The Speech I Could Not Watch
On Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 45 gave his first address to a joint session of Congress. It was a speech I might have watched, fact-checked and mocked as he gave it. But I was at work. In point of fact, when another tax pro's client attempted to listen to the speech on their smart-phone, if that tax pro hadn't told the client to turn it off, I would have. I didn't want to listen to it, or be distracted by it.
Now I've read the transcript of that speech. I attempted to read the Wall Street Journal's version but that would have required subscribing and I would not do that. So I had to make do with CNN's version.
He spoke about spending $1 trillion on infrastructure.
He spoke about increasing funding for veterans.
He spoke about increasing defense spending (the media reports his proposed increase will be $54 billion)
He spoke about funding "school choice for disadvantaged children."
Spend, spend, spend. How does he propose to pay for this spending? Let's ask an old friend if this plan of 45's makes sense.
I was listening to analysis of the speech on my way home from work and I heard former California governor Gray Davis say that "the devil is in the details" and he also mentioned that roughly 80% of the federal budget goes to Defense, Social Security and Medicare. So where is 45 going to get the funds to boost defense spending after he has gone on the record that he will not cut either Social Security or Medicare?
Then there is another problem facing 45. In his speech he said:
"I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the Defense sequester, and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history."
The problem is that the Republican majority in the Congress can't just eliminate the sequester on its own. They can pass a bill to do so in the House but it can be filibustered in the Senate by the Democrats. Given that there will undoubtedly be severe cuts in social program spending, there is no way that 45 will be able to find eight Democratic Senators to cross the aisle and vote for his budget proposal. The effort to eliminate the sequester will almost certainly fail.
There is a sneaky way to try and accomplish this. They could put the increase into the line item in the defense budget for Overseas Contingency Operations. But that won't get past the increased scrutiny of spending during 45's hopefully brief tenure in the Oval Office (one can hope, right?).
As for fact-checking the address from the main distributor of falsehoods in our nation, you can do that here. Or over here. Or here. When multiple sources demonstrate the same lies over and over, can we begin to recognize the Liar in Chief?
Now I've read the transcript of that speech. I attempted to read the Wall Street Journal's version but that would have required subscribing and I would not do that. So I had to make do with CNN's version.
He spoke about spending $1 trillion on infrastructure.
He spoke about increasing funding for veterans.
He spoke about increasing defense spending (the media reports his proposed increase will be $54 billion)
He spoke about funding "school choice for disadvantaged children."
Spend, spend, spend. How does he propose to pay for this spending? Let's ask an old friend if this plan of 45's makes sense.
I was listening to analysis of the speech on my way home from work and I heard former California governor Gray Davis say that "the devil is in the details" and he also mentioned that roughly 80% of the federal budget goes to Defense, Social Security and Medicare. So where is 45 going to get the funds to boost defense spending after he has gone on the record that he will not cut either Social Security or Medicare?
Then there is another problem facing 45. In his speech he said:
"I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the Defense sequester, and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history."
The problem is that the Republican majority in the Congress can't just eliminate the sequester on its own. They can pass a bill to do so in the House but it can be filibustered in the Senate by the Democrats. Given that there will undoubtedly be severe cuts in social program spending, there is no way that 45 will be able to find eight Democratic Senators to cross the aisle and vote for his budget proposal. The effort to eliminate the sequester will almost certainly fail.
There is a sneaky way to try and accomplish this. They could put the increase into the line item in the defense budget for Overseas Contingency Operations. But that won't get past the increased scrutiny of spending during 45's hopefully brief tenure in the Oval Office (one can hope, right?).
As for fact-checking the address from the main distributor of falsehoods in our nation, you can do that here. Or over here. Or here. When multiple sources demonstrate the same lies over and over, can we begin to recognize the Liar in Chief?
posted by me at 3:28 PM
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