Althouse: Can I look again?

October 17, 2013

Can I look again?

I had my own personal shutdown for the shutdown. I was unwilling to consume the propaganda — they're losing, they're losers, they're committing suicide — and I'm still afraid to look because I don't want to read the predictable post-mortems — they died, they're dead, they killed themselves.

I'm just going to add my "civility bullshit" tag to this post, and let it stand in for the blah blah blah I might otherwise scribble here.

53 comments:

Bayoneteer said...: Bravo. I kinda did the same thing myself.; 10/17/13, 11:38 AM
Patrick said...: Maybe you need a "blah blah blah" tag.; 10/17/13, 11:44 AM
SGT Ted said...: It was all a farce anyways. Fake shutdown caused by a fake crisis, which leads to a fake solution.; 10/17/13, 11:55 AM
BarrySanders20 said...: I told my kids there was no shutdown. A few parks were closed for paid vacations for the workers.

They believed me because I am their father. And it was a farce.; 10/17/13, 12:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Standard & Poor's say this shutdown cost US 24 Billion.

A fake crisis? Really?; 10/17/13, 12:10 PM
Carol said...: I did the same thing. I don't like the histrionics on either side now, and the muddled-middle complaints are all bullshit too.

Seriously doubt any of the critics could do any better.; 10/17/13, 12:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Blogger Inga said...

Standard & Poor's say this shutdown cost US 24 Billion.

A fake crisis? Really?

10/17/13, 12:10 PM
_____________________________________

The Federal government spends 10.6 Billion per day. Times 16 days equals approx 169 billion NOT spent.
That means approx 140 billion saved.

Do the arithmetic and get back to me.; 10/17/13, 12:20 PM
CatherineM said...: Well at least Obama is now saying we need to get our fiscal house in order.

LOL.; 10/17/13, 12:28 PM
CatherineM said...: Oh and Obama used the phrase "Balanced Approach" which he always repeats when he means, "Do as I say."

There could be a whole tag for that phrase alone. Right up there with "let me be clear."; 10/17/13, 12:29 PM
Gahrie said...: Now that we have raised the debt limit, the Obamas are busy planning that multimillion dollar winter holiday vacation.; 10/17/13, 12:33 PM
cubanbob said...: This show will have a repeat engagement next spring. After the millions of people who are supposed to buy in to ObamaCare by March don't and the continuing resolution to fund it does. If the Republicans learned anything from this shut down is that if they stay united and force the issue of passing a budget the Democrats will be in a world of hurt when they insist on huge tax increases and huge spending increases in an election year. The point for them to stay on target is the country needs a budget and five years without one is irresponsible and no more kicking the can down the road.; 10/17/13, 12:42 PM
Rocketeer said...: I work daily with HUD. Daily. Except for the last two weeks. Until two weeks ago, I would have told you they were indispensible to my work.

Turns out, not. I have rarely, if ever, had a more productive two weeks.; 10/17/13, 12:53 PM
Matt Sablan said...: Lars: A lot of that money IS going to be spent though, especially as furloughed workers will most likely be paid [if they aren't already confirmed as such.]; 10/17/13, 1:05 PM
Anonymous said...: Standard & Poor's say this shutdown cost US 24 Billion.

Now we know which department the guys who used to assign AAA ratings to mezzanine tranches of CDOs got shuffled off to.; 10/17/13, 1:22 PM
Levi Starks said...: Interesting, It seems that we spend more money when we're not spending money, than when we are spending money.
I'm having a tough time seeing how this is going to end well.; 10/17/13, 1:23 PM
Jonathan Card said...: Thank you.; 10/17/13, 1:24 PM
SGT Ted said...: 24 billion = 2.5 days spending. For government, that's like giving up going to the bar for beer for 2 nights.

Fake crisis, fake solution. Just like ObamaCare is a fake solution form a fake crisis.

The default threat was fake too. Not paying the interest on money borrowed would have to be done deliberately by Obamas treasury secretary with Obamas approval.; 10/17/13, 1:30 PM
SGT Ted said...: Yes, Inga, a fake crisis, manufactured and kept alive by massive Government overspending and borrowing and telling us lies over and over again that they simply cannot reduce, much less stop overspending. They can and should reduce spending to match income, but they simply won't, because they are addicted to using public money to reward their buddies.

They use the same excuse making and blame shifting junkies do when they can't get their fix.; 10/17/13, 1:37 PM
Rocketeer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/17/13, 1:48 PM
Birkel said...: Inga,
It's really swell you're worried about $24BN.

