Memorial Day - Arlington National Cemetery

As usual, I'm watching my "Band of Brothers" DVDs.

Asked and answered - Medicare's own trustees have reported that in a decade or so the program will be bankrupt and only able to pay out what it receives in payroll taxes. This Sunday morning on "Face the Nation" the DNC chair was asked if the Democrats have a plan to save this fiscally-challenged program. As Hoystory quips: "That would be a no."

Extra - Here's a very good review on Medicare's mathematical demise via the Sundries Shack.

Bad slides - Found via today's Boston Globe, here are the winners of the Infocus contest for the worst Powerpoint slides. This gives me an opportunity to link to one of my favorite essays about bad presentations: "Let there be stoning."

It was a nice day plus pasta salad - Spent some time with the neighbors, eating pizza. Tomorrow, there's 1100 miles of racing (Indianapolis 500 + Coca-Cola 600). The Sam Adams Summer Ale is cooling in the fridge.

It's come to this

Senate majority leader Harry Reid - of "show vote" fame - won't hold a vote to recess the Senate for the Memorial Day holiday because it would highlight the fact that the Senate Democrats have failed to produce a budget proposal. To avoid an unpleasant vote for adjournment over, you know, responsible government, the Senate will hold three "pro forma" sessions next week where some flunky from Virginia will gavel the Senate into session then adjourn. The good news is that because the Senate will remain "officially" in session, President Obama can't make any recess appointments.

Gosh, it makes me proud to be an American.

Hey! Was that Abed?

I'm a huge fan of the NBC show "Community" and there's a running joke about how Abed is a bigger fan for the ABC show "Cougar Town." In this scene, Abed gives a long anecdote about how he traveled to the "Cougar Town" set and managed to get into a scene during shooting.

Then I was watching "Cougar Town" last night and...who's that weird guy?

Abed! Nice. Here's more on the episode from ZapIt.

It's time to face up to Medicare's problem

So says Bill Clinton. Yes, Bill Clinton.

Former President Bill Clinton, still widely considered one of his party’s foremost politicians, said on Wednesday that Democrats should cut a “reasonable” deal with Republicans on Medicare savings rather than conclude from Tuesday’s upset in a special Congressional election that bashing Republicans on the issue is the key to a party comeback in 2012.

But he knows that Democrats don't really believe in leadership:

But Mr. Clinton said he feared that Democrats would conclude “that we shouldn’t do anything.”

“I completely disagree with that,” he said. “I think there are a lot of things we can do to bring down Medicare costs.”

The former President recognizes the threat:

Mr. Clinton, with some passion, returned to the topic at the end of an hour-long interview. “I think the Democrats are going to have to be willing to give up, maybe, some short-term political gain by whipping up fears on some of these things — if it’s a reasonable Social Security proposal, a reasonable Medicare proposal. We’ve got to deal with these things. You cannot have health care devour the economy.”

Yes, but it's such good politics.

Extra - The only Democrat-proposed budget in the Senate gets zero votes. Finally, bipartisanship! It's to do nothing, but still.

Twisters - Disaster in the Midwest: "Death toll from Missouri tornado tops 100." Just terrible and now a rainstorm is hindering rescue efforts.

That's not what Nancy Pelosi told me - Marketwatch: "Get ready for Social Security, Medicare meltdowns."

I was Mitch Daniels' secret lover supporter - I have to say that I'm disappointed that Indiana governor Daniels isn't running for the Presidency because I think he can win in a walk. So I'm moving on to my second choice of Midwest governors: Tim Pawlenty.

Mitt Romney? Never, never, never. If Romney is the nominee then I'll be signing up for the "Daniels/Pawlenty 2016" campaign.

Can't hack it? Pack it in - CNN: "Why would-be engineers end up as English majors."

It's Rapture night!

I'm going to resist the obvious Blondie reference and go with Napoleon Dynamite:

Social Insecurity - Reason Online: "The Facts about Social Security - Separating economic myths from economic truths."

But we got that oil company vote - Hot Air reports that the "Senate Democrats still not letting anyone see their budget." It's been 750 days since the Senate put forth a budget proposal.

Nancy Pelosi: "Medicare forever!"

Medicare's chief actuary: "Yeah, about that...."

Extra - AosHQ notes what happens in about eight years with the status quo: "Immediate, automatic cuts."

Franken-frame - The Truth About Cars: "Mission creep, weight problems, compromise haunt GM's Alpha platform." That was a good investment, America.

