July 24-26, 2011
Jul 24 11:50 Reform 1.0 in the books, time for Reform 2.0 Jul 24 02:11 Is the Debt Ceiling Debate Turning? Jul 25 00:50 The Time For Frameworks Is Over!!! Jul 25 13:13 BREAKING NEWS: Berglin Resigns Jul 25 13:58 Reid Caves, World Rejoices? Jul 26 02:37 Reid Caves, World Rejoices? Not So Fast Edition Jul 26 10:11 Obama's Base Crumbles; People Want Things Done Right Jul 26 22:16 Boehner Plan DOA in House, Senate, White House
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Reform 1.0 in the books, time for Reform 2.0
When the special session ended early Wednesday morning, the GOP had a clear message for people. That message is that this year's reforms were just a glimpse of their reform agenda. In the words of Rep. Mary Franson, Reform 2.0 is the next step for Republicans. Based on this YTE from Minnesota Chamber of Commerce President Dave Olson, it's apparent that they'll support much of the GOP's reforms going forward:
Where do we go from here?
- Adopt priority-based budgeting: Evaluate each function or outcome of government by its results per dollar. Examine all public programs and services and stop simply building a budget based on past practices.
- Implement the requested federal waivers in the Medicaid system.
- Purchase services through competitive sourcing: Evaluate those commercial services performed by government agencies on the basis of efficiency and customer service. Let public employees compete with the private sector for providing those services.
- Reform the prevailing wage law: The current calculation tends to increase taxpayer costs for state-funded projects.
- Evaluate highway projects: Ensure the Department of Transportation has the management systems in place so taxpayers receive the greatest value for their transportation dollars.
- Reform public employee compensation and benefits: These systems must align more closely with what is provided in the private sector.
All of these initiatives are important to the long-term health of Minnesota. That said, priority-based budgeting, implementing the Medicaid plan and reforming public employee pensions must be the highest of these priorities. I wrote in this post that the public employee pension fund is a ticking time bomb. I cited this information in the post:
As of June 30, 2009, the unfunded accrued liability for all state-local pension funds in Minnesota totaled $24.3 billion, according to LCPR, which is the difference between an accrued liability of $65.6 billion and current assets of $41.3 billion. Expressed another way, Minnesota's funding ratio (assets as a percentage of liabilities) was 63.0 percent. LCPR actuaries also calculate unfunded accrued liability using an alternative approach, which reflects ups and downs in the investment markets. Adjusting for those ups and downs, an actuarial value of assets in Minnesota pension plans was placed at $50.2 billion as of June 30, 2009, which would have the effect of shrinking the unfunded accrued liability by about $9 billion. Using actuarial value of assets increases Minnesota's funding ratio to 76.6 percent. However, others contend that the figure of $65.6 billion for 'accrued liability' is understated. For example, state law requires actuaries to estimate an 8.5 percent annual return on pension investments. That number might sound high today, but LCPR cites data that illustrate annual return exceeded 8.5 percent for many years. According to one estimate, reported by the Minnesota Taxpayers Association (MTA), accrued liability would increase by about $1 billion if an 8.0 percent annual return were used. If a rate of 5 percent or 6 percent (a typical government bond rate) were chosen, unfunded liabilities would rise by about 30 percent, according to the MTA.
Anyone that thinks pension funds will earn 8.5% annually for each of the next 30 years isn't thinking straight. That's a pipedream wish. It isn't reality. If the pensions continue to be funded at their current rate, Minnesota will need $1,000,000,000 per year to cover the unfunded liability owed to state employees. Obviously, it's important to get that gap closed. If it isn't closed, that will be tomorrow's millstone just like Medicaid was this year's millstone.
Budget experts have known for quite some time that Medicaid cripples state budgets by imposing an outdated program on states. What's worse is that DC hasn't listened to the great ideas the states have come up with to deal with Medicaid. Steve Gottwalt's reforms will finally get implemented. That's a big deal because the HHS budget was scheduled to grow by 22% this year. Thanks to Steve Gottwalt's plan, that growth was trimmed to 11% this year and 6% the following biennium. That's taking a big bite out of the structural deficit without raising taxes.
