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If Only the Tsar Knew!
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The New Normal
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Hommage à Mark Sanford
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The Republican Party’s Chapter 7
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The Best Defense Is a Bad Defense
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The Spectacle Blog
For a month I’ve been telling people not to expect a deal over the Fiscal Cliff. A grandiose president like Obama can’t tolerate oppositon, but it’s more than that. If he cuts a deal he takes part ownership of the economy. If he doesn’t he gets to blame the Republicans. And the blame will stick. Of course the economy will go south, but it’ll go south in any event, and the important thing for him is the blame game, for which the press will be willing allies.
Plus he gets more spending money if there is no deal.
That has to look like a no-brainer for him. And his supporters? They’ll have bought poverty with vice.
View all comments (17) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by F.H. Buckley
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/12/23/the-fiscal-cliff
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RJ| 12.23.12 @ 2:45PM
I wonder if Boehner has finally learned that there is no negotiating with Obama. He needs to emphasize the legislation that has already passed the House to extend the existing tax rates and he should publicly direct his legislative efforts towards Harry Reid, who has been getting a free ride while Obama plays rope-a-dope with Boehner.
buckeyeman| 12.24.12 @ 11:04AM
"I wonder if Boehner has finally learned that there is no negotiating with Obama."
Currently available information indicates the answer is "no".
fmm| 12.23.12 @ 6:55PM
If Bohener gave it any thought he would pass a bill in the house which addresses all of the fiscal issues; include the flat tax, balanced budget, reduction of spending to 2009 pre-stimulus levels, unfund obamacare, and then do a country wide public relations program to educate the low informatioin citizens. The GOP would be in a much better position than currently and his base might actually start supporting him again.
Teflon93 | 12.23.12 @ 7:48PM
Boehner not being a conservative, a leader, or a communicator, he won't do anything of the sort.
Need a new Speaker for that.
Maxwell| 12.23.12 @ 7:54PM
Oh Lord how I'd love to see that!
Teflon93 | 12.23.12 @ 7:47PM
The Republicans will always be blamed in the Left Wing Media. However, this election made clear to most Americans that same media is simply the media wing of the Democrat Party. So why do we care what the media thinks? Govern in a principled way and most Americans will reward you.
RJ| 12.23.12 @ 7:49PM
I totally agree with you, Teflon. The Republicans are going to be blamed by the mass media regardless of what they do, so they should do what they think is right and do their best to communicate it directly to the people.
JmsA| 12.23.12 @ 8:26PM
Boehner should submit a bill extending the deadline, defusing the ticking bomb, no matter if only temporarily, while putting the onus of averting disaster on the democrats.
7-08| 12.23.12 @ 8:30PM
Sorry, we have kicked the can down the road long enough. Time to face the music.
buckeyeman| 12.24.12 @ 11:08AM
Right on, 7-08. Enforce the current debt limit. Make obama act like the CEO he wanted to be. Cessation of deficit spending will cause pain to those who rely on it. That's life. Pain now or greater pain later. Do it now.
JmsA| 12.23.12 @ 9:47PM
On the main I would agree. However, given that as it appears the level of hysteria is growing, which would ostensibly if not certainly greatly damage republicans as things stand, why not just temporarily defuse “the crisis” by just delaying the implementation of the likely if not certainly damaging tax increases, by 2-3 months? This could, one could argue, level the playing a bit, given the resulting proximity to tax filing time. Doing so would also maintain the status quo, while demonstrating a level of reasonability by avoiding the folly of hastily ramming through an agreement through a lame duck session under the present time constraints.
JmsA| 12.23.12 @ 9:48PM
Cont'd.:
Sequestration was, by design, structured to clearly demonstrate or force upon those in charge, that no action would carry a mighty heavy price. On the whole, I am of a mind to let it happen. The problem is that no one can truly predict the ultimate result, if not what damage would be done to the economy and the country. Certainly, we republicans would probably take some heat for “kicking the can down the road”, but the mere fact that we could also make the case that doing so is in the best interest of not only the taxpayers, but also the country, no doubt would carry some weight. Additionally helpful would be to continue putting the spotlight on the inconsistencies of the current administration’s position regarding tax receipts versus the false semantics of “revenue,” while also continuing to make and buttress the argument of the quite potential damages of raising taxes versus not raising them, by citing the historical facts of benefits of not only not hiking taxes, but lowering them, such as JFK’s: “A raising tide lifts all boats”, and the factual economic benefits of cutting taxes as per Reagan, and Clinton. I’m not rich. I work for a living by running a small services company. I live in California, so I’m fully aware about high taxes, etc., but the economy is hurting, and we should exercise some reason, much of which I haven’t seen lately, though politics seemingly never appears to stop carrying the day.
7-08| 12.24.12 @ 1:17PM
No. We have done all you suggest and it has brought us to this. Thus named "kicking the can down the road."
Man up, take your medicine, your system has failed - not because of some Constitutional defect but because you insist on electing people whose only goal upon achieving office is remaining in office.
Occam's Tool| 12.23.12 @ 11:39PM
JmsA: It would help if the Press were honest, but they are not. Similar to the fact that only in Conservative magazines do you see opposition to the ACLU's tireless campaign to make it impossible to medicate violent psychotics.
As for myself, seeing my nurses, who almost uniformly voted for Obama, take a bigger tax hit than they can afford will make me laugh. As they fully know, I voted for Romney.
Occam's Tool| 12.23.12 @ 11:40PM
However, JmsA, schadenfreude besides, you are certainly correct. We have an economic idiot or traitor in the White House.
wombat1| 12.24.12 @ 5:15PM
Don't look now, y'all,
but we went over the fiscal cliff about $10 trillion ago.
All that remains now is for our creditors to finally wake up to the fact that the American welfare state has no damned intention of mending its ways or even making a serious effort to pay back what it already owes. That's when the fun really begins
pigdog| 12.26.12 @ 8:46PM
re: "Plus he gets more spending money if there is no deal."
I'm not sure that is a correct assumption, but there's no doubt in my mind that Obama assumes it.
Those slow-thinking billionaires and millionaires might have a trick or two up their sleeves. As for the lumpen proletariat below 200k per annum? We'll be powerless as we're sucked down the vortex.
It would be interesting to see Boehner offer Obama an up or down vote on these conditions: House Republicans seal the marginal rate in an envelope; Obama does the same with the applicable marginal income. Then Congress needs to pass the legislation to see what is in it.