As G.O.P. Seeks Spending Cuts, Details Are Scarce

[TomCADem]

Source: NY Times

But while polls show that the Republicans’ message is succeeding politically, Republican candidates and party leaders are offering few specifics about how they would tackle the nation’s $13.7 trillion debt, and budget analysts said the party was glossing over the difficulty of carrying out its ideas, especially when sharp spending cuts could impede an already weak economic recovery.

“On the actual campaign trail, you are hearing virtually none of the kind of blatant honesty that we need about what changes would fix this situation,” said Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocacy group in Washington that promotes fiscal restraint.

The parties share blame for the current fiscal situation, but federal budget statistics show that Republican policies over the last decade, and the cost of the two wars, added far more to the deficit than initiatives approved by the Democratic Congress since 2006, giving voters reason to be skeptical of campaign promises.

Calculations by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent fiscal experts show that the $1.1 trillion cost over the next 10 years of the Medicare prescription drug program, which the Republican-controlled Congress adopted in 2003, by itself would add more to the deficit than the combined costs of the bailout, the stimulus and the health care law.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20spend.html

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Here is a rare news story that notes that the Republican demands for fiscal responsibility are filled with mostly empty rhetoric. Of course, on cable news, most interviewers let Republicans spew their talking points without asking them what they would cut.

[stubtoe]

1. Uh, yeah.

The Party of No is afraid to make the hard choices and accept the responsibility.

[atreides1]

3. They've already made the choice

They just won't share the information.

Because if they tell the truth, it might bring about the death of their party. Kind of like what happened with the Whig party.

[atreides1]

2. And details will remain scarce

The Repukes know exactly where the cuts will come from. Programs like Medicare/Medicaid, another attempt to privatize Social Security, the privatization of the VA medical system, and any and all aid programs to the poor and unemployed.

If they get control of Congress, their supporters will be on the chopping block as well.

But, excuse me if I have no sympathy for a Tea Bagger having to eat cat food!

Karma, or whatever particular form of irony you believe in, will be a real bitch then.

[grilled onions]

4. You Got That Right

Plus privatizing the postal service,only allowing the healthy and wealthy to ENJOY healthcare. Most better plan on living (exisisting is more like it) on a more basic wage that barely creeps above minimum without any benefits at all. Taxes will be hard hit for the little guy while tax breaks will abound for the top 3% along with perks,benefits and guaranteed jobs. The little guy will have to compete with other laborers from here and across the pond just to have the PRIVILEGE of working under a republican banner. ARGH!