Quote of the Day
When a man is willing and eager, the gods join in.
Aeschylus
Greatest Rap Song Ever: Thumbs UP! UP! UP!
More Reflections on the Debt Ceiling Crisis
I am sufficiently annoyed by media conservatives like Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, and others, and by ideological "Tea Party" politicians like Jim DeMint, Rand Paul and Michele Bachmann on criticizing things like the upcoming Boehner bill that I feel that I must address them.
We have to recognize the fact the White House and the Senate are in the control of Democrats. They tabled the cut, cap and balance bill. They are in a state of denial. They think this is a rerun of the 1995 crisis where they figure the GOP overplayed its hand and it resulted in Clinton's reelection. This is, of course, revisionist nonsense. Take into account, for example, the fact that the Republicans not only retained control of the control in 1996 but remained in control until 2006. And I'm still seeing in RCP polls that Republicans are retaining a statistically significant edge over the Democrats in the generic Congressional ballot, while Obama has seen his approval ratings get to 42-46%, the lowest of his Presidency during this crisis. When all is said and done, and we run into a default or a downgrade of debt, what party do you think they'll hold responsible? The President who didn't offer a plan and the Senate Democrats whom haven't submitted a budget in two years? The President who has said that we need a class warfare tax hike while arguing we must continue to spend money and can extend a partial payroll tax holiday which does nothing to alleviate unfunded liabilities? Or the GOP which has passed the Ryan bill; cut, cap and balance; and a Boehner bill?
Now I need to understand what happened to the idea of a Boehner/Reid summit and it is obvious when Harry Reid is saying a bill that hasn't even been drafted yet is dead on arrival that is the only one with a shot at winning approval of the House (Harry Reid's continues the pattern of Democratic gimmicks by counting discontinued funding for Afghanistan operations, etc.)
To the media conservatives, I have these points to make: (1) haste makes waste; you should be very careful about making major policy decisions less than a week before a critical deadline. You need to distinguish between the short- and long-term goals; (2) you do not win elections by forcing Draconian cuts; don't play word games--there is a lot to be said about playing "bad cop" but just like the electorate agrees the other guy's Congressman is a problem, they feel the same way about spending cuts; (3) for those of us whom have been consistently arguing that Obama's 2000-page bills/laws have been increasing growth and job-killing uncertainty, so does indecision over the debt ceiling debate; (4) ideological measures by either side have zero chance of passing; it's easy to be critical. I realize there are issues with the Boehner bill that even Boehner admits. You have to draft constructive laws that have a chance to get enacted into law. It's the responsible thing to do.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Eagles, "Witchy Woman"
