Obama 'agnostic' about deficit solutions

Ahhh, he is now saying he is open to higher taxes on the middle class? Well, it was just a matter of time before he would do that anyway and anyone who believed he wouldn't raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 was a true Brain-Dead Obamabot.
In the words of Clint Eastwood: Go ahead, make my day.
Can you say "one-term president?"

Obama's answer to anything: make a speech, and spend gobs of taxpayer's money. And now he expresses astonishment that under his watch the deficit is increasing so fast!

The combined deficits for all 50 states is approximately $150,000,000,000.00 which is approximately the same amount in bonuses dished out to Wall Street and banksters. Hmmm, lets see now. If...then...connect the dots. These receipients haven't done dittle for the American people in terms of any sort of job creation yet they have been awarded very handsomely. More and more the political parties (and mostly Republicans) could care less about the welfare of this country and citizens.
Taxes will have to be raised and I suggest the rich need to be soaked. I also suggest the budgets of the DOD and Pentagon to chopped by 10% - 25%. You want to talk about government waste?? There you go.

I'd use the word "clueless," as in "completely clueless" about the deficit.

No sir, the deficit was NOT compounded by the recession. Your idiotic plan to "spend our way" out of the recession is what compounded it.

Note to Obumbles:
1) Cutting taxes accelerates economic growth.
2) Cutting taxes actually increases revenue to the Treasury.
3) Increasing taxes drives capital out of the markets and hinders economic growth.
4) Wealth is created by individuals who risk their own capital and talents in the pursuit of reward (profit).
5) No government has ever, EVER created wealth.

I was wondering when the Obama Administration was going to fly a trial balloon on new taxes for the middle class. If the Obama Health Bill had passed (and it still might) it would add a trillion dollars plus to the deficit. My question is where is all the money going to come from to pay for all this? Or do we continue to just print more money and increase the prospect for steep inflation. The real surprising thing here is that President Obama has proposed a tax increase on the middle class, which will probably not take effect until 2011, in an election year. But that has his fellow Democrats in the Congress running for cover. The Republicans will probably make big electoral gains in November. And it will not be because of anything spectacular that the GOP has done, but due to complete incompetence by the Obama White House and the Democratic Leadership in Congress. America is paying the price for electing a former Community Organizer that never had a real job before in his life.

Funny that obama feels the need to try to impress everyone with his use of the word agnostic (this writer even had to put the definition in his article), Otherwise the public might consider him an idiot that couldn't pronouce corpsman (corpse man),
I guess he needs to keep up the illusion of his mythical "intelligence".
There is no trustworthy media anymore, they all have an agenda. They way President Bush was attacked for his pronunciation of "nuclear" - yet not a peep about "corpsman".
With the press also ignoring his lies and actions, this is no suprise.

Not sure what Obama can do on the deficit when Republicans are bailing on their own debt commission just because O supports it. That's your gridlock...

http://www.political-buzz.com/

It obviously didn't trouble the Bush&Cheney, their debt will live in infamy !! Two wars, one totally falsified, a huge tax-dollar give away to the good, old Pharmaceuticals and of course, the Billions that went to those thieving, good, old Weasels of Wall Street !! Wasn't it Tweedle-de dum, of the Bush&Cheney Duo, who stated, so righteously: Ronnie Raygun proved that deficits don't mean a thing !! Now, all of you, Republican-Libertarians-T-Baggers can take that to our banks, your Svengalies have said so !! So, sit back and enjoy the ride. America's economy will be back in the black, making money and creating plenty of jobs, deficits be damned !!!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

Silva: How many times are you going to let these leftie thugs repost and repost the same tripe over and over and over and . . .
. . . .
Just a few examples this week:
- REPUBLICANS HOLD AMERICA HOSTAGE!!!
- "Washington Times: GOP PRIVATELY ADMITS STIMULUS CREATED JOBS!!!
- The GOP Wants to Take Away Your Social Security
- Argentina Loverboy Mark Sanford is begging for stimulus money today!
- END THE REPUBLICAN'S ABUSE OF THE FILIBUSTER!
- Nate Silver nails it..........BAZINGA!!!!
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Maybe the thought-limited lefty loony libs can at least find new propaganda to post instead of the same old tired crap over and over and over and . . .

