Allow me to summarize for my readers this Hill article (“Cantor to Democrats: See, cutting spending’s not that hard”) on some hopeful (repeat: hopeful) signs of deficit reduction on the horizon:
Eric Cantor: …See, cutting spending’s not that hard*. And there’s not going to be any tax hikes.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz: …OK, now that you’ve getting spending cuts, we want our Holy Grail, too. Raise taxes!
To which let me add:
Moe Lane: Not a chance on this world, or any other.
It’s amazing, really. The Democrats had the entire 111th Congress to raise taxes. Strong majorities in both houses of Congress, including a Golden Time where the GOP could not filibuster. And clearly they believe that raising taxes is a meritorious act that will allow them to keep funding all those programs that the Democrats insist are necessary for the continued well-being of the Republic. And yet… they did not pass tax hikes, despite the supposed need. Just like the Democrats didn’t pass a budget last year, and for the same reason in both cases: Democratic politicians were afraid. And now they want the GOP – who ran last year on a platform that included entitlement reform, and who is taking heat this year for demonstrating that we meant it – to casually abandon our promises. The promises that our new Congressmen and Senators campaigned on. And they want those promises broken for the sake of a bunch of nasty-souled politicians who will be spending the next eighteen months accusing us of wanting to kill grandmothers.
Um.
NO.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
*It’s kind of rare when the Hill is as much of a smart-mouth as I am.
Not holding my breath for any meaningful spending cuts, deficit reduction or reform…. I’ll believe it when I see it.