Cut, Cap, and Compromise
The White House has chosen to take the low road today in the debt ceiling debate:
Not only was it a low-class thing to say, it’s also an outright lie. The GOP’s “Cut, Cap, and Balance” plan isn’t a dodge or a duck (or a dip, dive, or dodge either). I honestly don’t know if Tapper challenged his characterization, but I’m entirely certain no one else in the White House Press Corps did. It’s left to the blogosphere to blow away the Presidential Puffery. With that in mind, let me give you two things you might not know about the debt ceiling debate in general and the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” proposal in particular.
1) “Cut, Cap, and Balance” is a significant compromise for the Republicans. Let me outline the opening positions of both sides in the debt ceiling debate. The Republicans position is: do not raise the debt ceiling, do not raise taxes, enact spending cuts measured in the trillions. The Democratic position is: raise the debt ceiling by quite a lot, raise taxes, spend more money (though perhaps not quite as much as in the previous two years).
The current Cut, Cap, and Balance proposal would raise the debt ceiling by over $2 trillion, would not raise taxes, and would slowly lower the amount of government spending to approximately where it was in 2006 over the course of the next decade. That, folks, is a clear compromise on two of three points. I don’t see any reason why the Republicans couldn’t agree to close several of the President’s most demonized tax loopholes in exchange for a hard trigger on tax code reform which would complete the Trifecta of Compromise. On what points are the Democrats willing to compromise? From what Jay Carney said today, I’d say there was no interest in meeting anywhere near the middle at all.
2) “Cut, Cap, and Balance” is the only actual debt ceiling plan on the table right now. The Democrats haven’t managed a budget since President Obama took office more than two years ago. The closest thing the President managed to a spending plan was a speech so intentionally bereft of details that the head of the CBO scoffed at the very idea of scoring it. The President can disagree with the particulars of the plan all he wants, but he can not honestly say (even though a mouthpiece) that it’s a “dodge”.
He, or the Democrats in Congress, could fix things right now with a proposal of their own. The reason they won’t, of course, is because they really want a radical spending increase along with equally-radical tax increases on everyone.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Who Said Raising Debt Limit in 2006 Was “A Sign of Leadership Failure”?
- White House: Let Us Spend More Money Or The Economy Gets It!
- What Would It Take to Balance the Budget? A Lot Less Work Than We Think
Category: The Economy and Your Money
[...] Linked by The Sundries Shack, which has more on Cut Cap and Balance. What about Duck, Dodge and Dism… [...]
This is one arrogant bunch. Duck, Dodge Dismantle, coming from the White House Press Room? Low-classy and smarmy! Thanks much for the link. I linked back.