Sessions: 'All You Want To Do Is Spend Money, Buy Votes, and Say You're Spreading the Wealth Around'

Sessions: 'All You Want To Do Is Spend Money, Buy Votes, and Say You're Spreading the Wealth Around'

Elisabeth Meinecke
Townhall.com
July 31, 2011

Sen. Sessions expressed frustration on the Senate floor that Congress is again ignoring the message of the American people in the last election.

After so much grandstanding yesterday, this has to rank as one of the more heartfelt and clear-cut defenses of why the GOP is fighting so hard to enact the cuts needed to help get the country back on track economically.

He wasn't scared to call out the losers in the last election on why they lost: spending.

"It was a shellacking for the big spenders," Sessions reminded everyone of the election results in November 2010. He said the American people's message was, "All you want to do is spend money, buy votes, and say you're spreading the wealth around."

And yet the article that Bubbles posted titled "Annihilating Democracy with the Tea Party" from what source I know not of because it was not named, blames the Tea Party for the collapse of democracy in America.

Jeff Sessions has it perfectly right here. And the mainstream media are busy trying to blame the Tea Party for the destruction of America when the last election made it abundantly clear that the American people want to bring a halt to the wild spending orgy that our Congress has been on for decades, and especially the last few years!

That bullshit article by Gregor Peter Schmitz has revealed the naked partisanship of the media and the Democrats. If they cannot get their way, then they will launch an all out assault on the American people themselves just to FORCE their irresponsible spending policies down the American people's throats.

dblboggie wrote:And yet the article that Bubbles posted titled "Annihilating Democracy with the Tea Party" from what source I know not of because it was not named, blames the Tea Party for the collapse of democracy in America.

Jeff Sessions has it perfectly right here. And the mainstream media are busy trying to blame the Tea Party for the destruction of America when the last election made it abundantly clear that the American people want to bring a halt to the wild spending orgy that our Congress has been on for decades, and especially the last few years!

That bullshit article by Gregor Peter Schmitz has revealed the naked partisanship of the media and the Democrats. If they cannot get their way, then they will launch an all out assault on the American people themselves just to FORCE their irresponsible spending policies down the American people's throats.

The Tea Party almost did destroy America! Their denial of coming to terms not only with Democrats but also with other Republicans is idiotic, childish and extremely irresponsible.

BubbleBliss wrote:

dblboggie wrote:And yet the article that Bubbles posted titled "Annihilating Democracy with the Tea Party" from what source I know not of because it was not named, blames the Tea Party for the collapse of democracy in America.

Jeff Sessions has it perfectly right here. And the mainstream media are busy trying to blame the Tea Party for the destruction of America when the last election made it abundantly clear that the American people want to bring a halt to the wild spending orgy that our Congress has been on for decades, and especially the last few years!

That bullshit article by Gregor Peter Schmitz has revealed the naked partisanship of the media and the Democrats. If they cannot get their way, then they will launch an all out assault on the American people themselves just to FORCE their irresponsible spending policies down the American people's throats.

The Tea Party almost did destroy America! Their denial of coming to terms not only with Democrats but also with other Republicans is idiotic, childish and extremely irresponsible.

This is just utter nonsense. We went past the so-called "debt ceiling deadline" back in 1995 - don't you recall the government shutdown back then? What did we do? Why we continued to make our payments on the interest on the debt because shut down or not, the government still has BILLIONS in tax revenue streaming in every month - far, FAR more than enough money to service the debt.

The Tea Party is actually saving the nation - if they finally get their way. Obama has added a projected $4.9 TRILLION to our national debt in just two short years. His budget deficits are the largest in our country's history! And he only plans to ADD TO IT!!!

With $14.5 trillion in debt, and $114 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities, we can no longer afford the bullshit "cuts" being proposed by the Democrats and blue-blood Republicans!

Do you know what they call a "cut" on the Hill? Well I do. A "cut" in Washington is any reduction in the projected increases of any given budget item in a given year.

Let's say, the Commerce Dept has presented a budget that has grown by, I don't know, let's just pluck a figure out of the air, 5%. Well what Washington considers a "cut" is a reduction in the GROWTH of that budget. That is to say, giving the Commerce Dept only 4% MORE money than the previous year is what our politicians call a budget "cut!!!"

This is how insane it has gotten on the Hill. We aren't even talking about a REAL reduction in spending! We are talking about a reduction in the amount we INCREASE spending by!

I'm sorry, but this is just utter madness. And the Tea Party has every right to point out this insanity and to hold their Party's, and Congress's feet to the fire and MAKE them take some responsibility for their profligate spending!

dblboggie wrote:

BubbleBliss wrote:

dblboggie wrote:And yet the article that Bubbles posted titled "Annihilating Democracy with the Tea Party" from what source I know not of because it was not named, blames the Tea Party for the collapse of democracy in America.

Jeff Sessions has it perfectly right here. And the mainstream media are busy trying to blame the Tea Party for the destruction of America when the last election made it abundantly clear that the American people want to bring a halt to the wild spending orgy that our Congress has been on for decades, and especially the last few years!

