In March of 2006 then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama offered an impassioned rebuke of runaway GOP deficit spending during a debate over the nation’s debt ceiling.
“The fact we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” Obama said at the time. “It is a sign that the U.S. government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government’s reckless fiscal policies.”
“Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally,” Obama continued. “Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.”
Spoken like a true Tea Partier, right?
Of course Obama changed his tune upon being elected – dramatically accelerating the very fiscal policies he previously chastised as “reckless.” Now the “reckless” ones – according to both Obama and GOP strategist Karl Rove – are the pro-free market, pro-liberty fiscal conservatives advocating the spending restraint Obama once claimed to stand for (and which the Republican party still claims to stand for).
Yet ask Obama and he’ll tell you that these socially libertarian, common sense fiscal conservatives are destroying the country. And if you ask Rove he’ll tell you they are destroying the Republican Party.
In both cases nothing could be further from the truth – and I’ve got the numbers to prove it.
Prior to the most recent stopgap debt deal, Democrats and Republicans in Washington had approved $11.2 trillion in new deficit spending dating back to 2002. Breaking down this total, $3.4 trillion was approved by George W. Bush and “Republican” Congresses, $2.4 trillion was approved by Bush and Democratic Congresses, $3 trillion was approved by Obama and Democratic Congresses and $2.4 trillion was approved by Obama and a divided Congress.
In other words neither party has protected America’s current and future generations of taxpayers – choosing instead to support Washington D.C.’s special interest-fed spending orgy (which subsidizes an aggressive centralized bureaucracy that routinely suppresses liberty and prosperity).
Spending is only part of the problem, too. Both Bush and Obama have embraced the failed command economic interventionism of Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve – which continues to print up to $85 billion a month in fiat money, cash that invariably winds up lining the pockets of Wall Street fat cats.
Was this what Obama – a self-proclaimed champion of the middle class – had in mind in 2008 when he told Joe the Plumber he wanted to “spread the wealth around?” Because according to former Fed official Andrew Huszar this $3.2 trillion (and counting) scheme represents “the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time.”
Here’s the thing: Wealth should be spread around – but only according to the laws of supply and demand and the innovative capacity of individuals operating within the free market. Prosperity is expanded for all people when taxes are low and government is small – and suppressed when taxes are high and government is too big.
Yet where is the political party advancing this simple, undefiled truth? Sadly the answer is “nowhere to be found.”
At the federal, state and local level GOP and the Democratic politicians love to throw rhetorical bombs at one other – vague, clichéd barbs sensationalized by the mainstream media (which thrives on meaningless conflict as a means of perpetuating its false narrative). But the unavoidable truth is that both major political parties are slaves to the same system. Look no further than their shared refusal to make meaningful spending cuts – or their shared assault on the handful of elected officials who do propose specific spending reductions.
America is on an unsustainable fiscal course – and will remain locked on that course until a party emerges that is willing to faithfully and aggressively advance free market alternatives.
Thomas Ravenel is a former Republican elected official who resides in Charleston, S.C. This column – reprinted with permission – originally appeared in The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier.
61 comments
I wonder hard hard it was to write that after an 8-ball.
Snorting cocaine is also something Obama did that Ravenel can surely appreciate.
What does the article have to do with anything drug related other than both parties failed war on drugs. I would bet that your ancestors snorted cocaine or snuff…..
Do you know why TRav lost his job?
…ah, forget it.
Yeah: Because Obama is such a Big F*#k-op, and idiots and dumb@$$#$ like FITS bashed Romney, while soft-peddling Obama…let’s elect a silver-spooned, crack-faced @$$-hole like Ravenel…
You Libealtarians are a piece of work (I’ll use the nice reference of the two.) You, becuase you suck almost as bad, are as responsible for the Total Disaster of Obama as the liberals…
Yet you think most people, or enough, are so F*@king stupid they’ll elect you because Obama has F*#ked up the country…
Face it: On the economy, national security, pride and taxes, Bush was a MAJOR success. He spent too much like a liberal, but I’d crawl over broken glas to repalce himn with that ignorant B@$tard you dolts stuck us with….
Because Bush tried to buy the left is not reason to F*#k-up again…and elect trash…
Tango, please put the computer away. Lindsey will be here any minute now and you need to get a straw so you can suck the santorum out of his ass. I know how you both enjoy that and wouldn’t want you to miss it because you were playing on the computer.
Bush tried to buy the left
Yeah, but he was honest.
Trying to win over your enemies w/ compromise in policy is not dis-honest…or am I missing your point???
I was just defending his one remaining sterling quality.
OK…
Just how can you pay for internet service with no job, GT?
This sounds like the old Big T on this board.
Uh Tango, are you aware that under the socialist Obama the stock market is over 16,000??? Not too shabby for a Democrat. So he cannot possibly be ALL that bad, right?