Obama is realizing his no taxes for the middle class was another bone headed campaign promise to get elected. It's even more bone headed considering Bush Sr. fell into the same trap. You just can't anticipate the economic climate after you are elected, so don't back yourself into a corner with promises you can't keep. Now it's about damage control. To give himself political cover, BO will blame the inevitable tax increase on some committee, and he will want to make it appear as bipartisan as possible.

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I'm glad he mentioned entitlement reform. I am pretty hard on BO, but I commend him for being open to this. He knows that Medicare and SS are the giant elephants in the room when it comes to federal spending, and they are both on unsustainable courses. The way I see it, the only way to get them under control is to raise taxes, cut benefits or raise the eligibility age. None of those options will be politically popular, and whoever suggests them will get hammered. I hope BO has the courage and conviction to actually address them, as opposed to just giving speeches. We'll see.

Agnostic=Voting present

Imagine that...

Dear God:
As a favor to the American people, could you please make tomorrow Nov. 2012 so we can end this misery.
Paulo

How did i know this was coming. He spends our money like a drunken sailor racking up trillions of dollars added to the deficit, then all the sudden seems concerned and wants to raise taxes to get the deficit "under control". Lets not forget about the $787 billion dollar wasted stimulus, 2 trillion dollar heathcare boondogle he's trying to pass, plus the new 80-150 billion dollar "stimulus 2" (Jobs Bill) that they are trying to shove through now (that acually does almost nothing to create jobs). This guy talks out both sides of his mouth. Heck, just yesterday he says he supports the outragous bonuses at Goldman Sachs and Jp Morgan and call his pals that run those banks "Savy Buisnessmen". This comes after calling these bankers "wall street Fat Cats" for months now. How Silva still carries water and praises this incopetent fool i'll never know.

""What I can't do is to set the thing up where a whole bunch of things are off the table," Obama said in the interview.

Why?
In HCR the Single Payer option was off the table from the gitgo, then the public option. Now the entire reform package is off the table. And what about the MIC? Is it off the table or on the table?

Here are a few suggestions.
1. let the BushCO tax cuts expire.
2. realign the US military away from the Cold War posture. (Eliminate the Triade Doctrine, put a smaller but credible (strategic) deterrent on subs only) All the Triade accomplishes is to make the entire US a target, plus requires the costs of developing TWO ICMB systems, (Land based and sub based)
3. remove the $90k ceiling on SS/Medicare tax.
4. somehow reorganize the Senate into a body that is not actively trying to destroy the USA. (See the C17 program; We are being forced to supply aircraft to the USAF that they do not want. This is just one example)
5. Close 2 or 3 hundred of the 700 (+ secret) military bases around the world.
6. GTH out of Iraq postehaste.
7. GTH out of Afg. per the plan now in place.
8. Cut five of the ELEVEN carrier battle groups. Work with the allies (Including Japan and Germany) to come up with replacements.
9. Eliminate the 'privatized (mercenary) military'. It's a fact that the number of mercenaries are nearly as great as the regular army. Those GIs that lose their jobs on the carriers and silos? Retrain as grunts, cooks, supply sergeants, etc.

At least it's a plan.

42% of the budget is SocSec, Medicare, Medicaid. Another 12% is unemplyment and welfare. Another 22% is defense and war on terror spending. That is fully 3/4ths of the budget. Another 9% for interest on the national debt and now over 80% of the budget is for things that congress refuses to consider in cutting the budget and deficit. Social Security and medicare are the political thirds wheels that NO ONE will touch. So for all the blather about the Republicans saying they will cut the budget and deficit, unless they are willing to talk about cutting things that they would never touch then thier answers are no betterthan the Democrats.