That bullshit article by Gregor Peter Schmitz has revealed the naked partisanship of the media and the Democrats. If they cannot get their way, then they will launch an all out assault on the American people themselves just to FORCE their irresponsible spending policies down the American people's throats.

The Tea Party almost did destroy America! Their denial of coming to terms not only with Democrats but also with other Republicans is idiotic, childish and extremely irresponsible.

This is just utter nonsense. We went past the so-called "debt ceiling deadline" back in 1995 - don't you recall the government shutdown back then? What did we do? Why we continued to make our payments on the interest on the debt because shut down or not, the government still has BILLIONS in tax revenue streaming in every month - far, FAR more than enough money to service the debt.

The Tea Party is actually saving the nation - if they finally get their way. Obama has added a projected $4.9 TRILLION to our national debt in just two short years. His budget deficits are the largest in our country's history! And he only plans to ADD TO IT!!!

With $14.5 trillion in debt, and $114 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities, we can no longer afford the bullshit "cuts" being proposed by the Democrats and blue-blood Republicans!

Do you know what they call a "cut" on the Hill? Well I do. A "cut" in Washington is any reduction in the projected increases of any given budget item in a given year.

Let's say, the Commerce Dept has presented a budget that has grown by, I don't know, let's just pluck a figure out of the air, 5%. Well what Washington considers a "cut" is a reduction in the GROWTH of that budget. That is to say, giving the Commerce Dept only 4% MORE money than the previous year is what our politicians call a budget "cut!!!"

This is how insane it has gotten on the Hill. We aren't even talking about a REAL reduction in spending! We are talking about a reduction in the amount we INCREASE spending by!

I'm sorry, but this is just utter madness. And the Tea Party has every right to point out this insanity and to hold their Party's, and Congress's feet to the fire and MAKE them take some responsibility for their profligate spending!

To answer your question: No, I don't recall it. I ain't that old.

To adress the rest of your post:

Had the US gone bankrupt, the Rating Agencies would have lowered the US' ratings which would have had a ripple effect throughout the whole world. It's not about the fact that you can pay your interest with your monthly earnings, it's the fact that the stock market isn't about cold hard facts, but mostly about speculations. Look at how the Dow Jones and even the German DAX has fallen in the past days due to this debate. The whole stock market is built on speculation and when you give those people a reason to speculate against you, you lose. That was not the case back in 1955. Back then, countries also weren't as connected as they are now. What happens in the US, China, Europe, etc. has effects on the entire world.
I'm all for making cuts in expenditures, and I think that making cuts the way you explained them is nonsense because it is not really a cut. I'd also say, that Medicare, Medicaid, SS, the USPS, etc. all need major optimizing so they can work more efficiently and less money blown into the abyss. But you need to be responsible and careful about it.

And my question also is, have foreign aid spending cuts been suggested by either side? Because I did not hear anything about that and I believe that along with making government programs less wasteful and cutting other "unnecessary" spending, foreign aid would also be an expenditure that could be cut. The money flowing into countries such as Israel, Pakiston or even insitutions like the UN isn't nearly as important as ensuring one's own future.

BubbleBliss wrote:

dblboggie wrote:

BubbleBliss wrote:

dblboggie wrote:And yet the article that Bubbles posted titled "Annihilating Democracy with the Tea Party" from what source I know not of because it was not named, blames the Tea Party for the collapse of democracy in America.

Jeff Sessions has it perfectly right here. And the mainstream media are busy trying to blame the Tea Party for the destruction of America when the last election made it abundantly clear that the American people want to bring a halt to the wild spending orgy that our Congress has been on for decades, and especially the last few years!

That bullshit article by Gregor Peter Schmitz has revealed the naked partisanship of the media and the Democrats. If they cannot get their way, then they will launch an all out assault on the American people themselves just to FORCE their irresponsible spending policies down the American people's throats.

The Tea Party almost did destroy America! Their denial of coming to terms not only with Democrats but also with other Republicans is idiotic, childish and extremely irresponsible.

This is just utter nonsense. We went past the so-called "debt ceiling deadline" back in 1995 - don't you recall the government shutdown back then? What did we do? Why we continued to make our payments on the interest on the debt because shut down or not, the government still has BILLIONS in tax revenue streaming in every month - far, FAR more than enough money to service the debt.

The Tea Party is actually saving the nation - if they finally get their way. Obama has added a projected $4.9 TRILLION to our national debt in just two short years. His budget deficits are the largest in our country's history! And he only plans to ADD TO IT!!!

With $14.5 trillion in debt, and $114 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities, we can no longer afford the bullshit "cuts" being proposed by the Democrats and blue-blood Republicans!

Do you know what they call a "cut" on the Hill? Well I do. A "cut" in Washington is any reduction in the projected increases of any given budget item in a given year.

Let's say, the Commerce Dept has presented a budget that has grown by, I don't know, let's just pluck a figure out of the air, 5%. Well what Washington considers a "cut" is a reduction in the GROWTH of that budget. That is to say, giving the Commerce Dept only 4% MORE money than the previous year is what our politicians call a budget "cut!!!"

