A Tale of Two Arguments

Sometimes it's hard to keep things straight when listening to the two conversations going on in the federal government. Both sides claim to be addressing the same issue, but their collective arguments seem to exist in parallel universes.

Lead by the democratic president, the left has produced at least two blockbuster spending bills. First there was the stimulus package which seemed to be a thinly- veiled attempt to re-pay public employee unions with a flood of federal money ostensibly to revive the flagging economy. Why is anyone surprised that the economy hasn't revived? Next came the massive new federal health care program, which we are still trying to figure out. The only thing about this monster, that was rammed through congress with Houdini-like deftness, is it's massive costs that spiral off into the future like the Eggplant that Ate Chicago.

So now, the creators of these two deficit-busting gems are arguing that taxes must be raised, while Republicans stand like the Dutch boy with their collective fingers in the dike of fiscal restraint.

The left is calling for higher taxes, even in the face of a protracted recession as well as warnings from the debt-rating agencies that U.S. debt stands a good chance of losing its AAA rating. This comes while, at the same time, vilifying the Republicans who want to solve the problem by reducing spending and who recognize the dangerous fiscal abyss that yawns ahead.

Often, in these discussions, the metaphor of the household budget is used to illustrate the problem. Ok, so it's not sophisticated economics, but it does have some illustrative value. To wit: Families have recognized for eons the importance of living within one's means. New purchases, no matter how rationalized, must be subjected to a means test. The choice is usually clear. If you can't afford it, you can't buy it. If the expenditure is, in fact, absolutely necessary, then cuts in other areas of the budget must be made to accommodate the new item. The alternative to making these adjustments, is to crank up the credit card balances, or perhaps tap into the equity in one's home through additional mortgage debt. Well, maybe that option isn't quite as available as it used to be. Such actions may bring temporary relief, but the eventual result can be a painful reconciliation with reality. Being underwater on your mortgage, or in default, or both, can be very unpleasant as way too many of us now know.

It's easy for demagogues to paint the Republicans as uncaring tightwads. In fact, they are the last bastion of fiscal restraint standing in the way of our country's slide into third-world status. We have a president who has a vision of the U.S. as neo Sweden. A president who claims that 80% of the U.S. population wants higher taxes! A president who, doesn't know what he doesn't know. A president who is supported by the takers of the left. Our only hope is that the Republicans can prevail and preserve our precious way of life as the August 2nd debt-limit deadline approaches.