Math is not that hard - President Obama is going to have to tax the middle class says...the New Republic? In a nutshell, there simply isn't enough money to tax from the "rich" to pay for all of our overspending. (H/T AoSHQ.)

If you liked the new jobs from the stimulus plan, you'll love the savings from Obamacare - Over at Reason, Peter Suderman reveals that Medicare's own chief actuary says "don't trust the Medicare trustees" while Jacob Sullum notes that any savings from health care reform are based on assumptions that will not occur, such as the "doc fix."

And then there were five - Now I'm just waiting to make a Gang of Four quip. Republican Tom Coburn has pulled out of the Gang of Six trying to find a compromise on deficit reduction. From what it sounds, Coburn was insisting that entitlements needed to be a part of any reform plan while Democrats wanted to raise the passport renewal fee by $5.

Bumping up against the debt ceiling

Megan McArdle has a long and thoughtful post today about how low interest rates are delaying action on the debt ceiling because the cheap borrowing indicates the financial markets don't think the debt crisis is real and/or there's little chance of default.

Let me just add this, if I may. I just finished reading an excellent book about the subprime mortgage crisis and the ensuing economic downturn titled "All the Devils are Here" by Bethany McLean. (She's also the author of the fantastic account of Enron: "The Smartest Guys in the Room.") One thing I took away from the "Devils" book is that - once the market loses faith in an institution - the downfall is swift, harsh, catastrophic, and irreversible.

This was true for AIG, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, but especially for the old-money boys at Wall Street institution Lehman Brothers. In mid-2008, Lehman's exposure to subprime loans was becoming evident. By September, the 150-year-old firm - unable to find a buyer - declared bankruptcy. Only six months before the collapse, Lehman CEO Richard Fuld had appeared on a Barron's list of the 30 best CEOs in the country.

Overcome with debt and liabilities it could not contain or mitigate, Lehman imploded like *that*.

A trillion dollars spent, a million jobs lost - Two Ohio State economists found that Obama's "Recovery and Reinvestment Act" killed off a million private sector jobs but saved 450K government jobs. Powerline: "A verdict on Obama's "stimulus" plan." Heckuva job, Bammy.

Extra - The thrill is gone.

Shared sacrifice

In "The elderly must share the financial burden," columnist Robert Samuelson takes on the long-cultivated stereotype that senior citizens are only a Social Security check from destitution:

From 1959 to 2007, the proportion of the 65-plus population with incomes under the government's poverty line ($12,968 for a couple in 2009) dropped from 35.2 percent to 9.7 percent, which was half the poverty rate for children under 18 (18 percent).

The proportion of elderly living in the "high income" group - defined as four times the poverty line, or almost $52,000 for a couple in 2009 - rose from 18.4 percent in 1980 to 30.6 percent in 2007.

In 2007, the median net worth (that is, assets minus debts) of 65-plus households was $237,000, about twice the amount for households aged 45 to 54. Among 65-plus married couples, median net worth was $385,000.

This is one of the things that drives me batty when we talk about "fairness" in America's entitlement system. There's very little that's "fair" about transferring large sums of cash from young workers to relatively affluent seniors, especially when everybody knows the system will not offer the same level of support when those workers grow old.

Social Security was formed when Americans when seniors were living in poverty because they could not do the physical labor demanded of the Depression era. Today seniors are healthier, wealthier, and labor is much less strenuous - yet talk of reforming entitlements is a taboo. Sooner or later (I'm guessing sooner), younger Americans are going to figure out that they're at the bottom of this pyramid scheme.

Come fly with me - Pajamas Media: 'Senate GOP embarrasses Dems over Boeing."

David Mamet leaves the herd - Over at Weekly Standard, there's a story about the conversion of the playwright from liberal darling to conservative apostate. Mark Steyn adds his thoughts.

Waiver count: 1,372 - The Hill reports: "HHS approves 200 more new health care waivers." At what point does Obamacare become unconstitutional by violating the 14th Amendment stipulating equal protection under the law?

Playing politics - Charles Krauthammer: "Demagoguery 101." Also, the Minuteman has more on Obama's El Paso speech.

