Some months ago the president caved in to the republican demands to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Today we are told that the republican and democratic leaders of the senate and house along the president have a plan to avoid default. This plan includes no revenue enhancement whatever. It does include some trillions of dollars in cuts in government spending. We have heard so many plans and speculations, we won't know exactly what will happen for some time. We will hear different interpretations. The democrats will try to make the cuts sound benign. The republicans will try to make it sound like a blow for freedom. The tea party activists will tell us it is a betrayal of core conservative principles. They may even still try to block it. They have not failed yet. Whatever it is, it is not a compromise. The democrats have given away everything. Defense will be cut in time of war. The social safety net will be cut. Even if benefits are not cut directly in the first round(no guarantee) the welfare of those who need medicare, medicaid and social security is compromised. Of course all these cuts mean layoffs in the midst of the jobs recession we are still enduring. They mean further erosion of the tax base and further loss of consumer spending to drive recovery.
This is more than a surrender. The democrats, under President Obama did not fight for their core constituency. There is no more damage that could have been done to America than what the two parties have accomplished in the past three terms of the presidency.
Melvyn Polatchek
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