The big wigs in Congress met with president Obama at
the White House to hear his pitch on tossing a grenade at Syria. It
won't be much more than that as the president has said it will be a
limited strike just to make a point. Actually it's more political
points.
There
is opposition from both Republicans and Democrats on taking action
against Syria for using chemical weapons on it's own people. The
president insists he has concrete prove the Syrian government used gas. House Speaker John Boehner came away from the meeting apparently saying he supports the president on going ahead with a strike. Foxnews.com quoted Boehner as saying, "The use of chemical weapons is a barbarous act. It's pretty clear to me
that the United Nations is unable to take action, NATO not likely to
take action. The United States for our entire history has stood up for
democracy and freedom for people around the world," Boehner said. "I'm
going to support the president's call for action."
Now Boehner has to go back to the rest of his colleagues in the House and convince them. A tough sell to be sure. Nancy Pelosi, leader in the House on the Democrat side, said she feels Syrian President Bashar Assad has "crossed a line.
Meanwhile, syndicated columnist, Charles Krauthammer, thinks Obama is off course. Read More: Obama's Plan Is No-Plan
Funny about these sort of things. Flashback to when
President George W. Bush went before Congress with a full-blown report
that Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The
report, which all of Congress read, lead to approval to go into Iraq.
When the weapons weren't found, the cry was "Bush Lied," despite the
report and Congressional approval to go forward. It remains to be seen
how Obama will be viewed should things go wrong with an attack on Syria.
After all, lobbing that grenade into a Syrian landfill will have other
repercussions. Iran and Syria will undoubtedly start firing missiles at
Israel. Israel will undoubtedly respond. Egypt, in turmoil, despite a
treaty with Israel may tear that treaty up, and here we go. The United
States, despite Obama not being fond of Israel, will have to jump in
full bore and defend the Israelis.
Something
else here. Remember the 'Obama authored' sequester? The automatic
cutting of funds for certain programs that kicked in because Congress
and the White House couldn't reach a deal on expenditures? Cuts included
the Defense Department in the sequester. Funny...Obama can find the money
to bomb Syria, but the White House remains closed to tours..including
school field trips. Go figure.
Labor Day is over signaling the official end of summer not far behind (September 22, 4:44 P.M. EDT) and thus, the games begin. Gridiron contests in high school and college are underway, the NFL starts this week, Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series just around the corner.
And then there's the big game in Washington, D.C. No, it doesn't involve the Washington Redskins or the Washington Nationals. It involves to other teams in Washington...the Republicans and the Democrats. Congress returns from it's summer recess September 9th with both sides gearing up for what may be one of the nastiest fights over the economy ever. The main issue is spending with House Speaker John Boehner and the Republicans flying their 'cut expenses' banner and President Obama and the Democrats vying to 'break the bank...some more.'
Obama, despite promising last December to cut expenses, has said he will not negotiate with the GOP. Not surprising.
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| The Money President |
The president, true to his liberal self, is known for breaking promises. The Republicans, on the other hand, tend to talk tough but have a history of caving in. Should they defy history this time and not budge, and their is a stalemate between the two sides, the country will either default on it's debt or the government will (partially) shut down due to a lack of funding. The Republicans are hanging their hat on repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also known as
Obamacare, and not funding the program. Either way, John Boehner and the Republicans will be blamed as usual due to the false rhetoric to come from the Democrats.
To avoid any shut down, both sides could chicken out and pass what is known as a 'continuing resolution,' which means keep the current spending levels as is for a specified period of time....in other words, they will just "kick the can down the road."
The federal government's budget year ends September 30 and unless the the House and Senate agree on a fiscal plan to take effect Oct. 1, threats of a government shut down are
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| Reid Boehner |
out there. Don't count on a budget, though. There hasn't been one for the almost five years Obama has been in office. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has continuously defied the law and the Constitution by not presenting one to the Senate for a vote. Why? Harry knows how upset you'd be if you knew what was in it...mainly new taxes and out of control spending.
Another issue up for a fight is the so-called debt ceiling. That's the amount the government is borrowing and it's about to reach it's current limit. Not raising the limit may cause the U.S.to default on some of it's loans. But raising the limit is just another way of saying "we're not going to deal with the spending issue, we'll just kick that can again."
So it will be fun to watch this fight. The arrogance of the president will be in play. The Democrat's willing accomplices known as the media will be ever present failing as usual to tell the true and whole story. With the unpopularity of Obamacare and the government's increasing failure to pull it off, will the Republicans stick to their guns on defunding it? Or will they cave?
Let the games begin!!
Oh...by the way. In case you haven't noticed. That National Debt is dangerously close to being $17 Trillion. Click the link and watch the countdown. The National Debt Clock