Since that's a rounding error in the $6.5TR debt that Obama has managed (not to mention the $2TR Reid, Pelosi, Obama and Bush spent in a failed bid to prove Keynesianism might work this time despite all the failures every other time)...

One assumes you'll be particularly critical of Obama's budgetary recklessness. Right?; 10/17/13, 1:49 PM
rehajm said...: It is't safe to look, we're headed back to the president and the media badgering us to yet gain raise marginal tax rates while the Republicans want to kill grandma.

Raising marginal rates was never part of the original Simpson Bowles bipartisan compromise framework- the options were some combination of lowering marginal rates while eliminating various tax expenditures. Yet the president threw those ideas in the shredder.

And he can't understand why he can't accomplish anything...; 10/17/13, 1:55 PM
traditionalguy said...: The whole Drama was pre-staged for blame setting for a Pearl Harbor strength attack coming on US dollars.

The delay has been from fracked energy resources from private lands that Obama has not been able to stop like he did stopp oil drilling on public land and Canadian Pipeline completion. He has successfully strangled the Coal Industry that made America's costs of production lower from cheap electricity.

Unexpectedly, Obama has been at war with the USA.; 10/17/13, 2:18 PM
Andy Freeman said...: > If the Republicans learned anything

You must be new here. The only Republicans who had anything to learn this time are Cruz and the Tea Party folk. What they could learn was that the establishment Repubs are either not serious or will actively sabotage them.

You'd think that Cruz et al would have known this going in. They shouldn't start a fight with Dems until they figure out how to keep the RINOs from stabbing them in the back.

McCain makes McClellan look audacious.; 10/17/13, 2:19 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: It Just Doesn't Matter

Jonah Goldberg; 10/17/13, 2:37 PM
machine said...: $24Bs!

Political terrorism costs a lot of moolah....; 10/17/13, 2:50 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Well,the shutdown is over and the downward spiral can continue. The other day one of the more thoughtful left-libertarians I know, opined that it has to crash before there can be any possibility of fixing it. That's sad, but at this point I'm afraid it's true.; 10/17/13, 3:03 PM
Michael said...: Macroeconomic Advisers put the cost at 12 Billion. Chump change. Perhaps the businesses that lost revenues from laid off "non-essential" government workers will tweak their focus away from that cohort. Win-win. Or perhaps S&P will revisit their assumptions after the paid vacation is paid.; 10/17/13, 3:07 PM
SGT Ted said...: Political terrorism costs a lot of moolah....

Hey you could save trillions by repealing the ACA.

But 24b of "cost" is some sort of terrorist act?

You guys are such drama queens. and so full of shit.; 10/17/13, 4:16 PM
Matt said...: You can look again. Ted Cruz has established campaign cash flow lines for his 2016 presidential run where he will - undoubtedly - run on a ticket with Rand Paul with a promise to shut the gov't down from 2016 to 2020.; 10/17/13, 4:18 PM
DAN said...: The government promised to stop drinking -- after New Year's Eve.; 10/17/13, 4:19 PM
Anonymous said...: Chump change, huh? It was worth "saving our economy" by wasting 24B, insane. And then ended up with nothing anyway. Paul Ryan the economy guru of the GOP voted to default. We certainly dodged a bullet there.; 10/17/13, 4:37 PM
SGT Ted said...: Yes Inga, compared to the trillions for Obamacare alone, 24B IS chump change and your inability to acknowlege your double standard and hypocrisy when it comes to government waste just makes you look incoherent and partisan to the extreme.

Obamas decisions on building the ACA website alone cost an additional 100+ billion, but there's no criticism from you about that and its 4 times bigger and that's just one aspect of the waste fraud and abuse the ACA will bring us.

Just save it Inga, your phony "concern" about Government waste all just transparently one sided "rah-rah my team" bullshit.; 10/17/13, 4:48 PM
SGT Ted said...: Ok my bad on the website cost. It was in the millions, noit billions. WRong example but my point stands.

Complaining about 24 billion when trillions will wasted anyways is bullshit.; 10/17/13, 4:52 PM
n.n said...: $24 billion is indeed insignificant relative to $1 trillion. There was no chance of default unless Obama is guilty of gross malfeasance. He needs to explain where he spent nearly $4 trillion. He needs to explain why he violated his oath to uphold the Constitution.

As for the Republicans, someone is lying. They have repeatedly negotiated in good faith with Obama, Reid, and the other Democrats, and each and every single time the Democrats proceed to violate their commitments. Democrats cannot be trusted. Unfortunately, a minority, or perhaps majority, of Republicans can also not be trusted. They both, together, exploit American capital and labor with liberal abandon.

That said, the Republicans should have stood their ground and addressed two major issues: progressive involuntary exploitation and human rights violations. The Democrats cannot justify a progressive devaluation of capital and labor. The pro-abortion/choice advocates cannot justify the premeditated murder of a developing human life without cause or due process. Both are gross violations of human rights.; 10/17/13, 4:52 PM
Anonymous said...: The Deficit is falling faster than it has since the end of WW2.

But it's too easy to ignore reality for you folks.; 10/17/13, 5:23 PM
Michael said...: Inga. 12 billion according to one estimate. One day's worth of govt spending. Chump change. Most of it will come back when the non essential employees get their back pay.

There was never the slightest chance of a default. It was theatre staged for the gullible of both parties.; 10/17/13, 5:27 PM
Michael said...: Inga. The deficit is falling faster because of mathematics not because the nominal amount is declining. Get a numerate person to explain your talking point for you. It is essentially meaningless.; 10/17/13, 5:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Dear Inga:

"Although the federal deficit is the amount each year by which federal outlays in the federal budget exceed federal receipts, the gross federal debt increases each year by substantially more than the amount of the deficit each year. That is because a substantial amount of federal borrowing is not counted in the budget."; 10/17/13, 5:35 PM
Rocketeer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/17/13, 5:35 PM
Rocketeer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/17/13, 5:37 PM
Rocketeer said...: For purposes of argument, let me stipulate this is true (to be clear - it's not). But if it is, I find it more than amusing that the very same folks that tell me a $2 TRILLION dollar stimulus failed because it wasn't enough, are now trying to sell me on the notion that $24 billion represents some big fuckin' hit to the economy.; 10/17/13, 5:38 PM
Gahrie said...: The Deficit is falling faster than it has since the end of WW2.

That's because under the last Democratic Congress, the deficit increased faster than ever before. The whole reason we haven't had a budget the last four years is because the Democrats prefer to simply continue funding at that inflated level.

Also the decline is caused by the sequester, not anything that President Obama has actually done to fix things.

We have already borrowed more money under President Obama in five years than we borrowed under President Bush in eight years, and he borrowed more money than all the presidents before him.; 10/17/13, 6:03 PM
Michael said...: Debt to GDP

http://visual.ly/united-states-debt-percentage-gdp-1940-2012; 10/17/13, 6:12 PM
wildswan said...: 1. The Shutdown. In the long run, the republicans will look good for trying to fix the deficit problem. That's what we have to focus on. Lefties who simply sneer at Republicans and have no solutions for government debt are condemning a lot of poor people to greater poverty down the road as in Greece and Detroit. They should be ashamed of themselves.

2. Obamacare. I used to fix computers in the early days and I know what it is to be trying to link incompatible formats with no documentation. But in those days everyone wanted the problems fixed, everyone knew there were problems so things got done. When HHS is defining the problem wrongly - "we are just so busy" - I don't see how it can be fixed. I mean, a million people a month have to sign up from now till March. But they can't. Yet some can. (BTW when people find out that their unearned income credit refund is going to be withheld because they didn't sign up because they couldn't then there will really be trouble. People count on that money.); 10/17/13, 7:09 PM
Henry said...: Inga wrote: The Deficit is falling faster than it has since the end of WW2.

I wrote this for Robert Cook in a previous thread, but since you two are tag-teaming talking points I'll repeat myself.

The reason the deficit is falling dramatically is because we're recovering from the stimulus spending, a one time event. Unless we had passed another stimulus package, it was impossible for the deficit not to come down dramatically.

You can try this at home. This month, buy two TVs on credit. Next month, buy one TV on credit. Amazing! In just one month you cut your deficit spending in half. You're a fiscal genius!; 10/17/13, 9:09 PM
Illuninati said...: Inga said:
"The Deficit is falling faster than it has since the end of WW2.

But it's too easy to ignore reality for you folks."

Inga I can not let you get away with that silliness.

After all the hate speech and lies coming from the left for the last two weeks it is delightful to discover that lefties still think they are based on reality. If they actually were reality based they could have presented their arguments to the public rationally rather than indulging in character assassination, lies and deception.

