Category Archives: Debt and deficits

McConnell, McCain abdicating responsibility, trying to score points


Did you catch the quotes by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John McCain in Thursday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story headlined, “Still no give in debt impasse”?

The quotes are referring to a plan McConnell has offered where President Obama would be responsible for raising the debt ceiling and making spending reductions on his own with Congress able to stop it only with a two-thirds vote.

Those are decisions that Congress should make under the Constitution, but that’s not a concern when there are political points to be won. McConnell wants Obama to be responsible for raising the debt ceiling – which McConnell knows has to be done – so Republicans can run ads against him next year for raising the ceiling. It’s political gamesmanship at its ugliest when our country needs statesmanship and leadership most.

Here are the quotes.

McConnell: “I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy.”

McCain, in a statement, which means he had time to think about it, said McConnell’s proposal was “a smart, forward-looking plan to make clear to all Americans that should we get to August 2nd without an agreement, it is President Obama alone – and not Republicans in Congress – who decides whether to raise the debt limit, and owns the economic consequences of any default.”

This is abdication of responsibility at its worst, and it’s particularly shocking coming from an American hero like McCain.

This site is called “Independent Arkansas” for a reason, and when I think Democrats are wrong, I’ll say it. President Obama’s warnings that seniors might not get their Social Security checks was particularly silly and not believable.

But Wednesday, these two Republicans were about as wrong as elected officials can be. Sen. McConnell, you have been in the Senate for 27 years. Sen. McCain, you have been in the Senate for 25 years and in Congress since 1982. You own this economy and this debt just as President Obama does. Time and again, you have voted for tax and spending policies that have weighed this terrible burden on our children and grandchildren’s shoulders.

Fix it.

Arkansas’ congressmen vote against debt ceiling hike

Arkansas’ four congressmen today voted against H.R. 1954, the bill that would raise the country’s debt ceiling past its current $14.3 trillion limit. The bill failed with not a single Republican voting for it.

This does not mean the debt ceiling won’t be raised. There is still plenty of time before the country runs up against the time limit and begins to fail to make good on its obligations. The press releases I have received – from Reps. Ross, Griffin and Womack – indicate that the congressmen voted against the bill because it included no structural spending reforms.

I’m fine with that. For a long time, deficits in Washington have been all-too-business as usual. Ultimately, Congress will have to vote to raise the ceiling – and it will, despite all the saber-rattling. Let’s hope the congressmen get what they want and that the bill includes spending reforms.

Here are the statements released by the three congressmen, in the order that I received them. I have not yet heard from Rep. Rick Crawford from the First District.

ROSS – “I voted against raising the nation’s debt ceiling today because we’ve got to send a strong message that it’s past time to stop the out-of-control spending in Washington. Before I can support any increase in the debt ceiling, it must include meaningful spending cuts that will actually reduce our deficits without punishing America’s working families and seniors.

“The debt ceiling isn’t about new spending; it’s about meeting the debts and obligations we’ve already committed. It has been increased 36 times over the last 30 years, with President Reagan signing 17 debt limit increases into law and President Obama signing three so far. The debt ceiling problem isn’t new, but it’s reached a level that is unsustainable. Congress needs to stop the partisan bickering and start working together to draft a commonsense compromise that preserves America’s standing in the global economy, cuts spending and reduces our deficit.

“Instead of playing games with the debt limit, we should instead focus on how to get our nation’s fiscal house back in order. That’s why I have worked hard as co-chair of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to pass components of our Blueprint for Fiscal Reform, cosponsoring 15 deficit or debt reducing bills, many of which have become law. This Congress, I’ve also voted to cut $38 billion from the 2011 budget and am working hard to build support for the Blue Dog Benchmarks for Fiscal Reform, which aims to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade. Reducing our deficit is and will continue to be my focus in Congress as a fiscal conservative and as a Representative from Arkansas.”

GRIFFIN – “Tonight, I voted ‘No’ to raising the national debt limit and will remain opposed to raising it without serious structural spending reform. Neither the President nor Senator Reid has a plan to deal with the federal government’s out-of-control spending, but the House does. They should adopt the House’s reforms to save Medicare, reduce spending and encourage private-sector job creation. I understand the gravity of what is at stake and addressing the root cause of the debt—out-of-control spending—is the only way forward.”

WOMACK – “I have said all along that the fiscal situation facing our nation is among our highest priorities in Congress. It is unconscionable to consider an increase in the debt ceiling without significant and guaranteed limits on federal spending.

“We cannot continue to add to the burden of future generations by ignoring our obligation to control spending.”

The right muzzles Newt Gingrich

“I am not a member of any organized political party,” American humorist Will Rogers once said. “I am a Democrat.”

That’s one of Rogers’ most famous quotations, and it is as true now as it was when he said it. It’s one of the reasons Democrats have had such trouble creating a coherent message to counteract the “less government” message Republicans have been preaching so successfully since the Reagan years.

Republicans have a different problem – they are too organized, as Rogers pointed out. He also once said, “Democrats never agree on anything. That’s why they’re Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they would be Republicans.”

Now more than ever in my lifetime, Republicans demand almost lockstep conformity on just about every issue – as Newt Gingrich is finding out.

Gingrich, the party’s leader during the mid-90s, is trying to revive his political career with a presidential bid that is going nowhere. On Sunday, he criticized Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan as “radical” and “right-wing social engineering.”

I don’t know about “right-wing social engineering,” but Ryan’s plan is pretty radical. He wants to replace Medicare as it now exists with a voucher program that gives senior citizens $15,000 a year to buy their own health insurance. It certainly deserves a healthy debate – both within the Republican Party and outside it. In fact, a healthy debate would actually help its cause. A new poll shows most voters oppose any cuts at all to Medicare, which shows how little they understand the budget realities the country faces. A healthy debate might educate them on those realities.

But Republicans are cutting Gingrich off at the knees, and, regrettably, he has already backtracked.

Republicans have always talked about being a “big tent party.” If Newt Gingrich isn’t welcome inside, that’s a pretty small tent.

Here’s the poll I mentioned.

Column: GOP Medicare proposal bold but wrong

My Arkansas News Bureau column this week is about the Medicare reform plan passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives April 15. It was supported by all three freshman Republicans from Arkansas.

The plan replaces Medicare as we know it with a voucher system that would give each senior $15,000 to purchase private health insurance starting in 2022.

My take is that while I appreciate Republicans for at least addressing the problem, it’s the wrong plan as a policy and politically. It’s the wrong as a policy because, just like President Obama’s health care plan, it relies on the private insurance industry, which I believe is as much to blame for our current problems as the government because private insurance only pretends to be a free market solution but doesn’t really behave like one. Because of it, consumers don’t make their purchasing decisions at the point of sale, which is what makes the free market work.

I didn’t say how to fix it in the column, which I should have, but the truth is, I don’t know. Americans are going to have to pay for more of their own health care. Insurance should insure against catastrophic loss, not pay to “treat” every sniffle, with a safety net staying in place for the poor.

The other problem with the Ryan plan is that it is wrong politically. It will never pass, which makes it a distraction, and it has made Republicans vulnerable in the upcoming elections.

Here is the column.

Column: Boozman for, Pryor against balanced budget amendment

My Arkansas News Bureau column is about one issue in which Arkansas’ two senators, Democrat Mark Pryor and Republican John Boozman, disagree: a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Boozman is for it; Pryor against it.

The column presents arguments for and against the idea, and there are plenty of good ones on both sides. Best argument for it: We can’t seem to balance the budget without it. Best argument against it: Judges would take over the budget process. Plus it’s a copout.

Here is the column.