One of the depressing features of the Republican party is the way they get suckered time and again into playing on Democrats’ terms. The pathetic spectacle of grown men and women sitting around in meetings trying to agree on “grand bargains” to save $43.7 bazillion in federal spending by 2023 before an allegedly looming deadline of August 2nd is almost too perfect a snapshot of Washington stupidity.
The rest of the world isn’t looking for a grand bargain by August 2nd. And it knows enough about the decadent state of U.S. law-making to know that any such bargain would be voted through unread and begin to unravel by sun up on the 3rd. And getting Republicans to explain that not to worry, they’re not pushing seniors off the cliff immediately – that existing grampas will be grandfathered in — is a way to make the whole debt debate toxic. If we have to pretend that August 2nd is any kind of deadline, why don’t we simplify matters?
Here’s a newspaper headline from a yellowing cutting I found up in the attic:
U.S. Budget Deficit Hits Record $438 Billion For Year
Boy, those were the days! Flappers in rumble seats, wind-up victrolas, and deficits you could measure in billions. A more innocent age, lost in the mists of time. Gosh, you’d have to be pushing, oh, twelve even to remember it.
$438 billion was the record-breaking federal deficit in 2008. That’s all of three years ago. In 2011, it’s getting on four times as big. What’s that got to do with anything happening in 2023?
Obama did that. The Democrats did that. “Trillion” is their word. They mainstreamed it, and very effectively, in nothing flat. But it’s not a fact of life. It’s a fact of their life, and they should be on the defensive about it. What do we have to show for the trillionization of government? The dead-parrot economy, the underwater property market, the flatline jobs market. But lots more bureaucracy and regulation.
Obama wants to demonize “millionaires”? Who’s he kidding? He and Harry Reid and Barney Frank are the first trillionaire politicians in American history, and they want us to accept that as the new baseline. Getting Republicans to sit around concocting meaningless plans for a decade hence is a good way to do it.
That Barney Frank isn't in jail tells you all you need to know about Washington D.C. I heard some Republicans use the
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"r" word today. Revenues, the Democrat euphemism for taxes.
I saw that in a quote yesterday. A Republican talking about "increased revenues."
If you needed any further confirmation that the Republicans and Democrats are two cheeks of the same aresenaux, there you go.
Hunker down, people. We are being sold as chattel.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt is getting to the point where the election in 2012 may not even matter. Nothing the GOP does in his situation will be painted by the media as anything other than a cave if they do a deal, or callous destruction of social security if they hold fast.
Why not have the fight now, when they have actual leverage. Instead of a letter saying how many congressmen will not vote for McConnell/Reid or whatever, how about a letter saying the following:
The debt the Democrats have forced on this country cannot be allowed to grow until 2013. We the undersigned feel the future of the country is more important than our own political futures. Accordingly, we will not vote for any debt increase that includes any tax increases, or does not include a dollar of reduction in spending for every dollar the debt is increased, the reductions to be actual cuts, and caps, over the next three years. We will do what is right for the country, and leave it to the voters to judge us on election day.
Let the 2012 election be a referendum on what the GOP has done to save the country now, rather than a plea for forgiveness for whatever deal they make now, with a promise to do better if they are re-elected.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseUnfortunately, just like all of the Democrats, most of the Republicans in congress are politicians first and citizens last. Love your idea but am not holding my breath to ever see it happen.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"...with a promise to do better if they are re-elected."
That's just called an election; we have them every too years. So we forgive them, send them back and get screwed. Then we forgive them, send them back, and get screwed. Rinse Repeat.
It's time to move to Cuba. At least healthcare is paid for, and according the Oliver Stone, it's world class. And there's none of this petty politics stuff.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBy the time a man gets to McConnell's age the face tends to reflect the character. A stern Cortez he is not.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAmen, Mr. Steyn!
It is truly a pathetic thing to watch. I am afraid many of our Republican "heroes",as well as some of our so-called conservative writers and thought leaders, are either devoid of moral courage or slick collaborators with their Democrat buddies. When it comes down to it, they just cannot part with the prestige.
Let's "doctor you up" some phony papers and have you run for office.
God bless,
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDan
This should be a Republican talking point.
