Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Renegade?
Holy shit.
How is this true?
Am I crazy?
The AP via ABC News: House Rejects GOP Leaders' Budget Cuts
House Rejects Cuts to School, Health Care Programs, Part of GOP Campaign to Reduce DeficitBy ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON Nov 17, 2005
Republicans suffered a startling setback in the House on Thursday, losing a vote on cutting spending for education and health care programs. A broader budget-cutting blueprint targeting the poor, college students and farmers also was in danger.
Both bills are part of a campaign by Republican leaders to burnish their party's budget-cutting credentials as they try to reduce a deficit swelled by spending on the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina. In both cases, GOP moderates balked.
The 224-209 vote against a $602 billion spending bill for health, education and labor programs disrupted plans by the Republican leaders to finish work on 11 spending bills that would pay for government operations and freeze many agency budgets through next September.
Democrats were unanimous in opposing that one-year appropriations bill. "It betrays our nation's values and its future," said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "It is neither compassionate, conservative nor wise."
A companion deficit-reduction bill that would slice $50 billion from the deficit through the end of the decade, also faces unanimous opposition from Democrats, as well as from many moderate Republicans who are unhappy with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and college loan subsidies.
It would cut from so-called mandatory programs whose budgets increase automatically every year. The proposed savings are modest considering the $14 trillion the government is set to spend during the five-year period.
*pause*
What was that?
The proposed savings are modest considering the $14 trillion the government is set to spend during the five-year period.
I read that and my mind went into overdrive.
I've seen a good number of AP/Reuters/etc wire reports. I've never attempted to conduct or have digested an authoritative accounting of wire news political bias, but I know crap when I smell it. And the news media produces no shortage of crap.
I cannot recall a wire story that published words of its own as quoted above. Not in the literal sense, because I'm certain I've come across news articles that talk about the exponential difference between the total federal budget and some government program. No, I mean look at what is being described as "modest": "Medicaid, food stamps and college loan subsidies."
Imagine that! A moderately negative comment about the defeat of a bill that cut bread-and-butter big government programs.
Then there is this at the end:
The deficit-reduction bill is the first effort in eight years to take on the automatic growth of mandatory programs like Medicaid, which make up about 55 percent of the budget. By comparison, the annual appropriations bills fund about one-third of the budget.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Now how about that? Pertinent information that casts a potentially wry eye at monolithic government combined with the above-mentioned comment.
I chuckle here, however, to note that even if you classify this as some sort of "victory" for the individualist liberty camp (as I nearly did), this merely represents a nanoscopic lessening of the momentum of a truly staggering mass.
Comments
They're all "moderates" now.
Bunch o' lemmings marching to the cliff and that's
good.
It'll soon be over, I expect.
Posted by: jomama | November 19, 2005 08:21 PM
I know you don't have children, Drizz, but I do. ALl these guys are doing is selling our children's futures......even our futures, to these huge assed debts they've made. It's wrong, really wrong. My kids will be payin for this shit for a long, long time.
Posted by: somasoul | November 20, 2005 09:57 PM
Making education more difficult to attain. A dumber populus - that's the ticket. It is in everyone's best interest to have a better educated citizenry. All except for the despot.
The language is so tortured that it is difficult to know a persons position when he comments.
To make it clear.
I am for education. I am for making it easier for people to get educated.
I am for people being healthy. I'm for people being assisted if they are sick.
Money is an invention that serves what we want to do. What is it we want to do? Is everyone an island? Did you produce the food you ate today? Tell me about it big boy. Well did ya punk! Did you make your car? Did you build your home? Not many can say yes to one of these, much less all.
Working together we all have more. That is not saying that you support me or I support you. We cooperate - helping with other peoples education is cooperation. Assisting the sick is cooperation.
Posted by: Dumbass | February 12, 2006 06:55 AM
"Dumbass" is an appropriate handle for you.
TO MAKE IT CLEAR:
I am for a well-educated humanity. I am NOT for forcing you to pay for my teachers, either directly for through the government.
I am for healthy people. I am NOT for forcing you to help me get better, either directly for through the government.
If you think threatening me with police violence for not playing along with socialistic schemes like public education and government health care is cooperation, your concept of cooperation needs serious revision. That isn't one person helping another: it's you living off my productive capacity because I've been told to provide for you OR ELSE.
That's despotism and what you seem to what is the warm acceptance of a million little despots pleading for kindness on one hand and turning to aggression to actually get what they want on the other.
Posted by: Drizz | February 12, 2006 11:57 AM
That man is no reporter. Here is more of his biased bullshit "journalism." It was so clear that he is biased and unduly opinionated that I took time out to search for other's opinions--and voila! He should be dropped by AP and be banished to the blogosphere where he can't use the power of the AP label to push through his bullshit, biased opinions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_go_co/congress_spending
Posted by: Butch | February 25, 2009 01:13 PM
"Making education more difficult to attain. A dumber populus - that's the ticket. It is in everyone's best interest to have a better educated citizenry."
I disagree. The Republican Party of today clearly benefits from a poorly educated citizenry. It both capitalizes and thrives on the susceptibility of greedy, selfish, simple-minded, single-cause simpletons and the hate and fearmongering that is so effective in recruiting them and keeping them in virtual shackles come election time. By denying these people education, they assure themselves a constant stream of new lemmings whom they can lie to, cajole, scare, and sometimes even "reward"... Sad times for this country, with so few free-thinkers.
Posted by: Butch | February 25, 2009 01:23 PM
Butch, it's funny you want to see Mr. Taylor removed from the news on the basis of his viewpoint in one comment and then turn around in another comment to talk about "sad times for...free-thinkers." If you need help seeing the irony, let me know.
I read that link to the "Democrats boosting domestic spending atop stimulus" article. I don't see anything incorrect in it; perhaps you could point out any inaccuracies. His gist seems to be the Dems are proposing a large appropriations bill that seeks to expand spending significantly beyond inflation. If you gotta problem with him pointing THAT out, then say so. Otherwise, don't waste your breath trying to slime someone for stating things that upset you for being truthful.
Posted by: Drizzten | February 25, 2009 02:58 PM