As someone who understands the pressures and difficulties you have been going through, I want to say, “Congratulations.” You won, and so did the country.
Absent some major miscalculations, within the next few days there will be official acknowledgement of what has already happened.
Advertisement
At the beginning of the debt-ceiling debate, a realistic, optimistic outcome essentially would have been this: The Republicans would take the initiative and put their plan before the American people. The debt-ceiling increase would be accompanied by corresponding spending cuts. There would be no new taxes. You would drive a hard bargain in the face of unrelenting presidential and Democratic demagoguery — some of it on national television — drawing the attention and focus of the American people to the truth about our country’s fiscal and economic situation. Sure, people would initially ask, “Why are the Republicans now willing to take this thing to the wire when a debt-limit increase has usually been pro forma?” But at the end of the day, more Americans than ever before would understand what is going to happen to us as a country if we continue our current path.
In this optimistic scenario, President Obama’s duplicity would become apparent, and he’d be politically diminished as a result. With his eyes firmly fixed on his own reelection, his political journey would take him from first, calling for a budget with billions in new spending, to second, demanding a “clean” debt-limit bill with no cuts, to third, a proposal for a “big deal,” including vague promises of trillions in spending cuts, to fourth — in order to ensure that such a deal was never accepted — making a demand for billions in additional “revenues” over and above what he previously agreed to accept.
Still, you would stand firm. The president would have miscalculated, a strategic blunder that, along with his petulance, left him marginalized. Obama would make a transparent scramble to get back to the head of the parade. There would be last-minute plans and rejections, but, at the end of the day, the president and the Senate Democrats would reveal that they are willing to do almost anything to push the debt-ceiling limit past the next election, thereby avoiding having to face the electorate again on this issue.
My friends, within the next few days, all of this will have happened. I respectfully suggest that you rake in your chips, stuff them in your pockets, and tell the dealer to deal the next hand.
“Is this the best deal we could have obtained?” you might ask. I suggest that you don’t run the risk of finding out.
Yes, it’s true that the White House is using overwrought and misleading implications, and we’re still a long way from default. But do you really want to spend the next several months going on record as to which discretionary-spending programs (including the military) the administration should cut as much as 20, 30, or 40 percent? This is not the way to downsize. The political process won’t tolerate it, in part because this approach would require you to ask the American people to put aside their proclivity for divided government and trust Republicans to govern for the next couple of decades, which is what it will take to get us out of this mess. Taking huge, unnecessary risks like this is not consistent with long-term political success.
Yes, perhaps S&P and Moody’s are being manipulated and apparently have newly found religion regarding our long-term fiscal prospects. But by their own criteria, they should already have downgraded the United States, because until now, we have not shown the political will to address entitlements. No one knows what a downgrade will cause. The behavior of bond and stock markets is based in large part upon perception. Historically, even relatively small financial events have had unforeseen consequences. So have large ones. Conservatives, especially, should be mindful of unintended consequences.
I am remindful of Winston Churchill's post World War 2 comment about the attitude of the victorious Allies in 1919. "We were so bloated and glutted with victory we threw it all away.
Right said, Fred! Tea Party: Speaker Boehner has earned our trust and deserves our full support! Rep Bachmann please be big enough to change your mind and vote for this! On to the next battle . . .
For WHAT? Giving Obama what he really wanted after he (Obama) tossed in the poison pill of tax increases as a throwaway? Not being canny enough to throw in his OWN poison pill tradeoffs? Hardly cutting any spending at all on the front end?
Boehner's plan is a surrender. Thompson is wrong. Simply dead wrong when you look at the facts. This is a loss. ANOTHER failure of the Republicans to do WHAT THEY WERE ELECTED IN NOVEMBER TO DO!!!
I believe I know what Thompson is getting at. There is some of Thompson's elder statesman wisdom here: in that it's our (GOP) deal, we set the adjenda given we only control the House, and the president and his party will pay a political price for his inaction and lack of vision.
Also:
Is the Speaker's deal the best deal? No, but that's politics. Will we get everything we want, probably not, but that too is part and parcel of the political game that must be played to give Obama the little brother style wet willie he so justly deserves.
For my part, I know the risk in taking a stand when the odds are not in your favor, and I know the wisdom of living to fight another day. What I'm not sure of is if this is a win or not. If it's a perceived win by our side, is it truly a win? If it's our current political/news cycle win, is it a real win for the future - as it pertains to the debt ceiling issue?