Medicare "as we know it" is already gone

Today the Trustees for Medicare and Social Security released their annual report and - big surprise - the entitlement programs are on a glide path to insolvency:

The Medicare hospital insurance fund for seniors is now projected to run out of money in 2024, five years earlier than last year's estimate. The Social Security trust funds are projected to be drained in 2036, one year earlier than the last estimate. Once the trust funds are exhausted, both programs can only collect enough money in payroll taxes to pay partial benefits, the report said.

There's no point in nostalgia for the days when Medicare and Social Security paid out the benefits afforded in the past decades. There's only one future: a reformed entitlement system that bows to current economic conditions and simple math, versus waiting for the inevitable:

If the trust funds are exhausted, immediate benefits cuts would go into effect. Starting in 2024, Medicare could pay about 90 percent of benefits, but that would drop to about 75 percent in 2045. In other words, despite Democratic attempts to savage the Ryan/GOP budget for “ending Medicare as we know it” (starting in 2022), the fact is that “Medicare as we know it” simply won’t be around much longer anyway on it’s current path. Social Security benefits, meanwhile, would receive an immediate 25 percent cut. This is exactly what Paul Ryan is talking about when he stresses to need to address entitlement spending now, on our terms, before cuts are imposed swiftly and indiscriminately.

Except for younger voters who fail to grasp the hole being dug on their behalf, I think Americans are waking up to the danger of delay over action and debt over fiscal sanity.

But, but, they've sold dozens of Volts - Megan McArdle: "GM's profits are still a huge net loss for taxpayers."

This is terrible news - Word came out after the Team Six takedown of Osama Bin Laden that the SEALs had collected three computers, computer disks, and a hundred thumb drives. Now, I'm thinking that the data on those drives may not be the intelligence treasure trove we were led to believe.

The entitlement bomb cometh - Opinion Journal: "The Millionaire Retirees Next Door - Typical retired couples will collect $1 million or more in Social Security and Medicare. This is more than they paid in, and the cost will fall on today's workers."

Ryan rebuts

The House Budget Committee chair answers some charges from President Obama. A good part is explaining that the "cuts" that Obama criticizes are actually bringing government spending back down to earth after exploding the budget.

And since I think Factcheck is a fair player in any debate, here's their re-rebuttal to Ryan.

That's what I call sAT-ATire - The detail on this story from the "Galactic Empire Times" is fantastic, down to the comments and the small ad for "Alderaan Real Estate."

Kill/Capture - Right now on PBS is a Frontline special on how the U.S. military targets terrorists in the hot zones.

Update - Depressing: an Afghan commander being supplied by the government forgets that he's "miked" and, once he's "out of earshot" of the Frontline crew, he tells a fellow fighter that he's actually in allegiance with the Taliban.

Let's all scare Grandma

Hit & Run: "How Obamacare cuts Medicare." What it boils down to is that if Medicare doesn't hit certain savings targets, an independent board will cut medical care (that's all they can do) and under-compensated providers will simply drop their Medicare coverage. That's the new status quo, America.

Meanwhile, the WashPost fact-checker gives HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "three Pinocchios" for her lies about Paul Ryan's reform plan.

Extra - Here's a good Sibelius.

Long train running

In the Ideas section of today's Boston Globe, there was an absolutely fascinating article about how officials in India were using "behavioral architecture" to keep poverty-stricken people living near the train line from being killed while crossing the tracks.

The article titled "Train! How psychological tricks can keep people from being killed on the tracks" tells the story about how one area in India employed three changes to keep people aware of the danger of crossing the tracks and fatalities plummeted. First, it was found that people have trouble telling the speed of large objects so they painted sections of the railroad ties yellow to give better perspective of velocity. Second, the warning signs around the tracks using stick figures were replaced with horrific (staged) pictures of an actor being mowed down by a train (see at link). Finally, the warning whistle for the trains was altered:

Final Mile’s third intervention required train drivers to switch from one long warning whistle to two short, sharp blasts. By way of explanation, Dominic cited a 2007 paper from the Stanford University School of Medicine, which found that brain activity - and hence alertness - peaks during short silences between two musical notes. "The silence sets up a kind of expectation in the brain," said Vinod Menon, the paper's senior author and a behavioral scientist working with the Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Lab. "That’s the way it works in music, and it isn’t inconceivable that it would work similarly with train whistles."

It's kinda like the false ending in the Young Rascals hit "Good Lovin'" where you're waiting for the song to re-start. In all. a very interesting article about how psychology and behavioral science are employed to solve a problem and save lives.

Happy Mother's Day!

