TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
AP: b34acfa1-09cc-491c-a4cb-ee7f127bb78f
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks away from reporters outside the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2103, without taking questions, after a meeting with President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders regarding the automatic spending cuts. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

When politicians shrug

BY Dave Ross  on March 4, 2013 @ 5:47 am (Updated: 5:59 am - 3/4/13 )

CBS Correspondent Major Garrett put it perfectly - before now, spending cuts were theoretical. "Now they're going to start to get real and the public will have a real voice."

We Americans, as a group, agree that Congress wastes a lot of money - but individually we all want our government checks.

Along with a doctor for our children, a dignified retirement for our aging parents, a way to feed the destitute so they don't riot, trained rescuers in case the hurricane hits or the waters rise or the sinkhole opens, and above all, a general sense of order so we can build a good life that can't be arbitrarily snatched away.

But now the political system designed to balance all those things against the taxes needed to pay for them has broken down.

The noise from the lobbyists and alarmists and every little group with a finger in the pie and a website on the Internet has grown so loud that no one can figure out what's true and what's not. So we're going to run the experiment and see what happens.

"I don't think anyone really understands how the sequester is really going to work," said Speaker of the House John Boehner.

Not even the Speaker of the House knows because it's been a while since we've tested what happens when you make real cuts - cuts where federal workers actually stay home.

"We're out of road to kick the can down. I spent the last two-plus years trying to bring this town to address this problem. And it is going to be addressed," said Boehner.

And this means that what happens next depends on how you and I react in the coming weeks.

We're the lab rats; they've dropped us into the maze, and they've taken away $85.4 billion dollars worth of cheese.

Now they're waiting to see whether we cope or rebel. And if my metaphor is correct I believe at end we all get a free autopsy.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    What do you call $85-billion in spending yanked out of the budget?
    March 4, 2013 6:44 am
    A good start.

    Once upon a time, BIGGOV decided to give every man, woman, and child in the US free tickets to Disneyland. In fact, every man, woman, and child could have a free ticket everyday. The folks at Disneyland were happy, attendance had never been so robust. (The favorite section of the part was Fantasyland).

    It's significant that admission to Disneyland wasn't actually free. The owners of the place were taking wheelbarrows of cash to the bank, every hour on the hour. In fact, because admission wasn't being paid for with "real money" and the actual price was invisible to the end users, Disneyland kept jacking up the entrance fee. Why not? The government had guaranteed everybody a free ticket, every day, so pretty soon individual tickets went from $100 per day to $200, then $300, then $400, and finally $750 per day. A price no private person would ever consider paying from their own pocket was being financed through the public purse- and the voters had been conditioned to expect this "cheese" would always be at the end of the maze.

    We all agree that the government should spend less. We all believe that whatever portion of government spending addresses our personal needs and priorities, (whether that's old-age medical and pension benefits, warfare, border security, education, or providing subsistence to the indigent), should not be reduced. We all believe that the spending that is important to somebody *else* but not personally to ourselves is where the horrible waste is taking place.

    The spending that supports things we individually want, we individually consider essential. The spending that supports things other people want, we individually consider wasteful. We need to cut our collective spending. Unless everybody is willing to accept some pain, that will never happen. If we agree not to cut anything for which somebody, somewhere, can somehow craft a compelling case to continue- we won't cut anything at all.

    As long as we think admission to Disneyland should be "free", Fantasyland will remain the most popular part of the park.

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  • DesertRez wrote...
    $250 million in aid for Egypt
    March 4, 2013 6:46 am
    Meanwhile, the people of Egypt, Prez Morsi, and the Muslim Brotherhood thanks you for your tax dollars. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/world/middleeast/kerry-announces-millions-in-us-aid-for-egypt.html?_r=1&
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  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    it's actually 4 billion to egypt over all..
    March 4, 2013 8:07 am
    That doesn't include all the free F-16's and M1 tanks they're getting, on our dime...
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Mr Lawn
    March 4, 2013 8:36 am
    Of course the reason we want to sell or give away weapons is that the budget people for our military can then buy more units at a reduced price(as the price per unit comes down) They get more weapons the American public picks up the tab for the free ones and the military ones
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    HUH ???
    March 4, 2013 9:10 am
    ?????????????????????????????????????????
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    ron p
    March 4, 2013 4:37 pm
    Here is a made up example ,say the military needs 50 fighters and Boeing can make 50 for $500 million but 100 fighters for $800 million,if another buyer can be found the US Military saves $2 million a plane and the military can use that $100 million saved on other toys.If we give 50 fighters to Egypt the cost does not come out of the military budget.Get it?
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Barack Obama - arms dealer ?
    March 4, 2013 8:20 pm
    Naw - that sounds more like economics according to Eric Holder.

    .