You don't have to like Obama, but at least he seems to be telling the truth.

The problem is, why do we keep promising to spend more money?

Agnostic, eh? That's a new and novel way to say that you're going to continue fleecing the people and making them pay for the government's misdeeds. And just to demonstrate that absolutely everything he said in the election campaign was a villainous lie, now he reverses his promise not to raise taxes on the Middle Class, because he prefers to see hard-pressed homeowners shoveling out taxes to pay the devastating interest on government loans made by the bankers, loans of money that never actually existed, out of assets that they never had in their vaults. But of course to name Obama as the culprit is only a stylized way of speaking, because the real culprits, to whom he must kowtow, like to remain out of sight.

Nowhere in the post did it say that he was open to higher taxes for anyone in particular. What it said was that Obama would like to see all potential solutions, without discounting anything prior to looking at the potential solutions. Bring everything to the table, and then make some decisions. It sounds like a good way to find a path to the goal to me, what part of that would you disagree with?

The English translation of the Greek word, "Agnostic," is "No-knowledge or not knowing." In brief, a
know-nothing." Look it up. But it does fit Obama. He does seem to have a problem of putting his mouth in gear before engaging his brain.

If President Obama and Congress are truly sincere about solving US economic disaster, let them adopt Rep. Paul Ryan's "Roadmap for America's Future." The CBO has determined that it will work. It will initially hurt, to turn from entitlement to empowerment, but such a change needs to take place, and will help future generations.

"You don't have to like Obama, but at least he seems to be telling the truth."

Yeah, why can't people just be agnostic about him?

As always, this would all be funny if it weren't so serious.

What I would like to know is that what date does Obama start taking responsibility. In fairness if everything that has gone wrong since Obama took office is Bush's fault should not everything that has gone right be credited to Bush. I mean Bush was blamed for the 9/11 attack and he had been in office for nine months. When is this administration going to stand up and take responsibility for their actions. Or is team Obama going to blame everything in its first term that goes wrong on Bush. He is starting to sound like a child in the playground whining over something or the other.

Chris, when you say "No sir, the deficit was NOT compounded by the recession" - I'm sorry, but that's just such a stupid thing to say I have to respond. Simple math:
Deficit = Income - Expenses. During a recession you have less money coming into the government because they collect less in income taxes. Their "Income" is less. The government could decide to reduce spending by a like amount but there are a few problems with that. It's hard for them to predict with any certainty how much their income tax receipts will drop and cutting spending means cutting jobs, which further reduces the income taxes collected and so on. These are basic economic concepts - if you want to be so certain in your comments bashing people you should probably know what you're talking about first.

The only ideas that will be considered will be those of Harry & Nancy, then we'll get the standard speech things are worse than expected and it's all Bush's fault - so middle class get ready because they're coming for you to put some skin in the game and do your patriotic duty. Pay up.

YOU SHOW ME A REPUBLICAN WHO SAYS THEY'RE GOING TO FIX THE ECONOMY AND I'LL SHOW YOU A LIAR.

The Historic Failure Of Republican Economic Policy

"Republicans are enamored by "supply-side" economics. Frankly, I have to admit it's a very easy sell. Think about it. "Cutting tax rates stimulates the economy to such a high level that tax revenues increase." However, there are several problems with this theory. The first is Republicans have not implemented the other side of "supply-side economics" -- a corresponding cut in government spending. This has ballooned the federal debt to dangerous levels under their economic stewardship. In addition, the projected increase in government revenues really haven't materialized as projected. In other words, supply-side economics is a great marketing concept, but in reality is a poor national policy."

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hale-stewart/the-failure-of-republican_b_63520.html
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If the Dems really wanna end the Republican party and their electoral future they should roll back the Reagan Tax cuts. Why should labor pay a tax rate double that of capital? Capital doesn't create demand, wages do! And with 70% of GDP dependent on Consumer Spending, how can ANYONE argue otherwise with a straight face??? The mentality that the key to economic growth is giving the rich even more has proved to be an EPIC FAIL. Republicans took 200 years of American economic history, turned it on its head, and flushed America down the toilet. Please DRIVE A STAKE through the heart of the Supply Side Republican Vampires...