So I wasn't crazy

I was watching the somewhat-funny show "Happy Endings" Wednesday night and one character was talking to his ex about a mouse in the apartment they couldn't catch. "It's my Bin Laden...Jessica Bin Laden, this hot Arab girl who I dated in college."

Then, well, the audio blanked out. But according to this article, the brilliant producers of the show cut out the line "She was the one that got away." You know, because of recent events.

Dummies! It would have been so much more memorable if you left the line in.

Extra - Whoops! It looks like "Chuck" used an Osama ref also.

Exclusive video of Operation Neptune's Spear!

Navy SEALs on the attack. Must credit Viking Pundit!

Who did Osama have on sleeve dial?

I think this is the most interesting development in the Bin Laden story:

Osama bin Laden had cash totaling 500 Euros and two telephone numbers sewn into his clothing when he was killed - sure signs that he was prepared to flee his compound at a moment’s notice -top U.S. intelligence officials told members of Congress at a classified briefing in the Capitol Tuesday.

It seems to me that these phone numbers are going to be a big story. Were they Osama's contacts in the Pakistani ISI, who were supposed to tip him off to an American operation? Or Ayman Zawahiri's satellite phone? Domino's Pizza?

The tipping point - TaxProfBlog: "51% of households pay no income tax."

Man's best friend, Osama's worst enemy - It looks like the seals were aided by a dog. NY Times: "A Bin Laden hunter on four legs." Woof.

It's all been said - I feel like the Osama story is going to dominate the blogosphere for weeks. So I'll say this: that Susie with the lemonade business is adorable.

"We were in town for the Lil Miss Kyber pageant, but the Best Western in town was overbooked" - I laughed like an infidel at these Google Maps "reviews" of Osama Bin Laden's Hideout Compound, found via this post on Power Line, with real pictures of the compound.

This one's going out to Ayman Zawahiri!

There's a capital idea - Since those Navy SEALs won't collect the $25 million bounty on Bin Laden's head, Vanderleun suggests that they live the rest of their lives tax-free. I don't think they'll - ever - have a problem with bar tabs.

Facebook status: dead - Via Maggie's Farm, it's reported that the Navy SEALs in the Osama raid picked up hard drives and documents that could blow open Al Qaeda. So we got that goin' for us.

Color me un-flabbergasted - UK Telegraph: "Osama bin Laden 'protected' by Pakistani security". Keeping the Paks in the dark about the raid was the first key to success.

Obama earns a round of golf

A big kudos to the Obama Administration and the Special Forces that took out Bin Laden. There's really nothing I can add to the avalanche that 's already been posted today. I'll just say this: this whole operation could have easily gone the way of Desert One and the blame of failure would have fallen squarely on Obama's shoulders. But since it went spectacularly successfully, Obama deserves high marks for green-lighting the raid.

Make no mistake, I think this guy's going to bankrupt the country. But - at least for today - I'm proud he's my Commander-in-Chief.

Extra - OK, this is appropriate.

AT LONG LAST - Fox News, CNN, and NY Times confirm that Osama Bin Laden is dead.

Once again, after almost 10 years on the run, Bin Laden is dead dead dead.

News is just coming in tonight but, according to sources, he was killed by a U.S. bomb a week ago and (somehow) the news was kept a secret until DNA tested was complete.

Wow. I was just flipping around channels before going to bed and now this.

I have to be honest: the first couple months after 9/11, I remember waking up every morning hoping to hear news that Bin Laden was cornered somewhere and/or killed. It took way longer than any American could have hoped, but now he's met his maker.

And, boy, is she pissed.

Extra - We have the body? Oh wow.

More - Via Hot Air. I cannot believe the Administration/military kept this a secret for a whole week. Well done, sir, well done.

Even more - Shocking! Killed in our "ally" Pakistan.

Update - From Fox News and ABC News.

More fun debt facts - Mark Steyn notes that due to quantitative easing, the Fed purchased 70% of all U.S. debt last month: "In other words, under the 2011 budget, every hour of every day, the federal government spends $188 million it doesn’t have, $130 million of which is “borrowed” from itself."

Now that's what I call bandwidth - This is kind of a big deal. Popular Science: "Record-breaking fiber optic cables transmit 100 terabits per second." That's equivalent to transmitting three months of HD video in one second.

Hangin' around the crib with those slacker kids

Yeah, all eight of us are pretty upset - Hot Air: "MA Republicans not so wild about Romneycare."

