I had a long argument this morning with a friend who forcefully proclaimed that the total focus of Tea Party Republicans on spending cuts was an extreme position that would doom them to defeat. After all, he told me, there are other issues that have to be addressed to increase economic growth and to create jobs. According to my friend, cutting spending will hurt growth and that cannot be tolerated at the present time.
I strongly disagree with the underlying premise put forward by my friend, a premise which I believe comes right out of the playbook of the main stream media. Since my friend is usually well informed, I thought it might be worth discussing the actual facts so that everyone could see the truth.
First, it is ridiculous to claim that the Republicans or just the Tea Party Republicans have been focused only on cutting spending. Shortly after taking office last January, the House did the following: 1)They voted to repeal Obamacare, a move which would have been a major boost to economic growth. 2)The House passed a budget plan which would have completely rewritten the US Tax Code so as to encourage investment, economic growth and job creation. 3)The House passed a plan outlining restructuring for Medicare, the first attempt to fix the problem with entitlements to pass either house of congress in about 25 years. 4)The House passed legislation to rein in some of the more extreme acts of the EPA, particularly with regard to energy generation and carbon dioxide emissions. There is more, but the point is that the Tea Party Republicans put forward an entire plan to promote growth, increase jobs and help Americans get back to prosperity. Each of these plans was thwarted by the Democrats in the Senate who either voted down the House plans or just refused to vote on them at all. For their part, the Senate Democrats followed the lead of president Obama and came forward with no plan on any of these issues.
Second, the focus on spending cuts comes about because it is the one area in which the House majority can effectuate policy. No spending can be approved without consent of the House, and the Republicans can control that. All of the other issues discussed above need the agreement of the Democrats, but that party is perfectly happy with the way things are already structured. Even though the changes would increase economic growth and create jobs, they conflict with the ideology of the Democrats, so they get voted down in the Senate. On items like spending bills and the rise of the debt ceiling, the Democrats have to get Republican consent in the House, so the focus of the fight to save the economy is there.
Third, while cutting spending will not immediately increase economic growth or create jobs, it will go a long way towards providing an atmosphere in the USA where such growth can take place. An ever increasing federal deficit will undermine any chance for growth. Right now, we are on a course which will lead to a point in a few years where about 20% of the world's assets will be invested in US Treasuries. That is simply unsustainable. Sanity has to be restored to the debt markets before the economy can fully recover.
The idea that the Republicans are focused only on spending reductions is basically one of the talking points of Obama and the Obamacrats. It is simply not factual, but that does not stop its constant repitition. Next time someone tells you this claim as if it is a fact, you now have the information you need to show that he or she is are wrong.
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