    Selling planes might make sense, but how is GIVING planes to Egypt saving anything, except via smoke and mirrors. ........... Or are YOU finly understanding tha Land of Oz ?

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    ron p
    March 5, 2013 3:35 am
    Yes it is smoke and the smoke is being made by the military as well as the defense contractors,the congress go's along because it means jobs.Much of the Defense programs are Jobs programs.Some how many Americans feel better that giving money for something that is NOT needed but manufactured by American workers makes more sense then simply cutting checks for people doing nothing.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    DesertRez
    March 4, 2013 8:33 am
    Why is it you far far Righty wingnuts fear the Muslim Brotherhood so much?The mere mention of their name sends you nuts into a wild frenzy just before you enter your shelters.Believe me the your masters who sell you those 1 yr supplys of food??Are simply getting you in a lather because sales are down
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  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    it probably has something to do with...
    March 4, 2013 8:49 am
    ...declaring in their own mandate to wipe our closest democratic ally off the map, before dealing with us, the "great satan of the west"...
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    William
    March 5, 2013 3:42 am
    Is the Muslim Brotherhood active in Iran? I don't believe so,the two practice different types of religions.And of course the nation of Iran NEVER made any statement saying that they wanted to eliminate the nation of Israel thats a TOTAL myth. Do your home work William. As far as elimininating people goes the USA and its Western allies certainly have done their BEST in eliminating Muslims
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  • R L M 456 wrote...
    maybe the people that refer to Money as "CHEESE"
    March 4, 2013 7:21 am
    are the ones that should lose it

    never heard my grandmother refer to her $242 Social Security check as "Cheese"

    but listen to the "art" of music on MTV and the mice be chippin' off the blocks of "cheese"

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  • fisher wrote...
    Eliminate
    March 4, 2013 7:28 am
    the war on drugs or Medicare Part D. Either one will save the 84 million. Why not eliminate both?
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  • DeereJon wrote...
    BUT....
    March 4, 2013 7:33 am
    We can still give millions and Billions to countries like Egypt who has a government in place at this moment that hate us. Now why would we do that? Why not cut this type of funding? I know, it is too easy to do that. We must keep funding those who hate us so that one day they can kick us in the balls to wake this stupid country up from the nap it is taking.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    DeereJon
    March 4, 2013 8:39 am
    Please give us the reasons you believe we give aid to foreign nations?
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  • DeereJon wrote...
    Mess-iah
    March 4, 2013 10:00 am
    Why waste my time? You obviously already know why. I mean, you spend countless hours here spewing your crapola, so you obviously have the time to figure it out. Maybe we send aid so we can "liberalize" foreign people as well as our own. Nothing like TRYING to get the Muslims to love gays the way we do instead of them hating them so much they kill them. Funny how liberals and Muslims act like they are on the same side in this country. One would kill the other in a split second given the chance. Right now, one is just a useful idiot to the other. Time will tell.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    DeereJon, I don't need to research why we give aid
    March 4, 2013 4:41 pm
    From your answer you have no clue why we send $$4 to places like Egypt.Let me make it easy for you,We send countries aid in order to gain Leverage,they have something we need or want $$$ makes the goal of getting those things easier.Are you capable of understanding that logic?By the way I have no hyphen in Messiah
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Remedial math for Americans
    March 4, 2013 7:45 am
    According to usdebtclock.org

    So far this year,the US government has collected 2.5 trillion in taxes. For purposes of illustration, let's convert that to 2,500 billion.

    Out of that 2,500 billion collected so far, we have spend 811 billion paying for granny to live in a nursing home, along with heart surgery and prescription drugs for retired folks and medical care for the poor. That leaves 1,689 billion available to spend.

    After medicare, out next largest cash expense is social security. Yeah there is supposed to be a trust fund, but all that money was spent by previous congresses and administrations. The people looking for a social security check expect to be paid *now*, not some time off in the future when the money is put back into the trust account. Paying Social Security out of current receipts has cost us 775 billion so far this year. That leaves 914 billion available to spend.

    The third largest expense is warfare. 666-billion (yeah, really) so far this year. That leaves 248 billion available to spend

    Next up? "Income security", including TANF, unemployment insurance, compensation to injured workers, and a miscellaneous group of other expenses that well all love to howl about as "welfare". That costs just over half of our bill for Social Security, or 353 billion so far this year. OOPS! We just fell into the hole by 105 billion dollars

    Time to stop spending and figure out where to get 105 billion to plug the hole, right? Nope.

    Our previous spending sprees have been financed by individuals and countries willing to loan us money. Even though the interest rates are currently close to zero, the staggering amount of our public debt means that we have had to pay, (or actually borrow from Peter to pay Paul), 223 billion so far this year. We're now 328 billion in the hole.

