The potential fiscal cliff and the hasty attempt to address it with legislation before the end of the year has escalated into a prime example of the intense polarization that plagues our political system. Though not much has been agreed upon in the past few weeks, especially with a gridlock in the House, one point has made itself clear: the Republican Party is not in the best shape.In fact, most of the negative press surrounding the fiscal cliff includes finger pointing towards Republicans. Speaker of the House John Boehner has faced much scrutiny since his attempt at a compromise was rejected by his fellow party members. Conservative Tea Party members have not helped the cause, claiming that falling off of the fiscal cliff is preferred to any sort of tax increase. Also, Grover Norquist, whose pledge against tax increases was signed by many Republicans, has warned that violating his pledge will lead to primary challenges against the violators.
Public opinion reflects the above, as a Pew Research Center poll revealed that 53% believe that Republicans are more to blame if an agreement is not reached by Jan. 1 (versus 27% who blame Obama). Though the argument is now in the less-polarized Senate, insiders believe that an agreement will not be reached by the first of Jan.
Are the Republicans to blame for the failure to pass legislation to fight the potential fiscal cliff, or has the media unjustly stirred public opinion against them? How large of a role does Obama play in the issue? Is the Republican Party on a downward spiral? Will they be able to rebuild soon, and will that mean a (slight) move towards the center?
2 comments:
Well considering that Congress is basically adjourned, it looks like we're going to go over the cliff. All told, that's not so bad. Several economists, including Paul Krugman, agree that for a month or two, the economy could handle it. Unfortunately, the new Congress may not be too excited, since many of the freshman Representatives may be reluctant to disavow Norquist and risk their political futures. Norquist's policies about primaries basically amount to extortion, as far as I care.
So in some ways, I don't think it would necessarily be fair to blame the Republicans in Congress or the President. Norquist and other outsiders can still directly influence the House's proceedings, and since people outside of Congress seem to be causing so many problems, it's probably his fault. If the economy experiences a significant downturn, it'll be because of upstanding gentlemen like Grover Norquist.
With a mere 6 days left this year, I agree with James that going over the cliff will basically be inevitable at this point. I wouldn't necessarily pin the issue on either side, however, there have been many issues and deals offered that point the blame at the Republican Party in Congress. For example, the last deal that Obama offered, with Social Security benefit cuts, raising of the Medicare age, and a vast continuation of the Bush era tax cuts that would barely add to tax revenue... was still turned down as many Republicans refused to accept any rise in taxes at all for those earning under 1 million.
Even a deal with such large concessions being offered by Obama, the Republicans have also refused to respond specifically to what they want besides Boehner's terribly vague and partisan (in my opinion) "Plan B". Honestly, the partisanship exhibited throughout this whole fiscal cliff debate, or as I like to call it the "Austerity Bomb" really goes to show that attempting to remain headstrong in an issue that unequivocally requires a bipartisan solution is like asking for failure before it has even started. Even though Democrats have attempted to secede many issues and appease Congress Republicans with changes to deal offers, their efforts are ultimately to no avail as Republicans are refusing to compromise on the issue.
Hopefully after all this goes down, the Republican Party will regroup more to the center, although personally I am highly doubtful that will happen any time soon with people like Norquist around pressuring stubbornly conservative agendas in Congress. And even though the economy may dip once again in a month or so from now, maybe it will be a blessing in disguise that we will learn the hard way (once again) that attempting to push though strongly partisan legislation will result in nothing but failure.
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