BOHICA!

Back in Army days, we had an expression to warn ourselves that we were about to get shafted again: BOHICA!

Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.

With the imminent debt deal vote in the US Senate today, that's my counsel.

It may well be that this deal is the best that we could realistically have hoped for, whether "we" are Democrat or Republican. Yet, apart from avoiding default, I have a hard time finding much to like, which apparently makes me part of a vast crowd.

Bond trader Bill Gross sees little to like, too: This Deal Does Nothing, And We Still Have An "Unfathomable" $66 Trillion In Liabilities To Deal With



IMO, it is not possible to regain financial solvency, much less financial health, by trimming spending from most or all lines of the budget. We must eliminate lines in the budget altogether. Federal agencies must be closed and federal programs must be terminated.

But for a Member to stand on the chamber floor to say this is to be immediately ostracized by other Members of both parties. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans have the slightest interest in actually reducing the size of the government and actually reducing the federal budget. They are alike worried with budget deficits (and not all are worried about that) without real regard for the size of the budget to begin with.

He wants your wallet

Richard Fernandez explains why:

It seems fair to observe that in some quarters, the show must go on. Whether it the “moderate” wing of the Republican Party or the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, the greatest harm possible is to stop the music. As Yeomans put it “a strong America has always stood firm in the face of terrorism. That tradition is in jeopardy, as Congress and President Barack careen toward an uncertain outcome in the tea party- manufactured debt crisis.”

And that terrorism has now adopted the guise of the innocent looking family down the street, who behind their white picket fences and seemingly mild-mannered exterior are secretly plotting to destroy truth, justice and the New Deal. And while one may or may not agree with the substance of those accusations, the vitriol is apparently real. The one thing worse than getting between the Nazgul and his prey is getting between a politician and public money.

I'll close with a summary of the advance copy of the president's remarks scheduled for today at noon: