The Plan that Isn't

As we get closer and closer to the new year and the looming "fiscal cliff," it appears as though progress on rectifying our budget issues is further away though the time left to solve them draws nearer.

In the aftermath of the election, it seemed as though both Republicans and the President struck something of a more conciliatory tone, but since then things have predictably gone sour. Republicans rejected the President's initial offering that would have increased revenue by $1.6 trillion primarily by raising taxes on the wealthy.

This plan was of course met with howls of disgust from Republicans, many of whom still believe that it is possible to close the deficit on spending cuts alone, but many of whom also don't actually care about really closing the deficit, and apparently none of whom can do math.

Republicans are right to ask for spending cuts to go along with tax hikes, but here's the problem, they don't actually have a plan, and they're still unwilling to accept that tax increases are necessary. Their stupidity and intransigence is becoming farcical. Take recent comments made by Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor:

“I’m not asking the president . . . to adopt our principles. I’m simply asking him to respect our principles by not insisting that we compromise them. Because we won’t.”

What Mitch has said, is that Republicans won't compromise. Their principles, no, their signed pledge, dictates that they not raise taxes. It is not only mathematically impossible to cut the deficit without tax increases, it is ludicrous and dangerous to to try, but Mitch McConnell has stated on the Senate floor that Republicans will not compromise their principles. So what's it going to be Mitch? Are you going to break your oath to Grover Norquist and do what's best for America, or are you going to remain stubborn until the American people vote all of you out of office?

Of course, all this Republican refusal to cooperate only sheds more light on the fact that they simply do not have a plan. Mitt Romney's whole campaign was built around bashing Obama's record and talking about his time as governor or CEO of Bain. The goal of this being to mask the fact that he and his party lack real ideas for America's future. It's not that they couldn't have good ideas if they tried, it's that they simply aren't trying. I've said time and time and time again that America would benefit greatly from a Republican party that brought real ideas to the table; a Republican party that experimented with market-oriented solutions to issues like transitioning us to clean energy, or that actually proposed targeted cuts that would make the government smaller and more efficient without sacrificing the Americans who rely upon government services. But that Republican party does not exist. It is a figment of our imagination, something we wish for, but it is not real. No, the Republican party is both morally and intellectually bankrupt, and it is to all of our detriment.

I'm confident Republicans will eventually stop making a fuss over taxes and begin to compromise, though this won't be driven by any sense of urgency to help the country, but rather the fact that, according to polling data, a vast majority of Americans will blame them if the talks fail. Still, their protests have lost credibility if not volume, and Republicans have been exposed for what they really are, a party of ideology and not ideas. The plan that isn't is the best thing Republicans can bring to the table. It's an embarrassment for them and a travesty for America.