Add Tony Blankley and Charles “Chuckles” Krauthammer to the list of people who are being kept awake at nights over the deficit. First up is Tony — the inflatable pundit, with this:
Until a couple of years ago, … I assumed that America was on a slow, irreversible trek to the statist side.
Nice to know what Tony thought of the US until Obama was elected.
It is hard not to suspect that even the recent “big solution,” a $4 trillion alleged reduction-in-deficit plan (rumored to be $1.3 trillion in taxes and $2.7 trillion in spending cuts), is utterly inadequate to the challenge.
First of all, it would be too small a reduction; we need to reduce deficits by at least $10 trillion in 10 years.
At least $10 trillion. Which essentially means that deficits must be reduced to zero (PDF or this) — but then again one imagines Tony saying that number much as Dr. Evil would: It’s meant to sound scary and show seriousness but really all he can manage is showing he has no idea what the hell is going on.
And then there’s Chuckles, who is so out of touch with reality that he actually thinks this is the kind of stuff that could happen:
The Republican House should immediately pass a short-term debt-ceiling hike of $500 billion containing $500 billion in budget cuts.
Yes — these guys are going to pass a debt-ceiling hike:
“There should be no default on August 2,” Brooks said. “In fact, our credit rating should be improved by not raising the debt ceiling.”
Anyway — where were we? Oh, right — we were complaining about the fact the press has unfairly labeled Republicans as unwilling to compromise on the issue of taxes:
A pliant press swallows the White House story line: the great compromiser (“clearly exasperated,” sympathized a Post news story) being stymied by Republican “intransigence” (the noun actually used in another front-page Post news story to describe the Republican position on taxes).
The meme having been established, Republicans have been neatly set up to take the fall if a deal is not reached by Aug. 2.
Yes, the “meme” — if by meme one means actually reporting what the Republican leadership has been saying the entire fucking* time:
Listen, we’ve got to stop spending money that we don’t have, and since the beginning, the Majority Leader and myself [Boehner], along with Sen. McConnell and Sen. Kyl have been clear: tax hikes are off the table.
Next thing you know Chuckles will start complaining about the liberal meme that Reagan traded arms for hostages or repeatedly raised taxes.
The Republicans are being totally outmaneuvered. The House speaker appears disoriented. It’s time to act. Time to call Obama’s bluff.
They’re not being outmaneuvered — they’re exactly where they want to be. An appeal to reason only works if the people you’re appealing to aren’t, you know, unreasonable.
Chuckles goes for big giggles towards the end with this:
After all, by what crazy calculation should Republicans allow themselves to be blamed for a debt crisis that could destabilize the economy and even precipitate a double-dip recession?
Maybe by the crazy calculation that they’re the ones who got us here?
* Profanity added for the sole purpose of making this post most unserious.
