Make a deficit deal now
There has even been talk of going over the fiscal cliff to potentially strengthen each side’s bargaining position. Going over the cliff, though, would mean betting the country on the hope that the other side will back down before it is too late. That’s a bet we shouldn’t take. The risk is simply too high. …
But simply punting on the fiscal cliff and continuing to add to the debt would be an even bigger mistake. It would show markets we cannot put our financial house in order. Instead of using this moment as leverage to score political points, our elected leaders should seize the opportunity to finally address the long-term imbalance between government spending and revenue, and to prevent a future debt-induced economic crisis.
What does that alternative look like? We already have the blueprints.
It’s the type of bipartisan package toward which the fiscal commission I co-chaired with former senator Alan Simpson, the Domenici-Rivlin group, the Senate’s “Gang of Six” and the Obama-Boehner negotiations all worked. It’s a package large enough to put the debt on a clear downward path, relative to the economy, and designed well enough to promote, rather than disrupt, economic growth. It’s a package that includes real spending cuts and structural entitlement reforms to make Social Security solvent while slowing the growth of federal health spending while protecting vulnerable populations. And it’s a package that institutes fundamental tax reform that simplifies the code and encourages economic growth by cutting spending in the tax code to reduce rates and generate additional revenue for deficit reduction.
Blowback
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You seem to have a reading comprehension problem.
Most of us are supporting your party in this, we want the demorats to pass everything, every bill, keep every promise they made to you and the rest of those who voted for the Dog Eater. The GOP should move aside and make no effort to impede the machinations of the demorat party in any way on any issue.
You want higher taxes? Done. Higher minimum wage? Done. Full implementation of ObamaCare? Done. Redistributive policies? Done. Gun control, amnesty for illegals, gay marriage? Done. Done. Done.
See you in 2016.
Bishop on November 8, 2012 at 11:04 AM
There’s nothing we can do to stop it, other than inserting riders into funding bills to overturn them, and then having Zero set them aside with “Signing statements”.
Don’t just lay back and let it happen, even though it’s going to happen anyway. Take a long view and fight to show the difference between the ideologies of small-government conservatism and progressivism. Even though we will fail in those efforts because we don’t hold the executive branch, we need to make those losses meaningful in order to have a truthful response to the BS of “both parties are just the same”. If we lay back and let it happen for spite, the end result is still the optics of “both parties are the same”.
What utter crap.
lyons8804 on November 8, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Simple solution. Every republican should vote present. Make dems own it. Obama got away with voting present and so can they.
mrscullen on November 8, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Debt is good and healthy. It’s what allows people to buy houses that they couldn’t otherwise buy. It allows businesses to build things it couldn’t otherwise create. It’s called financing. A borrower with the size and revenue of the U.S. can take on an enormous amount of healthy debt. Of course, any borrower has a maximum, and at some point the debt gets too big in proportion to income. But when you’re on the verge of financial collapse, the system needs liquidity, which is obtained by injections of cash into the system. We need long-term spending reductions and short-term spending until we get out of the slump. When times are good, we need fiscal discipline, which we achieved briefly in the ’90s and lost after the turn of the century.
Alpha_Male on November 8, 2012 at 11:09 AM
Thank you for demonstrating that Dems/Marxists are liars. We’re not saying NO. We’re saying YES. You want higher taxes? YES. You want the price of electricity to skyrocket? YES. You want to raise the debt limit? YES. You want to force everyone to use green energy? YES.
I want the GOP to be the party of YES DEAR, WHATEVER YOU SAY, DEAR, JUST REMEMBER THAT WE DON’T STAND FOR ANY OF THIS, BUT THIS IS WHAT YOU VOTED FOR, SO TAKE IT AND EAT IT.
The Rogue Tomato on November 8, 2012 at 11:13 AM
Seems to be working out great for Spain & Greece.
Can you tell me your educational background and age please?