Finally, implementing priority-based budgeting is important because it forces bureaucrats to justify their spending rather than just count on automatic spending increases whether they're needed or not. It's lazy budgeting and it shouldn't be tolerated. Bureaucrats shouldn't get away with just determining who gets the spoils.
If they're true public servants, they should determine whether the money is needed. They should determine whether parts of their office serve a purpose other than employing someone. For that matter, we need more public servants and fewer bureaucrats. Most importantly, we need more fresh, thoughtful reforms and fewer status quo policies from a decade ago. We can't move forward without jettisoning the things that slow us down or impede progress.
Posted Sunday, July 24, 2011 11:50 AM
No comments.
Is the Debt Ceiling Debate Turning?
President Obama's childish rant Friday, followed by Speaker Boehner's speech laying out the differences between congressional Republicans and President Obama is a potential turning point in the debt ceiling debate.
I say potential because Republican message disipline isn't guaranteed.
The nation favors the Republicans' policies, especially concerning spending. The 2010 election was a vote against DC's outrageous spending. If Republicans don't lose sight of that as their guiding principle and if they speak with one voice, they'll win this fight and set themselves up for another big victory in 2012. Here's what I said in that earlier column:
If Minnesota teaches Republicans anything, it's that Republicans win the PR battle if they have one, coherent message. If DC teaches us anything, it's that having the incoherent Gang of Six plan and the indefensible McConnell plan on the table weakens the Republicans' bargaining position.
Senate Republicans are acting like they want to lose this debate. They're being told by the DC media that the common sense House plan is DOA in the Senate. That's what they should expect. What shouldn't happen is what's happening, which is that Senate Republicans are buying it.
In Minnesota, media outlet after media outlet said that Gov. Dayton was winning the battle. Some outlets actually said that Republicans would get hurt politically in 2012 if they kept being so intransigent. (Sound familiar, DC Republicans?) Then Gov. Dayton started his statewide tour. Instead of hearing only shouts of adulation, Gov. Dayton found out that people were actually agreeing with Republicans.
Intransigence is a positive thing if it's deployed for the right principles.
If Republicans keep insisting on an agenda of spending cuts and reforms, they'll force Democrats and their media allies to defend the failed status quo. That's never a good starting point for an election campaign. It's more significant this time because people are craving inspiration based on policies that make intellectual sense, not on an outdated slogan like Hope and Change.
Time will tell if Republicans have learned their lesson. If they did, Friday will be seen as a turning point in the debt ceiling debate.
Posted Sunday, July 24, 2011 2:11 AM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 24-Jul-11 08:51 AM
Gary the message discpline can work if the senate and house Republicans agree to use just three spokespeople until the crisis ends, Rand Paul, Rubio, and Allan West. If all the American people see is those three the Republican message will be loud and clear with a win in the PR war.
Walter Hanson
The Time For Frameworks Is Over!!!
I've read alot of articles this weekend about the debt ceiling debate to the point that those stories are nauseating. Thankfully, I ran across this article by the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol. He's the first person to take the Obama administration and the Do Nothing Democrats to the proverbial woodshed for not taking their responsibilities seriously:
The federal government has a problem. It's hitting a debt ceiling limit passed into law last year by the Democratic Congress, and signed by President Obama. It's doing so because of appropriations passed by that same Democratic Congress, and signed by that same Democratic president. Have the president and Senate Democrats proposed any legislation to deal with this problem? No.
House Republicans, on the other hand, did pass a budget earlier this year. Unfortunately, federal spending has gotten so out of control that even if the Republican budget were to become law, the federal government would have to borrow more money for several years to come. So House Republicans last week stepped up to the plate (to use a metaphor that might be unfamiliar to Cicero).
Their constituents hate the idea of voting to raise the debt ceiling. But the House GOP did what had to be done. They passed H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. The legislation contains a debt ceiling increase and accompanies it with serious spending cuts, restraints, and the promise of a forthcoming vote on a constitutional amendment to balance the budget by capping spending. The House Republicans (and five Democrats) did their duty, in accordance with the procedures of Congress and in the light of day, proposing and passing legislation that their fellow citizens could read, debate, and judge.
