Reactions to the Debt Limit Deal - Assigning Blame

For the past few days, we've delved into the problems with the debt limit deal that was signed last week. Today, we're going to talk about who is to blame for this bad deal, and there is plenty to go around.

Before we get to the deal, I'm going to tell you who ISN'T to blame: the Tea Party. Despite what the President and the Drive-By Media are trying to tell us, the Tea Party tried to do the right thing. S & P gave a specific recommendation to avoid a drop in our credit rating: cut at least $4 Trillion over the next ten years. The Cut, Cap and Balance plan did just that and more. When the House was given the chance to vote on Cut, Cap and Balance, they passed it. Then Harry Reid refused to let it see a vote in the Senate. Many Tea Party members even refused to vote for the deal that was ultimately passed. I’ve said since the election that we need to keep a separate scorecard for the Tea Party. In this debate, the Tea Party gets A’s.

Now to pass out blame: I’m going to break with my usual pattern here, and start with the old guard Republicans. This includes the RINOs, but it’s not just the Republicans in name only to blame here. There are some legitimate Republicans who caved on this deal. Speaker Boehner, I’ve defended you, but you are chief amongst the cavers.

Speaker Boehner and other Republicans acted in fear. Typical of modern GOP, there was a widespread fear that if the GOP didn’t pass a debt limit increase, the Drive-By Media would be super mean to Republicans and call them mean names and generally pick on them and ultimately blame them for the default. Just for the record, what would you call what’s going on now?

The Drive-By Media and Liberals in general were always going to blame the Republican Party. They’ve tried to blame the Tea Party for the S & P credit rating downgrade, which we’ve already shown is as ridiculous as finding an emotional engineer. (To any engineers reading, I have the utmost respect for engineers. My hero, my late grandfather, was an engineer. No offense intended.) The choice for the GOP to avoid blame didn’t exist. What did exist was a choice between being criticized for doing the right thing or being criticized for doing the wrong thing. The GOP chose to do the wrong thing.

I for one am absolutely sick and tired of the cowardice shown by the old guard GOP. We put you back in power so you could do things the right way, not play politics as usual. You’ve chosen to play politics as usual. As a Tea Party member, I can guarantee you that you will be facing primary challenges in 2012 in the best case scenario. (Speaker Boehner, that means you.) At worst, if wiser heads do not prevail, you may have just divided the GOP.

Now to the Democratic Party and President Obama: You had no plan, but continually shot down every plan suggested. You continued to demand tax increases in a bad economy with unemployment remaining above 9%, a move that would have been poison to the economy, because it’s page one in your playbook. Rather than do the right thing for the American people, you demonized the Cut, Cap and Balance plan that 66% of Americans supported and refused to even let it come to a vote. When I called the GOP cowards, I saved some for you too. You were too cowardly to do the right thing in favor of sticking to your politics.
America is not Liberal. We do not want your redistributionist policies. That’s why you have to lie about them to get elected and pretend to be moderates. In 2010 we shellacked you. In 2012, be ready for more of the same as the Tea Party continues to take over the American political scene.

In the end, this bad deal is bad for America. Even with the cuts included, we will be doubling our debt in the next ten years. It is a mathematical certainty that if we continue to spend in deficits to this degree we will ultimately be bankrupt. It is time to get our fiscal house in order, and that means real, significant cuts in spending. $2.1 Trillion in cuts is not enough. We needed to get to the point where we are cutting $16 Trillion over ten years. We cannot afford more of this spending. It’s time to get really serious about cutting spending. With the exception of the Tea Party, no one in elected office is serious. That means it’s time to get rid of them. 2012, here we come!