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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Thursday, July 28, 2011 :::
I may be repeating myself here - I know I thought of this analogy a long time ago - but I've heard that a lot of evangelical Christians view the Pentecostal movement as basically on the side of the angels, but with "too much heart and not enough head." That's roughly my take on the Tea Party movement.
The Wall Street Journal offered a similar but more detailed assessment the other day, noting that some conservatives oppose the Boehner plan for being too liberal:But what none of these critics have is an alternative strategy for achieving anything nearly as fiscally or politically beneficial as Mr. Boehner's plan. The idea seems to be that if the House GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue, and the public will turn en masse against . . . Barack Obama. The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor.
This is the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell into GOP Senate nominees. The reality is that the debt limit will be raised one way or another, and the only issue now is with how much fiscal reform and what political fallout.
If the Boehner plan fails in the House, the advantage shifts to Mr. Reid's Senate plan which I don't actually think would be terrible.
If there were 62 Republicans in the Senate and a resurrected Calvin Coolidge in the White House, conservatives could reasonably complain about the Boehner plan. That's not the situation we're in. Keith Hennessey makes a good case that the Boehner plan is the most conservative bill that could possibly pass right now. He also makes the case there that if this game of chicken results in a crash, Republicans are more likely to be held responsible than Democrats. Anyone who wants more conservative legislation should support the cause of electing Republicans in 2012. Opposing any possible debt ceiling increase is not the way to do that.
::: posted by Steven at 1:09 PM
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