And they are the only ones who've done their duty. Having failed to pass a budget for two years, Senate Democrats have done nothing to deal with the debt limit. President Obama has in effect withdrawn his February budget proposal, and hasn't submitted a new one.
I wrote in the Examiner that " the time for outlines is over ." This administration and the Senate majority, as Bill Kristol rightly highlights, has screamed "Crisis, Crisis" before retreating to their lairs to relax in comfort, far removed from the people they were elected to serve.
Frankly, President Obama and Harry Reid are a pair of conniving, gutless weasels intent on doing nothing, then blaming the debt ceiling impasse on the only people that actually passed legislation that would've taken care of the problem for the next year.
Based on conversations I've had, conservative activists are ready to take Democrats to the woodshed for being a merry band of conniving do-nothing weasels.
If anyone thinks this is working, they should check out President Obama's approval rating from Rasmussen :
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That's the highest level of Strong Disapproval since last November.
The American people know that President Obama is clueless on the economy. They know that Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats are totally about criticizing Republicans for anything they do. The reality is that the American people are strongly with Republicans on the important issues of the day.
Finally, Thank You, Bill Kristol for bringing true clarity to this issue. It's about time someone in the media actually took this administration and Senate Democrats to the woodshed.
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 12:50 AM
No comments.
BREAKING NEWS: Berglin Resigns
In a stunning move, Sen. Linda Berglin announced today that she's resigning from the Minnesota State Senate effective Aug. 15:
State Sen. Linda Berglin, who served in the Minnesota Legislature for nearly 40 years, has announced she's retiring from the Senate next month.
Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, has been influential in setting health care policy. She helped create MinnesotaCare, a state-subsidized health insurance program for low- and middle-income Minnesotans.
Berglin said the fact that Democrats no longer hold the majority in the Legislature was a factor in her decision, as were a decade of budget cuts to Health and Human Services programs.
"During the last six months, I felt that my talents and skills have been underutilized in the Minnesota Senate," said Berglin. "As I see so much of what I have worked on over the years being chipped away or repealed entirely, I worry that our state is moving away from the community spirit that has made us such a great place."
Berglin is taking a position with Hennepin County. Her retirement will be effective on Aug. 15. Gov. Dayton will have to call a special election to fill her seat.
Frankly, it's been a tumultuous session for Sen. Berglin. Her goal seemingly was to keep the programs she'd passed in place. I'd heard rumors that there was a growing rift between Sen. Berglin and Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson. Whether this alleged rift was personal or profession wasn't known but the rumors weren't singular. They'd been heard 2-3 times.
When she says that "so much of what I have worked on over the years being chipped away or repealed entirely," she's likely referring to Steve Gottwalt's Healthy Minnesota Contribution Program legislation , which does change the direction of taxpayer-subsidized health care.
It isn't difficult to picture Gov. Dayton's signing Rep. Gottwalt's legislation into law as being the final straw that led to Sen. Berglin's resignation.
That might've been the final straw for Sen. Berglin but the first straw likely was her not being included as a conferee to the HHS conference committee.
This isn't insignificant in that Sen. Berglin likely saw that as tarnishing her legacy and her reputation. It's apparent from her statement that Sen. Berglin was bitter about the role she'd been delegated to. Any politician who'd wielded that much authority for that long is likely to have a healthy ego.
In the end, Sen. Berglin will be remembered for her work on health care issues. Still, it'll be interesting to see how the debate shifts without her in the legislature.
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 1:13 PM
No comments.
Reid Caves, World Rejoices?
Ed Morrissey is reporting that Sen. Reid has caved on the Republicans' debt ceiling demands ...and then some. First, here's The Hill article Ed cited:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Sunday he is drafting a $2.7 trillion deficit reduction package that would raise the debt ceiling through 2012 after he said talks on a bipartisan deal 'broke down' again with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The announcement raises the likelihood that the House and Senate will pursue separate proposals to lift the debt limit with just eight days to go before a potential U.S. default after Aug. 2. If both chambers passed their own bills this week, it would leave little time for the measures to be merged and sent to the president before the Treasury Department runs out of money.