    And far from last, and certainly not least; millions of federal employees paid into a retirement fund during their working careers. They now expect to have a pension check in the mailbox every month. (A reasonable expectation, given the circumstances). It has cost us 213 billion dollars, so far this year, to fill the gap between what has been paid in to the federal pension fund and what is being sent out. We're now 543 billion in the hole, and that's just for the first two months of the year without spending a dime on any of the other hundreds of government functions.

    Fifty years from now, when classes in Seattle Public Schools are taught in Mandarin, our grandkids and great grandkids will learn that "Democracies always fail, once the people discover they can vote themselves access to the public purse"

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  • mnpat wrote...
    Exactly Chuck,
    March 4, 2013 7:55 am
    Which is why nothing will change until we/our elected official understand they must deal with the Medicare, Medicaid, Social security, Health Care and our debt, we have no such funds for anything else.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    mnpat: Yes, it's entitlements. No, there is nobody willing to take the political risk..
    March 4, 2013 8:11 am
    including the Tea Party.

    Here's a excerpt from an item in Forbes:

    Quote:

    Polls by the New York Times and Bloomberg have found that although a vast majority of Tea Party supporters favor smaller government, they don't want cuts in their Medicare or Social Security, a contradiction perfectly captured in a sign at a Tea Party rally: "Keep the Guvmint out of my Medicare." Indeed, the Bloomberg poll discovered that even though Tea Partiers dislike ObamaCare, they want Medicare to offer more drug benefits and the government to force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. The upshot is that while the rhetoric on entitlements has become bolder during this election, the discussion about reform has become tamer.

    In fact, setting aside the lapsed witch of Delaware, Christie O' Donnell, in the most visible Senate races where Tea Party or Tea Party-anointed candidates are running, only two have stuck to their crosses on entitlement reform. One is Joe Miller of Alaska, a man so unfamiliar with the First Amendment that he conducted a citizen's arrest of a reporter for asking tough questions. The other is Sharron Angle of Nevada, a genuine bright spot in an otherwise bleak Tea Party landscape, who admirably admonished Harry Reid to "man up" and admit that Social Security had a problem.

    Literally all of the others are equivocating if not completely backing off from their original plans to give at least partial ownership of Medicare and Social Security to individuals themselves.

    (End quote from Forbes).

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Sorry CG
    March 4, 2013 8:42 am
    But using Forbes as a source does not resonate with our WingNut friends.After all its been pointed out to them on many occasions that Forbes finds the State of Washington one of the top States in the Country to do business yet the Rightys believe we our not business friendly because the Dems RULE.Remember Meat Heads cannot think from the shoulders up
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    mess101: There's no call for that
    March 4, 2013 9:26 am
    Why would you use the term "meat heads" to describe people who hold a different political perspective than your own?

    It's good to remember that nobody has all the answers. Considering the way things play out- even when different parties take turns controlling the government- I often wonder whether anybody has any answers at all.

    Consider leaving "name calling as political discourse" to the professional talk show hosts. They at least get paid millions of dollars for sounding obtuse and intolerant. :-)

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  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    It's all he's got. Personal attacks and insults.
    March 4, 2013 9:42 am
    talk about cannot think; Mr Assholiah is the poster child.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    HPD5-0
    March 4, 2013 4:44 pm
    Are you looking for your daily beat down?You really Must enjoy being made to look like a A-hole.Some folks are like that.
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  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    Thank you
    March 4, 2013 5:36 pm
    ...for proving HPD's point
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Willy
    March 5, 2013 3:55 am
    You didn't notice his "personal attack " on me.I have thick skin and it does not bother me but you honestly don't seem to be gifted in the intelligence area
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    CG
    March 5, 2013 4:02 am
    If you haven't noticed that most of the Righty posters on this Blog are indeed meat heads then I overestimated you.I will engage sane individuals with an equally sane discussion But meat heads are not entitled to special treatment,they deserve to be beaten bloody as the opportunity arises.Please don't attempt to place yourself in another category because on occasion you have done your share of blooding up the waters. I simply do it on a more consistent basis then you.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    Correct Chuck, dealing with entitlements is political suicide
    March 4, 2013 9:14 am
    But let's not limit untouchable status to just the tea Party supporters. While the initial goal may have been considered admirable at conception, none of these programs are/were sustainable. They were feel good policies contrived to stop some pain rather than to correct the real issues. Now to correct the correction will be very painful and yet it needs to be done or our debt will increase at least 1 trillion each and every year.
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  • DesertRez wrote...
    yup
    March 4, 2013 10:34 am
    Good post Chuck politics be damned, we are all screwed
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  • Keitho wrote...
    Hopefully the American spirit has survived
    March 4, 2013 7:52 am
    Weve been coddled and held by the left since FDR. Now half the population gets a direct check from the government and the rest of us generally are at least affected by some degree. Its time to see if we have become a nation of lazy people who whine when their cheese is taken away or if we still have the american spirit and can get out there and make our own cheese.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    "...coddled and held by the left since FDR."...
    March 4, 2013 10:34 am
    ...nursed by LBJ and provided a government banquet by BHO.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    $85 billion time 5
    March 4, 2013 8:00 am

    And only then will we be on the right track to real cost cutting procedures. I find it interesting that they don't look to cut cost by looking at how they conduct business.

