 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan. 10, 2013/ 28 Teves, 5773
Budgeting through debt limit
By
Dick Morris
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The Republican Party and its House leadership need to find a place to
stand in the debt-limit battle that is approaching. Lacking a
politically viable place to stand is just a prelude to an inevitable
surrender. On the one side are those who oppose any increase in the debt limit at all or who demand major spending cuts in return for any debt-limit increase. The political fallacy of their position was exposed during the August 2011 debt-limit discussions. When push came to shove, the Republicans were unwilling to endanger the credit of the U.S., risk that Social Security checks wouldn't go out or deny pay to the military as they risked their lives in combat.
Obama and the Democrats called their bluff and pulled it off.
On the other side are those who say that the House can carve out exceptions to their refusal to raise the debt limit. These members hope that they can, for example, say that you can borrow more if it's necessary to avoid default or to pay Social Security, etc.
The problem with this approach is that the Senate will blow right past it and refuse to pass the exceptions. Then the Republicans will be right back where they started with an all-or-nothing decision on closing down the government. If the House pulled that trigger, the Republican leaders know, it is their party that would be blamed, and the Senate's refusal to pass their cushioning amendment would be a forgotten footnote.
And if the Republicans try to redline the areas for which the government can and cannot borrow, Obama can always talk about the areas they leave out: veterans' benefits, education, environment, transportation, etc.
So here's the answer: Raise the debt limit much more gradually than Obama wants. If, for example, he wants $3 trillion over two years, give him $1 trillion and dole it out in monthly increments. Give him a debt limit that goes up by 4 percent per month.
Once the House takes this step, the battle over the debt limit becomes simply a question of how much. And Obama will fare badly in this argument. It will be more spending against less spending, a fight the Democrats will lose.
Because the debt-limit increases will not be earmarked for specific purposes, Obama cannot trot out a few key programs and say they would have to close down. Nor can he threaten default. The 4 percent increases will afford him adequate authority to borrow to meet truly important obligations. The gradual approach to debt limitation will simply force Obama to prioritize and to limit his appetite for spending.
And it gives the Republicans a good place to stand during the battle. If Obama wants $3 trillion and the Republicans are only offering $1 trillion, the entire debate becomes quantitative. Obama cannot make it about Social Security or default. It will just be over how much we want to let him borrow. Here he has public opinion against him and we can force him to yield.
With the Senate refusing to pass a budget — and with the president using his executive authority to bypass Congress at every turn — the annual appropriations process is not the way to control spending. But you can force a form of budgeting by manipulating the debt limit.
Granted, it's a little bit like driving a car using the emergency break as opposed to the regular brake pedal, but when the brake doesn't work, engaging the emergency brake is a whole lot better than crashing! And it is the only way to rein Obama in.
Remember that we are borrowers who are also our own creditors. We are borrowing money we print at interest rates we set by fiat. The normal constraints on borrowing — a lack of willing creditors or high interest rates — don't operate here. It is only through the debt limit that we can achieve any kind of discipline.
Dick Morris Archives
| BUY THE BOOK |
|
 Buy it for 40% off the cover price by clicking here or in KINDLE at a 48% discount by clicking here. (Sales help fund JWR.). |
|
Comment by clicking here.
=<<
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
© 2013, Dick Morris
|
Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman
Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman
Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
| |
