Dana Perino, C'mon You Can Do Better!

President George W. Bush has ballooned the national debt from a paltry $5.6 trillion when he first took office to a whopping $9.8 trillion today.

He is asking the supine Democratic Congress for another $190 billion for his wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the White House tells us are still "emergency" supplemental spending bills even though we're rapidly approaching the fifth anniversary of the Iraq occupation.

The yearly federal budget deficit is over $250 billion and the trade imbalances are setting records every year. There is no end in sight.

And today, our Dear Leader has vetoed a bill that would help 4 million American children at the lowest levels of our "booming" economy have access to elementary health care, saying it is "too expensive."

And after all of this obscene heartlessness toward American kids and profiteering on the killing of innocents abroad, our Dear Leader sends his cute little blonde Italian-surnamed spokesmodel, Dana Perino, to tell us these words in regard to trying to find a way to pay for the bloodbaths:

"We've always known that Democrats seem to revert to type, and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything."

So the President of the United States responds to people who are concerned about how we are going to pay for this $750 billion occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan with a trivial, cliché partisan snipe? That is the best these people can come up with?

We are in deep shit for the next 474 days, 1 hour, and 54 minutes.

Comments

[politigal]

Dana Perino's speeches have been on NPR this week & the stuff she says!!
My question is how can she stand herself? Knowing that she is just another of Bush's little lying mouthpieces'.

[WestWingFan]

I couldn't agree with you more.

Perino was inane in her response - and I've seen her more since - she is also extremely condescending to the White House press corps. I can't believe they tolerate her arrogance.

In the press conference last nite she said "I don't know the answer to that" well over 50 times. I stopped counting. Her responses were hostile and rude and she sounded insecure and supercillious.

I hope they get her out of that job, and quick. She's poised to do some great damage to women in the field of communications if not.

[Dansden]

The sad and despicable reality is that REPUBLICANS have encouraged, exacerbated and embraced the downfall of America's economy! Pure and simple! It makes one ask the real question- with so much devastation, destruction and deception in our present American administration- WHO ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS?

When POOR CHILDREN are considered by this ADMINISTRATION AS TAX INCREASES ON THE GOVERNMENT IT IS EASY TO SEE WHO THE REAL TERRORISTS ARE THAT WE HAVE TO WOORY ABOUT IMMEDIATELY!

When innocent and vulnerable CHILDREN are ATTACKED BY THIS PRESIDENT LEAVING THEM TOTALLY WITHOUT HOPE OR HEALTHCARE, WHO IS THE REAL TERRORISTS? Is that not the definition of a terrorist- to attack those who are most vulnerable and weak for personal or political advantage?

When we go to the polls and those RIGHT-WING BLIND AND BLATANT 'so-called CHRISTIANS' who support this BUSH TERRORIST REGIME talk about 'TAX AND SPEND DEMOCRATIC PARTY' remind that the tactics of the REPUBLICAN CORPORATE FASCIST REGIME HAS ACTED PRECISELY LIKE THE TERRORISTS THEY ABHOR- ONLY DIFFERENT IS- THEY USE THE AMERICAN TREASURY TO DESTROY AND KILL OUR KIDS AND SOLDIERS RATHER THAN BOMBS AND IEDS.

[ZingoBonMot]

I KNEW raising taxes on cigarettes to pay for expansion of this program would come back to bite Dems in the arse!

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

They should have taken the money out of Bush's "supplemental" WAR FUNDS!!!!

Are the Dems idiots?

[joja]

Why doesn't anyone who's present at these propaganda events ever take the WH sewer-pipe-of-the-moment -- in this case, Perino -- to task about absurd pronouncements such as this?

How about asking about the AMT's, or the rising payroll taxes that just keep going up and up, but are never referred to as "tax increases," which is exactly what they are?

Are the members of the media who are there even awake? Where's their curiosity? Their imagination? Are they so brain dead that they can only read from prepared lists?

Disgusting regime enablers!

[Qbear]

Congress needs to add up the REALLY obscene stupid spending and earmarks which I'm sure quadruple the cost to cover the SCHIP 4 Million kids.

