But here's what I strongly suspect is behind even that -- at least in its current political strategy:
The defeat of Obama in the 2012 election.
EVEN THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
says be careful how much you cut right now.
So, unemployment getting worse as we head into the 2012 election, and they'll blame it all on Obama.
In fact, it was the conservatives (both Repubs and Blue Dog Dems) who prevented a better recovery by not allowing a bigger stimulus last year.
We'd better play it safe and hope that someone sort of responsible like Romney or Huntsman gets nomindated by the GOP -- because we may very well see a Republican victor in 2012.
Ralph
Mid-afternoon, and it's sounding a little better. It still is mostly about spending cuts, but:
ReplyDeleteThe bill itself will raise the debt ceiling by $900 billion now, and not requiring it to be done by Obama alone. Another $1.5 trillion rise in debt ceiling will come next year as part of the package worked out by the Super Congress Committee.
That committee will be tasked to come up with $2.7 trillion in deficit reduction, to include both entitlement reform and tax reform.
To give incentive to meet that goal, the bill will include the trigger that the difference will come mainly from Pentagon budget and from Obama vetoing the extension of the Bush tax cuts when they come due at the end of 2012.
This still puts too much on spending cuts, which will hurt jobs. But it's far better than I thought -- especially by including tax reform and possible ending of the Bush tax cuts.
Latest reports suggest the negotiators are down to one final sticking point. The proposal says that if the Super Congress Committee isn't able to come up with the desired cuts, cuts will automatically be made in equal parts from defense spending and non-defense spending. Social security and medicare beneficiaries would be exempt from those cuts.
ReplyDeleteI hope they hold tight on this. The Dems have already given in far more than the Repubs.