This is how insane it has gotten on the Hill. We aren't even talking about a REAL reduction in spending! We are talking about a reduction in the amount we INCREASE spending by!

I'm sorry, but this is just utter madness. And the Tea Party has every right to point out this insanity and to hold their Party's, and Congress's feet to the fire and MAKE them take some responsibility for their profligate spending!

To answer your question: No, I don't recall it. I ain't that old.

Oh... right... I almost forgot how young you are. My bad.

BubbleBliss wrote:To adress the rest of your post:

Had the US gone bankrupt, the Rating Agencies would have lowered the US' ratings which would have had a ripple effect throughout the whole world. It's not about the fact that you can pay your interest with your monthly earnings, it's the fact that the stock market isn't about cold hard facts, but mostly about speculations. Look at how the Dow Jones and even the German DAX has fallen in the past days due to this debate. The whole stock market is built on speculation and when you give those people a reason to speculate against you, you lose. That was not the case back in 1955. Back then, countries also weren't as connected as they are now. What happens in the US, China, Europe, etc. has effects on the entire world.

The ratings agencies may yet lower our AAA status as this deal does not even come close to trimming the trillions in spending growth the agencies have said they wanted to see.

But more to the point, bankruptcy was never a threat in this budget battle - though if we keep on our current track into the future that is not an impossibility, history has taught us that much.

Rather the threat being dangled by the Democrats (and some Republicans) was that if we passed this arbitrary "deadline" set by the extremely partisan Treasury Secretary, Timmy - The Tax Cheat - Geithner, that we would "default" on our debt obligations. This was patently false of course, but that didn't stop Obama and the Democrats from making the threat.

If we want to blame anyone for frightening the markets (and the markets and our currency are not buoyed by "speculations" but rather by confidence - that is all that backs our currency and markets), then blame Obama and the Democrats for making that threat and shaking Wall Street confidence.

As for the underlined bit above, my example was from 1995, not 1955. In 1995 the world's economies were every bit as interdependent as they are today. In fact, I would submit that the world's economies were much more interdependent than people think back in 1955 and even going as far back as our country's founding and beyond.

And even though the government was shut down for 21 days, we continued to service our debt, pay Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid recipients, veteran's benefits and many other things.

Obama and the Democrats needlessly created this false impression that a government shut down would result in a global financial calamity because we would "default" on our debt obligations. Nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, in my memory (going back to 1977), we have had a total of 17 government shutdowns, most lasted a few days or so, some a little longer, with the second shutdown in 1995 being the longest in our history.

BubbleBliss wrote:I'm all for making cuts in expenditures, and I think that making cuts the way you explained them is nonsense because it is not really a cut. I'd also say, that Medicare, Medicaid, SS, the USPS, etc. all need major optimizing so they can work more efficiently and less money blown into the abyss. But you need to be responsible and careful about it.

Exactly! This practice of "baseline budgeting" is a total farce and both parties have used these nonexistent "cuts" in deceitful and despicable ways to hide the truth from the American people. And this is just one of the many deceptions that politicians use to disguise their profligate spending - many times with the help of the CBO, because the CBO can only use static modeling to arrive as cost projections for any spending measure proposed by Congress.

As for the Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and other federal entitlement programs, I agree that all of them need a major revamp to not only bring them into line with 21st century realities of life expectancy and medical advancements, but to restructure them so that they do not result in bankrupting the country. Personally, I would like to see Social Security, or some portion of it, privatized and placed directly in taxpayers hands. We could also do the same with our Medicare taxes, placing some portion into Health Savings Accounts directly managed by individual taxpayers. There are many, many things we could do to improve these programs so that they are available to our children and, in my case, grandchildren, well into the future.

But if we continue on the path we're on, with the Democrats totally refusing to touch these sacred cows because much of their constituency depend on these entitlement programs, and Democrats actually only want to expand them to attract more voters.

BubbleBliss wrote:And my question also is, have foreign aid spending cuts been suggested by either side? Because I did not hear anything about that and I believe that along with making government programs less wasteful and cutting other "unnecessary" spending, foreign aid would also be an expenditure that could be cut. The money flowing into countries such as Israel, Pakiston or even insitutions like the UN isn't nearly as important as ensuring one's own future.

Good question. I don't know if foreign aid spending was addressed in this latest go-round. But truth be told, federal aid spending is such a tiny portion of our spending (less than 1%), and much of it is such an integral part of our foreign affairs strategies, I'm not sure it would be wise to seriously cut it.

However, there are many, many, MANY things we would cut without affecting the well being of the American people whatsoever. There are whole government departments that we could lose without batting an eye or reducing the quality of life in America. I would start with the Department of Education! Since its inception stats on the quality of education have been in a free-fall. That Dept is simply siphoning off money that the states could put to MUCH better use! We could lose the Dept of Commerce and businesses and the American people would never know that it was gone. There is much duplication in our government that we could probably lose half the entire government workforce and never miss it for a second!

And I CERTAINLY agree with you on our payments to the UN!!! Those are a COMPLETE waste of American taxpayer's money!