Miscellaneous 90

1) I recently found a list in which United States Senators were ranked according to the amount of campaign contributions that they had received from Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac). The time-frame in question was from 1989 to 2008. Number one on the list was Connecticut's Christopher Dodd. Nothing even remotely resembling a major surprise there. The number two name on the list, though, Barack Obama, WAS surprising. Not, mind you, that it's surprising that any Democrat would take big money from the financial sector. They do so all the time/with impunity. The big surprise here is that Mr. Obama was able to "achieve" this in only four years (in the Senate from 2004-2008). Now, granted, some of those contributions may have come about as a result of his Presidential campaign but, still. It's almost enough to make you think that the then-Senator Obama - Franklin Raines connection WAS.............2) If it were up to me, I would take all the progressive Democrats (typified by Maxine Waters), all the "credit-card" Republicans (typified by John Boehner), and all the tea party Republicans (typified by Michele Bachmann) OUT BEHIND THE FRIGGING TOOL-SHED. It is time, people, past time, for the grown-ups in Washington to emerge. I'm serious about it.............3) The plain fact is that we cannot balance the budget with simply budget cuts alone OR tax increases alone. We have to flat-out do both. Specifically, we have to a) raise revenues (on the wealthy at first, but ultimately on the middle-class, too), b) enact entitlement reform, and c) scale back militarily. I mean, I just don't see another way, do you?............4) The numbers do not lie, folks. Tax revenues are currently at 14% of GDP, government expenditures, 25%. Name me one CEO who wouldn't get fired with a bottom-line like that. ONE!............5) Truth be known, with an aging population emerging on the horizon, government expenditures are going to have to be AT LEAST 20-22% of GDP. Are we going to pay for these services, or are we going to continue to put them on the credit card? That, folks, what we have to figure out, and quickly.............6) I obviously wasn't a part of these debt negotiations. But, I'm telling you here. If President Obama had a deal which included 800 billion in extra revenue, and ended up walking away from it (as several sources have alleged), only to get stuck with this turkey, then, yeah, maybe the individual SHOULD get primaried. I mean, God, at the very least it's terrible negotiating.