WOW THE MALKIN TROLLS, CREEPER FREEPER REPUBLICAN PASTERS ARE OUT IN FULL FORCE . . . NO NEED TO HAVE AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT . . .

Posted by: Bobby Mobbie | February 9, 2010 9:13 PM

Agnostic?? What will the empty suit regale us with next? Parade a vocabulary instead of actually DOING something. Let's vote "Present" again. We are SOOO impressed

Dave, when you assert that the stimulus bill was a waste, you sound like all those House and Senate Republicans who voted against it. Oh, except when they're back in their districts they tout how important that money is to their constituents. Here's a link that shows how hypocritical these guys are:

http://thinkprogress.org/touting-recovery-opposed/

A few highlights:

John Boehner: "... will create much-needed jobs"

Jack Kingston: "..hiring of new police officers, to combat violence against women, and to fight Internet crimes against children"

Frank Lucas: "“We all need to work very aggressively to make sure that every community that qualifies should be a recipient of whatever we can find in that bill”

Heath Shuler: "I didn’t vote for it, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t support Western North Carolina getting its fair share. We’re prepared to fight for that,’

Bill Shuster: “I believe we are about to experience a new era in passenger rail in this country. I want Western Pennsylvania to participate in this new era and to enjoy the benefits of increased and expanded passenger rail service.”

REPUBLICANS ONLY CARE ABOUT SPENDING WHEN THEY'RE OUT OF POWER.

"Reagan proved deficits don't matter."
- Dick Cheney

"Dick Cheney once observed that "deficits don't matter," which may well have been the most honest phrase he ever uttered. His words were at least partly true, which is more than can be said for the great majority of the vice president's remarks -- and they certainly expressed the candid attitude of Republicans whenever they attain power. His pithy fiscal slogan should remind us that much of the current political furor over deficit spending in the Obama budget is wrong, hypocritical, and worthy of the deepest skepticism."

"In our time, the Republican Party has compiled an impressive history of talking about fiscal responsibility while running up unrivaled deficits and debt. Of the roughly $11 trillion in federal debt accumulated to date, more than 90 percent can be attributed to the tenure of three presidents: Ronald Reagan, who used to complain constantly about runaway spending; George Herbert Walker Bush, reputed to be one of those old-fashioned green-eyeshade Republicans; and his spendthrift son George "Dubya" Bush, whose trillion-dollar war and irresponsible tax cuts accounted for nearly half the entire burden. Only Bill Clinton temporarily reversed the trend with surpluses and started to pay down the debt (by raising rates on the wealthiest taxpayers)."
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http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/03/27/deficits/index.html
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we were going to go back to the kind of rates structure that we had during Bill Clinton in the 1990s Obama Agnostic http://usspost.com/obama-agnostic-usspost-com-5527/

crook,
when you stop blaming Carter and Clinton.

REPUBLICAN DEFICIT HYPOCRISY!

"The human capacity for self-delusion never ceases to amaze me, so it shouldn't surprise me that so many Republicans seem to genuinely believe that they are the party of fiscal responsibility. Perhaps at one time they were, but those days are long gone"

"This fact became blindingly obvious to me six years ago this month when a Republican president and a Republican Congress enacted the Medicare drug benefit, which former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker has called "the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s."

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http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/republican-budget-hypocrisy-health-care-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html
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Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch Admits Republican ’Standard Practice’ Was To Run Up Deficit

"Every single Republican opposed the health reform bill when it was voted on on Christmas Eve, and that includes the 24 Republicans who voted for George Bush's Medicare prescription-drug expansion in 2003. Now that expansion in 2003, unlike the reform bill that's being currently debated, added tens of billions of dollars to the deficit. And this makes for some awkward politics, because many Republicans are citing worries about the deficit as their reason for voting against health reform now."

http://rawstory.com/2009/2009/12/hatch-admits-gop-standard-practice/
.

