All of this was predictable. In a speech to a trade association six weeks ago, I discussed the partisanship and imbalance that would eventually destroy our political system. I said that I thought it was perfectly reasonable to assume that we would go over the cliff because of the endemic divisions in our politics. I wrote about it in my book, Hopelessly Divided, and although it gives me no great pleasure to see Washington in shambles, this is just the culmination of a process that has been brewing for years.
As of this morning, we had a deal, at least a short term one. It is nowhere near what it should have been: a compromise between Democrats and Republicans that would have been a mix of spending cuts, tax increases and entitlement reform to keep us from falling over the fiscal cliff. This is what the American people want and, indeed, what they need.
The Senate deal should have been Simpson-Bowles or a version of it as Senator Kent Conrad argued for last weekend on Fox Sunday. We got nothing close to it.
This morning’s winner of the fiscal cliff negotiations was undoubtedly President Obama. He won, at least temporarily, the partisan war that has been raging since he took office. The threshold wasn’t at $250,000, but it wasn’t far off.
The Senate deal utterly lacks balance. Senate Republicans voted for higher taxes and got nothing in return in spending cuts. The deal contained no framework for deficit reduction, entitlement reform or systematic reform of military spending. In other words, the deal doesn’t address any of our real problems.
The news out of Washington – which we were all meant to be so grateful for – was nothing more than a short term political win for the White House and a long-term harbinger of ill for the American people. We are going to come up against another debt ceiling crisis in just two months. Judging by how things have been going, and continue to, a repeat of the summer 2011 crisis is more than likely.
And right on cue, the House Republicans are in revolt. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor declared his opposition to the fiscal cliff deal – “I do not support the bill” he said walking out of a conference meeting. This is hardly surprising if we consider the Republicans’ attitude throughout the negotiations, but this is not an issue of opposition for the sake of opposition – the proposed deal is imbalanced.
As Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Majority Leader Boehner said today, the lack of spending cuts in the Senate bill “was a universal concern amongst members.” Congresswoman Nan Hayworth said, “What we want is to do what’s best for the American people. When you talk about balance, you’ve got to provide responsible spending restraint for the long term. This bill doesn’t have that.” Both Buck and Hayworth are right on point.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report today estimating that the Senate bill would add $329 billion to deficits in 2013 and $3.9 trillion to deficits over the next ten years. These are the kind of figures that these negotiations were meant to avoid. In its current form, the Senate bill brings more debt to America and solves little else other than satisfying the Democrat agenda of raising taxes.
To be sure, there was a glimmer of hope that we may avert the fiscal cliff. With each hour that passes in 2013, this becomes more and more of a pipe-dream. Not to mention imminent sequestration which will ravage our defense budget at a time when we need strengthening.
It is indeed a new year, but same old Washington.