Ca97 on November 8, 2012 at 11:16 AM
It’s your side who consistently wants no compromise. Your idea of “bipartisanship” is Repiublicans giving you everything you want, but you don’t have to do the same, and get to scream “party of NO” even if they do. Boehner risked considerable capital last year, gave the President the “revenues” he wanted, and he walked, all because you and your side cannot allow the Republicans to get even partial credit for anything. You did the same thing during the amnesty fight in 2007 because the Republicans could not be allowed to do it. And still you didn’t do it the last 4 years, when you could (and did) pass legislation without a sliver of republican input or support. You don’t want the solutions, you want the problems. That way you can keep voters in your pockets. I see no good faith to acknowledge.
JeffWeimer on November 8, 2012 at 11:18 AM
Umm.. 16 trillion in debt isn’t healthy. But hey we support you on demanding huge tax increases. I think that all the Bush tax increases should expire so that the people get what they voted for. I’m sure that all the 47% that doesn’t pay taxes will love the fact that they finally have to pitch in.
Illinidiva on November 8, 2012 at 11:18 AM
I am not sure that $15 trillion can be considered “healthy” for the nation. A. Hamilton is rolling over in his grave.
cyclown on November 8, 2012 at 11:18 AM
Elementary, my dear Watson.
The Rogue Tomato on November 8, 2012 at 11:22 AM
we need fiscal discipline, which we achieved briefly in the ’90s and lost after the turn of the century.
the only reason the economy was good in the 90′s was because of the dot com bubble, and the only reason we had that bubble is because the fed gov didnt regulate or tax eccommerce at that time so venture capitalists invested most of their money in the dot coms. CLINTON/GORE played no part in the good 90′s economy, other than just keeping their hands off of it and the only reason that happened is because the republican congress prevented them.
ChunkyLover on November 8, 2012 at 11:23 AM
16 trillion? The national debt is schedule to hit 19.3 trillion about July of next year.
Let’s put that into historical perspective for alpha: When Dubya presided over a deficit of $450 billion the demorats, including Dog Eater, screamed that national suicide was near, that society was on the verge of collapse.
It’s now $4 trillion under Bark and apparently this is “healthy”.
Bishop on November 8, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Which is why your idea of a coherent plan was Big Bird, binders, and birth control.
Which is why you sh*t your pants on the Senate floor telling lies about Mitt Romney’s tax returns while pushing for the re-election of proven tax cheats Rangel, McCaskill, and Sherrod Brown.
Which is why you are screaming, kicking, and flinging poo to block a congressional investigation into just exactly why your Obama pressured the government into rewriting the Solyndra deal to make sure that taxpayers, not his cronies, ate every single penny when that singing-showers debacle collapsed into a smoking hole in Fremont.
What you are p*ssing yourself over now is that you never thought we would actually tell you to shoot the hostages. You thought you could threaten, bully, and browbeat us into accepting your rules, your definitions, and your continued lies and financial chicanery.
What we the producers have realized is that we are much better equipped to ride out a crash than you moochers are.
You don’t have the capability to live without handouts or welfare checks. You don’t even know how to rent an apartment, buy a phone, and pay for your own insurance; the government has done it for you your entire life. For a fatass like yourself whose idea of suffering was when the AFDC check was a day late and whose idea of hard work is actually adding water to a Kool-Aid packet instead of just buying it premixed, the thought of the EBT card suddenly quitting means starvation.
Furthermore, despite your constant repeating of the lie that the Bush tax cuts only applied to “the rich”, you know that you are looking at a 5 to 10% rate increase in YOUR taxes if the Obama tax hike is implemented.
In short, let it burn. I agree; Boehner and the Republicans should give Obama every last thing he wanted. Full repeal of the Bush tax cuts, full sequestration, and carbon taxes. Let him drive up gas to $7 a gallon, let him put the union coal miners in Pennsylvania and Ohio out of business and cause manufacturing plants everywhere in the country to vanish as electricity bills triple.
Because I am much more confident in my ability to survive that than you are.
northdallasthirty on November 8, 2012 at 11:31 AM
Hear hear jeffw
Spot on
cmsinaz on November 8, 2012 at 11:37 AM
That brought a tear to my eye.