Deep in the Fourteen Amendment

Here's an interesting take from the Atlantic: "The speech Obama could give: 'The Constitution forbids default.'" Apparently there's a section in the 14th amendment that states: "...the validity of the public debt...shall not be questioned."

Oh, I don't question the debt's validity. Just like Standard & Poors, I question our capability of paying it.

The expanding chorus - CNBC: "U.S. banks warn Obama on soaring debt."

Nature abhors a vacuum

President Obama was in full pique today as he denounced the media and those crazy birthers (e.g. Donald Trump) for the whole birth certificate thing. As former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin notes today, if MSNBC was keeping this story alive, it was because the President was doing nothing whatsoever to address the issues that Americans really care about:

The president’s first budget led to a debt spiral, but he excused it because of the financial and economic crisis. The president’s second budget led to a debt spiral, but he excused it because the Bowles-Simpson commission was going to fix it. The president’s third budget led to a debt spiral, but he whined that he had to do that because Republicans might criticize a real budget.

The comparison to the House budget was so shaming he was compelled to give a speech on a new "plan" to end the greatest threat facing this nation. But there was no plan. Just another speech. And today, more whining.

Today Obama said the birth certificate thing was a distraction from the real problems that the nation needs to address...except he won't. Now let's go visit Oprah.

Call collect, E.T. - Oh, boo-hoo, the government is cutting off funding for SETI, the large radio dish array (have you seen "Contact"?) that listens for weird stuff in the universe.

In this age of trillion-dollar deficits, the government should cast a gimlet eye on federally-funded programs that fail to do the very thing they were created to do.

How I learned to stop worrying and love the deficit

Michael Kinsley asks an important question at the conclusion of his article in the LA Times:

The question remains: If the deficit doesn't matter, why have any taxes at all? And if there is some point at which the deficit does start to matter, and become dangerous, when is that point if $1.6 trillion isn't it?

We're now borrowing somewhere between 40 and 42 cents of every dollar the government is spending. Since certain dwarfish Princeton economists insist that this unprecedented level of borrowing is inconsequential, why not make it 100%? Just fire up the $100 printing presses and be done with the whole thing.

Wow, I feel so much better now. Yee-haw!

Oh yeah, that other stuff

Here's Mickey Kaus:

When did everyone decide that it’s high gas prices that are hurting Obama? Seems crazy to me. He’s losing two out of three wars, the economy is flagging, and his signature domestic achievement is unpopular. So it must be the gas!

Don't forget President "Present"'s general lack of leadership on anything of consequence. Darn those oil companies!

Extra - If it's Tuesday, it must be time for Oprah and fundraisers. Golf can wait.

Candy for everyone! - Real Clear Politics: "Politicians, not public, to blame for debt crisis."

No worries, we'll just keep on borrowing $188 million an hour from China, right? Awww...snap!

Happy Easter!

Devalued - Mark Steyn notes in "The Disappearing Dollar" that many of the measures of prosperity - the U.S. credit rating, the dollar, housing, education - ain't what they used to be.

And then there's this from the WSJ: "Dollar's decline speeds up, with risks for U.S."

Obama disassociates himself from the high gas prices his policies invited

Recently the President breezily dismissed his slumping poll numbers as a product of high gas prices. Like everything else in Obama's world, if it's bad it has nothing to do with him.

As gas prices soar above $4/gallon, let's reflect:

Incoherent energy policy? Check.

Domestic oil production scheduled to start declining next year? Check.

Starting a senseless war with a Middle East oil state? Check.

Royally ticking off the Saudis? Check.

Energy secretary who once said "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." Check.

Insensitive "Let them drive Volts" moment to father with SUV. Check.

Yet another useless commission to take the place of real leadership. Check.

Now let's burn off a couple hundred tons of Air Force One jet fuel. Obama's gotta fly back from California to celebrate Earth Day.

Extra - Volokh: "Don't blame the speculators."

More - Instapundit finds that some tourist destinations fear Americans taking a "staycation" due to gas prices.

Even more - From Doug Ross.

Poor fish! - The masthead on Google today gave me a chuckle.

A third more in taxes - Megan McArdle explains that without restraint in spending, taxes for everyone will have to go way, way up: "These are huge changes in the overall tax burden, and they will have big effects on people's lives and the economy."

