Budget Zero

The week before last, I wrote a post called "Tea Anyone?" I was discussing the rash of anti-tax "tea parties" that were supposedly a "grass roots" populist movement but, it looked more to me like the remnants of the Republican National Convention last year. I thought that a so-called grass roots movement was supposed to be inclusive of a wide range of the nation's populace? These "tea parties" were so lily white and bordered so dangerously close to being Klan rallies that fellow blogger and Philadelphian, The Field Negro, and I were wagering on if we could find one token black in the crowd (kinda like a "Where's Waldo" type of thing)... only our game was called "Where's the Negro?"

Even more disturbing about the tea parties was that Republican National Party Chairman Michael Steele wanted to speak at one of these events and was not so politely told "Thanks, but no thanks." That was the first time I ever heard of an RNC guy not being allowed to speak at a Republican Party rally. But, oh... that's right... this was not a Republican Party rally. It was a grass roots, populist movement kinda thing. Right! No Blacks, no Native Americans, no Hispanics, and no Asians. If there were any gay people there, they were closeted. Okayyyyy! I seriously digress... but, I just wanted to get that off of my chest.

I asked if there was an alternative budget, did I not? In late March (a few days before my birthday), House Minority Leader John Boehner called a press conference to announce that there was indeed an 18-page alternative budget. He said he was tired of the Democrats referring to the Republicans as the party of "No" and especially tired of one "Maverick of all Bloggers" calling them out on a daily basis. (Okay, he might not have said that in public but, in private, he was thinking it!)

This document entered Capital Hill lore as one of the most preposterous things a politician has ever handed to a reporter on the hill with a straight face. This was intended to blindly oppose every Obama Administration initiative - without a real plan. Boehner said, "This President has said that we haven't seen a budget yet out of the Republicans. Well, that's not true because here it is Mr. President."

(Crickets!)

I'm serious here... all jokes aside. The 18-page pamphlet contained almost nothing of substance. The actual text included no specifics or numbers at all. It said things like "Republicans would fully fund our ongoing commitments overseas while devoting the entirety of any savings from reduced fighting to deficit reduction." One observer said that this was akin to war plans that simply said "Send ships, land troops, kill the enemy." Not only that, it looked like it had been written by a college student who was trying desperately to meet a professor's requirement of 20 pages by double spacing (not that yours truly would have ever done something like that in college himself). When a reporter asked for details, he was told that "this is a blueprint for where we are going. Are you asking for some other document?" My question is "Are you serious Mr. Boehner?" He's a holdover from the Bush Administration. Can't you tell?

We are in the middle of a deep financial crisis caused by greedy rich people, right? Within this 20-page document, there was talk of eliminating the estate tax and the flat tax of 25% on income above $100,000. In other words, two massive tax cuts for rich people. Again, I ask... "Are you guys serious? Does your head hurt just a little bit when you propose this?"

In closing, I seriously have to question whether these guys are sane or whether they think that the American people are that stupid, still? I thought that Sarah Palin might not have been the brightest bulb in the light socket but, here is Minnesota Representative, Michele Bachmann, who might win the 2009 award for dumbest person to ever sit in the House of Representatives for proposing within that same budget that we make the U.S. Dollar the "official U.S. currency forever and ever" (exact quote). Excuse me but, isn't it? Hasn't it always been? Was anybody thinking otherwise? I can't make this stuff up... this is what might have been the leadership of the U.S. Government had that election gone the other way in November of last year. As scary as the last administration was, these guys and their idea of an alternative budget scares me even more. You should be scared too!

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