A week ago, President Obama and John Boehner appeared on the verge of a deal
to avoid the perils of the "fiscal cliff." The House speaker budged on raising
tax rates. In return, he wanted the president to give on reducing entitlement
spending. The president countered with a proposal that moved closer to Boehner
on the threshold for higher income taxes, annual incomes of $400,000 instead
of $250,000. He also accepted a reasonable adjustment in the cost-of-living
increases for Social Security recipients that would reduce benefits and save
money, adding to the $1 trillion in spending reductions already in the works
through the Budget Control Act.
The president rightly described the emerging framework as a "fair deal."
An additional day or two of give and take, plus steps to handle such items as
extending unemployment benefits and the "doc fix," which would avoid sharp
reductions in Medicare reimbursement, and the country could breathe easier.
The Washington crowd would prove better than dysfunctional.
All of the related challenges may not be addressed, but something of a
framework would be established for moving forward.
Then, things spun downward, the speaker walking away from his talks with
the president, the week ending with an echo of the debt-ceiling debacle of
2011, when Boehner didn't have the votes in the House Republican caucus for an
emerging "grand bargain." This past week, he didn't have the votes, either. He
didn't even have them for his Plan B, which set the threshold for an income
tax increase at $1 million a year, while whacking spending and tax relief for
lower- and middle-income families, eliminating, among other things, the
college tax credit and child-care tax credit.
In the wake of an embarrassing downgrade of the country's credit rating
and an election in which Boehner and his party lost ground, those truly in
charge of the House majority still resist what is necessary: a balanced
approach to putting the country's fiscal house in order, one alert to the
immediate need of a struggling economy yet committed to deficit-reduction in
the long term.
U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette of Bainbridge Township understands the
required course. The Washington Post noted that Boehner recognized the lost
cause when Jim Renacci and others in the Ohio delegation balked even at Plan
B.
What did the speaker hope to achieve, Plan B certain to die in the
Democratic-controlled Senate? Perhaps he thought approval of a minimal tax
increase would shine a brighter light on spending cuts. Yet the reality is,
moving ahead requires old-fashioned compromise, a more balanced combination of
spending reductions and tax increases as the foundation for addressing the
fiscal cliff. Leading business leaders have said as much. So have Americans
via votes and polls. The president offered a way to govern responsibly. Too
many House Republicans weren't interested.
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Distributed by MCT Information Services