Id crawl all over glass to get to over 16, 000 on all my stocks. HELL YEA
George Bush?? BIGGEST CRASH EVER !!!!!!!!!!!!
A man his age should be just hitting his stride: he’s got wealth, a good last name, and looks. Instead, he’s an unmitigated embarrassment. His public fall, which many go through at some point, went uncoupled with even feigned repentance, and after prison (!!) he went back to whoring around and getting DUIs. What a pathetic end to the great Ravenel legacy: The man who told a NY DUI judge he could only get $600 from his ATM card is now lecturing us about monetary policy and fiscal rectitude.
Lol, so true. Last person I need to hear fiscal policy from is him. He must have way too much free time on his hand to write (or more likely have an assistant) a editorial like this.
Good last name??? HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH … my back side!!!!! … hahahahahaahahahaaaa!!!!
Hey, Philip.
He makes good points. May be you should get your head from up your ass and listen to what Thomas has to say.
I guess Fits and that pigeon-chested Ravenel are drug buddies from way back…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40D9iqrfk2I
Snort.
Hey,what happened to the man who ran as a “Reagan Republican through and through?”
You know, Ronald Reagan ,he of numerous tax hikes and the deficits that dont matter(per fellow “Reagan Republican” Dick Cheney)
Guess like Fits and his fellow travelers here,he discovered his”libertarian independent conservative self.”
God bless Glenn Beck, the godfather of them all!
(That coke and booze together is a Hell of a mix!)
Other than Will Folks and young Miss Dennis, who gives a shit what this Charlestonian laughingstock thinks?
20 federal fiat papers says Will Folks got some of that Ravanel family money to help write this.
“20 federal fiat papers”
Bwahahaha!
Tommy Boy blowing him sum coke and smoking sum weed. Meanwhile, his drug runners are making him millions each year.
Y’all ad hominem much?
These attacks are ad hominem. However, they expose the faulty rationale that it is the message that is of value and not the discredited messenger. Ravenel, Sanford, Spitzer, Weiner, etc…, are more than just “flawed” men. They are “disordered” personalities that operate on manipulation and deceit. Their words may sound inspiring but they are just a means to an end in their world, where they will always be numero uno. As Mike Traynor stated, Ravenel is a poseur. The fact that he pretty much plagiarized from the WSJ and National Review, demonstrates his sense of entitlement and omnipotence. Sadly, he is following Sanford’s “forgive me my flaws” playbook and the voters could down the road elect him in the face of a worse candidate. YUCK.
He sounds like he is prepping to replace Sanford in SC-1. Sanford is probably ready to make his next move.
T-Rav is about as electable as Andre these days. That could change, I guess, but that’s just where he is right now.
He renounced his US Citizenship. You must be a US citizen to serve in Congress.
Sorry. I thought it was just a whiney baby threat.
No, he said he “would” renounce his US citizenship, but didn’t. All talk…no action. Typical of a self-absorbed, narcissistic egomaniac when he doesn’t get his way.
T rav hit a pretty raw nerve with them librulz, ya think? My, my, what nasty vitriol! The ladies doth protest too much, me thinks!
First, Thomas Ravenel is a pathetic druggie, a poseur of the first order, whose ego is the size of Montana.
Second, the $85 B in fiat money is not going to Wall Street fat cats, it is being redistributed to Obama voters.
Third, the 2006 quote by Obama on the debt ceiling is old news–about 7 years old, and this story is basically a plagiarized verson of both a Wall Street Journal story from a year ago and a recent National Review article. You’d think that little Tommie Ravs would come up with some new material.
Fourth, I find it interesting to see little Tommie Ravs talking about an orgy–he of the cocaine addiction and the self love.
I am a libertarian, and I don’t want this guy in our party. The Republicans hate him too, and his ego is so big he just can’t see it. Maybe a little time reflecting on his own issues in a sincere way would do him good, but he is just to conceited to know this.
He Will, you jacked up Ravenel’s byline but no worries, I fixed it for you:
Thomas Ravenel is a disgraced former Republican elected official and convicted drug trafficking felon who resides in Charleston, S.C and drives drunk when he visits places out of state . This column – reprinted with permission for
reasons no one can clearly understand– originally appeared in The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier
Ravenel is less relevant than Ol’Ronbo and that means he ain’t relevant at all.
This coming from the faux Col. ha
I’d like to kiss you!! The truth will set you free.
I am glad you have decided to judge another man. May be the only difference in you and Thomas is that you have not been caught yet!
Dude I didn’t judge him – the federal court did.
He was convicted and apologized; “..”I brought embarrassment, being a public official, to the state…[voters]…had a right to expect better conduct, better behavior, from me.”. Now, what are your questions?
