Beinart's Blather

Peter Beinart has another of his political insight pieces in the Daily Beast. In this gem, Beinart prophecizes that after Republicans take over congress this year, they will lose their support if they actually cut government spending. For Beinart, the liberal mindset is inevitable; the voters want and approve of the culture of dependency. He does not and, indeed, cannot fathom any electorate that would actually support cuts in federal spending. Of course, Beinart never discusses the thorny question as to exactly what spending it is that gets cut. Is the GOP hacking away most of Social Security, or is it removing the federal funding for studying the sex lives of college freshmen? Is the GOP cutting off veterans' benefits or is it removing unfunded mandates from the states? Is the GOP throwing seniors out of Medicare or is it ending federal programs to monitor the racial composition of the workforce at banks? The answers to these questions make a big difference.

Right now, there is a huge majority in this country that realizes just how out of control federal spending has become. I believe that there is also a majority that wants to rein in that spending. Such a move is recognized as a necessity not just a triumph of conservative ideology.

Perhaps the best retort to Beinart's wishful thinking about how the Democrats will recover is two words: New Jersey! In the period since Chris Christie became governor, he has cut about 25% of all projected spending in the Garden state. that is not a cut in the growth rate of spending, rather it is an actual decline in the total amount of expenditures. Even after all that cutting, Christie's popularity in New Jersey, a liberal state if ever there was one, remains in the mid 50's. The teachers' unions have run a non-stop TV campaign against Christie. the other public employee unions have also run campaigns. The Democrats have decried Christie's cuts as heartless. And the only answer for the public has been Christie's inexorable logic: you cannot spend what you do not have. Failure to cut spending would result in the ultimate bankruptcy of the state.

It is actually pretty funny to see the progressives move from arguing current issues into fantasies about the future. The NY Times first did its piece about the surge for Democrats. Now Beinart is explaining why the very philosphy that is leading the Tea Party to victory is inevitably the seeds of its destruction. By next week, I expect to hear from howard Dean or Ed Shultz that within a year aliens will attack earth and kill all conservatives. that would make about as much sense as Beinart's theory.