Hey Democrats: Relax. The clock was ticking. A nuclear default drew ever closer and you were caught in the middle of a zero-sum economic hijacking by zealots. But you came out with a trillion dollars in defense cuts, no cuts to the social programs you like, and tax increases with decent political cover; either out of the debt commission, or the expiration of Bush’s before this president’s term expires. Taking a principled stand at the eleventh hour would have been the equivalent of taking down the airplane you’re on so the terrorists don’t hit the White House. People might call you a hero, but you’d be dead. Instead, the plane landed. To be glib, a few hapless passengers were killed, but this terrorist cell was neutralized. It’s ugly. Nobody is happy. There will be grief and lots of coulda-shoulda-woulda vacillation, but disaster was averted. Take a week off and prepare for the next episode.
Besides, “winning” in this situation would have meant a Democratic president with an underserved reputation as a spendthrift having successfully lobbied for tax increases. A tax increase is not a winning argument. Balancing the budget is. Changing the subject to jobs is. Standing up for some principles is. Even during the hostage situation, insurgents layed in wait, ready to label this president as a money-wasting, tax-increasing, arugula-loving commie. A rhetorical timebomb ticked away under Washington, muffled by the din in the Capitol. That bomb is now (somewhat) defused. We all wanted to win, but win what exactly? I'm happy with the damage averted. It's our pride that was wounded.
Politics aside, the policy isn’t that bad. Look at what’s happened when other countries faced this predicament. Austerity panics such as this often lead to far more dramatic policy, and a long line of wreckage from Latin America to Japan. The $22 billion that is slated for removal from the FY ’12 budget is likely to have less than a 0.15 percent negative impact on America’s GDP. Stimulus it isn’t. Neither is it the sort of austerity that Britain’s tax increases and spending cuts now impose on its citizens in the name of thrift.
You may think that the politics of giving into the terrorists’ demands were bad. Imagine if that ticking bomb hadn’t been defused. Imagine the radioactive mess of a Democratic tax increase on top of all the other poor economic news. I can live with the substance. I only wish they’d come out swinging harder in tone and rhetoric. There are other zealots ready for the next salvo, now emboldened by having had their demands met, at least in public perception. Above the policy details, people want to know that their leaders are ready to stand up for them. I don’t get a good feeling out of this deal, but I don’t see how I would have if tax increases were a part of it. And feelings matter. It’s the message that failed.
Hey Democrats: Learn from this. Consider the root causes of this terrorism. Here, like there, we should look at ourselves. Sometimes I get the feeling that Democrats gaze into our heartland like naïve Marines who see only wild-eyed illiterate Taliban “bad guys,” rather than a troubled mass of humanity who are mostly trying to get by without the use of Kalashnikovs and RPGs; an overstretched, shell-shocked, and frustrated people who depend on the news and views of whoever chooses to lead them. All they need to do is learn the language and bring relief, but somehow this is lost on them.
The 2010 election cycle represented a true failure of imagination on the part of the Left, a real squandered opportunity. Instead of writing the Tea Party off as dumb rednecks, they could have seen them as voters, as families struggling to get by like everyone else. It’s not the GREs or the New York Times Crossword. It’s politics. More important, it’s people. Sure, many of them would never go along with a progressive view, but I am positive that some would if it actually was presented to them in plain language. Instead, progressives look like a highly sophisticated foreign force that is hell-bent on destroying people’s way of life. Progressives should sit down with the leaders of our heartland. They should shut up, listen, nod respectfully, and drink the tea when it’s served. Then they should make their offer.
It's been a decade of chaos for America, and what is the progressive position? I sure as hell know the conservative one-- it's shouted five times daily from every minaret in town. But what is its alternative? Like the unending wars we fight beyond our borders, we also pay a high price for domestic myopia. $2.1 trillion to be precise.
No comments:
Post a Comment