WSJ - Karl Rove - "Voter Anger Is Building Over Deficits" - Jumps On The Blame Obama Bandwagon

[TomCADem]

Here is Karl Rove attacking President Obama pursuit of Health Care Reform and Cap and Trade legislation:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499404574557571615004170.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular

After engineering an unprecedented spending surge for nearly a year, President Barack Obama now wants to signal that he takes deficits seriously. So this week the White House announced that it is considering creating a commission to figure how to fix the budget mess.

Eureka!

Well, almost. What seems to concern the president is not the problem runaway spending poses for taxpayers and the economy. Rather, what bothers him is the political problem it poses for Democrats.

Last year, Mr. Obama made fiscal restraint a constant theme of his presidential campaign. "Washington will have to tighten its belt and put off spending," he said back then, while pledging to "go through the federal budget, line by line, ending programs that we don't need." Voters found this fiscal conservatism reassuring.

However, since taking office Mr. Obama pushed through a $787 billion stimulus, a $33 billion expansion of the child health program known as S-chip, a $410 billion omnibus appropriations spending bill, and an $80 billion car company bailout. He also pushed a $821 billion cap-and-trade bill through the House and is now urging Congress to pass a nearly $1 trillion health-care bill.

An honest appraisal of the nation's finances would recommend dropping both of these last two priorities. But the administration has long planned to run up the federal credit card. In February, Mr. Obama's budget plan for the next decade projected that revenues would equal about 18% of GDP while spending would jump to 24% of GDP, up from its post World War II average of 21%. Annual deficits of about 6% of GDP were projected for years to come.

Personally, I thought that 99 percent of the deficit is due to Bush's economic policies.

[berni_mccoy]

1. Karl would find many here who agree with him.

[TomCADem]

2. At Least Joe Klein Calls Rove On It - "Chutzpah"

I think the right wing has done a great job of spamming liberal boards with right wing attacks dressed up in liberal language while the right wing gets a free pass. It is nice to find the rare story in the media calling the right wing on such hypocrisy:

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/11/27/chutzpah-2/

A well-known fiscal policy expert has expressed dismay over the growing deficits presided over by President Obama:

When Mr. Obama was sworn into office the federal deficit for this year stood at $422 billion. At the end of October, it stood at $1.42 trillion.

Horrors! This well-known whiz catalogues the list of Obama abominations--the stumulus package, the auto bailout, the expansion of children's health insurance (Can you imagine!), $800 billion for the House cap and trade bill, a trillion for health care reform! (no, !!). But, uh, there's an elision that might give you a hint as to this seer's identity. Somehow, he's not mentioned the billions for the bank bailout.

Hmmm...

Could that be because his former boss, George W. Bush, initiated the bailout?

Indeed, this is Karl Rove chastizing the Obama Administration for running up the deficit. This is, of course, worse than the pot calling the kettle black. This is the skipper of the Exxon Valdez criticizing the governor of Alaska for the oily waters in its coastal bays. Rove, you may recall, was the mastermind of the Medicare prescription drug plan, which passed Congress without any serious effort to pay for it--and which, experts say, will add $7 trillion to the federal debt by the end of the century. He also was party to an administration that walked into office looking at a budget surplus and then--through a combination of unwarranted and profligate tax cuts and an idiotic (and unpaid for) war in Iraq--created the deficits he's complaining about.

It's not surprising that the blinkered extremists of the Wall Street Journal editorial page would print this drivel--any other mainstream op-ed page would require Rove to acknowledge, in passing, at least, his complicity in the current mess--but it remains a scandal, nonetheless, and the sheer craven audacity of it needs to be pointed out, from time to time.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Yep

Turd's toadies are crawling all over this board as we speak. Some may not last till dawn.

[DontTreadOnMe]

5. I doubt that

I realistically don't think you would find many people who agree with ANYTHING that Karl Rove states.

But you personally can keep yourself in a state of denial.

I think a large majority of DU members are seeking the best for the country, even if that is criticizing some current policies.
Having criticism of Obama or some of his Administration DOES NOT equal any endorsement of Karl Rove or anything the Republican Dark Side stands for.

[Va Lefty]

7. Well said!! Too bad you can't recommend a reply!

[TomCADem]

9. Sure About That? We Now Even Having Climate Change Deniers On DU

As well as posts celebrating any type of attack on health care reform. For example, there were a lot of post touting Howard Dean's suggestion that liberals may not support health care reform that is not adequate, but less coverage of the fact that Dean was calling for Lieberman to be kicked out of his chairmanship if he filibusters health care reform, which suggest that Dean SUPPORTS health care reform.

The corporate media has been in an all out assault on the Obama administration, and many folks simply repeat these talking points, to the extent that the embrace the status quo in health care, and deny climate change.

I can perfectly understand attacks on DU on Afganistant and Iraq, but many other attacks make me think I am on Free Republic.

[Botany]

4. The component that caused the deficit to balloon was that Obama put on the

costs of the Iraq and Afghan wars that bush put off budget so as to see their real costs
so he and his people could properly understand the size of the shit sandwich that
W, Cheney, Rummy, and Rove left for Obama.

:grr: $600,000 / minute of money borrowed from China to run that unneeded war in
Iraq and Rove has the temerity to talk about the deficit?

Obama better wise up and go after these assholes* because they want to hamstring him like
the ones that went after Clinton 24/7.


* Say the Don Seigleman case

[rocktivity]

6. Taking Karl Rove seriously about anything is like

--well, taking Karl Rove seriously about anything.

:boring:
rocktivity

[spanone]

8. hey karl, go fuck yourself....spanone

[annabanana]

10. pfft. .He's been DRIVING the "Blame Obama Bandwagon"

for years.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. "Reagan proved deficits don't matter" -Dick Cheney n/t