CATO Institute Review of SOTU...not pretty

[Atman]

<snip>

"President Bush reaffirmed his commitment to giving younger workers a better deal for their Social Security taxes and allowing all Americans to own real assets as their retirement security. I hope he will make that a key element of his reelection agenda.

"Unfortunately, his proposal for real retirement investments may be the only thing in his program that will reduce the long-term fiscal obligations facing the federal government. Once again, the president has called for fiscal restraint while presenting a laundry list of spending programs and recommending no spending cuts. It doesn't look like there's any real intention to cut back on the fastest spending pace since the Lyndon Johnson administration.

"President Bush declared that 'the American people are using their money far better than government would have'--but in fact his administration has taken 24 percent more of our money than the Clinton administration did. The most striking hypocrisy during the evening was members of Congress giving a standing ovation when Bush called for limiting federal spending and cutting wasteful spending. Congress and the president have cooperated to produce a 24 percent increase in spending in just three years. And the president praised Congress for 'great works of compassion' in creating a huge new prescription-drug entitlement--but it's not actually compassionate to spend other people's money.

"I support the president's tax-reduction agenda, and I applaud his call to make the tax cuts permanent, but tax cuts must be matched with spending cuts, not new spending initiatives from energy subsidies to community colleges to expanded subsidies for political parties through the National Endowment for Democracy.

"President Bush delivered a strong and confident defense of his foreign policies, refusing to acknowledge the American lives being lost every day in Iraq, the unlikelihood of real democracy there, and the growing opposition to U.S. policies around the world that threatens to isolate us from our allies. The administration should be looking for a graceful exit from Iraq, not planning a worldwide crusade for democracy that flies in the face of everything our Founders knew."

<snip>

http://www.cato.org/new/01-04/01-20-04r-state.html

[madrchsod]

1. well they are not happy either..

just read the webpage..scary when the conservatives and the democrats can find common ground on alot of issues.....

[teach1st]

2. Finally, Bush is uniting us... N/T

[alarimer]

9. well

He always claimed to be a uniter not a divider!

[stickdog]

3. 24% government growth in just three years!!!

Where the fuck is all that money going?

How can the economy be losing jobs when the federal government has grown by 25%?

[blurp]

11. To be fair, 25% increase is in descretionary. Still about 12%, though

It still amounts to a whole lotta $$. The rate of increase per year is about 4%.

If anybody wants to see the budget, you can take a look here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/tables.html

You can even see how we get an extra $1 trillion added to the deficit! Hurray!

[mistertrickster]

4. Slowly, the real conservatives begin to understand that the neo-cons

are closer to Mafiosi than to politicians. The only thing that's conservative about neo-cons is their colossal selfishness.

[tom_paine]

5. I cannot believe they deviated from the Imperial Pravda

Is Cato truly more honest (at least to their core True Conservative Values) than CNN?

It does appear so. Of course, it could be that only Imperial Allies feel brave enough to deviate from Imperial Pravda even for a moment.

[Gulf Coast J]

6. Of course they are more honest

They were dead set against the Iraq War. They have an agenda for sure, and I bet 99% of the people who read this board oppose them, but they are not a mouthpiece for Bush.

[blurp]

10. I'm not surprised they wrote this

The Cato institute is one of the more principled think tanks. They get a ton of funding from conservatives, but are still willing to come out guns blazing.

I'm sure plenty of people here would disagree with some of their more extreme positions, but you at least know you're hearing what they really believe and not something sanitized by contributors.

I think Rupert Murdock (owner of Fox News) is a big contributor.

[Fovea]

7. Owww... I recommend direct pressure on that kind of cut.

particularly the pumper in the neck area...

[pscot]

8. With friends like these...?

It's hard to imagine CATO making the case for the Democrats. The candidates ought to pick this stuff up and use it.