If it is Broke, Don't Fix It

One sign of intelligence is learning from past mistakes in an effort not to repeat them. It should come as no surprise then that the Republican Party is either unwilling or incapable of doing this. Despite a message that was rejected by voters in November - and rightly so - Republicans have stuck to their guns on taxing and spending. This makes me both gleeful and gloomy; gleeful because it is likely that Republicans are committing political suicide, gloomy because I wish the Republican would reform itself and highlight its good ideas rather than implode and leave the responsibility of running the country solely to the less-than-stellar Democrats.

In an unsurprising not-turn of events, House Speaker John Boehner, a man truly devoid of fortitude, has declared that the shellacking Republicans received in November had to do with the candidates that ran, not the ideas they espoused. Even if you believe this, the line of reasoning itself makes no sense, since in fact, people voted against the candidates who ran BECAUSE of the ideas they espoused. Typical Republican logic...So Republicans are refusing to budge on the issue of tax increases and spending cuts. Demanding a balanced budget, but of course incapable of getting there because they can neither add nor subtract and they have completely closed off the idea of raising revenue.

At some point we're just beating a dead horse with this "debate." Paul Ryan's most recent "budget" is more laughable than his first. I used to have some grudging respect for him for being willing to make tough choices about the future of entitlements, but that respect is long lost given that those tough choices just make life better for those who already living the good life and worse for everyone else. It does nothing to put America on the path to prosperity unless of course you happen to be an American who is already prosperous. In addition to being another mathematical fallacy, it calls for the repeal Obamacare. This is a bad idea, but of course it doesn't even represent an idea, it represents a political stunt. Democrats still control the Senate and Obama is still president. There is no way the law gets repealed. Rather than trying to put together a budget that represents a compromise and includes the good ideas Republicans could bring to the table, they engage in political theatrics. Theatrics that are likely to do them political harm.

The country is in need of fixing, but Republicans remain uninterested in even making a token effort, and so we are left with a Democratic party that can afford to be lazy and complacent because Republicans are so much worse. I worry for our nation's future because it doesn't seem as though Republicans are intellectually or morally up to the task of even trying to do right by America. If it is broke, don't fix it. That's where we find ourselves.