Live To Fight Again

Tomorrow is a big day for the House Republicans.  They control the battle.  However, they must remember that they are in a war.  When you are in a war the most important thing you can do is live to fight another day.

The towering debt that we have accumulated did not suddenly appear.  The spending disease that caused it will not disappear easily.  Especially when the Democrats in the Senate and the President are still not willing to confront the problem.  Look no further than the President.  He totally ingnored his own debt commission recommendations-the Simpson-Bowles Commission.  He reneged on a big deal with Boehner.  He rejected a compromise deal that Boehner and Senator Reid had worked out last weekend.  It makes you wonder if the President just wants to take us over the cliff.  This is not the way Presidents are supposed to lead.
The Republicans have won several battles already.  It is now accepted that spending cuts must be at least as large as any increase in the debt limit.   In addition, all the plans on the table right now have no revenue increases as part of the deficit.  These are both big wins for the House Republicans that were once thought unattainable less than a year ago.  This was only made possible by the People (and the Tea Party) and their votes in last November's election

They need to win one more small battle and take a breather.  I know it is not the frontal assault on the budget deficit with all the heavy guns that many want (including me).   However, it is a battle they have to win.  They cannot afford to die on the battlefield when so much more needs to be done.  Live to fight another day.  It will be necessary later this year, in 2012 and many years into the future if we are to dig our way out of this hole.

Why does this matter?  If the House Republicans pass the Boehner bill tomorrow then the pressure and responsibility are transferred to the Senate Democrats and President Obama to act.  If they do not pass it, they will  be blamed for everything that follows.  This is far from the truth but it is the narrative that the President wants to use and the mainstream media is all too happy to repeat it.

If they pass the bill. it will mean that that the House has once again put a plan on the table and put votes behind it.  For those counting it will be the 3rd time they have passed a bill that addresses the deficit problem. They passed the Ryan budget bill earlier this year that would have reduced spending by over $6 trillion over the next decade.  They passed a Cut and Cap bill that would have reduced spending by a similar amount. The President and the Senate have never even put a plan on the table!

It is time for the President and the Senate to stand up and be counted.  The Boehner plan is the absolute bare minimum that is needed in spending cuts. It is actually trillions below the bare minimum. If the Democrats can't agree to these reasonable changes, it is clear they won't agree with anything.  If they refuse to raise the debt limit over these small cuts then there is little hope.   It is hard to see how we can avoid a downgrade in our debt as it is.  This should be the most important priority for everyone in Washington, most particularly President Obama.  When the history of this era is written no one is going to remember who was in Congress if our debt is downgraded.  It will be written of as the Obama downgrade.  It will forever be his legacy.

I am not one that believes that we can fail to raise the debt limit and somehow get by.  The people who spew this scenario in blogs and television do not know what they are talking about.  This country is borrowing over 40 cents of every dollar it spends.  The argument is made that we can pay Social Security, Medicare and military pay.  That may be right but who is going to send out the checks if we have laid off everyone in the federal government?  How is anyone going to travel if there are no air traffic controllers?  Who is going to guard the prisons?  Who is going to investigate federal crimes if there is no FBI?  Let's get real.  You can't cut over 40% out of any budget without drastic effects.

Pass the Boehner bill and the House Republicans will live to fight again.  The war has barely started.