call only used the minimum valuation of assets in the range required by disclosure forms, and disclosure forms do not include non-income-producing assets, such as a personal residence.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) reported that his assets were worth at least $295 million. Much of his wealth comes from the money he earned in the car alarm business. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) wealth also increased from 2009 to 2010, from $21.7 million to $35.2 million. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) all had multimillion-dollar net worths in 2010.

Federal Reserve data released in March showed Americans' household net worth declined 23 percent between 2007 and 2009 from $125,000 to $96,000, due to declining home equity (not included in congressional disclosure forms) and investments. Families also took on slightly more debt. Families in the top 10 percent of net worth saw smaller declines of 13 percent on average.  

While you and I and the rest of Americans, struggle, the FAT CATS IN Washington, get fatter and fatter; do you think they give a crap about you and I, hell no they do not. I thought I would attempt to personally ask Plastic Women a question, so I dialed up her home office, (Nancy Pelosi, 202-225-4965 235 Cannon H.O.B.Washington D.C.) Some lady answered the phone, I asked to speak to with her Royal Highness, apparently, I was told that was not the correct way to address the Minority Leader. Anyway all I got was the old Potomac Two Step, I figured as much. So that tells you, these people who we send to Washington, forget how to be people themselves when they get to Washington. All they see is "How can they make Money".  The More C Notes the better.

Thats about the size of it friends, we struggle to survive, they get fat in the wallet, why not, they make the laws that exempt them from laws that put us in jail. They have forgotten about the everyday person in America, the farmers, the police officer, the grocer, the truck driver, the people that make America what it has been, the politicians have forgotten about the everyday person. Remember the days not so far back, when you could walk into the office of your representative, and ask for him/her by name. 

Those days are lost and gone forever.  I am afraid that the best days of America are behind us as well.  We have a President that has inflated our national debt to historic amounts.  A President who rejects Israel, because of his Muslim beliefs.  An American President, who at the very minute is depleting the American Military to sizes (troop reductions of over 200,00) unheard of in Modern times, in the face of the Chinese Military buildup to sizes of historic proportions. 

If you do not believe me just do your homework, just google it.

That's about the size of it friends, now it is up to us how to figure out how to get the right person in Washington, that has the cajones to make things right. Good Luck....You have seen how transparent Obama has been.......

Until next time my friends.....God Bless and Walk Slow and Drink Lots of Water..