You choose!
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What happens when you run out of money? You cut spending somewhere. But this is a foreign concept to liberal politicians who love spending what they do not have and which comes from your hard work. (See 1 below.)
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Poll reveals 49% of Americans losing confidence in Obama's handling of our foreign policy. Where do the remaining 51% have their heads??
Obama has determined that America is not exceptional. Therefore, it is only understandable that we elected him because he too is unexceptional. For this we are paying an exceptional price.
Obama is either stupidly naive or knows anything he does to relent on policies that are having an effect will serve to weaken us and embolden Iran. I believe Obama is the former and thus is capable of the latter.You decide!! (See 2 and 2a below.)
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A friend of mine was asked to write something explaining, in her opinion, why most Jews remain wedded to The Democrat Party and giving a rational argument why this adherence is outdated.
My friend asked me to edit her response which I did but the essence of what she wrote remains intact. (See 3 below.)
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Dick
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1)
U.S. Running Out of Cash More Quickly
Treasury Now Sees Crunch by Oct. 17; No Deal to Fund Government in Sight
By DAMIAN PALETTA and KRISTINA PETERSON
WASHINGTON—The government is closer to running out of money to pay its bills than previously thought, the Treasury Department warned Wednesday, clarifying the fiscal deadlines confronting Congress amid continued disarray on Capitol Hill.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the government would be left with just $30 billion cash on hand "no later" than Oct. 17, and the Congressional Budget Office predicted these funds would be used up between Oct. 22 and Oct. 31 if legislation isn't enacted to raise the ceiling on government borrowing.
That little cash could make it difficult, if not impossible, for the government to pay the roughly $55 billion in Social Security, Medicare and military payments due Nov. 1.
Lawmakers on Wednesday cast about for options to keep the government funded beyond Oct. 1, a separate deadline that is offering a taste of what a debt-ceiling fight might look like later in October. Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on how to avoid a government shutdown, with no path to a deal in sight.
Unlike the previous budget battles that have consumed the federal government since 2011, there appear to be no back-room negotiations aimed at crafting a comprehensive deal that might offer a respite, or even a small deal to get past the looming deadlines.
"I think we've got this false sense of security," Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) said in an interview. "This time, the wolf really could be at the door."
After a 21-hour floor speech by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) decrying the White House's health-care law, the Senate agreed unanimously to proceed with a multiday process to debate legislation to fund the government beyond Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
The Senate is expected to pass a bill later this week or this weekend that funds the government through mid-November and strips out House-passed language that would defund the health-care law, a priority of Mr. Cruz and some Republicans.
After the Senate acts, House Republicans are considering various options to alter the bill yet again. These include a one-year delay in the health-care law's individual mandate or a repeal of the law's tax on medical devices, which has drawn some Democratic support in the past. It is unlikely Democrats would accept these proposals in this context.
House Republicans are also considering prohibiting lawmakers and certain White House staff from receiving federal contributions to offset some of their health-care premiums, a senior House GOP aide said.
House GOP leaders are expected to discuss the options with their conference on Thursday morning, but may not settle on a plan immediately. If they add one or more of these conditions to any Senate-passed bill, the Senate would be forced to vote at least one more time before any fix could be finalized.
The back-and-forth on the short-term funding measure masks deeper disagreements on how to address the government's $16.7 trillion borrowing limit. The government spends more money than it brings in through revenue, and it funds this deficit by issuing debt.
It can only borrow money up to a certain limit, however, and this ceiling can only be raised by Congress. If the government can't borrow more money, Mr. Lew warned Wednesday, it would eventually "be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history."
The White House has said Congress should raise the debt ceiling without conditions and has refused to negotiate with lawmakers about how to do it.
House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) has promised a "whale of a fight" on the issue. House Republicans are considering a plan that would attach conservative priorities to a debt-ceiling increase, such as changes or a delay to the health-care law, new rules for Medicare and provisions that would lower tax rates.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said Republicans are hoping to engage the White House in some kind of deficit-reduction agreement that focuses on policies lawmakers believe will promote economic growth. "We need a down payment on the debt," he said in an interview.
How the debt-ceiling fight plays out depends in part on how or whether Congress agrees to fund the government. Some lawmakers said resistance within the GOP to the strategy of pushing to defund the health law could take some of the steam out of the issue when attention turns to the debt ceiling.
"I hope our central focus will be on dealing with our longer-term fiscal issues,'' said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.).
The White House and Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, are pre-emptively blaming Republicans for any fallout from not raising the debt ceiling.
"What you're seeing is people who actually believe that it's a legitimate tactic to blow up the country in order to achieve a goal, which is to get rid of Obamacare," said Rep. Peter Welch (D., Vt.), who called it "pretty wild behavior."
