Franken's Monster Mash

Monster Mash-up Democrats see wiggle room on Obama’s Aug. 2 debt-limit deadline The Aug. 2 deadline for raising the nation’s debt ceiling might not be as rigid a cutoff date as the administration has been saying, according to some senior Senate Democrats.

Meanwhile Franken's SNL moment in Senate “ For a moment Wednesday, Al Franken looked like he was back on the set of Saturday Night Live and not on the floor of the U.S. Senate. In a speech explaining that there would be no money to pay for military and security personnel if Congress doesn’t pass a bill increasing the debt ceiling by Aug. 2, Franken unveiled a large poster in the chamber that said, “Welcome Terrorists. Franken aimed his theater of the absurd at those who believe the U.S. doesn’t have to raise the debt limit to avoid economic catastrophe. He couched it as black humor, but certainly not as comic relief in a House and Senate deadlock that economists say puts the U.S. at risk of a financial meltdown. [Star Tribune] ” Franken's charts A previously referenced  Red State's "Seven Reasons Why August 2 Isn’t the End of the World"  chart compared with Franken's: RED STATE FRANKEN Federal Debt Interest $30 29 Social Security $50 49.2 Medicare-Medicaid $50 50 Veterans and active-duty military $9 — Defense vendor payments  — $32 Federal Unemployment Payments — $12.8 TOTAL $139 $172.7 Red State concludes: “ So that’s a total bill of $136 billion, easily covered by the $170-200 billion we’ll take in.  Of course, we won’t be able to afford everything the government currently spends on.  The Departments of HUD, Transportation, Commerce, Energy, and Education, for example, may have to take a pause while Congress works out a deal with the President.  But is that really “the end of the world”? ” Franken concludes: ???? I guess by saying if we cut anything, the terrorists win.  But it's really very simple.  It took me just 3 minutes to save $71B a month. Plus, cutting EPA's  $900 million would result in immediate 200% increased production and several $B of increased tax revenue.  End of story.