Same Tired Talking Points

Our former congressman, George Nethercutt, is featured in the Inlander again where he accuses President Obama of acting irresponsibly by submitting "a $3.73 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2012, the largest in American history with the largest one-year projected budget deficit in American history."

If there's anyone who knows how to be fiscally irresponsible, it's Mr Nethercutt. Through his support of President George W. Bush's shell game to keep the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq off the books and supporting the Bush tax cuts, Mr Nethercutt was part of the crew that contributed mightily to the deficit he now claims to be so concerned about. Like a first grader with crumbs all over his face he points and accuses the new kid of stealing the cookies.

We may eventually have $5 per gallon gasoline as oil-producing nations undergo disorder and American domestic production remains suppressed.

Gas prices are rising because of speculation, not because of a drop in supply. But "Drill, baby, drill" has such a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Neither he nor Congress shows much courage to reform entitlement spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs, which consume two-thirds of the federal budget) anytime soon.

That loud "Pop!" you heard was Mr Nethercutt pulling "two-thirds" out if his backside. Have a look at the federal budget. Social Security is just a little larger than the defense budget. But the difference is that income taxes pay for defense but not for Social Security and Medicare. They are trust funds for you and I that you and I pay into. Social Security is not insolvent and it won't be even if we don't change it. Mr Nethercutt waves a red herring to distract you from the real cause of the red menace--low taxes and unfunded wars.

He continues on with his now familiar position of accusing President Obama of weak leadership. (Last month he declared that Egypt would define Obama's presidency.) He avows that Obama is too frightened to act or doesn't know what to do and bounces back and forth between the topics of government shutdown and the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East.

We're already overtaxed with two wars. The last thing we need is another. We also don't need to earn more disfavor from other countries. We already kill too many innocent people with missile carrying drones.

But that's not good enough for someone who experiences the discomfort of a flag pin poking his collarbone when he sleeps on his stomach and dreams of a leader who will "step forward and take strong stands for a strong America".

But there I go letting myself get distracted by another red herring. Wasn't Mr Nethercutt talking about the budget in the first place? Shut down government welfare, you morans!