Archive for June 2nd, 2011

Stop thinking about Weinergate !

June 2, 2011

Sorry, but my sophomoric side is relishing the Weiner-roast.

The headlines are hilarious: e.g. “Is that your weiner?”

Now, Congressman Weiner is telling people to forget about his weiner so he can get back to his serious Congressional business, e.g. his self-claim of sending out 300 to 400 tweets per day …  which, incidentally, is about a tweet-a-minute.

The ”forget about it” strategy won’t work.

Here’s why, explained by Human Events

At this point, telling people not to think about Weinergate is like telling them not to think about a platypus. 

As soon as the command is issued, a giant platypus begins crashing through the imagination of the listener. 

(To clarify, that’s what happens when you tell people not to think about a platypus. 

When you tell them not to think about Weinergate, an entirely different image is conjured.)

 

Posted in Laughs, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Superpower or welfare state ? … Take your pick.

June 2, 2011

Punch line: In a series of adios speeches, Defense Secretary Gates speaks a consistent refrain: America can be a superpower or a welfare state, but not both..

* * * * *

Excerpted from WSJ:

“The reality is that the entitlement state is crowding out national defense.

What’s really happening now is “entitlement overstretch”.

The American entitlement state was born with the New Deal, got fat with the Great Society of the 1960s and hit another growth spurt in the first two years of the Obama era.

The big three entitlements — Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, plus other retirement and disability expenses — accounted for 4.9% of GDP by 1970, eclipsed defense spending in 1976 and stood at 9.8% as of last year.

Under current projections, entitlements will eat up 10.8% of GDP by 2020, while defense spending goes down to 2.7%.”

* * * * *

Ken’s Take: Note the “secret” to how Clinton was able to balance the budget – simply cut defense & intelligence spending and hope for sustained peace.

Oops.

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Posted in Budget - Deficit, Entitlements | Leave a Comment »