Fiscal rocks and shoals
Americans are being told that the new Congress will focus on reducing federal spending. Yet roughly 60 percent of the federal budget will be ignored during the lame duck remainder of the 111th Congress and into the 112th session. This may not necessarily be a bad thing.
There has been a palpable shift in the political wind emanating from Washington. The House will now be solidly under Republican control and the Senate, while still under the sway of Democrats, will be more evenly balanced. This is especially so with the specter of the 2012 elections haunting vulnerable Democrat Senators - a majority of the 23 riding for that brand - whose terms in office come up for renewal.
However, it remains to be seen whether the nation's new tack and course change will be sustainable. For now, Republican Party leaders are, for the most part, grudgingly grateful to the Taxed Enough Already Party and those millions more who identified with them for spearheading the GOP's convincing victories in local, state, and national elections.
With a few notable exceptions, they concede it was the Tea Party independents and conservatives who tipped the election scale with their votes but more importantly, with their donations and grassroots campaign support. Which brings up a very real problem for the Republican Party:
Campaign promises.
Promises and pain
The federal government has outgrown its ability to pay for itself. This is a crisis so critical that America's economic future and national security depend upon its elimination. Yet every undertaking Obama and the Democrat Congress have implemented to date involve spending, borrowing, and printing money in amounts so staggering that they are near-incomprehensible. Onward go the deficit and debt as the crisis deepens.
Add to this folly the gross expansion of bureaucracies, ObamaCare, industrial expropriation, and mismanaged control of the financial, energy, food, education, and communications sectors. Oh, and don't forget Obama's war of choice and his remarkable talent for instilling a world-wide lack of confidence in anything Américain. Now you're spending real money we don't have.
During the campaign, Republicans promised specific tax cuts and - earmarks aside - unspecified spending cuts. A few of the far-sighted, most notably Representative Paul Ryan, developed a target-specific plan to effectively reduce the debt."One must ask, then, if deficit reduction and debt payment are to be accomplished without significant tax increases, from which programs will the GOP slash spending?" Unfortunately, Ryan's plan must undergo significant tweaking before the numbers align, yet it is a sensible starting point for a mess now so serious that it defies any short-term fix or painless correction.
Added to all this are the ravenous dragons which lurk in the background, swallowing up 60 percent of the annual federal budget: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Defense. Contrast this amount with discretionary spending - the cost-cutter's favorite menu because it is the least volatile - accounting for a paltry 16 percent of the budget in comparison.
One must ask, then, if deficit reduction and debt payment are to be accomplished without significant tax increases, from which programs will the GOP slash spending? This is where the rubber meets the road. Americans will learn soon enough just how committed the newly-elected Republicans will be to their principles and their pledges.
Targets and pain
What can be done? Where can effective cuts in spending be implemented? Republicans admit they lost their way in the past, insist that they have learned their lesson, and in fact skewered Democrat contenders in campaigns over their votes to cut the growth rate of Medicare. The GOP knows it must act to back up its campaign rhetoric.
Simply cutting discretionary spending is not the silver bullet it has been touted to be. Analysts of the Washington-based Concord Coalition have determined that whatever spending cuts are made in discretionary spending will be negated by the burgeoning costs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Might there be other areas in which to concentrate?
Well, of course, but any spending cuts - especially now amidst our dismal economic situation - will ultimately cause varying degrees of hardship upon those on the receiving end of such cuts. The"The American people voted for spending cuts and will support those who pursue them." next several months will truly test the courage and resolve of America's elected leadership. There are targets being proposed, as well as tax-focused initiatives, but it is foolish to assume that there will be healing without pain.
In addition to Paul Ryan's detailed efforts, Representative Eric Kantor oversees a Web site entitled YouCut that allows Americans to vote on spending cuts they want enacted by the House. At the Cato Institute Web log, Cato@Liberty, Chris Edwards compiled a list of budget-cutting ideas in recent plans submitted by various Beltway think tanks. The Cato Institute itself also suggests spending cuts and a detailed budget-reform plan.
As Edwards points out, we will not get federal spending under control unless we begin a national discussion about specific cuts. And we won't get that discussion unless enough members of Congress start pushing for specific cuts. The American people voted for spending cuts and will support those who pursue them.
For America's sake, failure is not an option.
America Held Hostage: 782 Days to Freedom.