Here's Ed's commentary on the Reid proposal:
Well, this would be a first for Reid and the Democratic-led Senate. I mean that literally , of course. If Reid actually produces such a bill and puts it on the floor for a vote, it would be the first specific, written plan Democrats have managed to produce during this months-long crisis. Republicans have passed two measures already in the House and have publicly offered at least one more (the Coburn plan), while Democrats have mainly stood around lecturing Republicans to get serious.
If Reid actually follows through on this plan as stated in this article (and if the cuts are legitimate), Republicans will certainly leap at the chance to pass it quickly. Barack Obama would have little choice but to accept a no-new-revenue bill once it passes Congress. John Boehner will have prevailed on the terms of the final resolution, and Obama's impact on legislation would be badly damaged.
Before we get to that point, though, let's see what Reid produces, if anything at all. So far, his track record has been one of abject failure.
Ed's cautionary tone is spot on. Until we know the details of Sen. Reid's plan, assuming Sen. Reid puts something together, Republicans have no choice but to be cautious.
If Sen. Reid's plan does include $2.7T in spending cuts but doesn't include tax increases, House Republicans will a) vote for the plan within minutes of it passing the Senate and b) ship it to President Obama within minutes of final passage.
At that point, President Obama wouldn't dare vetoing the debt extension. He'd have to sign it or be blamed for the U.S. defaulting on their debt.
I can't stress enough that conservatives must be cautious until they have a chance to look Reid's legislation. Still, it looks like this spending-caused crisis might be resolved temporarily.
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 1:58 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 25-Jul-11 04:54 PM
Gary:
Harry has 22 democrats up for reelection. He needs to give them a bill that will make people think the senate did their job. Not one of these democrats could win if they don't do that. My assumption he's going to make the cuts as light as possible. My idea take the senate bill and amended it with the six billion of spending cuts in cut, cap, and balance. that can be a good first step I can live with.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Reid Caves, World Rejoices? Not So Fast Edition
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin is reporting that Harry Reid's debt ceiling plan is a sham :
As I reported earlier, the president rejected a bipartisan congressional deal that would have calmed the markets, resolved the debt-ceiling crisis and restored faith in Washington politicians. President Obama was having none of it, demonstrating once and for all that the problem is NOT the House Republicans, but the election-obsessed White House.
So then the parties begin to devise separate congressional plans. The Post reports, 'Senate Democrats are preparing to introduce legislation that would avert a national default on Aug. 2 and achieve $2.7 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade without raising taxes.'
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is devising a sham that will never pass muster in the House. A Capitol Hill source with knowledge of the plan tells me: 'It includes $1.2 trillion in OCO [Overseas Contingency Operations] savings...which was assumed anyway, $1.2 trillion (over $1.1 trillion less than [Majority Leader Eric] Cantor identified in the Biden talks) and $300 billion in interest savings.' A Senate aide says dryly that Reid 'has about a trillion in 'savings' from ending the war in Iraq that's already going to end.' And a disgusted House adviser bluntly tells me that Reid's plan 'isn't real.'
As a result of his gamesmanship, it's been announced that President Obama will address the nation tonight at 8:00 pm CT. President Obama has been exposed as playing politics with the debt ceiling. It isn't a matter of there just being policy differences. It's a matter of President Obama having political motivations for rejecting any deal. It's a matter of him having a deep philosophical disagreement with the American people on what's wrong with Washington.
The 2010 election delivered a powerful, straightforward message to DC: STOP THE SPENDING!!! This administration has governed like the midterms didn't happen.
It's apparent that Harry Reid doesn't have a spine. It's equally apparent that he's President Obama's pawn. Sen. Reid must eliminate the phony cuts in his plan and replace them with real cuts.
If he does, we'll finally have the solution. Then, and only then, will I rejoice.
Posted Tuesday, July 26, 2011 2:37 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 26-Jul-11 09:17 AM
The lies we're seeing from the left in the debt ceiling debate are perhaps the wildest we've ever seen from them, and that's saying something.
