

The White House Finally Takes an Actual STAND on Something That Was Not Dictated by Tim Geithner or the National Security Brotherhood. And It’s the Ethical Position in the Controversy, to Boot!


This isn’t trivial. One of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met was a waggly-tailed white pit bull that a neighbor of a friend of mine found roaming the street. As soon as the sweetie saw you approaching, she’d wag her tail excitedly and then lie down on her back to invite you to rub her belly.

These dog-breed-ban statutes are abominable.  Now, a Tim-Geithner -White-House-ban statute would be another thing entirely. Maybe when Congress returns after Labor Day?

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#RoryCooperLogic: Rory Cooper (whoever HE is) announced on Twitter that he and his wife have decided to pay off their mortgage and pay their own or their kids’ entire college debt, NOW!*

I have no idea who Rory Cooper is.  But in light of Matthew Yglesias’s quoting of three Twitter comments by Cooper today, I can sort of guess:

Rory Cooper @rorycooper

You don’t want to reduce the debt just for the sake of reducing the debt. #WhiteHouseLogic

Rory Cooper @rorycooper

You don’t want to balance your checkbook just for the sake of balancing your checkbook.

Rory Cooper @rorycooper

WH advisor @pfieffer this morning: “You don’t want to balance the budget for the purposes of simply balancing the budget.”  Um…

No, what you do want is to take the word “balance” and pretend that as long as you use that word twice in sentences purporting to draw an analogy, you can fool at least some of the people all the time, however patent the idiocy of the claim.  If you’re a Republican, that is.

An imperfect, but at least more factually accurate, analogy to balancing the federal budget is balancing your (or your family’s) overall finances.  Balancing your checkbook?  What does balancing your checkbook even have to DO with ANYTHING other than making sure you have enough money into your CHECKING ACCOUNT to cover the purchases and bills you’re CURRENTLY using that checking account to pay?

So I have a suggestion for the White House, and specifically for @pfeiffer: Why not ask @rorycooper whether he thinks paying his entire mortgage, any car loans he has, and any college-loan debt he and his wife have, NOW?  Or maybe, whether his kids should refrain from taking out college loans and forgo college unless their mom and dad can pay their college expenses, NOW?  Or unless their job at McDonalds takes care of it.

Pay up NOW, kids! Or parents! And pay off that mortgage now, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper!  
And, yes, you do want to balance your checkbook, but not just for the sake of balancing your checkbook. More like, for the sake of not having to pay a late payment on your mortgage or car loan, and not having your utilities cut off. What this has to do with balancing the federal budget, I wouldn’t know.  

But next time the congressional Republicans refuse to agree to a debt ceiling hike, which in fact is like overdrafting on your checking account, Rory Cooper will surely tweet about the analogy. 

Check in then at @rorycooper. The hashtag will be #RoryCooperLogic.

*Post and title edited for typos and clarity , 4/4.