The President is all worried about millionaire bank accounts. I'm worried about firing trillionaire politicians so we can get the economy moving again.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell said, well said.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs usually, Mark makes the case with clarity and wit.
Why not propose a simple 5% across the board cut in every department and program (including Defense) beginning now. Everyday Americans understand that. It would be "fair" since every program/department is getting cut. If businesses and individuals can learn to do more with less, why should the government be any different?
And why can't the Republicans ever persuade Americans with clear arguments they can understand? All that money spent on strategists and not one R knows how to speak persuasively and passionately? We're doomed.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAny Senate Republican agreeing to this nonsense needs to be primaried by a Tea Partier.
2008 convinced me that I will never, ever vote for a Democrat. They are at the least two out of the three: dishonest, ignorant, or evil.
If the Senate Republicans follow through on this Grand Bargain, I'll make the same vow about them, and they can follow the Whigs into oblivion.
Our Constitution and form of government should matter for anyone truly deserving of the title Public Servant.
They are all, virtually to a Senator, a disgrace to their office.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt would help if Republicans would refuse to use the "T Word". Talk about a $1,600 Billion deficit. Most people don't notice the difference between a B and a T.
Also, never talk about 10 year projections. Only this year, next year, and MAYBE the one after that.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs usual, Mr Steyn states eloquently exactly what so many of us are thinking. These Democans or Republicrats, or whatever you want to call our elected class, only operate in their own interest and the interest of the statist world in which they live and have created. To quote Mr. Derbyshire,"we are doomed". It does not matter who we put in or who we throw out. The parts are all interchangeable.
Just keep creating "emergencies" and wait for these slime bags to come to the "rescue". I really don't know if I should care anymore because I do not see the leadership or for that matter the necessary fortitude in the electorate to make the course corrections to avoid the catastrophe we are headed for.
And on those pleasant thoughts, good night all.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThank you, Mark. The only cuts that count are cuts now, but GOP pols and even many conservative pundits don't get that. A billion actually cut from the 2011 budget is worth $20 billion in supposed "savings" in the out years. That's true basically because today's Congress cannot bind any future Congress. But it's also true because even the most well-meaning budget projections beyond a couple of years are jusf wild guesses (and most are not so well meaning). To understand that, you only have to look at projections made two years ago which incorporated higher federal revenue than actually materialized.
Some have suggested a five percent across the board cut falling on every agency and program. That's the right idea, but five percent only squeezes out superficial bloat and realizes only about $200 billion in cuts. Ten percent would do the trick. Federal spending is up by about one third over 2008 so you can cut 10 percent and still have 20 percent more dough than three years ago
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm sure Mark Steyn would have preferred to cite the 2007 deficit of $162 billion -- an amazing 1/16 of what it is today.
But then he would have had to explain why the deficit quadrupled between 2007 and 2008, before it was possible to blame Obama.
And then he would have had to tell you what he, not being an ignorant man, surely knows: that the ballooning deficit is largely a function of the recession (lower revenues + higher automatic outlays), has very little to do with Democratic or Republican spending policies, and will shrink again as the economy recovers -- just as it has done after every other recession in history.
It's infinitely depressing that Steyn's fans allow him again and again to lie to their faces.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse* I was wrong to say "quadrupled". 2.5x deficit increase between 07 and 08.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWasn't this about the time Madame Pelosi and friends took over - just askin'.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse2007 federal revenues: $2.57 trillion
2010 federal revenues: $2.38 trillion
A $190 billion difference that does not explain the $1 trillion larger deficit. It's the spending, Stupid.
And of course it also begs the question of why the economy has yet to recover, 3 full years after its collapse: because of Obama's policies. Also, because it may permanently have shrunk following the bursting of the real estate bubble. If that's the case, then government spending needs to adjust to the new reality, as well.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot sure about your numbers there. CBO has 2010 rev down $400 billion from 07. Meanwhile, layed off people means unemployment checks, welfare spending, all of which is automatic and very costly.
Question: It's the spending, stupid, on what exactly?
It's 2011. The stimulus and TARP were one-time expenses. Obamacare, whether you think it will help or hurt the deficit, doesn't kick in for another two years. What invisible multi-trillion dollar discretionary spending project am I missing?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuseyou explain it, Obama is the one who spent it ... you should know what your party spent more on ...
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