The Treasury Department hasn't said how it would respond if the debt ceiling isn't raised. Many investors say they expect the government would continue paying interest on government debt to avoid a sovereign default. But the Treasury has said prioritizing payments is nearly impossible, given the complexities of the federal ledger.
The White House would face difficult political decisions as well, such as whether to make interest payments to bondholders while holding back on Social Security payments, for example.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, a group founded by lawmakers from both parties to forge consensus, has estimated that the government would be unable to pay 32% of its bills in the first month if the debt ceiling isn't raised in time.
Congress has raised or suspended the debt ceiling five times during President Barack Obama's tenure. Among those instances, the White House and Republicans brokered an agreement after a bitter debate in August 2011 that put spending restraints in place through 2021. And early this year, Congress agreed to suspend the debt ceiling for several months in exchange for an agreement that both the House and Senate would pass budget resolutions.
The suspended debt ceiling expired in May, and the Treasury has been using emergency steps since then to buy itself more time. Treasury had estimated that by mid-October it would have $50 billion remaining to pay government bills, but it lowered that estimate on Wednesday
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2)49% in Poll Fault Obama on Policies Outside U.S.
By DALIA SUSSMAN
About half of Americans disapprove of the way President Obama is handling foreign policy, a new high as he confronts a diplomatic opening with Iran and efforts to remove chemical arms in Syria, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Forty-nine percent disapproved of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy efforts, up 10 points since early June, and 40 percent approved.
The president’s negative rating on foreign policy has grown among Americans of all political stripes, with disapproval up 8 points among Democrats, 10 points among Republicans and 13 points among independents.
The poll also found that 52 percent disapproved of the way Mr. Obama was handling the situation in Syria. On his handling of relations with Iran, 39 percent approved, while 44 percent disapproved.
“I think he’s looking very weak, and he put us in a dangerous situation with Syria,” Arlene Woods, 57, an independent voter from Ellicott City, Md., said in a follow-up interview. “I have a son in the military. When it doesn’t involve our own safety or security on our soil, then I don’t think it’s justifiable to use military force.”
Over all, Americans are dubious that relations with Iran will improve. Fewer than 1 in 4 think they will get better in the next few years, while a third think they will get worse, and 4 in 10 think they will stay about the same. In the poll, which was conducted after reports that Mr. Obama and the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, had exchanged letters, nearly 4 in 10 said they did not yet know enough to say how much of an effect the diplomatic efforts would have on the relations of the two countries. An additional 3 in 10 said the diplomatic efforts would affect relations a lot or some, while the same percentage said they would not have much of an effect.
On Syria, 82 percent of Americans supported the agreement between the United States and Russia to have Syria turn over all of its chemical weapons. Nevertheless, most — including those who supported the deal — lacked confidence that the Syrian government would do so.
Yet most Americans do not think that failure to comply is grounds for military action, underscoring the public’s deep resistance to involvement in the situation in Syria. The poll found that just 34 percent (including 46 percent of Democrats) support airstrikes against Syria if it does not turn over its chemical weapons, while 57 percent (including about 6 in 10 Republicans and independents) say the United States should not launch airstrikes against Syria at all. Five percent support airstrikes against Syria regardless of whether it turns over its chemical weapons.
Indeed, 68 percent said the United States does not have a responsibility to do something about the fighting in Syria. And 64 percent said the Obama administration had not clearly explained what the United States’ goals were in Syria, though that was down from 79 percent earlier this month.
“I’d let the winds blow as they may, in that this is a civil war,” said Jim Wassall, 61, an independent from New Bedford, Mass. “I don’t condone the use of the chemical weaponry or biological weapons, but this is a civil war.”
Most Americans, the poll found, do not think that the killing of civilians by chemical or biological weapons requires a stronger response from the international community than killings by conventional weapons. More than two-thirds said the international community should respond to all civilian killings the same.
The national poll was conducted Sept. 19-23 among 1,014 adults on landlines and cellphones, and it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Allison Kopicki contributed reporting.
2a)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends military parade where sign calls for Israel's destruction
2a)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends military parade where sign calls for Israel's destruction
Just prior to his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took part in his country’s military parade, which included trucks carrying Shahab-3 missiles and signs calling for the destruction of Israel, Israel Hayom reported.
Hassan Rouhani. (Credit: rouhani.ir.)
Hassan Rouhani. (Credit: rouhani.ir.)
This information was revealed by former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. and Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs President Dore Gold.
In pictures of the parade, which took place at the beginning of the week, it can be clearly seen that the first truck carrying Shahab-3 missiles is also carrying a sign that reads in Farsi, “Israel must cease to exist.”
According to Gold, “The fact that Rouhani is presenting positive messages in New York, and at the same time taking part in an event that called for the destruction of Israel, should raise a red flag to the West.”
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