Ravenel will be a candidate for Governor
If there is one person other than the current Gypsy Queen whose head cannot fit into a ten gallon hat, he is the one
Sanford has already validated that voters in this State have a penchant for Rhett Butler types, The first photos of Ravenel with a mustache are right around the corner
Cheese Thighs or Cheese Ball – the choice will be ours to make
Happy New Year to all the Fucking Cockroaches – may the New Year bring forth a shoe sole with your crushed backside on it
Obviously, Thomas thinks the same SC1 carpetbagger district that sent the scum Sanford back to Washington will put him back on the government teat.
Shut up and sit down, loser.
Remember —- SLED —– in the days before Tommy Boy was busted, SLED told his father that federal agents were watching him and following him. Now why were these SLED agents not indicted? Is it not a crime? Like “Obstruction of Justice”?
Instead of writing articles for public consumption, Ravenel should still be hiding in face in shame. It takes some gall…….
Regardless of his mistakes that does not make the truth any different!
Makes a difference to me. I seldom learn much listening to the opinions of a druggie. You?
It may surprise you to the opinions you listen to that comes from people on drugs!
Didn’t this guy renounce his American Citizenship? What a complete idiot. Poppinjay . . . now that is a description that is appropriate for this short, silly fool.
Mr. Ravenel, your credibility is shot because you are a convicted criminal and an embarrassment to your faith, family, and fellow citizens.
hey sport, I guess you have not noticed the deficit is coming down dramatically. And 2013 was a great years on Wall Street and many people will be paying large capital gains on stocks that went up this coming April 15. That will help the deficit also.
Mr Ravenel, we have had BIG government for decades but that has not stopped the Fortune 500 companies from doing well. Look at Microsoft. Taxes and big guvmint did not stop it from becoming a mammoth company in your own lifetime.
Your narrative that taxes and government will stifle or kill business is wrong. You just get through it. You keep being the best and you will have clients and customers who will buy and make you rich. There will always be obstacles to making an extra penny more.
Costco is not only big but pays its workers a very, very nice living wag and it STILL does well. So do many, many other companies. Salaries at that new gas station, Quick Trip, here in the upstate start at 40,000 annually. That is not keeping Quick Trip from being successful.
Now Mr. Folks, I think the jailbird who wrote this piece just insulted you. FITS considers itself the #1 media outlet in SC. That makes you “mainstream.” So are you profiting from meaningless conflict as a means of by perpetuating a false narrative? –whatever the hell that means?
I am so tired of Republicans bitching about taxes. There is more to politics than that.
Hey TwistedBaptist, I think you got your panties in a wad. Mr. Ravenel is an outstanding member of our society who got caught doing something thta happened to be illegal in this society today. Had he been living in the early 1900’s there would of been no indictment. The points made in the article are well thought out and truthful. ignore him if you want, Thomas Ravenel has a lot to offer this state now and into the future.
Thanks. You made me laugh. “…lot to offer…” Ha!
“Yet where is the political party advancing this simple, undefiled truth? Sadly the answer is ‘nowhere to be found.'”
Umm…excuse me but the LP has been espousing actual fiscal responsibility for over 40 years, long before anyone started complaining about the debt and spending crisis we’re up against.
Apparently, no one has informed this drug-ridden, ass clown that he is no loner relevant to politics or the state of SC. He should just continue to drink, do drugs, chase drunken skanks and play polo…things, at which he has proven, he’s has mastered.
Thomas, judging by the comments, this s not going well–not going well at all.
Wonder what school of economics Mr. Ravenel attended? Sure didn’t teach him much. This rave is irrelevant. What a joke. Best stick to things you know something about which is…..?
i’d like to know who and what is that guy climbing the dome in the photo! talk about high!!!!!
Obama was completely right in March of 2006 to oppose raising the debt ceiling during an economic boom (or bubble, more precisely) and the Tea Party was completely wrong in opposing the debt ceiling increase in the depths of a recession.
Ravenel may claim that he’s “got the numbers”, but he is economically ignorant on the above matter. Economists have known since the 1930s that governments need to aid the economy by deficit spending during recessions and to reduce deficits during economic good times. Ravenel (and most other Tea Party types) must have cut that Econ 101 class.
I wouldn’t believe the bastard if he said the sun was out at 10;OO IN THE MORNING…..
Gosh, it almost sounds like Ravenel doesn’t think of *himself* as being a “fat cat.”
Git outta here, Thomas! You don’t want no part of this shit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJQ35sJzRkE
I think Thomas should relinquish his US citizenship…as he threatened…move to Toronto and run against Mayor Rob Ford. OMG…wouldn’t that be fun to watch??
Plagiarize, plagiarize that’s why God made your eyes!
Why is this man not still in jail? Most people who were guilty of cocaine distribution charges would still be in the “Big House,” not in a big house.