Pun Salad

But have I said that before? Probably. Here's the New International Version:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

But the Bible Gateway has you covered if you'd like to see different ways of putting that. (Do not miss "The Message" version!)

Anyway: To go along with Mr. Ramirez's cartoon, we have Ramesh Ponnuru's take on Bernie's recent proposal. And (surprise) it involves giving the government more money and power: This absurd Social Security plan would take down progressives with it. (WaPo gifted link)

By the way: The party-poopers at the "Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget" crunched the numbers, and eliminating the tax cap would "extend solvency by just 21 years". (I.e., instead of going broke in 7 years, it would go broke in 28 years.)

Also of note:

• Eschew numeric illiteracy! Take Ben Cohen's interactive challenge: You Have No Idea What a Trillion Dollars Is—and We Have Proof.

  That's a considerable amount of sobering fun, but for more sobriety and less fun, see Cameron Ewine at Unseen and Unsaid: Billion Dollar Rescissions Won’t Fix the Trillion Dollar Debt Problem.

  The United States’ gross federal debt of 39 trillion dollars has become so incomprehensibly large that many citizens and politicians alike now simply choose to ignore it. To put 39 trillion dollars into perspective, if every citizen, baby and grandma alike, paid their share of the debt, we would each owe roughly $114,000. All the while, with this looming debt rain cloud overhead, the current administration’s spending cuts target relatively small discretionary programs while allowing the largest spending categories to balloon in size.

  In FY2025 the federal government spent 7 trillion and brought in only 5.8 trillion in revenue. That 1.2 trillion-dollar gap is larger than the GDP of all but 19 countries. But instead of trying to rework the main drivers of debt such as entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, our current government sticks to either targeting smaller, politically motivated cuts like the ones in the recent Rescissions Act of 2025 or performs fiscal judo in order to move spending from one area to another in disguise as budget cuts.

  The next time some pol proposes expropriating Elon Musk to pay for all sorts of goodies trickling down from the governmental teat, you can always point out that $7 trillion dollar yearly spending that hasn't done the trick of solving all our problems.

• Did I mention that there's nothing new under the sun? Twenty years ago (June 18, 2006), Pun Salad invited readers to Meet the New Direction, Same as the Old Direction.

  So the Republicans have shown themselves to be largely incapable of spending restraint. Given the chance, they wet the bed on deficit reduction. They don't respect the First Amendment. They're unreliable friends of the free market. They love to stick the nose of the Federal Government into places in which it doesn't belong. And they love to stick the nose of the Federal Government into places in which it doesn't belong. And (did I mention?) they love to stick the nose of the Federal Government into places in which it doesn't belong. I could go on, but you get the point.

  All this makes me say to myself: time to become a Democrat. Then something happens to make me aware of the major flaw in that plan, which is: Democrats.

  The latest data point is the much-ballyhooed brand-spankin-new effort by the Democrats to put forward their 2006 manifesto, dubbed "A New Direction for America". This being Pun Salad, the first thing we must point out is: that title is a Emily Litella bit just waiting to happen. It's also very recycled, having been tried both by Dennis Kucinich and John Kerry during the 2004 election cycle.

  Most, if not all, of those links have rotted away. But the Wayback Machine squirreled away Nancy Pelosi's original "New Direction for America" press release, and check out the promises!

  Make Health Care More Affordable: Fix the prescription drug program by putting people ahead of drug companies and HMO’s, eliminating wasteful subsidies, negotiating lower drug prices and ensuring the program works for all seniors; invest in stem cell and other medical research.

  Lower Gas Prices and Achieve Energy Independence: Crack down on price gouging; eliminate billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop American alternatives, including biofuels; promote energy efficient technology.

  Help Working Families: Raise the minimum wage; repeal tax giveaways that encourage companies to move jobs overseas.

  Cut College Costs: Make college tuition deductible from taxes; expand Pell grants and slash student loan costs.

  Ensure Dignified Retirement: Prevent the privatization of Social Security; expand savings incentives; and ensure pension fairness.

  Require Fiscal Responsibility: Restore the budget discipline of the 1990s that helped eliminate deficits and spur record economic growth.

  Wikipedia has the results: "In a political revolution that ended more than a decade of Republican rule, the Democratic Party was swept into majorities of both chambers of Congress, governorships, and state legislatures. These elections were widely categorized as a Democratic wave."

  And all of that stuff Nancy promised was quickly accomplished!