Has Tim Geithner…
…suddenly stepped into the Jim Carrey role in the movie “Liar, Liar?” You know, the one where Carrey plays Fletcher Reede, a lawyer whose son makes a wish that his dad will be unable to lie for a day, and it comes true?
Because otherwise there’s no way I can account for this startling exchange:
[Hat tip: Bryan Preston at the Tatler.]
I saw this video at realclearpolitics earlier in the evening and what caught my attention was Geithner agreeing the Obama budget projections were unsustainable and then he turned around and asked Sessions, “What’s the alternative plan?” What a set up for a smack down.
Yo, Barry! Bush didn’t put up with Paul O’Neill. Be Presidential. Fire Geithner and replace him with Valerie Jarrett.
“What’s the alternate plan?” That is the strategery of the dems. They want the mean old Repubs to suggest cuts so they can then say, “Those heartless Repubs are forcing us to put women and children out on the street. They’re depriving grandpa and grandma of their health needs. They’re trying to “break” the unions.”
The budget was just the first ploy in this battle. The chaos in Madison, Wisconsin is another part of it. Republicans have to stand firm, be confident and keep repeating the financial facts. The election is going to be won in the middle. Among the 15% or so who call themselves independents. (I call them wimps!) Right now I believe that even they can grasp the financial facts and will appreciate people like Christie and Walker who stand firm and speak in measured, factual terms. We’ll see. Hopefully, mob rule such as is being attempted in Wisconsin will not carry the day.
It’s the new “civility”… 😉
Just remember the republicans are the grownups and the dems are the children. Then it all suddenly makes sense as to what’s going on.
J.J. has it exactly right. Here in Wisconsin we have Ground Zero. We win or lose the future right here. If we lose, every attempt to reign in any type of entitlement spending and any attempt to cut the federal bureaucracy will be met with the same tactics.
I’ll be in Madison today (Saturday) and will report back today or tomorrow.
It was heartening to hear how clear, strong, and centered the Governors of Wisconsin and Ohio sounded. The wind at their sails is the people. This is the battle between common sense and “gimme gimme gimme.” The mature prevail, God willing.
By focusing on the notion that there are various budgets, Obama’s, the Senate’s and the House’s, they obscure the fact that Obama’s budget dramatically increases spending. They allow the fiction that it “stops spending more than it takes in” to stand. It becomes the high end of “reasonable”.
The house produces a budget with minimal real cuts. The press calls it the largest budget cuts in the history of the house. Obviously it must go to far.
The Senate will produce a budget that also increases spending, and will rely on gimmicks to hide how much. It will be portrayed by the media as a “reasonable level of shared sacrifice”.
The only way to stop this is the hold the house to their cuts, and to make sure that whenever this comes up around the water cooler, we all engage and speak the truth.
Deeka, I commend your courage and commitment.
Uhhhhh, Sec. Geithner. Isn’t it the job of Sec. of the Treasury to submit WORKABLE, sustainable budgets? What the f*** are we paying you for?
A budget is a Republican plot to inject mathematics and logic into a process that should just do the right thing. Where are your feelings, man? Why should we take political risks just because a set of numbers add up this way or that? We have our version of reality, so what is yours?
Deeka,
Good on you for standing with the governor and fiscal responsibility. Looking forward to your report.
A real profile in courage this Geithner. A surly, arrogant man admitting the budget submitted is essentially garbage. He gets paid to submit trash. It must be a union job.