"Cuts" that aren't cuts, so many new words for 'taxes' we can hardly count them all; a Senate which refuses to produce a budget in violation of federal law; and on top of it all a "President" who speaks about the need for compromise while walking out of bargaining sessions and saying 'do it my way'.
Obama's Base Crumbles; People Want Things Done Right
According to this WashPo article , President Obama's base has crumbled:
The Post-ABC poll found that the number of liberal Democrats who strongly support Obama's record on jobs plunged 22 points from 53 percent last year to 31 percent. The number of African Americans who believe the president's actions have helped the economy has dropped from 77 percent in October to just over half of those surveyed.
Justin Ruben, executive director of the progressive MoveOn.org, said many people are frustrated by the bitter partisan battle over raising the debt ceiling that has consumed Washington, calling it a 'bizarro parallel universe.' Another liberal group, Campaign for America's Future, said it is planning a national protest Tuesday urging a speedy resolution over the national debt in order to refocus attention on unemployment.
'Many liberal Democrats are hoping that Obama can pivot from defending Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid to putting forward his own plans for creating jobs,' the group's co-director Roger Hickey said.
I'd bet that I would've made a ton of money had I told people that President Obama's support amongst liberals would plummet 22 points in a year. That it's plumetted like that is astonishing to conservatives. I can't imagine what it's doing to David Axelrod's stomach lining. (At least Maalox sales are up in the Chicago area, right?)
For months, liberals here in Minnesota have talked about the virtue of compromise. According to this gentleman, that isn't a high priority:
'What I've realized is it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat anymore,' said Joey Wakim, 21, a used car salesman from Allentown, Pa. ' We just want somebody who's gonna get things right .'
I've contended for quite awhile that people want policymakers who will get it right more than they want policymakers that compromise and don't get the job done right. Mr. Wakim's statement indicates that I've been right all along.
I'm not reflexively opposed to compromise as long as the other side has good ideas. Since President Obama's inauguration, though, Democrats haven't had many good ideas. Their stimulus bill didn't create jobs. It prevented public employees from getting laid off but that isn't what it was touted as doing.
Obamacare has been a disaster. Job creation and economic growth have been miniscule to nonexistent. This administration's policies have been disastrous. Then-Speaker Pelosi's and Senate Majority Leader Reid's fingerprints are all over the past 2 years of failed economic policies.
Last November's elections were a jolt to politicians, saying explicitly that they needed to cut spending first, then saying implicitly that they needed new politicians to get things right the first time so human suffering could be eliminated through private sector job creation.
It's apparent that President Obama's 2008 coalition doesn't exist. Young people have all but totally abandoned him because he's turned into politics as usual instead of being the transcendant figure he promised during the campaign.
This poll isn't the only polling that this administration should be worried about. Yesterday, Rasmussen reported that 44% of people Strongly Disagree with the job President Obama is doing:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove , giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That's the highest level of Strong Disapproval since last November.
At this rate, the most interesting question I've got is when do vulnerable Democratic incumbents start splitting wholesale with His Highness. The only instinct greater to a politician than party loyalty is their fidelity to getting re-elected.
I'll keep track of the polls the rest of this week to monitor the reaction to President Obama's campaign speech to the nation last night. I'm betting his Gallup approval rating will drop as a result of last night's speech.
Posted Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:11 AM
Comment 1 by MplsSteve at 26-Jul-11 10:30 PM
As sure as dogs bark, cats meow and the sun rises in the east, blacks will flock back to Obama in November of 2012.
Boehner Plan DOA in House, Senate, White House
Thanks to Jim Jordan, Speaker Boehner's debt ceiling third plan DOA in the House. Thanks to Harry Reid's statement, Speaker Boehner's plan is DOA in the Senate. Thanks to President Obama's statement, Speaker Boehner's plan is DOA if it makes it to his desk :
The White House threatened on Tuesday to veto emergency legislation pending in the House to avert a threatened national default, a pre-emptive strike issued as Republican Speaker John Boehner labored to line up enough votes to pass the measure.
