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The Debt Ceiling: A False Crisis      

8/24/2013

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                                             The Debt Ceiling: A False Crisis
                                                        by Vito Tomasino

The President has stated his willingness to consider all ideas regarding ways to cut deficit
spending and tackle the problem of a growing national debt; which, left unchecked, would
threaten another downgrade of our credit rating in a fragile economy. He has also made it
very clear, that raising the federal debt limit was not open to negotiation, and that he would
not be held hostage by Republican leaders who would use the threat of a government shutdown
to push their fiscal agenda.

I believe the President would indeed allow the government to be shut down, and our credit
rating downgraded, rather than give in to Republican demands for significant spending cuts
and entitlement reform—neither of which he wants, though both are absolutely needed.
Do the Republicans have the courage to call the President’s bluff? I don’t think so. Last year,
when they confronted him on the so-called “fiscal cliff,”they caved in to his demands at the
last minute; then rationalized their concession by convincing themselves that—given the debt
ceiling deadline—they would have more leverage to force his acquiescence. They were wrong.
Their bluff did not work then and it will not work now.  What then, should they do?

Someone once said, “Politics is the art of doing the possible.” Why not start there. Take
Obama at his word. Give him what he wants; i.e., raise the debt ceiling, and do it soon, not
at the eleventh hour. We all know it will be raised, so why waste time debating the issue and
give the President a convenient excuse for not addressing the spending problem? Moreover,
it should be raised high enough so that we need not be concerned with it for the next two
years, thus clearing the table for meaningful fiscal reforms in spending, entitlements, revenue
enhancement via a simplified tax code, and a thorough overhaul of regulations  hindering
business investment. 

Speaker Boehner should form a bi-partisan committee within the House of Representatives
to write a bill offering viable, thoroughly vetted solutions to the above issues--one containing
many recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles Commission. Such a bill would have the best
chance of passing the House with Democrat and Republican support, and of reaching the floor
of the Senate for a vote. The President could not stop it without contradicting his own statement
regarding spending cuts and forfeiting his political capital, making him a true “lame duck.”
     
Congress, on the other hand, would regain much of its lost public confidence and reclaim its
role as one of the key federal branches envisioned by our founding fathers as being necessary
to insure that our democracy remains true to the people it serves. 
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Let The Bastards Come

8/8/2013

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                                                    LET THE BASTARDS COME

                                                               By Vito Tomasino


Imagine a battlefield general who is told by his intelligence people  that intercepted phone
calls  between enemy units revealed their plans  to attack several key positions under his
command. What would he do? Would he immediately “shut down” those positions, take
his troops out of harm’s way, and hope the enemy does not attack?  Of course not. Wars
are not won by conceding territory, but by taking it, or, at least, holding it. 
 
No, that general would not back away in the face of an enemy threat.  Rather, he would
see it as an opportunity to inflict even greater damage to his antagonists by reinforcing
those positions with additional troops and fire support, and daring them to try. “Let the
bastards come,” would be his battle cry—as it was for men like “Chesty” Puller, George
Patton,“Skinny”Wainwright, Jimmy Doolittle, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Teddy
Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and so many other
courageous leaders of our past whose decisive actions kept us strong and free for more
than two centuries.  
 
Recently, our “generals” in Washington had just such an opportunity presented to them
and they chose to run rather than fight. Instead of reinforcing our embassies they chose
to close them indefinitely and, in so doing, gave the terrorists a victory without them
having to fire a single bullet. The terrorists now know, that all they have to do to disrupt
the government of the most powerful nation on earth is to make a cell phone call to their
buddies. They must be wringing their hands over the possibilities it presents.

 Sadly, these same “generals” will claim this as a victory over terrorism and try to sell their
spineless response to us as justification for an intelligence gathering program that collects
phone call and e-mail data on every American citizen. They will do this without realizing,
that by their timid reactions to enemy threats, and their expedient disregard of our
constitutional rights, they are doing the terrorist’s job for them.

 “Appeasement of the enemy has never, in any time in history, resulted in anything but
disaster for the appeasers.” vt

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    Spent 12 years in the Middle East. 

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