Eugene Robinson: A hold-your-nose debt deal

[babylonsister]

A hold-your-nose debt deal


By Eugene Robinson


It’s supremely galling. It’s unbalanced, unfair and mostly unwise. For President Obama and the Democratic Party, it’s a comprehensive defeat. But it’s not the end of the world.

snip//

This isn’t a rout, however. It’s a retreat, in relatively good order, that leaves Democrats provisioned for the battles to come.

The White House agreed to $900 billion in budget cuts over 10 years — in the absence of new tax revenue, a galling surrender. But the deal is structured so the slicing and dicing does not really begin until fiscal 2013, which gives the struggling economy some time to find its feet — not as much time as most economists would recommend, but better than nothing.

The cuts exempt Medicaid and other programs for the poor — although there is no provision for extending unemployment benefits, a serious defect. And the cuts do not touch Medicare benefits, which preserves a key Democratic campaign issue: The Republican plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program that would leave seniors at the mercy of the private health insurance market.

Even more significant is that $350 billion of the 10-year cuts — about 40 percent — are in defense spending. Bringing the gargantuan Pentagon budget under control would be a major step toward putting the nation on sounder financial footing. This is the one big conceptual breakthrough that the deal represents: Republicans abandoned the position that defense spending must not be considered “discretionary.” Just like the money we spend on education or infrastructure, it reflects choices.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-hold-your-nose-debt-deal/2011/08/01/gIQAUg5KoI_story.html?hpid=z3

[FrenchieCat]

1. Rec'ed....but apparently, Eugene Robinson is also under the bus!

:rofl:

[babylonsister]

2. lol! Why am I not surprised? This place is a riot at times, literally!

:spray:

[Kolesar]

3. Republicans abandoned the position that defense spending must not be considered “discretionary.”

[Bluenorthwest]

4. An unwise unfair and comprehensive defeat.

And then he starts spinning like a madman. I agree that it is a comprehensive defeat, unfair, and I'd add that it is immoral.

[Supersedeas]

5. Unbalance, unfair, and unwise, and yet a minority wing in the House could push it through

despite structural control in the Senate and the White House.

Amazing really...a few members in the House are capable of changing the terms of the debate.