Congrats! Your Family Just Went $1.1 Trillon in Debt ... Again. "Change in Washington" is Here for Generations to Come Thanks to Obama's Omnibus Bill.

from Bearing Drift: Virginia Politics On Demand- by J.R. Hoeft:

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the omnibus spending bill of $1.1 trillion, loaded with earmarks and spending for government agencies, while this week the House will likely vote to raise the debt ceiling.

The 1,088-page package contains over 5,000 earmarks, including provisions to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States, as well as provisions to allow taxpayer funded abortions and the legalization of marijuana in the District of Columbia.

Democrats would also like to raise the debt ceiling from its current $12.1 trillion level by an additional $1.8 trillion, as we’re due to break the current barrier by the end of the year.

Clearly government spending has always been the best way to create jobs over our nation’s 233 year history. Certainly our country wasn’t built on hard work, initiative, common sense, innovation, and enterprise. We always have looked to the government to make it better for us.

According to the Peter Peterson Foundation, 80% of voters nationwide rank “dealing with our growing budget deficit and national debt” a high priority, while health care reform (56%) and cutting taxes (51%) rank much lower as a priority. Additionally, 7 out of 10 voters support a bipartisan commission to develop budget, spending and tax reforms to be voted on by Congress. Check out their web site on the debt at http://www.knowthedebtfacts.com/.

At least some in congress understand the great danger the government is putting us in by its continued back-breaking deficits, including careening us towards a $1 trillion health care bill, by continuing to propose the SAFE Commission.

Both Rep. J. Randy Forbes and Rep. Frank Wolf from Virginia support such a reform. According to Forbes:

The SAFE Commission Act, H.R. 1557, would establish a Commission that would review federal spending and develop legislation designed to address: (1) the unsustainable imbalance between long-term federal spending commitments and projected revenues; (2) increases in net national savings to provide for domestic investment and economic growth; (3) the implications of foreign ownership of federally issued debt instruments; and (4) revision of the budget process to place greater emphasis on long-term fiscal issues.

That’s clearly a “long view”, but the right view. Unfortunately, for the past decade, Congress has wasted budget surpluses and has continued spending money the U.S. just doesn’t have; in doing so, we have threatened future generations with an unavoidable crisis, and may be doing more to eliminate our existence and way of life than Al Qaeda ever could.

The entire Democratic delegation from Virginia: Reps. Glenn Nye, Gerry Connolly, Bobby Scott, Rick Boucher, and Tom Perriello, as well as Sens. Warner and Webb, voted in favor of the bill. Rep. Jim Moran missed the vote.

Rep. Rob Wittman Comments on Obama's Afghanistan Decision

Cross-Posted on RappahannockRepublic.com
Our very own President Barack "teleprompter" Obama finally made his speech tonight... officially... I've never seen a president, or any leader of significance, get so much press out of making a press release a week prior to making a press release! The Main Stream Media (MSM) has been touting the significance of tonight's speech for days and pre-spewing all the talking points right on key for ole Barry, so that tonight's message would have been thoroughly debated and discussed among Americans before it was ever given!

Using this methodology, akin to the gossiping equivalent of leaking a secret, the administration can field test America's feedback without ever talking an official poll. Once a pulse is taken from Rush, Hannity, Beck and the rest, the speech can be tweaked accordingly to placate the naysayers and support the popular buzz words and talking points that are now days old and well rehearsed. If you supported his message all along then you would have heard nothing new and would likely nod along with the familiar words. But if you opposed his original message from the start, you've already burned up your audience's attention span to the subject and if the speech were adjusted to counteract your comments, why then you were wrong all along and they can say that you overreacted or have lost credibility!

...Pretty smart of Team Abercrombie & Fitch from a strategy standpoint, but one U.S. Congressman isn't buying the B.S. of B.H.O.!

This evening, Congressman Rob Wittman released the following statement regarding the President’s decision on the way ahead in Afghanistan:

“I’m pleased that the President has come to a decision on the future strategy of our forces in Afghanistan and I fully support the deployment of additional troops and resources to aid in the fight against extremists. However, I am concerned with the mention of any sort of hard and fast time table. This simply sends the wrong message to the civilian population and provides a time clock for al-Qaeda and the Taliban to wait for our departure. We need to remember that the reason we went to Afghanistan was to eliminate al-Qaeda and provide freedom to an oppressed nation, and we should not leave until that job is finished. I have full faith and confidence in our military leadership and our troops that they will successfully complete this mission and I call on the President, Congress, and our Allies to provide them the tools to get the job done.”

Congressman Rob Wittman represents the First District of Virginia. He was elected to his first full term in November 2008 and serves on the Natural Resources Committee and the Armed Services Committee where he is the Ranking Member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

HR3200/Obamacare Explained re: Euthanasia for Grandma- It's in there!