The article which says that the deficit is falling so fast that it is a drag on the economy is an especially amusing example of leftist "reality". According to the lefties, the reason that the economy is not growing faster is because the record deficits of the last 5 years are too small. According to them, the terrible Republicans are at fault since they pushed for the sequester and brought down the deficit. Never mind all the antibusiness activities of the Obama administration, lefties apparently think that investors are so stupid that they don't take those things into consideration. According to the lefties, we don't need no stinking rule of law, all we need are huge deficits and everything will OK.

For those who are interested, here is a chart of the deficits. It is still very large by historical standards. If deficit spending really were as stimulative as leftis claim we should be in an economic boom by now.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PYJT4zXr3Jc/UjI5KeLBeuI/AAAAAAAAO5A/jNkDdYlD2DU/s1600/Receipts+and+Outlays.jpg

According to Wikipedia the national debt to GDP is now a dangerous 108%. The slowdown of the growth in debt was before Obama care kicks in. With the brand new entitlement program - Obama care - the deficit will probably grow even faster.
16.4 Trillion averages out to about $51,746 per person. The official national debt does not take into account the multiple trillions of money owed in unfunded liabilities. Those numbers are the reality those of us on the right are trying to grapple with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._National_Debt_-_Dollars_and_Relative_to_GDP.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States; 10/17/13, 10:22 PM
Rusty said...: Illuninati said...
Inga said:
"The Deficit is falling faster than it has since the end of WW2.

But it's too easy to ignore reality for you folks."

Inga I can not let you get away with that silliness.

After all the hate speech and lies coming from the left for the last two weeks it is delightful to discover that lefties still think they are based on reality. If they actually were reality based they could have presented their arguments to the public rationally rather than indulging in character assassination, lies and deception.

The article which says that the deficit is falling so fast that it is a drag on the economy is an especially amusing example of leftist "reality". According to the lefties, the reason that the economy is not growing faster is because the record deficits of the last 5 years are too small. According to them, the terrible Republicans are at fault since they pushed for the sequester and brought down the deficit. Never mind all the antibusiness activities of the Obama administration, lefties apparently think that investors are so stupid that they don't take those things into consideration. According to the lefties, we don't need no stinking rule of law, all we need are huge deficits and everything will OK.

For those who are interested, here is a chart of the deficits. It is still very large by historical standards. If deficit spending really were as stimulative as leftis claim we should be in an economic boom by now.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PYJT4zXr3Jc/UjI5KeLBeuI/AAAAAAAAO5A/jNkDdYlD2DU/s1600/Receipts+and+Outlays.jpg

According to Wikipedia the national debt to GDP is now a dangerous 108%. The slowdown of the growth in debt was before Obama care kicks in. With the brand new entitlement program - Obama care - the deficit will probably grow even faster.
16.4 Trillion averages out to about $51,746 per person. The official national debt does not take into account the multiple trillions of money owed in unfunded liabilities. Those numbers are the reality those of us on the right are trying to grapple with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._National_Debt_-_Dollars_and_Relative_to_GDP.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States

Yeah,
So?
well. You're a poopyhead.

Just thought I'd save inga the trouble.; 10/18/13, 6:43 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: I appreciated the lack of shutdown blogging. Please not blog about it next time.; 10/18/13, 8:23 AM
damikesc said...: Remember, it is apparently civil to call your political opponents terrorists, unpatriotic, anti-American, etc.

What Democrats said in 2003? They were just kidding. Seriously.

Chump change, huh?

Basically, yes. $24B is jack compared to what Progressive gov't spends on a regular basis.

Obama has the highest deficits in history. He is CELEBRATING a deficit that is finally below $1,000,000,000.

The Deficit is falling faster than it has since the end of WW2.

It's larger than it has ever been in history before Obama by a healthy margin.

Going from weighing 900 pounds to weighing 600 pounds isn't getting in excellent physical shape. It's getting into slightly less horrible shape.; 10/18/13, 8:26 AM
CWJ said...: Damikesc,

You need three more zeros.; 10/18/13, 8:40 AM
damikesc said...: You're right. Confused billion and trillion.; 10/18/13, 1:26 PM
SGT Ted said...: So, Inga, the debt jumped by $328 Billion under Obamas watch, after the shut down ended.

That makes your concern about 12-24 billion "lost" during the shutdown look very politically convenient.; 10/18/13, 8:24 PM
Jason said...: damikesc,

It's not even going from 900 pounds to 600 pounds. It's more like a guy who went from 800 pounds to 900 pounds last year only getting up to 995 pounds this year.

Liberalz: Looks! He losted 5 pounds!!!

Adults: STFU, Libtard.; 10/19/13, 5:50 PM