A Gauntlet Thrown Down!

First a link:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/20/The-quickest-and-broadest-tax-cut-ever/


Next: The opinion Piece: Political Colors

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1641424.html?pageNum=1&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

The Comments:

CreditUnionMan wrote on 02/22/2009 05:45:47 PM:
"Or, perhaps, bipartisanship may not be such a worthy goal after all."

I read the whole thing, but there it is. Bipartisanship always loses importance once you have the majority.

Well folks, when this stimulus bill fails, and it will fail, I'll know who passed it. Call it accountability. Call it blame. Call it partisanship. Call it whatever you want to. The new team has blown it big time right out of the gate.

rlw895 wrote on 02/22/2009 06:06:50 PM:
CreditUnionMan: I'll call you. Define failure. You've told us what you will do if the stimulus bill fails. What will you do if it doesn't?

CreditUnionMan wrote on 02/22/2009 06:36:02 PM:
Failure is defined as having the same problems a year from now and being no closer to solving them. Or, how about eighteen months? twenty-four?

I define failure as not solving the problem. What do you define failure as?

And if I'm wrong, I'll admit I was wrong. You don't know me, but if you did you would believe me when I say that. Heaven knows, most all of my friends and family know my opinion, most are classic liberals convinced the package will work.

Rest assured, I will be reminded of my folly if I'm wrong.

CreditUnionMan wrote on 02/22/2009 06:51:27 PM:
rlw895, I'm going to give you an even better answer (that in no way conflicts with the first!)

This link is from the White House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/20/The-quickest-and-broadest-tax-cut-ever/

It has the President's own words. I'll give him two years, is that fair?

Click on my name and you will see I have a blog here at the Bee. If I am wrong, and what he says will happen happens, then I will admit right there on my blog that I was wrong.

How's that? Plus, you don't need my approval to write on my comments page, so you can remind me publicly if you like.

Fair enough?

My promise:

If the President achieves and sustains everything he said below, I will state publicly on this blog that I was wrong. In fact, I will state it on every blog that I write, both now and in the future.


The salient points made by the President:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will start having an impact as soon as a few weeks from now, in the form of the quickest and broadest tax cut in history:

By April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month.

The President is committed to taking on the massive deficits we inherited.

“On Monday I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we’ve inherited.”

“On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities.”

“On Thursday, I’ll release a budget that’s sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and that lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline."

“3.5 million Americans will now go to work doing the work that America needs done.”

“There will now be shovels in the ground, cranes in the air, and workers rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our faulty levees and dams.”

· “Companies -- large and small -- that produce renewable energy can now apply for loan guarantees and tax credits and find ways to grow, instead of laying people off”

· “Families can lower their energy bills by weatherizing their homes.”

· “Our children can now graduate from 21st century schools and millions more can do what was unaffordable just last week -- and get their college degree.”

· “Lives will be saved and health care costs will be cut with new computerized medical records. “

· “There will now be police on the beat, firefighters on the job, and teachers preparing lesson plans who thought they would not be able to continue pursuing their critical missions.”

· “And (to) ensure that all of this is done with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, I have assigned a team of managers to make sure that precious tax dollars are invested wisely and well.”

· “95 percent of all working families will get a tax cut -- in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign. “

· “And I'm pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks -- meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month.”

· “It is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. “

· “We can't fail to complete the journey.”

· “Will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values”

· “Doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes”

· “It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system”

· “Getting credit flowing again to families and businesses.”

· “Reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible.”

· “Recognizing that it's only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.”

· “It will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover.”

· “No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us.”

· “We can't help people find work or pay their bills unless we unlock credit for families and businesses.”

· “We can't solve our housing crisis unless we help people find work so that they can make payments on their homes.”

· “We can't produce shared prosperity without firm rules of the road.”

· “We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control. “

· “We cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing them all.”

· “That is exactly what the strategy we are pursuing is designed to do.”

· “I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis.”

· “And if we do, our economy -- and our country -- will be better and stronger for it.”

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rlw895 wrote:
"Everything?" Come on, show some moxie. How about 90%, 75%, 50%? And many of these are not measureable by objective standards. Pick a few that are.
2/28/2009 12:59 PM PST on The Sacramento Bee
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CreditUnionMan wrote:
I'll accept your selection.