So outrageous and egregious has been the conduct of the left, that the usually even tempered voice of reason, Jonah Goldberg, penned a blistering rebuttal in NRO's the corner at the shameless partisan game the media has been playing.
- but the winter of the left's discontent had been brewing long before the uninspiring debt compromise had reached it's crescendo.
A few months ago my ear in Washington, a former PR man and French Euro-liberal was at the ready, setting the mise-en-scène of a dire landscape to come. Even before most had begun to grasp such concepts as austerity measures and debt ceilings, my dear friend was fervidly insisting that if the debt ceiling and taxes were not raised, people would be lining up at bank machines with handguns to shoot themselves like Bender at the Suicide booth in the first episode of Futurama. As most people do their banking at home, if a suicidal frenzy swept the nation over the collapse of America's banking system, I suspect people would be more inclined to depart this mortal coil with a good Chardonnay and a bottle of Ambian. As a spin doctor and European used to singing the praises of socialism, I know my friend is a master of conjuring specters of free market bogeymen even when the mechanisms that drive his beloved institutions have been collapsing like drunken narcoleptics for the last quarter century - but he's certainly on message. The late Michael Crichton, referred to this practice as conjuring up a "State of Fear", and subsequently wrote a novel of the same name that I consider one of the most important books of the last quarter century.
We all know the liberal shell game, but what about the recently passed debt deal? Like any movie reviewer worth his salt would ask; "Is it any good?"
The answer for the most part is - no.
The deal's one saving grace is that it's a step in the right direction. but let's dispense with the notion that there are any real cuts in spending - there are simply decreases in increases. Spending is still rising across the board, but Republicans have forced the Democrats to pull in the reigns. Rep Boehner and Ryan looked at what the CBO thought was an appropriate amount to keep program A or B solvent, and refused to allow the President to spend anymore beyond that point. (this is what Vice President Biden calls terrorism and it is why he is a moron.)
- But this is the the bill's most fatal and unforgivable sin. The drastic reduction in military spending. America's constitutional Republic is based on whatever comes out of forced compromise from two sides who refuse to budge. It's to be expected that each side has to hold their nose and concede this or that to get a lollipop in return, but this concession was a dreadful folly on the part of House Republicans.
There are drastic cuts to the defense budget and a 10 year freeze on defense spending. The 15 to 20 % graduated reduction is based on the assumption that the US will not be drawn into any protracted conflicts over the next decade. These cuts will come out of "personnel, procurement, and training." That's a dangerous chance to take.
As for the non-defense stuff, you can parse the details here and there, but most experts still say a year from now we'll have already borrowed what we managed to cut. We may continue to be standing still at that time, but at least with a little help from the Tea Party folks, we've managed to keep the President and his allies from pushing the country over the economic cliff and into the jaws of a hungry China. So before we start slinging eggs at our fellow conservative friends and colleagues, remember that in Obama's Washington - this is actually a small sign of progress.
Addendum;
Yes, there is a lighter and funnier "Blogging by Numbers" coming soon for those of you who come here for the armpit noises and fart jokes.
Cordially
Joe
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