Deficit Doublespeak (Not Having Any of It Edition)

As someone who is very uncomfortable with change, it comforts me greatly to know that our new administration is doing its best to calm my nerves. After the election, I was kept up at night at the thought that lobbyists would be driven from government positions and that the decision making over the war would be well thought out and the consequences fully considered. Thankfully, none of that has happened yet. And now to quell my fears even more, the new administration is continuing the fun and games of rhetorical truthspeak and the silliness of word games.

Today, the President announced his bold and brave plan to cut the deficit in half. To try to satisfy lowly Republicans and shed what he perceives as the slime of a liberal lavel, he is screaming from the highest rooftop of a corporation headquarters, non-unionized factory, or Cayman Island bank, “See I can be like you, too! Just accept me.” Of course, his plan is a weak attempt to gain political points with word games.

Really Obama? You’re going to cut the deficit in the coming years from where it is now? How talented our President is to assure us that in future years we will not face the passage of hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus packages and bailout bills.

Our deficit is higher than normal this year because of these emergency expenses. To embrace the President’s bold deficit-cutting agenda is a farce. He won’t be cutting it to pre-Bush levels. He’ll be returning it to pre-recession levels. This is bold policy--returning our deficit levels to pre-recession levels once the recession is over? Maybe when he does it, he can give a speech on the steps of the Treasury Department in front of a big “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner.

I applaud this President’s rhetorical balls. Sure, it has won over media stains like Norah O’Donnell whose idea of an effective stimulus is the battery operated device she keeps under the news desk for stories about this administration. I, on the other hand, see right through this nonsense, and I AM NOT HAVING ANY OF IT.

-Ginger