Republican's con game comes home to roost

Paul Krugman nailed it in yesterday's New York Times column.   The Republicans have been running a con game with their political base.    They sold them on this idea that government spending is the big problem in Washington, that what we need is extreme austerity spending cuts -- plus tax cuts for the wealthy "job creators."

So the base sent a lot of spending cut/tax cut zealots to the House, vowing austerity.   The trouble is that Paul Ryan's budget, in particular, and the Republican con game in general sold a big idea without any specifics.   Cut spending, raise taxes, and not only would the deficit disappear but jobs would appear, all would be well, and our happy past life would be restored.

But now it's time for the specifics -- and they can't deliver.  As Krugman says:

"What's happening is that the G.O.P. is trying to convert Mr. Ryan's big talk into actual legislation -- and is finding, unsurprisingly, that it can't be done.  Yet Republicans aren't willing to face up to that reality.  Instead, they're just running away. 

"When it comes to fiscal policy, then, Republicans have fallen victim to their own con game. . . .  And [now] the party establishment can't get the base to accept fiscal or political reality without, in effect, admitting to those base voters that they were lied to."

There is some glimmer of hope that a few of the more responsible Republican senators are beginning to face reality.   Not so much in the House.   So deadlock may have to continue and hope the voters will take care of the House problem in 2014.

Ralph