As the fiscal cliff draws near ,with no deal in sight ,how did we get here? The answer is simple. President Obama allowed the republicans to use the debit ceiling as leverage last time a round and that led directly to the looming sequestration cuts. Obama has also failed to lead on this issue.
Instead of pushing a grand bargain, he should have had Congress draft multiple bills so that when he and Boehner reached an impasse they could table the current bill and move on to the next one.
Thus this would have streamlined negotiations and provided ample time to vote on these bills, so at the very least they could have extended the Bush Tax cuts for those making under $250K.
More over doing a piece wise deal like this would attract more republicans and conservative democrats, who are reluctant to sign any bill that isn’t deficit neutral.
If a deal isn’t reached it could be a good thing. The number one driver of our debit is not from social security or other “entitlement programs”, it’s our massive defense spending.
There is ample to cut there while still remaining strong. Nearly half of all defense spending goes to private contractors who do things the armed forces have traditionally done or things which they can do for a fraction of the cost. What’s the point of having an army corps of engineers if you don’t use them?
More over, had Obama pushed for a red line that triggered retroactive cuts to the benefits of members of the House and Senate, the do nothing congress would have been compelled to do something. This could be achieved by reinstating the talking filibuster come January and then bring a vote to the floor.
Yes everyone will have to tighten their belts if we are to get our fiscal house in order. But why should the working poor and elderly take the brunt of these cuts?