The Debt Ceiling Battle

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Well, let me suggest a similar truth, “you can’t always judge a story by its headline.”

Case in point, just two days ago, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Washington Times had the following headlines, enlightening us on what Republican Senators John McCain and John Cornyn had said over the weekend about the upcoming debt ceiling battle. The Enquirer headline read, “GOP Open to Raising Revenue” (taxes). The Washington Times headline read, “GOP Reaffirms Stand Against Tax Increase.”

The two headlines couldn’t be more inconsistent. One says Republicans are open to raising taxes, the other says they aren’t.

So what’s the truth? First of all, we’re only talking about two Republican Senators here (out of 47.) And no Republican Members of the House are quoted, and there are 240 of us. And whereas the Obama Administration and most Democrats in the House and the Senate have been pushing for higher taxes for quite some time now (although they avoid using the “T” word, preferring to use the term “revenue increases”), they are extremely reluctant to support the necessary spending cuts to get us back on fiscally prudent ground.

Here’s my view. The problem isn’t that the American people are under-taxed; the problem is that the government overspends. And it’s got to stop. And rather than fear the upcoming debt ceiling debate, and rather than try to scare the American people about a hypothetical default on our debt, responsible lawmakers should use it as an opportunity to get the irresponsible out-of-control spending, under control.

The Administration and Congress should make it clear that even without raising taxes, we will not default on our debt. The debt will be paid first so there is no default, as well as other high priorities such as sending out Social Security checks, and paying our men and women in uniform who are defending us around the globe. Lower priorities, like new public housing or Section 8 vouchers in Green Township, or anywhere else, should be put off, or eliminated altogether. Other items I’d put at the bottom of the list are things like funding the United Nations if the UN General Assembly decides to recognize a Palestinian State without Israel’s approval, or aide to Egypt if terrorist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood play a role in their new government. I could put together a long list of items we should cut, or not fund at all, only limited by the time you’d have to devote to reading it.

One final point. President Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner (the guy who didn’t pay his own taxes) has set August 2nd as the drop-dead date to settle the debt ceiling issue. Let me opine that picking this particular date was no accident. It happens to be the date that Congress has long been scheduled to go out of session until early September. Many Members of Congress will be scheduling events back in their districts, be involved in foreign travel, or have family vacations planned. In my view, Geithner figures that some Members of Congress will be so anxious not to have to break their plans, that they’ll cave, and give the Administration what they want (less spending cuts and higher taxes.) Congress better show some backbone, and put the Nation’s best interest ahead of their own.

We can no longer afford to keep kicking the can of fiscal discipline down the road. We need to get our nation’s fiscal house in order, now. Let me know what you think.

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