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey

Can somebody tell me if I'm crazy? This Lowe's commercial bugs the heck out of me. The woman slides under the sink and the rear of the wrench moves to the right as she says "righty tighty!" But if the back of the wrench is moving to the right, the head of the wrench is moving counter-clockwise or to the left.

Help me out here. I can't be the only one who has noticed this. And before I get the "perspective" thing, take note that it's a pipe hanging down from a sink - it should tighten just one way, unless it has some weird reverse thread.

Obama lies - That's what Factcheck said about the President's attack on Paul Ryan's plan.

Shared responsibility - Echoing a post I had below, David Harsanyi writes over at Real Clear Politics: "If Washington is so great, let's all pay for it."

Default by another name - Megan McArdle: "Inflation won't cure our debt woes."

Debt bomb - Kevin Williamson makes two salient points in this post "Enron writ large": one is that the S&P downgrade is (like Enron) a lagging indicator of what everybody already knows and the other is that if rates return to historic levels, interest payments on the national debt could quickly eclipse the big-ticket items in the federal budget.

Daisy, daisy - Big Government "The tax and spend machine": "Like HAL in the scene from "2001: A Space Odyssey" perhaps the machine cannot be turned off."

Three cups of doom! - If anybody saw "60 Minutes" this past Sunday, you'll know that "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson is a big liar. But he had a very good explanation for begging off (the famous) Steve Kroft's request for an interview: he thought he was a suicide bomber.

Makes sense. NPR also had a story this afternoon: "'Tea' debacle reflects the murky waters of memoirs."

Fourteen trillion - fifteen trillion = negative fun! - Zero Hedge: "Total US debt now officially above the ceiling." Fire up the printing presses.

The rise of the concierge doctors

Boston Globe: "More doctors gravitate towards boutique practice"

Concierge medicine is expanding as more doctors - and patients - tire of assembly-line primary care, opting for something more personal, and pricey.

The numbers are still very small - a survey commissioned by a congressional agency last year identified 756 concierge medical doctors in the United States, up from 146 in 2005. And Florida-based MDVIP, a company that helps physicians set up these practices, said it will add six new MDVIP doctors in the Boston area this year, increasing its physicians statewide to 16.

But even a tiny number of doctors leaving traditional offices for boutique practices - out of thousands of primary care physicians - is enough to make some health care industry leaders nervous. They worry that more doctors will follow as insurers and government payers cut fees and hem in providers with regulations. And when even one doctor makes the switch, there are substantial side effects, leaving hundreds of patients to scramble for a new physician.

In an informal survey, half the primary care doctors at one Massachusetts hospital indicated they had considered the switch to concierge medicine. Take a wild guess why:

The pressures on doctors have only intensified. The state’s mandatory health insurance law means even more people with coverage are seeking doctors. Insurers are squeezing payments to doctors, and regulators and insurers are pressing providers to make care less expensive.

“It’s hitting home here at Newton-Wellesley,’’ said Dr. Leslie Selbovitz, chief medical officer. “As health care reform matures, doctors are questioning whether they want to be part of the new world order.’’

The unmistakable trajectory of Obamacare is towards a two-tier healthcare system. Good intentions.

It's for the kids - Mark Steyn "Losing the Future": "How do you 'invest in the future'? By borrowing $188 million every hour."

You're welcome, Junior.

It's OK because it's Obama - The President reverses himself on signing statements so he can keep his "czars" so they can do the work he's supposed to be doing.

Now fire up Air Force One. Bammy's gotta jet to Chicago to complain about the lame-o phones in the Oval Office. Hope and change!

More - From Althouse and Hot Air.

Update - From the Vokokh Conspiracy: "The Obama Administration...seems to be brazenly violating the Constitution."

It's Friday! - Fun fun fun fun.

Regrets, he's had a few - ABC News: "Harry Reid 'embarrassed' about 2006 opposition to raising debt limit."

Here's a question for you: "Why is it right to increase our nation's dependence on foreign creditors?" Why indeed, Harry. Or Barry.

Extra - From Patterico.

We all need to pay for the government - Derek Thompson writes "We need higher taxes, and not just for the rich": "President Obama is going to have to break his campaign promise and raise taxes on Americans making under $250,000. There's really no way around it."

While I agree with the statement that Washington has a spending problem and not a tax problem, that doesn't change the fact that we need to cut spending and raise taxes. And it's not just a matter of revenue (which is considerably higher if all tax rates are increased); it's a matter of equality. If everybody has "skin in the game" it might force Americans to re-focus on how much government they want and whether they're getting a bargain for the money.

