You gotta hand it to the Republicans: they’re the best politicians in town.
They figured out how to manufacture leverage — and use it, too. They’ve found their rhythm, and they sure are grooving to the beat of their own drum.
See, the plan goes something like this:
Allow President Ronald Reagan to quadruple the national debt, largely by increasing defense spending (against the USSR, which was crumbling from within).
Let President George H. W. Bush continue such disastrous economic policies, and then turn tail and run from him when he suggests something as heinous as raising taxes to pay for his exploits (like that undeclared war).
And then, make the debt the defining issue of the 1992 campaign and, when the other side wins, pounce on the new Democratic president by saying he’s not doing enough to reduce the deficit.
Furthermore, use the deficit as a wedge issue to take back the House in the midterm elections, and force a series of budget cuts that send the president off-message and prevent him from investing in health care, education, science and technology.
Sound familiar? That’s because it is.
History does in fact repeat itself, and the GOP response to President Barack Obama’s budget proposals is proof of this.
The GOP said nothing — nothing! — when President George W. Bush fought two wars, signed into law a costly expansion of Medicare and cut taxes all at the same time. He doubled the national debt in eight years.
But once Obama got elected, the debt was suddenly the biggest issue we had to address. Some even took to calling it a “national security issue” (kind of like how the USSR was a national security issue in 1984).
The best line yet was Gov. Mitt Romney’s “road to Greece” gimmick.
It is pathetically ironic that the very policies that put Greece “on the road to Greece” — not paying their debts (read: “not passing the debt ceiling”) and austerity (read: “drastic budget cuts”) – are the same policies Republicans are advocating.
In 2010, America elected a gang of lawmakers who don’t understand basic economics. Americans tricked into voting for these people on the basis of a mythical “national security issue.”
And these people are working against their voters’ interests, most recently by failing to stop the sequester.
For all their talk of “job creators” and the need for more businessmen in government, Republicans don’t seem to understand that a CEO can’t provide jobs for his employees if consumers don’t have the money to buy his product or houses to put it in.
Indeed, in a recession, the government is the single most important spender and investor, because it is the only entity that can spend and invest. It did so in 1932, and has done so in every recession ever since.
In reality, Republicans in Congress don’t want to solve our debt “problem.” Why would they want to give up prime leverage? If history is any guide, they’ll want to use it again when the next unassuming (Democrat) schmuck strolls down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The sequester, which Macroeconomic Advisers LLC estimates will ultimately cost 700,000 American jobs, is just the latest riff in the GOP’s tempo.
It provided the GOP’s desired endgame: instead of talking about how to invest in our children’s future or repair our disintegrating infrastructure, we’re talking about which programs – like Social Security and Medicare – can be cut.
So, the next time you enter the voting booth, remember that it’s not the deficit. It’s a game of political musical chairs, and it matters a helluva lot who sits in the chairs and who plays the music.
Ryan Migeed is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and the School of Communication and the vice president of AU College Democrats.
edpage@theeagleonline.com
