Let's Lasso This Monster

From Tea Party Express comes a challenge to those who have created the mess we call Washington:

Friends,

As you all know, the US is drowning in debt. We currently have a debt of over $14 Trillion! Over the last decade, our national debt has increased 150%. That is unacceptable and most importantly, unsustainable.

The US Treasury has indicated that we will reach our debt limit on August 2nd. President Obama and many lawmakers on Capitol Hill want to raise the debt ceiling again. We cannot allow this to happen. After all, what is the point in having a debt ceiling if you continue to raise the limit?

The time has come for Congress to make the bold decisions needed to deal with our budget problems. Washington can no longer continue to spend more than they take in revenues. It is time for Congress to man up and deal with these issues instead of kicking the can down the road for the next Congress and future generations.

This is why Tea Party Express has joined with 84 conservative organizations and 144 local tea party groups in support of a pledge to ‘Cut, Cap and Balance’. To cut alone is simply not enough. This pledge demands to:

1. Cut- Congressional passage of immediate and substantial cuts must be made to reign in our deficit in the short term;

2. Cap- Congressional passage of durable statutory spending caps must be passed that would reduce federal spending to its historic range of 18-20 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and

3. Balance- The House and Senate must send to the states for ratification a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution that contains a spending limitation and a “super-majority” vote requirement in Congress for raising taxes.

Over the past 10 years, the debt ceiling has already been raised 10 times with agreements to raise the debt ceiling if federal government promises to get its house in order. Every year those promises are broken, but this year will be different; NO MORE business as usual!

American families have to cut back and balance their budgets on a regular basis. Why shouldn’t Washington be doing the same?

Without structural changes like a Balanced Budget Amendment, Washington will continue to spend, spend, spend and our children and grandchildren will be left to foot the bill.

The time has come to reign in this out of control spending spree that has become the culture of Washington, DC. The Cut Cap and Balance Pledge is a strong first step in that direction!

TAKE ACTION NOW and join Tea Party Express by signing the pledge to ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’! Urge your Representatives and Senators to commit to the pledge too!

I don't get too enthused by the "cap" part of the pledge. You may remember the "binding" agreement Congress made several years ago to honor something called PAYGO, which was devised - believe it or not - to cap the growth of federal spending. To quote from here:

"The PAYGO compels new spending or tax changes not to add to the federal deficit. Under the PAYGO rules a new proposal must either be "budget neutral" or offset with savings derived from existing funds."

It was created in 1992.  That worked out really great, didn't it?

Still, we need to straitjacket these crooks.  And that is why we should give "Cut, Cap and Balance" a try.  If it fails, or unless an alternative is formulated, we're doomed.

My, How They Love Their Murdering thugs

I'm tempted to dismiss this ass hat's antics simply because he's always been an anti-American flake (not an easy combination to pull off).  But this is so reprehensible that it deserves attention.  And universal condemnation:

Rep. Kucinich praises Syrian dictator on Syrian television
By Jamie Weinstein, The Daily Caller

Despite Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich saying a Syrian media report “mischaracterized” a press conference he gave while on a “fact-finding” trip to Syria, video footage of an interview he gave on Syrian television while in Syria clearly shows Kucinich being deferential to and even laudatory of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

In an exclusive video obtained by The Daily Caller, Kucinich openly praises Assad, whose regime has reportedly killed over 1,300 demonstrators and injured many more since protests against the dictatorship began earlier this year.

“What I learned from my meeting with President Assad is that he does care about what’s happening, that he wants to respond, that he’s thinking about the different ways that would be the best way to address the needs of the people,” Kucinich said in the interview, video of which was provided to TheDC by The Middle East Media Research Institute. “And that’s what he’s talking about. He’s talking about the people. He’s very engaged in that kind of a discussion. And frankly, that’s a positive development.”

Kucinich does note that there is a democratic movement afoot in Syria, but says that the government is responding appropriately. [link]

Kucinich, as was mentioned in passing, is a Democrat.

It's worth remembering next time you see his Syrian best bud's name in the papers associated with another massacre of innocent men, women, and children there.

What a toad.