Howard Dean was on NPR yesterday and although the ex-DNC chair is a highly partisan player, even he acknowledged that: "...the middle class tax cuts that President Obama is defending that George Bush put in are not compatible with the balanced budget. ... Everybody has to pay more taxes."

We're living in a fantasy world where Americans are paying only 60 cents for every dollar of government received. It's time to bring the cost/benefit ratio back in line.

Shorter Obama: "I'm utterly unserious about debt, but I'd like to be re-elected"

The President's speech today reminded me of what Gertrude Stein said about Oakland: "There's no there there." It would be wrong to cut anything of significance, we'll have somebody look into defense spending, and if we're still short, we'll have yet another deficit commission. Are you kidding? Atlantic contributor Clive Crook is spot on: "Obama's speech was a waste of breath"

Obama had a difficult assignment in this speech, partly because of the exaggerated hopes for it (see previous post). Even allowing for that, it was weak both politically and substantively. My instant unguarded reaction, in fact, was to find it not just weak but pitiful. I honestly wondered why he bothered.

There was no sign of anything worth calling a plan to curb borrowing faster than in the budget. He offered no more than a list of headings under which $4 trillion of deficit reduction (including the $2 trillion already in his budget) might be found--domestic non-security spending, defense, health costs, and tax reform. Fine, sure. But what he said was devoid of detail. He spent more of his time stressing what he would not agree to than describing clear proposals of his own.

There was specificity on one aspect of deficit reduction: getting somebody else to pay.

He is still proposing an increase, not a decrease, in marginal rates on high incomes combined with restricted tax expenditures for those at the top of the income distribution--that is to say, two rounds of increases in high-income tax rates. The rich can pay for it all. That is Obama's tax policy. The whole point and key virtue of the Bowles-Simpson approach to taxes is that it held out the prospect of a deal between Democrats and Republicans: lower marginal rates in return for higher revenues. Obama appears to rule this out on principle.

The speech was more notable for its militant--though ineffectual--hostility to Republican proposals than for any fresh thinking of its own. It was a waste of breath.

As readers of this blog might know, I was interested to hear Obama's solution to the Social Security's pending insolvency. What we got was an amorphous platitude that could have been uttered by Obama anytime since 2005:

While Social Security is not the cause of our deficit, it faces real long-term challenges in a country that is growing older. As I said in the State of the Union, both parties should work together now to strengthen Social Security for future generations. But we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.

That's leadership: we should work together, but I won't propose the slimmest of solutions and, by the way, those other guys want to kick Grandma into the street. This was a campaign speech, nothing more, and much less.

Extra - Kaus Files: "Social Security fixes are still in a mystery box."

More - Power Line: "A sorry, cowardly performance."

Even more - The Pentagon says: "What's all this about cuts?"

Plus - Victor Davis Hanson: "Obama vs. Obama."

And this - CBS News reminds us that the national debt is on pace to nearly double to $26.3 trillion by 2021. But Obama's going to cut $4 trillion over 12 years, so we got that goin' for us.

On this 150th anniversary on the start of the American Civil War - William Tecumseh Sherman called it.

By the way, the single best Civil War history book I've ever read is James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom."

Fair's fair - Roger Kimball predicts that Obama will play the "fairness" card in his speech tomorrow on the federal budget. Because if somebody earns more money than you, well, that's just not fair. (H/T Instapundit.)

The 2011 budget is just a sideshow now

Over at Contentions, John Podhoretz writes that the recent budget battle to cut the advertised $38.5 billion from the remainder of the 2011 federal budget will only cut around $15 billion, due to a series of accounting tricks. Furthermore, he warns "The budget deal may collapse" as Tea Party-backed freshmen find they've been duped.

If the deal falls apart, the House Republicans should just pass a series of (rider-free) continuous resolutions until October, slicing off a billion each week. The House is only one-third of the budget battle; throw a government shutdown into the hands of Harry Reid and Barack Obama.

But given that we're bleeding money anyway, I would prefer if Washington would just pass the budget and move onto the main event: Paul Ryan's 2012 blueprint. That's the crossroads with one path towards fiscal sanity and the other towards decline.

"We in America have created a suicidal government" - Robert Samuelson: "Big Government on the Brink."

