With our collective noses pressed against the debt ceiling (we rrrrreally mean it this time), our Nation finds itself entering an abyss. One can already see the effects of this standoff in this piece. We have to ration, and I was running out of “reallies” to fit into the opening sentence. In addition to that, our readers will be enjoying (how presumptuous) this edition a day later than usual because DC was working through the weekend.
Back to the serious business at hand. Yours truly once wrote in “Saving Paul Ryan” that a compromise would be reached. The existence of our Nation as constituted is a giant compromise. In “Shattering the Debt Ceiling” I noted that the current administration is obsessed with omnibus packages. It seemed tailor-made for President Obama to sign “Cut, Cap, and Balance,” which is a mutation of the previously passed Ryan budget. But this is Washington, and passing that plan means someone else wins (that “someone else” being people domiciled outside of I-495).
Without even addressing meaningful tax reform “Cut, Cap, and Balance” was actually a compromise in and of itself. Its passage came with a raising of the debt ceiling that so many have misidentified as being the root of our ills. The cuts would have only taken back over a decade what was being given right away. The caps would have hitched DC spending to GDP’s wagon, ensuring that the public sector doesn’t eat away the private sector in a down economy. Bear in mind that DC spending is 25 percent of a stagnant GDP. The balance portion of this equation would likely put this issue to rest, with a concession to account for wartime expenditures and natural disasters.
Meaningful tax reform would have be part of such an arrangement. If spending is tied to GDP, then a growing economy gives Washington a license to increase spending. That spending would have to be matched with revenue to keep the budget balanced. So the treasured tax increases would just come naturally.
So just who is stuck in their ideology? Was this really about “doing something big” or was it about a poll tested appeal to class? As of this writing, it looks like the only thing big will be the excess of $2 trillion that DC will grant itself to solidify its prior allocations. The cuts will only get us back to square one, ten years later. Then future administrations can do this dance again. Well perhaps not. I’m sure that future Presidents will try to bring fiscal sanity to DC. And they’ll really, really, really, really mean it.
More Silliness: The much-maligned tea party caucus has been seen as the source of much silliness in DC. These are the folks who brought us Christine O’Donnell. If Troup’s Corner had existed during the election, yours truly would have proposed that we take stimulus funds to build a bridge out of her (first one to get this joke wins the Internet!) Do you see what this silliness has done to me?
All kidding aside, there is actually a defense to be made for their caucus. NBC’s Chuck Todd was noting that many in this caucus were unwavering in their dissatisfaction of the “Boehner/Reid/Obama” Kabuki bill. He seemed to express his own frustration that none of these Representatives were willing to take part in earmark back scratching, committee chair promises, or fundraising partnerships. So wait, not acquiescing to the series of “compromises” that gave us this $16 trillion liability is a bad thing? The media has lost it (did they ever have it?)
Then there is the former nominee for President of the United States. On the Senate floor, Senator McCain read an article from the “Wall Street Journal” that called the tea party caucus “hobbits.” Could someone tap the Senator on the shoulder and remind him who his running mate was in 2008? Love her or hate her, the Senator should recognize her energy was a contributing factor to the 2010 elections. Without those elections, it would just be more of the same in DC. This is something he supposedly despised three years ago. The maverick likes to have his cake and eat it too.
Speaking of Insanity: I was in a file room this past week, which allows me the luxury of listening to music while I work. This week’s selection was Brian Wilson’s “Smile” sessions. I couldn’t help but tie some of the titles into the events of the day. “Heroes and Villains” could be any number of people, depending on your political persuasion. “Roll Plymouth Rock” sounds a lot like taking constitutional powers and handing them to a politburo to decide what stays and what goes. “He Gives Speeches” is about a guy always on the television telling people to do “something,” but declares any “something” passed to date to be DOA. One thing I know – I’m not picking up “Good Vibrations.”
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