DUH...let's see I am leader of the Free World. Now, do I have any ideas? Nope.

Sure glad that the MSM got me elected though. Time to practice teleprompting...

To the fake John D:

From Silva's opening paragraph: President Barack Obama says he is "completely agnostic'' about all options for repairing the federal deficit -- including new taxes on the middle class which he has pledged to avoid.

See new taxes on the middle class?
This commission is just a ruse for Obama. They will say taxes have to be raised on the middle class and then Obama will say he is following the suggestions of the commission because something has to be done. He'll say he doesn't want to raise taxes on the middle class, but has no choice. However, he will probably say that he is putting off those taxes until after 2012.

Would you like to make a wager???

Republican Hypocrisy on the Deficit and Healthcare:

"To hear many Republicans tell it they have been the watchdogs of fiscal responsibility. They have recently begun squawking about deficits and spending. They try to say our country is spending too much and we cannot afford Universal Healthcare. Of course, they conviently leave out the facts about why our deficit is where it is right now."

"When President Bush took over control of the White House with a Republican Congress they inherited the largest surplus ever in American History and preceded to pick it clean. The Teabagger Republican hypocrites were mysteriously mum as George W. Bush and the Republican Congress raised the debt limit seven times and doubled our national debt"
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http://mydd.com/users/rdemocrat/posts/republican-hypocrisy-on-the-deficit-and-healthcare
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Posted by: John D | February 11, 2010 9:22 AM

I'm sorry neocons, teabaggers, conservatives, republicans, independants or whatever you call yourselves today, did you forget that famous statement made by Bush the 1st ''No New Taxes'' ? Just sayin...

OK THE PEOPLE SPOKE IN 2008, BUT ARE ***ANY*** OF THE ARROGANT LIBS LISTENING NOW TO THE PILING AND PILING ON OF EVIDENCE?
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Quinnipiac: 59% want terrorists handled by military commissions
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http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/10/quinnipiac-59-want-terrorists-handled-by-military-commissions/

JUST A LITTLE "TRICK" IS ALL WE NEED TO GET THIS BILL RAMMED THROUGH.
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Pelosi aide says Democratic congressional leaders have settled on legislative "trick" to pass Obamacare; So why have a summit?
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's senior health care advisor has told Congress Daily that congressional Democratic leaders have settled on a strategy they believe will allow them to make changes in both Senate and House Obamacare bills, then send a single, Revised version to President Obama for signature.

“'The trick in all of this is that the president would have to sign the Senate bill first, then the reconciliation bill second, and the reconciliation bill would trump the Senate bill,' Primus said at the National Health Policy Conference hosted by Academy Health and Health Affairs. 'There's a certain skill, there's a trick, but I think we'll get it done,' he said."

Read more at the Washington Examiner:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Pelosi-aide-says-health-care-summit-is-part-of-legislative-trick-to-pass-Obamacare-84025262.html

ET TOO HUFF PO?
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Obama Still Doesn't Get It
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-johnson/obama-still-doesnt-get-it_b_456408.html

Please everyone - the country was caught up in "hope and change" and fellow Americans did hope that by electing an African American we would accomplish change. What bigger change could the populous indicate but by electing an African American to the highest office in the US and one of the highest, most powerful positions in the world?

Barack said everything people wanted to hear - transparency, bi-partisan cooperation, etc. etc., blah, blah, blah. It sounded great (if you live in an imaginery world).

Well, for all of those that believed in all of the proposterous election promises shame on you! Logic, not emotions should dictate your vote - no tax increases? universal health care? I can't even elaborate on all of his promises because I realized they were election rhetoric.

People - what experience did Obama have before he began running for President? I am from Illinois - he was our Senator for what - 12 to 18 months before he essentially left his post to run for President? He gave great a speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. This makes him qualify to lead our country?
Hitler was a great speaker and "convinced" people to buy into his leadership. Jim Jones convinced people to drink the kool-aid.

