The Gall: Democrats Talking Up Their Unassailable Record of Fiscal Discipline, Slamming Republican Rules as Not Keeping Within Strict Budgets Like Theirs Did

No direct quotes for now, but I am sitting here feeling like Alice in Wonderland as every Democrat stands up to claim that they actually kept within budgets thanks to pay-go and Republicans are abandoning their sound fiscal discipline policy.

Here are the arguments, as I understand them. Democrats' rule was "pay-go," requiring tax increases to pay for new spending. However, on just about every major initiative, they suspended pay-go rules. They now seem to be claiming that pay-go was always followed.

Republicans are proposing cut-go -- or "cut-grow," as Cantor called it-- which is similar, but just requires corresponding cuts to balance any new spending. For reasons I can't fathom, the Democrats claim that their method -- which they constantly suspended and existed as a figment of the mind rather than budgetary reality -- is superior, and Republicans are already "hypocrites" on spending due to this change.

The other big complaint is that Republicans' cut-go rules specifically exempt ObamaCare from automatic budget-cutting rules. Remember, supposedly, they have this silly CBO score they claim means ObamaCare will save $500 billion (now, they claim, a full trillion) over ten years. So in theory, to cut ObamaCare and remain budget-neutral, you'd also have to cut anotehr $500 billion (or trillion) over ten years just to offset that new "spending."

Okay, look, that CBO score is silly -- it postulates we'll be saving a trillion dollars by spending another trillion dollars. Whatever.

I can hear the Tea Partiers' response to this -- Fine, then we will cut another trillion. If you insist.

Look, this is silly. No one but Ezra Klein believes that ObamaCare saves money.

One other argument, which I don't get, is that the cut-go rules are also suspended for "new tax breaks for Republicans' rich buddies." I think maybe this refers to not counting the already-agreed-to extension of the Bush Tax Cuts for budget-neutrality calculations, but I'm not sure.

Honestly, this is sort of unreal.

The other thing that's unreal is that David Drier just keeps making hopey, optimistic speeches, without actually rebutting this absolute nonsense pouring out of the mouths of Democrats.

Bonus: Nancy Pelosi, All Class. Lady Viper spews partisan venom as she hands over the gavel, in contrast to Denny Hastert's Boehner's classy example when he was forced to turn it over in 2007.

Whoops -- It was Boehner who turned the gavel over in 2007, without partisan recriminations. Lady Viper can't manage the same trick.

posted by Ace at 04:31 PM

| Access Comments