"Tempted" by Squeeze

Here's an interesting piece of music trivia: although some would argue that this is Squeeze's best-known song, it didn't crack the top 40 in any country. (In America, Squeeze's highest charting song was the inoffensive pop ditty "Hourglass.") As a lad, I saw Squeeze in 1985 for their Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti tour.

Perspective - Via Political Wire, the federal debt increased $54 billion in the eight days Congress hammered out a deal to cut $38.5 billion from the remainder of the 2011 budget.

Debt problem? What debt problem? - Mark Steyn: "The Democrats' solution to a problem is to deny there is one."

And then there's this from Doug Ross: "Good news: Dallas Fed chief says U.S. in budgetary death spiral." Essentially he says that the urge to get our of our debt problem is to monetize the debt (i.e. print money) and this would be "a direct path to economic perdition." So we got that goin' for us.

Younger workers flee high taxation in debt-ridden country - CNBC: "Spain's biggest export: young people." That could never happen here, eh?

What just happened in Wisconsin? - This is what happens when I watch reruns of "Community." Fox News: "Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice take big lead after county corrects vote count."

Extra - Althouse called it.

More - Mary Katherine Ham: "Small state-wide election with vital national implications soon to have no national implications whatsoever."

Takin' the motorcade to Air Force One - Zero Hedge: "Obama's advice to those complaining about surging gas prices: Suck it in and cope."

Abridged CBO Director's blog on Ryan's budget - "It's an unsavory sandwich, but we're all gonna have to take a bite." One key deficit-cutting provision is halving government spending on health care from 12% of GDP now to 6% of GDP.

Related - WSJ: "Medicare for a New Century."

Swooning for Paul Ryan - Taking a cue from Power Line, the NY Times' David Brooks writes an absolute love letter for Ryan's "serious" budget proposal.

Here's some comedy gold: "Will [Obama] come up with his own counterproposal, or will he simply demagogue the issue by railing against "savage" Republican cuts and ignoring the long-term fiscal realities?" Take a wild guess.

Extra - Betsy's Page: "Time for the adults to take over."

It's a Nobel Peace Prize cage match! - Not content to be second place to Barack "Cruise Missiles Away" Obama, Legal Insurrection reports that Mohamed ElBaradei is threatening war against "the Zionist regime" if Israel attacks Hamas.

That is one scary-ass graph

Paul Ryan lays out his "Path to Prosperity" with a graph that details "A choice of two futures." The status quo looks like a ski jump that ends somewhere around a debt level of 800% GDP, likely due to compounding interest.

Meanwhile, Democrat Chris Van Hollen tries his hand at stand-up comedy in this Hill article: "Dems 'likely' to offer budget alternative to Rep. Ryan's plan." Ha-ha, good one, Chris! Hey, do you know when would have been a good time to offer a budget plan? When you controlled the House of Representatives.

Can't wait to see the plan, Chris. Leadership!

My favorite so far: "More debt? You bet!" - Twitter feed: Obama 2012 campaign slogans. By the way, if I had a Twitter account I would suggest: "Welcome back, Carter."

Albatross - Megan McArdle: "Health care law still really unpopular."

Stupid college kids line up to embrace their destroyer

Heaven help me, I can't understand why these young whipper-snappers today give Obama the rockstar treatment every time he sets up his teleprompter in the student union. Take a look at his speech from the last time he announced his candidacy to understand how cynically he's broken every promise he ever made. If younger voters had inkling of an idea of what kind of future they're facing under this President's policies, they would boo Obama like Charlie Sheen in Detroit:

The national deficit is careening upward of $1.6 trillion this year, with a projected debt of $24 trillion by 2021. Those young people applauding Mr. Obama so heartily are the very ones with bull's-eyes on their backs for ruinous tax increases in their prime earning years. They also are going to find out that Social Security has been a huge Ponzi scheme, with them as the "marks."

Four more years! (That's the gap between graduating and finding a job for these kids.)

Individual mandate debate - The Boston Globe has the opposing viewpoints on the Constitutionality of Obamacare's insurance mandate with Harvard's Laurence Tribe defending the law while Georgetown's Randy Barnett taking the opposing viewpoint.

The $4 trillion man - The Wall Street Journal profiles House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and his efforts to bring the federal budget somewhere in the same zip code as revenues. That includes Medicare which, as Ryan notes, cannot stay on its current path without bankrupting the nation.

Extra - Doug Ross on the Democrats' response to Ryan's proposal.

The professor and his shadow

Found this on a site about great pranks: