# Dear Republicans: The debt ceiling? Again?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 17, 2012, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190 "2012-05-17T08:12:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/241 "2012-05-21T14:45:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Elvis, were you born an ignorant asshole, or do you take lessons at it? Do you even bother to look at the money the U. S. Government pisses away on illegal, unconstitutional things? Oh boy, a 10ther! > [@](#): > > A great starting place would be closing down federal agencies that have no constitutional mandate for existence. General well-being of the constituency. > [@](#): > > We could start with the EPA, Being able to breathe definitely belongs under general well-being. I’m not touching the others because the point is clear. > [@](#): > > And we cut every friggin’ federal government welfare program. If I am starving in the street, how is my well-being being preserved? And, what’s more, _should we really live in that kind of society?_ Am I not my brother’s keeper? > [@](#): > > We’ve got only two ways to go: increase government revenues or decrease government expenditures. This addresses the second. **The first will be addressed by the improvement in the economy that will occur when the private sector sees that something is being done to rein in the federal government’s spending us into oblivion.** You know, that makes a hell of a lot of sense, Humpy. Care to, I dunno, back up the idea that the private sector is so fucked because _they’re worried about government spending?_ Or are you just going to assert it as though it’s truth without a scrap of evidence to show for it? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/242 "2012-05-21T14:47:36Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Elvis, were you born an ignorant asshole, or do you take lessons at it? Do you even bother to look at the money the U. S. Government pisses away on illegal, unconstitutional things? > > A great starting place would be closing down federal agencies that have no constitutional mandate for existence. We could start with the EPA, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development just for a toehold in the major offices. There are hundreds of smaller departments that we could whack and never miss. And we cut every friggin’ federal government welfare program. I assume from this post that Elvis said something idiotic. Not because you’re right, **Clothahump**. Merely because a department does not have a constitutional mandate does not make it unconstitutional. The federal government can _spend_ in support of the general welfare. I object when the federal government tries to _compel_ beyond its ennumerated powers. But there’s no constitutional bar to the Department of Energy. It’s not mandated, true, but not forbidden either. So your post is completely wrong. But I assume it’s in response to an idiotic Elvis post because that’s always a really really safe bet. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/243 "2012-05-21T16:15:38Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Thank you for your response. Of course, when I asked you for example I had a strong feeling that your “they are the enemy” attitude has been around for a long time. A few minutes of Googling (seems to have) born that out. > > Here is a quote apparently from Tip O’Neill about Ronald Reagan: > > And a democratic Congressman apparently stated that Reagan was “trying to replace the Bill of Rights with fascist precepts lifted verbatim from Mein Kampf” > > At least according to [this article](http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/257351/chris-matthews-memory-problem-jonah-goldberg#) A few minutes of googling and the best you can do is quotes from an article from Jonah Goldberg? I don’t consider myself very refuted… ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/244 "2012-05-21T18:17:10Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I assume from this post that Elvis said something idiotic. Um… Dude, you do realize that this is Clothahump we’re talking about? If he says “X is dumb”, the correct assumption, given no other information, is “X is a relatively well-thought-out point”. In this case: > [@](#): > > Obviously you’ve thought a bit about what Congress should stop spending money on. Care to tell us what your preferred budget would look like, what current spending would be omitted (I won’t even bother asking what revenue increases you’d look for; we already know), and how the result would become balanced? > > Or, as is most likely the case, are you simply so fascinated by Megyn Kelly’s boobs that you haven’t thought beyond whatever she tells you to think? IMO an entirely relevant post to Mr. “Let’s scrap all government welfare”. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/245 "2012-05-21T19:33:04Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > And that is absolutely, totally, and completely equivalent to being dead. Because both outcomes are equal. Did I say they were equal? Oh, did you know the patient we are referring too has the flesh eating bacteria, so we arent out of the woods yet. We merely staved off death so far. Its a bit touch and go. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Assuming the BBQ is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, how do you “cut out” something that happened three years ago? Point missed. Spending money on needless crap while cutting needs is bad fiscal policy. Both JB and BO are pointing fingers at each others needless spending while preaching needs. Partisan politics as usual. Its “Do as I say, not as I do” > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > You seem to be laboring under the misapprehension that the country was debt-free until that socialist Obama showed up in the white house and gave away tons of money to his campaign supporters. > > You also seem to be misinformed as to when the major financial crisis first hit the country - hint, it was before Obama was elected. > > He took over the presidency with a shit-ton of debt, and an economy that was in free-fall. > > The unemployment rate is now back to where it was before, and it’s trajectory is improving. The economy is also improving, after it was pretty much tanked by the previous administration. > > The debt is still a problem, because of the 8 years previous to Obama’s presidency, and the costs of the wars and the reduction in tax payments to the government. Bush’s tax cuts? Now THAT can be seen as giving money to people who funded Bush’s campaign. No, Im not forgetting that in the last 2 years of Bush, things began to go down hill. Bush’s failed Giftulus was fail. Obama copied a failed program, guess what? Im no Bush Lover. I just find it humorous that when Bush does it, FAIL POTUS IS FAIL, when Obama does it he is somehow a genius. Oh, who controlled Congress the last 2 years of Bush? I see a pattern here… The economy is improving, but incredibly slow, despite Obama. Additionally, you will see the economy was deteriorating about a year before Bush took over. The market was mixed, and then the economy tanked big time (war). It did recover, then a change in Congress occurred. It began to tank again. The difference I see is when Bush had Congress behind him, the economy improved. Then his last 2 years, he was basically a lame duck. Tank. Obama went in with a friendly congress, just like Bush. The economy got worse. Now, you have a lame duck POTUS again, and the economy gets better. I know the typical Rep bad, Dem Good rebuttal is coming. NB4 another comparison that doesnt equal… ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/246 "2012-05-21T19:36:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I wish your wife the best of health. > > Moron. Thank you for your concern Im laughing at you, not with you ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/247 "2012-05-21T20:00:08Z")
> [@dngnb8](#): > > No, Im not forgetting that in the last 2 years of Bush, things began to go down hill. Ahh, another post filled with false equivalence! Color me surprised. An economy falling off a cliff into the greatest [del]depression[/del] recession since 1929 is described as “things began to go down hill”?!!?!? I hereby crown you King of Partisan Understatement. (Or is that King of Understatement in Service of a False Equivalence?) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/248 "2012-05-21T20:25:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > You should look up what Virginia pays appointed defense lawyers, even when the budget is working. Just as a shameless partisan snipe, we should look at what the Republican House has done to funding for the [Legal Services Corporation](http://www.lsc.gov/congress/lsc-funding) in pursuit of **Clothahump** ’s suggestion that we gut everything that helps make this country better, simply in the name of deficit reduction. There’s 1,200 fewer people around to help poor people who need legal assistance. Whoops, I should clarify: **Clothy** wants to gut every government program that makes us better, unless it involves shootin’ people. Those programs don’t get gutted. They get big increases because it’s cool to blow shit up. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/249 "2012-05-21T20:31:00Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Um… Dude, you do realize that this is Clothahump we’re talking about? If he says “X is dumb”, the correct assumption, given no other information, is “X is a relatively well-thought-out point”. > > In this case: > > IMO an entirely relevant post to Mr. “Let’s scrap all government welfare”. I can’t read Elvis’ posts directly, and I refuse to admit that he’s capable of posting anything insightful, even in the face of direct evidence to the contrary, as this is. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/250 "2012-05-21T21:02:35Z")
