[Newsbot]

Title: Honduras in chaos: gov't can't pay bills, neglects basic services
Category: World
Posted By: Strutz
Date: 2013-01-24 19:59:53

[xerxes]

Sounds like a Tea Party paradise.

[DanSC]

xerxes xerxes:

Sounds like a Tea Party paradise.

How so? From the article...

$1:

Former presidential candidate and legislator Olban Valladares charged that much of the public money has indeed gone into campaigns ahead of November's elections, in which the president, mayors and 128 congressional representatives will be elected.

I haven't heard any Tea Party proponents call for spending vast amounts of the government's revenue on political campaigns.

[xerxes]

True. I was thinking more of the lack of a functioning government.

[DanSC]

xerxes xerxes:

True. I was thinking more of the lack of a functioning government.

It just seems that a government that spends so much money on frivolous things that it becomes irrelevant is exactly what the Tea Party doesn't want.

[kilroy]

DanSC DanSC:

xerxes xerxes:

True. I was thinking more of the lack of a functioning government.

It just seems that a government that spends so much money on frivolous things that it becomes irrelevant is exactly what the Tea Party doesn't want.

I spent some time in Honduras in the early seventies, if there has been some services to cut back on lately that was a big improvement.

I suppose it depends on the definition of frivolous. Some would think that making perpetual war would be a frivolous gesture, giving large subsidies to pharmaceutical and Agrichemical and oil companies would be frivolous. And yet these seem to be the things the Tea party is supporting.

[bootlegga]

DanSC DanSC:

xerxes xerxes:

Sounds like a Tea Party paradise.

How so?

$1:

This Central American country has been on the brink of bankruptcy for months, as lawmakers put off passing a budget necessary to pay for basic government services.

[DanSC]

bootlegga bootlegga:

DanSC DanSC:

xerxes xerxes:

Sounds like a Tea Party paradise.

How so?

$1:

This Central American country has been on the brink of bankruptcy for months, as lawmakers put off passing a budget necessary to pay for basic government services.

Right now all U.S. budget bills are stalled in the Senate.

[BartSimpson]

xerxes xerxes:

Sounds like a Tea Party paradise.

How so? The country is predominantly center-left with the 'opposition' being far left.

Also, I have friends who are missionaries down there.

http://www.pettengillmissionaries.org/

Mike and Erin tell stories about how the leftism and statism more or less prevent anyone from accomplishing too much down there in terms of building up the economy. Their medical clinic has been praised by the local and national government but at the same time they run into problems trying to secure building materials and etc. given that mindnumbing layers of regulation have to be satisfied in order to get anything done. Of course, there's also the graft and bribery that is typical of every other Latin American regime save for Costa Rica.

To their credit, the Hondurans are trying to build a better future and it seems that the different political factions are cooperating more in the wake of the near attempt at dictatorship by former president Zelaya. The simple fact that they're being honest about their finances is a sign of progress.

[bootlegga]

DanSC DanSC:

bootlegga bootlegga:

DanSC DanSC:

Xerxes said

"Sounds like a Tea Party paradise."


How so?

$1:

This Central American country has been on the brink of bankruptcy for months, as lawmakers put off passing a budget necessary to pay for basic government services.

Right now all U.S. budget bills are stalled in the Senate.

Look back to previous budget hold-ups (December and the August 2011) and there is one common theme...

Already Republicans are planning their next budget hostage event;

$1:

Other Republicans warned that as they did in 2011, they'll be demanding additional cuts before they agree to raise the federal cap on borrowing.

"The president has maxed out his credit card, and he is not going to get an unlimited credit card," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, told CNN. "We're going to talk specifically about cuts and specifically focused on tax reform as well as helping to save and strengthen Medicare and Social Security. And that's the next discussion we're going to have in Washington."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/politics/ ... index.html

But hey, bury your head in the sand if that's what you prefer.

[DanSC]

That's different from passing a budget.

[BartSimpson]

Boots, Senator Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada) has been holding up all of the budget bills for over three years.

The debt ceiling is yet another opportunity for Republicans to ask for sincere spending cuts from the Democrats who keep putting off such discussions by calling the Republicans 'hostage takers'.

Well, what choice do the Republicans have on that when Harry Reid won't allow any budget bills to be voted up or down on the floor of the Senate?