Sh*t like the gay bomb, the Pentagon developed, gutting a 1/3rd of Ryan White AIDS funds for "abstinense ONLY" programs which failed in 85% of senior high school girls who made the pledges...etc.

[Senzasord]

Oh and by the way, Ms. Perino assures us that it is not policy of this government to torture prisoners. Perhaps, but once again the policy does not match the practice.

[realpolitic]

Imagine how high taxes would be if Bush actually paid for his wars, instead of borrowing the money and in the process creating huge deficits. Who will pay for these deficits- our children. But, of course, they do not vote yet.

[eniobob]

Counting the days until this "dry" waterboarding ends.

[RobBob]

Nice read, but I have to object to your first sentence: 5.6 trillion dollars is hardly "paltry". You should have written something more like:

"President George W. Bush has ballooned the national debt from an alarming $5.6 trillion when he first took office to an economy-choking $9.8 trillion today."

[Chris24Ruh]

Yo, RobBob-

The author was being facetious in his use of the word "paltry" as an adjective associated with our national debt. He was attempting to offer the notion that the national debt was already way out of control. By setting off "paltry" from "whopping" he presented some ironic counterpoint. I agree totally with his thesis and certainlywith your comment, but you might want to try reading with an eye (and ear) for sarcasm.

[PaHairO]

Agreed. Very poor choice of words.

5.6 isn't paltry - it's 57% of 9.8 ...

You reduced your own argument.

[SeeCompany]

Thank you Mr. Palermo. Can "deep shit" fully describe what we've been through the past six years and can "deeper shit" fully describe how many years it's going to take for our country to recover from "diarrhea of the mouth and brain" of W, Darth Vader and the rest of the right wing myopes?

[research]

The Democrats are the party of Fiscal Responsibility! Not the repugs. Say it every time a repug calls the dems tax and spend.

Repugs are the barrow and steal for your friends party.

[drkazmd65]

Well put research,... well put.

[DudeE]

Well, it's telling that the GOP has to rely on 20 year old stereotypes to have any kind of response at all.

There is no shortage of polls showing the American public trusts Democrats far more than Republicans on balancing the budget and on fiscal discipline. The GOP is caught in a time warp. Someone needs to dust them off and remind them that it isn't 1982...

[MikeStrong]

There is no learning curve in America. None. Everything is tabula rasa. - as per Sy Hersh from the other day - I think it was an interview of Hersh.

AS usual, he is so right (as in correct, accurate). The more I see the more I wonder how anything ever works and then I see that only the diversions seem to work - as diversions.

Reference Farenheit 451 with the wall-to-wall interactive televisions and the "sea shells" (iPods) both imagined by Bradbury in 1950/51 (magazine article / book). Although remembered as a book about book burning what I found was a book about mass media used as a diversion from every nasty thing the government was doing, until the atomic war they fomented wiped out the city in a nuclear blast - totally un-anticipated by the public.

[researcher]

yes there is an end in sight it is called third world status and the decline of the middle class.

that same middle class that believes in the two party system that is taking them to the cleaners.

guess who told the middle class the two party system is the best. corporate america and those in the two party system. who is the smartest of them all now. the few.

unchecked capitalism has done its duty and created the wealth for the few at the expense of the many.

middle class while you work your two jobs still believe in the trickle down theory the repubs sold you.

it is buyer beware out there.

[wingnutslayer]

This is just one more example of the Bush Administrations priorities. Just go to the American Enterprise Institute's web site, click on Project for a New American Century, and read something that explains it all, every stinking bit of it. It's really very simple. Take money away from everything else and put it into DEFENCE. If you aren't familiar with this document and its signatories then you'll be condemned to go on believing that GWB and cronies just want to help the little children, help the little Iraqis, help the little middle class and dance the Chicken Little dance by the light of the red, white and blue moon. Needy children? Won't see a word about 'em in PNAC's game plan. They should just go away and stop being so....needy. It's embarassing when America has serious business to attend to and impoverished contractors to feed. That's the Bush family values for you. Non-existent.