It’s not gridlock, it’s collapse

Here’s a proposition: It is immoral to make individuals (no matter how wealthy) pay any more in taxes if those “revenues” are not part of a serious plan that will make an appreciable reduction in the deficit. Stop talking about spending, since no one uninfected by Beltway Syndrome (B.S., for short) seriously believes there will ever be any reduction. Instead, go back to the old, yet morally sound strategy of starving the beast (the same holds true for Obamacare). Where is the principled conservative argument against wasting the fruits of people’s livelihoods? Maybe we need reeducation in old aphorisms such as “don’t pour good money after bad.” Where is the basic understanding that each individual will make significant choices to reduce spending, take on new debt, stop working, work harder, or whatever, based on how they must deal with the burden of new payments to the government? What government “leader” has even a basic appreciation of the effect of higher taxes on economic life in the aggregate? They can talk for years about the macro issue, but are silent on the micro issue.

All that may sound too simplistic to political and economic experts, but we have crossed the Rubicon of political reality. The president holds a cheerleading session to ridicule Congress, not one plan offered makes even the smallest dent in our economic disaster, cynical political ploys by Harry Reid torpedo possible agreements — all these petty politicians fiddle while America burns. And then, we’re supposed to believe that a last-second deal responsibly solves the problem from a bunch of bickerers who had months (years, really) to tackle the issue?

Our crisis is political, not economic.