Boehner faced criticism from some conservatives in advance of an expected vote on Wednesday.
The bill would raise the debt limit by $1 trillion while making cuts to federal spending of $1.2 trillion - reductions that conservatives say aren't enough.
The measure also would establish a committee of lawmakers to recommend additional budget savings of $1.8 trillion, which would trigger an additional $1.6 trillion increase in the debt limit.
The White House objects to the requirement for a second vote before the 2012 elections.
Majority Leader Harry Reid said the measure stood no chance of passing the Senate even if it clears the House. He pronounced it "dead on arrival."
Washington and the nation are staring down an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt limit or face national default.
Flanked by conservative colleagues, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters he could not back the Boehner proposal and said it doesn't have the votes to pass in the Republican-controlled House. In a two-step plan, Boehner is pressing for a vote on Wednesday and a second vote Thursday on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.
"We think there are real problems with this plan," said Jordan, who heads the Republican Study Group. He argued that the spending cuts are insufficient and expressed opposition to likely tax increases.
The reality is that Rep. Jordan is the only person in this story that's thinking straight. President Obama and Sen. Reid are buffoons playing politics with the American credit rating. If Republicans stand strong a little while longer, they'll win this fight. If they win this fight, they'll win next year's election war.
I wrote this in an Examiner.com column :
Frankly, Republicans need to tell President Obama to get serious. The notion that a lovely sounding speech is all that's required is foolishness. It's time they told President Obama that he isn't doing the things he's required to do.
What Speaker Boehner should've done after passing Cut, Cap & Balance is tell Democrats that they need to put a detailed budget together in legislative language. I'd tell them that they needed to put something forward with spreadsheets detailing what things they're cutting, etc.
I would've highlighted the fact that Senate Democrats entered the debt ceiling countdown without having passed a budget in over 800 days. I would've called them out on being such reckless spenders that they didn't put their spending plans on paper.
I'd pound them with that message morning, noon, afternoon and night day after day after day until their grandchildren are born with headaches. If this administration and Senate Democrats want to play rough, let's get out the baseball bats and let them know that we're prepared to pummel them with truths they dearly don't want the public to know about.
When people find out that Republicans, led primarily by Paul Ryan but also with the help of fiscal conservatives like Dave Camp, Mike Pence and Jim Jordan, have worked hard in putting together reforms and responsible budgets, this election cycle will turn on a dime. And it won't be in the Democrats' direction, either.
It's time for the Republicans to stop pussyfooting around. It's time for them to take the gloves off and embarrass the daylights out of this party of clowns. The Democrats are a fiscal disgrace. They should be highlighted for being the incompetent clowns that they are.
Posted Tuesday, July 26, 2011 10:16 PM
Comment 1 by walter hanson at 27-Jul-11 11:09 PM
You realize this means since the senate won't pass any plan that is coming out of the House that our Senators Amy K and Al Franken are voting for default and possible disaster.
A couple of weeks ago Harry Reed kept the senate in session to deal with the debt crisis, but there was no bill being debated. At least during heathcare there was a bill being debated on and voted on.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Comment 2 by Henry V. Lake at 29-Jul-11 09:21 PM
Cap the debt! All of the wasted talk will result in the Dem's getting what they want.
Stop talking and CAP the debt.
This will not mean a disaster as many proclain.
There is enough dollar float in the federal government to cover costs for many months.
If Boenher and others want to keep giving concessions then the Ohio governor should recall him.
Repeal Obamacare and the problem is solved.
Comment 3 by Henry V. Lake at 29-Jul-11 09:22 PM
No moderation!!!!!!!!
Comment 4 by Henry V. Lake at 29-Jul-11 09:24 PM
Stop the games!
Comment 5 by walter hanson at 30-Jul-11 10:06 AM
Henry:
In reality there isn't enough dollars to cover the costs for one month. The federal government unlike a person who has to go cold turkey and do it because they have no choice has important obligations which must be spent. The goal is to work out a plan where we get to balance the sooner the bettr without raising taxes.
Unfortunately we're going to have to wait for 2013 to get real change for that.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
