There are times when I read a Charlotte Observer editorial and my jaw drops from the outright hypocrisy of that paper. I have to wonder if there is genetic mutation in a liberal’s brain that inhibits decency and common sense. Taylor Batten at the Disturber is the epitome of a clueless liberal.
I cannot think of one federal boondoggle that Mr. Batten hasn’t been in favor of. And as I write this, I am reminded of every interventionist federal program this editor has advocated. But after reading his latest, you’d thought this man was president of a Tea Party organization. And we all know what Taylor Batten thinks of them.
I cannot think of one federal boondoggle that Mr. Batten hasn’t been in favor of. And as I write this, I am reminded of every interventionist federal program this editor has advocated. But after reading his latest, you’d thought this man was president of a Tea Party organization. And we all know what Taylor Batten thinks of them.
A few months ago, the editors at the Disturber pleaded Erskine Bowles to run for governor of North Carolina. It was embarrassing. They thought the bespectacled one was the savior the of Tar Heel state. Now, they’ve likening him to a Cassandra; or in this case, John Parke of the Johnstown flood fame:Erskine Bowles is a little like John Parke, if legend is true. Both warned of impending disaster, only to be ignored. In Parke’s case, it led to 2,209 deaths. In Bowles’, it could lead to the dwindling of a great nation.
On May 31, 1889, heavy rain poured on western Pennsylvania, and a dam holding back Lake Conemaugh threatened to collapse. Parke, an engineer, rushed on horseback to the telegraph office in the town of South Fork to alert area residents. The story goes that, after years of false alarms about the dam breaking, Johnstown residents disregarded Parke’s warnings. Hours later, 20 million tons of water demolished the town.
Today, Bowles can relate. A Charlotte resident and former co-chairman of a presidential commission on the deficit, Bowles persists in sounding the alarm that America’s fiscal dam is about to burst. Congress and President Obama ignore him, even as 20 million tons of red ink barrel toward them, and us.
Hey, Mr. Batten. Must I remind you that the tea party movement started in early 2009 because of outrageous spending and bailouts? And what is really galling is that you and your fellow socialist at the Charlotte Observer were cheerleaders for this waste.
However, Mr. Batten did have a lucid moment at the end of his editorial:
So far, so good on the speech. But this is where Bowles’ remarks lost touch with reality. He urged the students to “force these politicians in both parties to deal with these problems and deal with them now.
“If you all can get these politicians to put partisanship aside and pull together rather than pull apart, the future of this country is very bright. … But I’m equally sure that if we continue to kick the can down the road, duck the tough choices, shirk our responsibilities, that America is well on its way to becoming a second-rate power. Please don’t let this happen.”
Gulp. If President Obama is willing to ignore his own commission, and both parties in Congress dismiss a sound plan from their own colleagues, we better hope we’re not relying on the graduates of American University’s School of Public Affairs to persuade them to save the country.
On the other hand, there’s an important kernel of truth in Bowles’ admonition. The politicians will continue to stall until voters extract a political price from them for doing so. The Obama-Romney campaign, the 2012 congressional elections and the pending expiration of the Bush-Obama tax cuts create an opportunity for American voters of both parties to insist that we get serious about taking our medicine.
The medicine that Mr. Bowles prescribes isn’t the answer. What this patient needs is major surgery. The progressives fundamentally altered our Constitution. In doing so, the federal government has bestowed more power unto itself while turning the states into a vassalage. The states no longer have a say in budgetary matters, or on federal policies that directly affect them and their citizens.
There is one way to regain control over that cesspool in Washington D.C. and that is repealing the 17th Amendment. The states must have the power of advocacy in the Senate; and more importantly the right of revocation if their appointees refuse to look out after their interest.
But that kind of decentralization runs counter to populist like Taylor Batten. And so it will be politics as usual until we become another Greece.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/19/3251985/congress-should-heed-warning.html#storylink=cpy
So far, so good on the speech. But this is where Bowles’ remarks lost touch with reality. He urged the students to “force these politicians in both parties to deal with these problems and deal with them now.
“If you all can get these politicians to put partisanship aside and pull together rather than pull apart, the future of this country is very bright. … But I’m equally sure that if we continue to kick the can down the road, duck the tough choices, shirk our responsibilities, that America is well on its way to becoming a second-rate power. Please don’t let this happen.”
Gulp. If President Obama is willing to ignore his own commission, and both parties in Congress dismiss a sound plan from their own colleagues, we better hope we’re not relying on the graduates of American University’s School of Public Affairs to persuade them to save the country.
On the other hand, there’s an important kernel of truth in Bowles’ admonition. The politicians will continue to stall until voters extract a political price from them for doing so. The Obama-Romney campaign, the 2012 congressional elections and the pending expiration of the Bush-Obama tax cuts create an opportunity for American voters of both parties to insist that we get serious about taking our medicine.
The medicine that Mr. Bowles prescribes isn’t the answer. What this patient needs is major surgery. The progressives fundamentally altered our Constitution. In doing so, the federal government has bestowed more power unto itself while turning the states into a vassalage. The states no longer have a say in budgetary matters, or on federal policies that directly affect them and their citizens.
There is one way to regain control over that cesspool in Washington D.C. and that is repealing the 17th Amendment. The states must have the power of advocacy in the Senate; and more importantly the right of revocation if their appointees refuse to look out after their interest.
But that kind of decentralization runs counter to populist like Taylor Batten. And so it will be politics as usual until we become another Greece.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/19/3251985/congress-should-heed-warning.html#storylink=cpy
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