I am not one who will follow Obama, Pelosi and Reid down their road of destruction and socialism. I'm not blaming the President for the overall socialistic tone of this country but he is definitely supporting it. I've always worked hard for a living and not looked for a handout. Entitlement programs have become too much of a factor - Democrats love this because it allows them to continue to grow the government. This is a great methodology to increase jobs and reward friends and supporters but ultimatley, the government needs to have people working, producing and earning money to tax to support their continually growimg beast. Once all of us that actually work for a living either are put out of a job or decide to join the ranks of the entitled, who will pay for the entitled?

I'm sick and tired of everyone feeling they have the right to a $300,000 house, new SUV's, flat screens, etc. I'm 49, worked hard all of my life and have "lived without" to finally get to the point of being able to "afford" the nicer things in life. Sure I would have loved to buy a 58" flat screen years ago but I waited until my 60" 15 year old Mitsubishi tv died. I didn't finance this new purchase, I put it on my credit card and paid off the charge (to get the air miles) when the bill came due. What a concept! Who in the hell has the right to buy a house with no money down? The Democrats put this "economic policy" in place to allow "economically challenged" people the ability to own a home during the Clinton administration. The private sector saw this as quite the opportunity and those evil Republicans, bankers, speculators and Wall Street types saw quite the opportunity - they couldh't lose - the policy of granting loans to those that couldn't afford it provided them with a way to profit from the Democratic, socialist policy that everyone shoud own a home. Between both our parties of politicians they created "the perfect storm".

Take responsibility people. You can't expect the government to provide you with a life. As the old saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

If all options are on the table, it is possible that I will pay more in taxes and get less in benefits, even though I make less than $250,000 , right?

agnostic - someone who is doubtful or noncommittal about something . That pretty much sounds like BO when it comes to solving deficits. When it comes to creating deficits, he knows exactly how to do that.

CM,

The Soc Security tax cap is $106,800 and Medicare hasn't had a tax cap since the Clinton Administration.

Todd,

"political thirds wheels that NO ONE will touch" Never heard of a reason why anyone would not touch the third "WHEEL", maybe the third "RAIL". If you aren't sure what that means, go find a subway and try it.

Hey! Here is an idea reduce government and you won't need as much money. Here is a hint: start with the Constitution, it provides instructions on the government's duties.

TheReamer

Get a clue, I blame them for things that happened why they were in office and stuff that can be traced back to them. Just like in the next few months you'll be hearing how team Obama has been lying about the deficit. And how now the stimulus package is being looked into and picked apart by investigators to see if all team Obama says is true. And for your information both Clinton and Bush two are to blame for 9/11. And it was Bush who is responsible for the pullout of our troops from Iraq not team Obama, so let team Obama keep tooting that horn it will make a good story come midterms.

Carl Siebrasse

You need to get something a little more up-to-date. And here's a fact from the CBO, the drug program started under Bush is the only federal program that has came in under budget in the last 20 years. But, it's still should not have been started.

Republicans are LIARS, SnoopDoug, & RickyBobbie Mobbie

Using liberal websites that attack conservatives just goes to show how lazy a lot of the loony liberals are. I feel the same about a conservative using websites that lean to the right.

Posted by: John D | February 11, 2010 9:22 AM

I'm sorry neocons, teabaggers, conservatives, republicans, independants or whatever you call yourselves today, did you forget that famous statement made by Bush the 1st ''No New Taxes'' ? Just sayin...

Posted by: Scot S. Blakeley | February 11, 2010 6:51 PM

Nobody forgets the "read my lips" quote-- other than professor Obama apparently...

Scotty --- what happened to Bush after he broke his no taxes promise?

heartburn

Did you forget these lines from our child president; "open and transparent", "will be posted online 72 hours ahead of vote", and "all healthcare debate will be broadcast on C-SPAN". But, I forget loony liberals have the attention span of a gnat.