    How many people touch a single application? How much each person get's paid that touch a single application? How much duplication in the work being done? How many fte's do you need to complete certain jobs. I would be willing to give incentives and bonus's to departments that DON'T spend the entire budget and cash bonuses to employee's who come up with ideas that save departments money.

    Performance pay increases and no increases if you don't meet expectations, I could save the government at least $250 billion in just efficiency reforms alone.

    It's just idiotic that nobody in Congress, the Senate and/or the Administration is looking at how they do business as a way to save money. I just don't get it.

    That's typically the first place a corporation looks before cutting services.

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  • William Lawn wrote...
    Here I was hoping Dave did a piece on Mitten's whineathon.
    March 4, 2013 8:08 am
    It was everyones fault but his.

    Ann was even worse.

    Please return to seclusion, Mittens.

    And stay there.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Strange as it seems, Mr. Lawn, I agree.
    March 4, 2013 8:19 am
    Especially patronizing was his comment that Hispanics voted for Obama - not because of his 'self deportation' comments - but because they all want more welfare and love ObamaCare.

    Way to win friends and influence people.

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  • William Lawn wrote...
    They felt it was their due
    March 4, 2013 2:32 pm
    The American people felt otherwise. Funny that is how the Republicans do it. People who "earn it" and lose.

    Democrats nominate insurgents, who win (they went Republican with Kerry).

    Funny though is those saying "none of this would have happened if Mitt was elected".

    Yeah, the waters would have parted, the debt gone, unemployment at 2%.

    All in two months.

    The CEO who had his system crash on the day he needed it.

    The CEO who thought there was an "election day".

    The Obama ground game was amazing. I saw a story about them doing valet parking for early voters Rick Scott was trying to disenfranchise in Florida, while Karl was bugging the crap out of Ohio voters with his $300,000,000 worth of robocalls.

    YOU lost Mitt and Ann, the "media" had nothing to do with it.

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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    "I could save the government at least $250 billion in just efficiency reforms alone."
    March 4, 2013 4:28 pm
    The problem, sportsguru, is that too many people in DC consider government a "jobs program", rather than a service provider.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    SeattleNative
    March 4, 2013 4:51 pm
    First of all dummie you hold No position that would allow the government to save even 1 penny,and if you were elected to a National Office you need help getting anything passed remember any government cuts that cost jobs in your District or your State will likely cause you to win another term as you opponent will use it against you
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  • anotherfencewalker wrote...
    Crazy in the U.S.A.
    March 4, 2013 8:16 am
    We Americans love "Free", until it's time to pay for it with money we dont have. The recession proved that. We just kept on spending as consumers without even tapping the lifestyle brakes. God Bless Visa and Mastercard and the credit limits they come with, right folks?? How many 401 k's are tapped out? The folks in D.C. are usually pretty good at taking care of that funding part without anyone noticing. Nuts under the cup. I guess it didnt work this time...? No more nuts. The DC'rs are just following our example, or maybe its the other way around? Dont dump ALL this problem on our elected officials. Part of it's our fault but none of the DC'rs are ever going to come out with that kind of a statement. They're just spending the money that's not there. They want their job to go on a bit longer..
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    anotherfencewalker Recession?
    March 4, 2013 8:47 am
    Remember even though an addional 5% or so were out of jobs then usual,taxes went DOWN,company profits went UP, 401Ks have gone through the roof,housing prices came down and interest rates doMaybe a recession every 10-15 yrs would be a good thing.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    QE2
    March 4, 2013 10:37 am
    Pull the tens of billions of freshly-minted greenbacks that Obama is shoveling to Wall Street each and every month and then tell me how 401Ks are looking.

    The President has no clothes...

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    SeattleNative
    March 5, 2013 4:05 am
    Yep we certainly have inflation thats obvious however the Stock Market is running well ahead of inflation do the numbers
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  • mobeta wrote...
    Watch my hand while a rip the American tax payers off like never before
    March 4, 2013 9:01 am
    So gay rights, sequester, gun control (salesjust to divert your attention while BHO raids the U.S. treasury like never before and the stupid American people who voted for this idiot. Look at this, 737 million (that 3/4 of a BILLION folks that went to Harry Reid's state for solar energy, oh and BTW Pelosi's husband is the executive Director of the company that just got this money. Where is the press? We are getting ripped off so much and it will bring us down. If Romney was elected, none of this would be going on and the course of this country would not be headed to disaster!!! Congrats to the idiots who voted for our demise, you are all fools.
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