If I was young, female, and fertile I would offer to have your baby.
Bishop on November 8, 2012 at 11:40 AM
exactly, this is the second time coal workers have burned us after we warned them what was coming, so unleash hell on them give the EPA what it wants
ChunkyLover on November 8, 2012 at 11:43 AM
Where’s a strong, simple, powerful, principled message like: “the national debt is already too high — and 1/3 of it is Obama’s alone — and it’s not going any higher on our watch”?
cthulhu on November 8, 2012 at 11:44 AM
S
Sorry the voters took a piss on that notion.
ChunkyLover on November 8, 2012 at 11:49 AM
Thank you. There’s one other problem that would run into, though…
northdallasthirty on November 8, 2012 at 11:50 AM
I live in Colorado the voters are more happy about legalized MJ than they are about the debt.
ChunkyLover on November 8, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Oh.
Ok…I would offer to help you produce a baby.
Bishop on November 8, 2012 at 11:53 AM
sorry should read:
I live in Colorado the voters are more happy about legalized MJ than they care about the debt.
ChunkyLover on November 8, 2012 at 11:53 AM
I’m not convinced letting it burn is really the answer. I don’t think Americans are smart enough to see causation anymore. The politicians who made the mess in Washington are the same ones reelected time and time again to fix the mess. The voters are not even smart enough to vote out the proven scoundrels. Is it because they don’t know what and who they are, or do they do know and don’t care?
Keep in mind that Cloward-Piven is what some of them want. And they figure they will be the ones to pick up the pieces when it all falls down. Where does that leave us?
No, the correct strategy is to oppose them at every turn in order to illustrate the consequences of their actions to educate Americans about their policies. We must continue to offer solutions even when we know they will not be adopted. At best, we can only slow the collapse, but at least we will look like a credible alternative assuming the citizenry is paying attention.
One question in my mind is, will be eventually look like Canada or Great Britian, where the parties squabble over who can best manage the mammoth bureaucracy, but things will lumber along for at least another 100 years? Or will we spend ourselves into oblivion quickly and see the country burn in our lifetimes?
stvnscott on November 8, 2012 at 11:58 AM
I agree, but the GOP enables that by allowing themselves to be cast as the party of “No”. So become the party of “yes” to everything the Dems want. Then the Dems can’t blame the ensuing disaster on Republicans blocking their wonderful plans.
It leaves us with proof. The irony of Cloward-Piven is that it is designed to destroy capitalism by overwhelming the system with socialism. I don’t think Cloward and Piven thought it through. When things start falling apart, it should be obvious that it was socialism, not capitalism that caused the problems. Should be. Will be? Dunno.
The Rogue Tomato on November 8, 2012 at 12:06 PM
I disagree. All that does is manage the decline. The only way these people will see consequences of their actions is not pointing it out, but letting these people live through what they just did.
They earned it, let em have it.
Ca97 on November 8, 2012 at 12:09 PM
this is why we need a true conservative to lead the party – and that isn’t Boehner..
PALIN 2016
ChuckTX on November 8, 2012 at 12:23 PM
As much as I love Palin, the media narrative of her is already set in stone. Granite.
We are far better off with Rubio for numerous reasons, and what he needs to be doing right now is getting his name on some legislation. If Zero and dingy Harry are serious about immigration reform, the only way to get the House on board will be with strict border enforcement and employer penalties. Let Rubio co-sponsor the Senate version of the bill, which will then help the GOP neutralize the Hispanic gap in 2016.
lyons8804 on November 8, 2012 at 12:34 PM
Yeah.. Because of his skin color and Spanish fluency and ability to give a variation on the same speech.. Important stuff… But I do agree with you about Palin. She’s toxic.
Illinidiva on November 8, 2012 at 1:03 PM
I don’t think I expressed my thought clearly. The people will see the inevitable consequences, because we cannot effectively stop the progressive agenda. Meanwhile, we move to oppose the progressives strongly at every turn to create contrast.
And yes. Palin, as much as I like her, is irrecoverably done.
stvnscott on November 8, 2012 at 1:27 PM
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