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Although I may disagree with them on some issues, there are some reasonable conservatarian voices out there (like our dear friend Gherald) who are actually serious about reducing deficits.
However, when it comes to the vast majority of Republicans in Congress, we really need to bear this fundamental truth in mind:
The main impediment to forming a consensus on a plan to reduce the deficit is that most conservatives don’t actually want to reduce the deficit. What they want is lower taxes. That’s why Ronald Reagan and George W Bush both increased the deficit and it’s why conservatives tell pollsters they don’t care about the deficit: “Fifty percent (50%) of conservatives are comfortable with a budget deficit if taxes are cut versus 63% of liberals who favor a balanced budget with higher taxes.”Ergo, the term “Deficit Peacock“.
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Fast Food
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DOWN THE VINE
Syndication
Well I may be in the same boat to some degree. Consider this hypothetical choice:
- Raise taxes by 30%, raise spending by 20% (what a typical Dem might want, deficit-reducing)
- Cut taxes by 30%, reduce spending by 20% (what a typical Rep might want, deficit-increasing)
This first is similar to what Obama is doing. I would gladly take the second option.
Ideally I would prefer something more like, say, cutting taxes by 30% and reducing spending by 40%. But I recognize that's not viable in our special interests-driven political economy….
Balancing the budget is important to me--just not nearly as important as reducing the size of government. I expect most Republicans would agree.
So tax cuts are the easiest rallying cry on the right, because we all want government to be smaller, just no one can seem to agree on what, specifically, should be cut. As Obama remarked in the Q&A, apprently no spending seems wasteful if it's in your district…the wasteful stuff is always in someone else's district…
I guess my conclusion is that these problems would be a hell of a lot easier to solve if we had party-based proportional representation at the national level.
Oh don't be coy. You know as well as I do that we need to raise taxesin order to dig ourselves out of the hole
Only to the extent that we don't fucking cut spending.
(within a year or two, once we've recovered)
Not to mention the fact tht you're deluding yourself if republicanswill but spending by more than 2-3 percent, at most
Its gotta go hand in hand. You know it and I know it
Mathematically it does not.
Politically I will compromise taxation as necessary. I will not however acquiesce to any increased spending as Obama's FY 2011 budget proposal projects beyond 2012. It's getting to the point where maybe can't vote for most Democrats again.
Of course, Republicans remain horrid on many issues. Dunno if one of the evils will sufficiently outpace the other…
Well, the alternative is so much better. Republicans in charge willjust cut taxes and raise spending. Good alternative.
I would never vote for them to be wholly in charge at this point--controlling the House and 41+ in the Senate is my preferred scenario.
Great. So we'll get no taxes passed and no spending cut. Good solution.
I think it's better than any solution that increases both taxes and spending, merely outpacing with the former so it can brag about being deficit neutral/reducing as it continues the tax & spend cycle.
(see, for instance, HCR and the FY2011 budget, both which significantly increase spending, outpacing it with taxes)
I don't see how we can stop the tax & spend cycle without Republicans controlling at least one chamber of Congress.
The deadlock of divided government seems to produce the most libertarian-ish results we can hope for (see: 1994 and Clinton's tenure).
Obviously it's not cool for progressives who want the government to step in and solve problems. But I think we're well past the point it started creating more problems than it solves.