I happened to listen to part of Rush Limbaugh today and heard a series of callers who seemed genuinely upset about the "sellout" by the house GOP in reaching the budget deal. It made me feel as if I were in a parallel universe. I look at the deal this way:
1)This is the first true reduction in federal spending that I recall.
2) Obama and Reid had to switch from blasting the spending cuts as draconian and designed to hurt women or the poor, to lauding these cuts as a great accomplishment. To say the least, obama and Reid looked like fools.
3) The piecemeal approach to obtaining the cuts (using a series of continuing resolutions to get the first cuts), made it truly hard for the Democrats to aregue against the merits of cuts. After all, they had just voted for cuts time and time again.
4) The subject of the spending debate has shifted from what to spend and making ever bigger increases to what to cut and lowering the spednig trajectory.
5) It is unrealistic to expect tha all spending will be cut in one bold move. Spending cuts are important, but Congress cannot get ahead of the American people.
Simply put, the main point is this: the debate has swung to how to actually cut spending. It is a singular accomplishment.
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