Chicago Tea Patriots

By Nicola Moore, Heritage Foundation

“  This year, the U.S. public debt is projected to reach 62 percent of the economy—up from 40 percent in 2008 and nearly double the historical average, according to recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates. The financial crisis and recession drove much of this debt swing, yet larger problems loom in the future.

By 2030, the CBO projects that debt will more than double to 146 percent of GDP.[1] The only good news, if it can be called that, is that the U.S. is not alone. Two recent studies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) highlight the significance of the global debt challenge and stress the need for governments to aim higher than short-term deficit reductions. For the U.S., one of the most poorly positioned countries, addressing the long-term debt challenge must include prompt reform of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

On the Edge of the Debt Cliff

Since 2007, nations across the globe have been following a recipe for rising debt. Government financing surged to ameliorate the global financial crisis, amounting to 13.2 percent of industrialized countries’ GDP.[2] Meanwhile, a worldwide recession caused revenues to drop, growth to slow, and politicians to pursue false hopes that lavish stimulus spending would somehow stop the bleeding. These anti-recessionary efforts drove advanced economies’ deficits collectively up to 20–30 percent of GDP in three years.[3]

The numbers are alarming enough, but as the BIS points out, the most damning aspect is that these deficits are now baked into the cake—otherwise known as structural deficits—and will persist even when economies recover. A short-term focus on deficit reduction, such as G20 nations’ pledges to halve deficits by 2013, will do little to pull nations back from the brink. The U.S. domestic situation is so severe that a fiscal adjustment of 12 percent of GDP would be required to stabilize debt at 60 percent of GDP, which is even higher than Greece’s 9.2 percent adjustment.

The main driver of medium- and long-term liabilities is that governments are on the hook for trillions in unfunded age-related spending for pension and health care obligations. Over the next 20 years, the U.S. will experience the second highest projected increase of all the G20 countries in health care and pension spending as a share of GDP.[4]

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Reid Suggests Opponents Want to Target Hispanics Because “Their Skin’s a Tone Darker”

By John McCormack, Weekly Standard

“ Harry Reid’s campaign is spinning his statement–”I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican”–claiming that Reid wasn’t making a racial argument.

“Sen. Reid’s contention was simply that he doesn’t understand how anyone, Hispanic or otherwise, would vote for Republican candidates because they oppose saving teachers’ jobs, oppose job-creating tax incentives for small businesses, oppose investments in job-creating clean energy projects, and oppose the help for struggling, unemployed Nevadans to put food on the table and stay in their homes,” reads a statement from the Reid campaign.

In fact, Laura Meyers of the Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Reid made his comment in the context of a discussion about immigration policy and suggested that some want to treat Hispanics differently because “their skin’s a tone darker.”

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid on Tuesday slammed Republicans for blocking comprehensive immigration reform and told Hispanics they shouldn’t be treated differently because “their skin’s a tone darker” than that of America’s early European immigrants. [...]

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86 Days to Decide: Activists Say Tea Party Imposters Infiltrating Elections

Fox News

“ In New Jersey, a “Tea Party” candidate surfaces but local activists haven’t heard of him. In Michigan, a Democratic operative appears closely tied to a slate of candidates running under the Tea Party banner. In Florida, conservative activists are locked in court over the right to use the Tea Party name. 

The list of peculiar Tea Party happenings goes on and on. 

As the midterm election nears, allegations are surfacing across the country that Democrats are exploiting conservatives’ faith in the Tea Party name by putting up bogus candidates in November — the claim is that those “Tea Party” candidates will split the GOP vote and clear the way for Democratic victories. 

The theories may prove to be more than just conspiracy talk. Some of the allegations are coming directly from local Tea Party activists who are trying to flag the media and election officials as soon as they smell something fishy on the ballot. And they say they’ve got proof. 

“It’s obvious it’s a Democratic play,” said Jason Gillman, a Tea Party activist from Traverse City, Mich.  ”

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