For the GOP, a strategic retreat
December 4, 2012 at 2:29 pm in Grand Forks Herald
Clearly, the issue for GOP hardliners is not tax rates at all. The issue is pride. They hold an untenable position, and they can’t bring themselves to admit defeat. Continue Reading
It is the pledge (where Berg and Cramer are both wrong) as well as the Republican leadership that is the problem. If we could rewind history back to 2001, we should have asked a pledge from our representatives and senators to never cut taxes until the debt was paid off.
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So did Republicans from 2001-2006. If the tax cuts had not occurred and spending had actually been cut, we would be a lot better off now.
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“Republicans agree to raise the top tax rate while Democrats agree to cut entitlements.”
Except here’s the problem with this logic (or illogic): The Dems will NEVER cut entitlements, even though they may “agree” to do so at some future time. You see, Dems are not big on keeping their word. They promised the same “grand bargain” with Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but of course those “cuts” never materialized. When you make deals with snakes, don’t be surprised when you get bit.
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That is exactly the kind of blame game both sides use to get us nowhere. Forget about who did what there is all kinds of blame both the Republicans and Democrats own. Look forward only! WHAT DO WE DO NOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM?
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Throw them all out and start over?
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“WHAT DO WE DO NOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM?”
Acknowledge that the Two Parties are both rotten to the core, unsalvageable, and hardly any different from each other except for the names of the special-interest groups that they pervert justice and twist laws to protect.
We vote Republicans out of office and replace ‘em with Democrats. We vote Democrats out of office and replace ‘em with Republicans. We wonder why nothing really changes except to get worse.
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This problem will not be solved without addressing entitlements. As I have quoted before, according to economists, if we do nothing — status quo — 100% of the Federal budget will be consumed by entitlement programs in 40 years. No defense; no roads; no schools; no Bureau of Indian Affairs; no FEMA. Nothing but Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Since Social Security is a ponzi scheme, paid for by those working now, not those who have worked in the past, what we are risking is generational warfare on a tragic level. I have no hope that my grandchildren will agree to pay 60% of their income to the federal government so I can get a check.
Any attempt to rectify the budget has to start with serious social security reform.
When it was first enacted, social security was meant to keep grandma (not grandpa) from starving to death during their last 6 months of life. In 1968 Johnson changed that. The trouble is he decided to forgo paying for it.
That oversight is why we are where we are today.
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