Big hat tip to DRJ posting at Patterico. We get this little gem from White House spokes model Robert Gibbs:
We have to return to some very common-sense principles that everyday Americans live by every time they go to the grocery store or want to go to the movies or cash their paycheck, and that is you can't spend more than you have.
Words fail me. I mean my jaw just hit the floor.
Okay they aren’t failing me anymore.
Bobby, you are just fucking with us, right? I mean do you have any idea how unreal that statement is?
Here Bobby, take a fucking look at how your administration applies that principle:
And that is just the deficit. You get a deficit when you spend more money than you have coming in. See how it goes up and down? That is because sometimes you idiots are planning on reducing the rate of increase in our debt.
You hear that? You aren’t even talking about reducing the debt, but occasionally reducing the rate of increase in our debt.
And here is other the galling thing. Read the whole briefing at the link above. He says this and there isn’t even one single follow up question. The press is so blinkered that he can say something that unreal and they barely bat an eye.
Jesus, it’s a good thing I am not a member of the White House press corps. I probably would have gone all Hulk on them and thrown a chair at Gibbs, hearing that in person. I certainly would have asked a rude follow up question. Something like, “are you fucking kidding me?”
Seriously, am I the only person who hasn’t noticed that this administration says wise things, and then utterly fails to apply them at all? I guess they are “just words,” right Obama?
Sheesh.
Update: Two updates. I am sick at home, so I am watching the news. A while ago the President had the nerve to sound a similar theme, but then he goes with this metaphor. He says, okay if you are behind on the mortgage, you don’t go and buy a shiney new car. But you still have to fix your water heater. So we are just spending on the things we have to, that we can’t ever go without.
Look at that chart again, folks. Somehow we went without it in 2008, all the way back to 2001. Even after the attacks of September 11, which literally destroyed part of our financial center, we managed to keep the deficit lower than that. And let’s be honest, Bush Jr. was wasteful, too.
You’re full of shit Barry, and we all know it.
And then I saw this. Click on this link. Watch it for a minute. Look at each number and think about what it means. But it might make you cry.
Update II: And here’s Obama’s words today:
Responsible families don’t do their budgets the way the federal government does. Right? When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It’s time your government did the same. (Applause.)
Now, that’s why I continue to insist on making investments for job growth this year, why I continue to insist that we put more money into education; that's why I say we put more money into science and technology for innovation. (Applause.) That's why I continue to believe that we've got to invest in our infrastructure so that we are building the kind of America that can compete in the 21st century. Those are smart investments. That's like buying the new boiler -- if it's busted, you got to get a new boiler. If the roof's leaking, you got to fix the roof. There's some things you've got to do.
But you can put off buying the new curtains, even if it'd be nice to have. You know, that -- remodeling the bathroom, I mean, everything is working. You don't need it right now. I mean, what we've been having are folks who want to buy the curtains but don't want to fix the boiler. (Applause.) And our priorities have to change.