> [@dngnb8](#): > > Point missed. Spending money on needless crap while cutting needs is bad fiscal policy. Both JB and BO are pointing fingers at each others needless spending while preaching needs. Partisan politics as usual. Its “Do as I say, not as I do”. I was just going by your own analogy. What you allude to as an example of the president’s needless spending was something that happened in 2009. I don’t know exactly how you expect him to stop that. If he passes another stimulus and then cancels it, will that convince you? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/251 "2012-05-21T21:09:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I can’t read Elvis’ posts directly, and I refuse to admit that he’s capable of posting anything insightful, even in the face of direct evidence to the contrary, as this is. …You have him on block and not Humpy? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/252 "2012-05-21T21:40:02Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > …You have him on block and not Humpy? I only have one person on ignore. It’s a really really high bar for me. **Clothahump** ’s excesses, although notable, on this Board don’t sit uncontradicted for long. I don’t mind reading error when it’s leapt on with vigor. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/253 "2012-05-21T22:21:31Z")
Point taken; putting Humpy on ignore means missing some of the most hilarious discussion available on the forum. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/254 "2012-05-21T22:39:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I was just going by your own analogy. What you allude to as an example of the president’s needless spending was something that happened in 2009. I don’t know exactly how you expect him to stop that. > > If he passes another stimulus and then cancels it, will that convince you? Why pass it in the first place? What about all the pork that is stuffed through Dont get me wrong, this isnt unique to the sitting POTUS. In fact, it seems to me, its just business as usual politics. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/255 "2012-05-21T22:40:51Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > Ahh, another post filled with false equivalence! Color me surprised. > > An economy falling off a cliff into the greatest [del]depression[/del] recession since 1929 is described as “things began to go down hill”?!!?!? > > I hereby crown you King of Partisan Understatement. (Or is that King of Understatement in Service of a False Equivalence?) For me to be partisan would have to mean I support Bush or Obama, right? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/256 "2012-05-21T23:14:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I can’t read Elvis’ posts directly Yes you can. You CHOOSE not to. But saying so would require you to be both factually honest and more grown up than a middle schooler, unfortunately. “I’m not talking to _him_, he’s gross!” :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > I refuse to admit that he’s capable of posting anything insightful, even in the face of direct evidence to the contrary, as this is. It’s not often we see a proud, defiant profession of ignorance here from the partisan-down-the-line Republican faction that includes **Clothy, Shodan** , and you. Perhaps there’s some hope of you posting something honest some day after all. Sweet Og Almighty. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/257 "2012-05-21T23:18:15Z")
> [@dngnb8](#): > > Why pass it in the first place? Yes, but it did pass, three years ago. What would you like to do about it now? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/258 "2012-05-21T23:20:29Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Yes you can. You CHOOSE not to. I shall now forever hear you in my head as William Hurt in _The Big Chill_. Totally not quoted so \*\*Bricker \*\*would read it. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/259 "2012-05-21T23:25:30Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yes, but it did pass, three years ago. What would you like to do about it now? I would like a law to be about the title. Im tired of back room dealings of gifting pork in laws that people dont know about. What, you wont vote for this? How about a 1 mil budget increase on the study to the University in your district on why Fly’s eat shit? Remove a lot of this crap and watch the budget fall. The last stimulus should have been used to reset all those ARMs to fixed low interest loans. This would have put the funds in the little guys hands. People wouldnt have had to walk away from so many foreclosures (bank issue to this day). JMHO, when Bush released the Bank Hounds who went aggressive with the ARMs, that was the beginning. I saw so many people refinancing and reinvesting the money, only to have the ARM go way up, and they lose both homes because the Housing Market collapsed. Had an ARM, need a hand… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190/260 "2012-05-21T23:30:41Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > A great starting place would be closing down federal agencies that have no constitutional mandate for existence. We could start with the EPA, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development just for a toehold in the major offices. There are hundreds of smaller departments that we could whack and never miss. And we cut every friggin’ federal government welfare program. Yep, that’s what Megyn Kelly’s boobs are telling you to believe, as suspected. Not one to think much about consequences, are you? Or acceptance of responsibility, obviously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-republicans-the-debt-ceiling-again-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/622190.md?page=14)