Cutting our way to what?

In the current fight over raising the debt ceiling, the Democrats seem to be willing to accept cuts to spending but want additional tax revenue as part of a deal,  The GOP steadfastly says “no”.  If there is a true concern about the federal deficit, then I can’t understand how the GOP can be taken seriously when they won’t consider the need for additional tax revenue.  If a household can’t pay their bills, they cut expenses, but also pick up additional hours of work, or a part-time job to bring in more money.  With taxes as a percentage of GDP at a 50 year low, the federal government also needs more revenue.  The ability to fight 2 wars and provide a huge prescription drug benefit for seniors doesn’t come for free.  The GOP never made a move to pay for the guns or the butter that occurred under their watch.

Now all the GOP wants are cuts, cuts, cuts.  At the same time, the US is lagging in education, health care, and investment in our infrastructure.  We are told we can’t pay for teachers and so fire them so that our schools, which are already behind compared to other countries on the move, fall even further behind.  Our bridges, roads, and sewers are falling into even greater disrepair.  Our ability to move masses of people around in, and between our cities, is confined to cars, buses, and planes.  The belief that high-speed and light rail is a needed foundation for the growth of our country is unimaginable.  The willingness to think big and broad is absent.  The GOP’s need to drives taxes to levels even beyond a 50 year low has them saying we can’t, we shouldn’t, we won’t.  American exceptionalism that was a hallmark of the 60 years from 1940 to 2000 occurred mostly while the Democrats controlled most of the government.  God only knows the desperate shape our country would be in if the principles that drive the GOP today, were the ones that controlled the US between 1940 and 2000. 

The easiest and quickest way to a balanced budget is for a stalemate to occur in the budget wars.  If that were to come about, tax rates would revert back to where they were in 2000 and within 10 years the annual budget deficit would be eliminated.  The GOP is found of saying our country should be run like a business, but at present it doesn’t want to pay the bills they had a huge responsibility in accumulating.   Good businesses need sufficient income and good cash flow to pay its bills and invest in the operations.   A mantra of cut, cut, cut leads to neither.