Monday, December 31, 2012

A Bad Deal -- No Progress on the Deficit

The Republicans have caved once again.  The deal hammered out between Biden and McConnell is one more setback for the nation.  It promises to put real brakes on the economic recovery because of the tax increases and makes no progress at all toward reducing the deficit that continues be the nation's number one economic problem.

Why Democrats support this is a mystery?  This deal and others like it, soon to be agreed to, virtually guarantee that future beneficiaries of social security and medicare are in for a very unpleasant surprise.  Those now 50 and under cannot expect much more than half of the promised social security and medicare.  Those under 40 should not expect anything at all.

Now, while age limits can be increased and means testing can be implemented, we should do it.  Doing it two years from now will effectively reduce future benefits more than doing it now.  Putting these things off just make things much, much worse in the future.  This was a squandered opportunity. 

Republicans should replace Boehner as Speaker and every Republican who votes for this deal should receive a primary challenge.  Hopefully, McConnell will be challenged in the primary in his upcoming bid for re-election.  It gets harder and harder to see how Boehner and McConnell are an improvement over Reid, Pelosi and Obama.  They all seem to get to the same place eventually.  It doesn't do any good to win elections if this is the ultimate political outcome.

It's not clear what the Republicans are fighting for -- but they are definitely not fighting for smaller government and for economic growth.  Nothing in this deal moves in those directions.

This is a good deal for Obama and a good deal for the media.  They should be very happy.  The steady decline of the US into a second rate status in the world economy proceeds apace.  This seems to be what Obama and his fans in the media want to happen and they are getting their wish.