Don't forget, as Milton Friedman taught us, government will spend as much money as it takes in, plus however much more it can get away with.
Although it scares me greatly to wish for the same thing as Paul Krugman, I, like that master of Progressive misdirection, am pleased that the "Super Committee" of Congress, assigned to find a way to reduce our debt and deficits, is on the brink of failure.
It's not that I'm opposed to movement to fix our very serious fiscal issues. Rather it's that the only possible deal from a committee which includes John Kerry (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is a bad deal. We should consider ourselves fortunate that Democrats weren't smart enough to say yes to Republicans' attempt to cave in on taxes. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) asked rhetorically "Do we look stupid?" In fact, they now do -- though they're probably not smart enough to realize it.
It's taken years to screw up our finances this badly. Another 14 months isn't going to make it that much worse.
Rather than take a bad deal -- meaning any deal that increases tax revenue other than by increasing economic activity -- Republicans must focus on repeatedly putting forward solid budget-cutting and entitlement-reforming legislation. The best path toward electoral success is to show the electorate that Democrats are utterly irresponsible with our national fisc and to remind voters that just as households cut back on expenditures when times are tough, so must the federal government.
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