This makes sense. A future item on the agenda is to deal with this question ... Would anyone notice if we eliminated the Department of Interior, Labor, Transportation,Education, etc... ? What do employees in the Dept of Transportation do all day? My bet is that your typical guy works 9 to 4 and takes a 2 hour lunch. His work consists of meetings and latte breaks.
Well said, Senator. To carlosincal: Elimination of the EPA and the NLRB would provide an immedicate boost to the US economy, along with energy, interior (especially USFS), and education.
This is a rarity--me disagreeing with Fred Thompson on anything.
No. The House Republicans' position should be that they passed a debt celing increase in cut, cap, and balance, and the senate and President can take it or leave it. That's it.
Move over, Van. I'll help you row this boat.
To me this is like having to have some much needed dental work done - we're going to have to endure some pain, but we'll be better for it in the end.
The GOP needs to look like the adults in the room. This is just one battle in a long, long struggle. Take a reasonable bill and get it through, one that shows the public we need to steadily manage ourselves out of this mess.
The era of Big Spending needs to be over, but it will take the support of a strong majority of voters and control of the WH and Congress.
Remember 2010? It happened because we the people were sick of what Obama and the democrats were doing.
The GOP won the House to stop the spending and repeal the unread bills.
The democrats never compromise or work with the other side. When they win, they shut out the other side, when they lose, they whine the other side should compromise. With a complicit media.
"A problem of this size can be dealt with only by persuading the American people what must be done on a consistent basis over a long period of time."
Exactly. The binge started before Obama won the White House, regrettably; it won't end by passing one bill. Withdrawal from an addiction takes time to work.
Let's trumpet the Speaker's plan as a step in the right direction, and then persuade the people that we'll take more steps in the right direction only if they elect more of us to congress and the White House.
In my opinion, by the way, I think the Speaker has shown himself to be earnest and sincere in this struggle, especially when compared to Obama and Reid. With Democrats creating the specter of a "shutdown" and "default", all with the purpose of making Boehner look like Gingrich, he's come through in very, very good shape. He's the leader of our party heading into 2012, and I'm increasingly glad of it.
Unfortunately, it's NOT a step in the right direction. It's not even a stumble in the right direction. It's business as usual and it gives Obama what he wanted: a debt ceilign increase with meaningless non-cuts attached.
Perhaps you would agree to run for Vice President on a Bachmann-Thompson ticket, Senator. She has many strengths and you would counter-balance her few weaknesses.
No compromise. The republicans were voted in to stop the bleeding and repeal the horrific unread bills, not compromise.
Stand up for what the people put you in to do.
What Fred only eludes to is that, like in the 1980's, holding the White House is required to enact seismic legislation. So at minimum, we need another election (2012) and a Reagan-like Conservative President to lead the change.
This artificial crisis, ginned up by the Obama reelection regime, has become a huge political and media disaster - FOR THEM - damaging their ambitions and enhancing ours, splintering the left and opening the eyes of millions (Independents-Reagan Democrats)to how massive and devastating the Pelosi/Reid/Obama spending binge has been.
I have been inclined to let the date pass with no deal for 2 reasons:
1) Because it would force some hard cuts in the real problem we are facing - a government that is too big.
2) Because the media bullies - including the complicit so called rating agencies, need a bloody nose.
I think however, their self inflicted wounds are already massive enough to agree with Mr. Thompson's thesis.
It took over 30 years to get into this mess. It won't be cured in one election cycle. Expect a slower trajectory to balance than is desired by Tea Party types. But that doesn't detract from the fact that triumph clearly belongs to the grass roots Tea Party movement. It caused the country to focus on and no longher ignore the unsustainable debt.
Let's be honest and say that the Republicans going back to Reagan also let it happen. Sure Reagan got the tax rates down but he did precious little to rein in spending. Congressional Republicans were just as eager to spend as their Democrat colleagues. David Stockman said as much in his revealing book that I read many years ago. And George W was no slouch when it came to spending as well.
But this time it should be different because the Republicans, thanks to the Tea Party will be held accountable to keep pressure on reducing the size and cost of the government and to finally attack the so-called third rail of American politics.
Follow
