The Drama & The Deal

Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Friday evening the House of Representatives passed Speaker Boehner's bill to increase the debt limit. Two hours later the Democrat Senate killed it. Saturday afternoon the House rejected Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid's bill to raise the debt limit, and on Sunday Reid's bill was filibustered in the Senate.

While that drama was playing out, congressional leaders began negotiating a last-minute deal with the White House. Here's the basic outline of what was announced Sunday afternoon:

• The deal provides for an initial increase in the debt limit of $900 billion in exchange for $917 billion in spending cuts over ten years. These cuts would be enforced by spending caps on discretionary programs. There would be no immediate tax increases.
• President Obama would be allowed to request a second increase, up to $1.5 trillion, in the debt limit if a new joint congressional committee came up with spending cuts equal to the amount of the debt limit increase. If Congress failed to approve the committee's recommendations, then mandatory spending cuts would take effect. Unfortunately, entitlement programs (the main drivers of our debt) appear largely shielded from the cuts, while a significant portion of future spending cuts would come from the Defense budget.
• The deal calls for a congressional vote on a balanced budget amendment before the end of the year.

The Reaction
As is often the case with such deals, no one is happy. Last night one conservative freshman senator called the deal "disgusting." This morning, one liberal House Democrat labeled it "a sugar-coated Satan sandwich."

In an op-ed entitled "A Tea Party Triumph," the Wall Street Journal writes: "The big picture is that the deal is a victory for the cause of smaller government, arguably the biggest since welfare reform in 1996. Most bipartisan budget deals trade tax increases that are immediate for spending cuts that turn out to be fictional. This one includes no immediate tax increases… The immediate spending cuts are real, if smaller than we'd prefer, and the longer-term cuts could be real if Republicans hold Congress and continue to enforce the deal's spending caps. …

"This is no small achievement considering that Republicans control neither the Senate nor the White House, and it underscores how much the GOP victory in November has reshaped the U.S. fiscal debate."
There is not unanimity on the right. The Heritage Foundation called it a "sour deal" that pits our economic security against our national security. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann are against it. But while there is some division on the right, there is universal outrage on the left and real anger at Obama.

The New York Times labeled the compromise a "terrible deal." The Times editorial bemoans the spending cuts with no tax increases as "a nearly complete capitulation to the hostage-taking demands of Republican extremists." The left-wing group MoveOn.org is against it, saying that the "debt deal has gone from bad to worse." Arianna Huffington said, "this is a terrible moment for Democrats."

Vermont's socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, called the deal "a huge victory for Republicans." The leaders of the House Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus have condemned the deal. The Hill reports that more House liberals are now calling on Obama to unilaterally raise the debt limit under the theory that the 14th Amendment gives him the authority to do so.

My Take
This deal will win no "gold medals." Parts of it make me livid as a conservative. It does nothing to reform entitlement spending and potentially puts Pentagon spending on the chopping block. On the other hand, it prevents immediate tax increases that Obama and his Democrat allies demanded, and calls for at least $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years. That is a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. And the debate has hurt Obama, and shifted the whole playing field in our direction.

Here's my bottom line: Conservatives who argue that this deal does not solve our fiscal problems are correct. But it is not realistic to think we can get serious entitlement reform and spending restraint out of Harry Reid's Senate or from Obama's White House!

The national debt will not be brought under control until conservatives control the Senate, the House of Representatives and the White House. The 2012 elections are even more important to solving our fiscal crisis than this current debate on the debt limit. If we win back the Senate and also send Obama back to Chicago in November 2012, the new Congress and new president should immediately renegotiate the deal to make larger spending cuts AND TAX CUTS.

The Tea Party conservatives who were elected to rein in spending have gotten a good down payment on that promise. God bless them! Now we have to take the fight to the American people. Later this year we will have a vote on a balanced budget amendment. That will be another great teachable moment for the voters, who will have the final say next November.

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