The Clock Is Ticking, And More PP Haggling *Open Thread*

Iowa is done, and New Hampshire is next on the Primary Calendar, with candidates working like crazy to get around the state and gin up some support. In less than a week, we will know who takes this first real Primary.

But, that dust is still settling from that contest.  Clinton was declared the winner of Iowa by the flip of a coin, though Bernie Sanders is not taking this first loss lying down. In fact, he isn’t accepting it yet. It may be too late for that now, though we shall see.

There is more fallout from the Carson camp accusing the Cruz camp of lying to Caucus goers to get more votes for Cruz. Specifically, Carson claims that Cruz staff wrongly informed caucus goers that Carson was dropping out of the race. The origin of the claim was legit – a CNN report that implied that to be the case because Carson was going home to Florida instead of to NH straight away. Well, that part is TRUE – he was going to go home to get a change of clothes, but was definitely going on to NH. The Cruz staff did not follow up with the additional information, and Carson is none too happy about it, claiming heads should roll on the Cruz staff.

Sen. Rand Paul has suspended his candidacy. Another one down on the Republican side, and there will surely be more to follow. Well, one has to hope anyway. The clock is ticking.

But the clock isn’t just ticking on the Primary races. Oh, no. That would be the US Debt Clock that is ticking away, exceeding $19 TRILLION this week. What a staggering amount this is. Here is more from the Daily Signal:

On Monday the U.S. national debt hit a new record: $19,012,827,698,418. This is the first time the national debt has ever exceeded $19 trillion. That’s more than $58,000 for each person who lives in the U.S. today (including children).

The main culprit behind the rising deficits and debt is growing federal spending—especially among Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare.

Traditionally, Congress has set a limit for how much debt the U.S. may take on, known simply as the debt limit. But rather than put a higher limit on the debt, lawmakers and the president have repeatedly suspended the debt limit, most recently in November of last year through March 15, 2017. During a debt limit suspension, the Department of Treasury is authorized to borrow however much is needed to pay all federal obligations that come due. This means there is basically no limit on debt the U.S. may take on.

 

Uh, yeah. Way to go, Republican Congress! Giving Obama of all people a blank check was one of the most assholic, idiotic things they could have possibly done.

There is more:

[…] Federal health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare, plus Social Security, and interest on the debt are responsible for 83 percent of the projected increase in spending over the next decade.

Growing spending is driving deficits ever higher. Deficits are projected to reach the trillion-dollar level by 2022 and continue growing from there. In total, the federal government is projected to rack up an additional $9.4 trillion in deficit spending over the next decade.

CBO projects that the debt will be $26.3 trillion by the end of the decade. The debt limit presents a decisive, action-forcing moment for Congress to turn words into actions and to pursue structural entitlement reforms that will put the budget on a lasting path to balance. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

Holy moley, that projection is troubling indeed. That is just four short years away. This Congress needs to get a handle on this NOW, and start looking at concrete ways to reduce this deficit. Of course, repealing Obamacare will help but the other programs must be reviewed as well. The debt we are placing on future generations is nothing short of staggering.

And speaking of future generations, there is yet more news about Planned Parenthood and their organ trafficking, despite the idiocy of the Texas Grand Jury. Seems there is (more) proof of the heinous actions of this organization when it comes to aborting fetuses. From The Federalist:

In the undercover video, Melissa Farrell, director of research at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, explains to the undercover pro-life activists posing as organ buyers how her organization uses creative wording on invoices to hide that they were selling organs for more than what it cost to procure them.

On invoices, Planned Parenthood substituted the words”per consent” in place of “per specimen,” to hide the fact they were indeed selling organs. They also double-charged buyers for organs, charging a $25 “consent obtained” fee for every woman who consented to supply baby organs regardless of whether they were actually able to harvest organs from it. They also charged an additional $150 “consent payment” for each harvestable organ obtained.

Financial documents CMP obtained from a Public Information Act request show that the nation’s largest abortion provider used this billing system on the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) for taxpayer-funded research projects.

Between 2010 and 2011, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast charged UTMB for 32 “consents obtained” and 25 “consent payments,” totaling more than $8,000 in taxpayer funds.

“The evidence that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast charged exorbitant amounts of taxpayer money in exchange for fetal specimens that it provided at nearly zero cost is overwhelming,” said CMP’s David Daleiden in a press release. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

There is a video available in the article of Farrell, and you can click here to go watch it.

This is abhorrent. Absolutely abhorrent. It is far past time for this organization to be held to account for its illegal, immoral, unethical behavior. The clock should be ticking on this organization receiving NO MORE TAX PAYER MONEY. Until then, they need to have their feet held to the fire, and that means the media needs to stop covering up for these butchers.

The clock is ticking…

This is an Open Thread.

Tags: Bernie Sanders, Dr. Ben Carson, Hillary Clinton, Planned Parenthood video, Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz, US Debt Clock