Memo to GOP: If you mean it, get real

by Brian Mann on April 19th, 2011

The central Republican message of the Obama era is that these are, at least potentially, the end times. Polls show that a significant percentage of the GOP’s base believes fairly out-there stuff about the world we live in.

President Obama himself may well be a foreign-born Manchurian candidate, hell-bent on destroying the American capitalist way of life. Or so the far Right would have you believe.

But even mainstream conservatives espouse a remarkable range of ideas about the fiscal cliff that we are perched upon as the Federal deficit surges, with some claiming that we are close to a Greece-style meltdown.

The problem with this narrative is that it remains, so far, a kind of populist sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Republicans may well ride a wave of anxiety to political victory in 2012, but so far they have offered no ideas that would actually pull the nation back from the brink.

Consider as Exhibit A the budget plan put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan.

This is a spending plan that claims to solve one very real problem (Federal deficits) but in fact is aimed squarely at solving two problems (overtaxation of the wealthy and an outsized Federal government) that are pure fiction.

Perhaps fiction is too strong a word. Call it, rather, ideological obsession.

Let’s talk first about the Federal deficit, and the overall national debt. It’s huge. S&P’s downgrading of the nation’s debt-credibility this week suggests that bond markets are skittish about our overspending.

Eliminating the overspending will mean huge, painful sacrifices by every American. Yes, poor people will see fewer services. Government employees and teachers will likely see significant cuts in their pay and job prospects.

But Ryan’s plan begins with the conceit that taxes for the wealthy should be lowered even further, despite the fact that taxation rates for the highest earners are already at the lowest levels since World War 2.

It’s true that a generation ago, when Ronald Reagan was elected, high tax rates were a significant concern. Average Americans groaned under their tax burden.

And there were legitimate fears that overtaxation could be stifling economic activity. But no objective economist believes that we’re anywhere close to that taxation level now.

It’s also simply untrue that government has continued to grow out of proportion to our population and our economy. The amount of Federal spending as a percentage of GDP has been relatively stable for decades.

(In fact, the number of government employees in the US has been declining steadily for the last five years. )

So if Republicans are serious about more than winning elections — if they actually want to generate a plan for governing — they should do the following:

– Come up with a deficit reduction plan that is realistic and shares the sacrifices over the entire population. That means significant cuts to all programs, including the military and entitlements. It also means more taxes for the rich, and an end to the era when about half of wage-earners at lower income levels pay no taxes at all. Republicans should help to educate Americans that there is an important role for a lean, effective government, and we have to pay enough taxes to fund it.

-Develop a realistic energy independence policy that is science-based. Yes, that means more offshore drilling and maybe even drilling in ANWR and other sensitive areas. It probably means more short-term reliance on coal and nuclear. But it also means accepting that renewables are the future and accepting the very real, immediate threat of global warming.

-Develop a realistic plan for bringing down the cost of medical care. This is the big budget buster in American society, not just for the Federal government, but for individuals and private sector businesses as well. With our aging population, solving this will be tough. Success will mean using some market-driven mechanisms, TORT reform, and interstate competition. But it will also mean building on government programs that have been effective at cost containment, including the VA system and Medicare.

It won’t be easy for Republicans to bend their trajectory toward more common sense thinking and planning.

The ideological stuff is hugely popular with the party’s base and even the idea of governing sensibly is unpleasant for some conservatives, who believe that the best government is no government.

But the truth is that the GOP’s credibility on Fiscal matters is already razor-thin.

Their years of total power in Washington from 2000 through 2008 produced few solutions for any of the nation’s problems, from the Federal debt to healthcare to energy.

Ryan himself voted for spending proposals during the Bush era that we’re flat-out fiscally irresponsible, including two wars that weren’t paid for, tax cuts that weren’t paid for (with spending cuts), not to mention Mr. Bush’s prescription drug benefit program (a $50 billion annual expense) that wasn’t paid for.

In rebuilding Republican credibility, opposing Obama isn’t enough.

If thoughtful conservatives really believe the nation has drifted into dangerous territory, then it is their duty to come up with real plans and real political compromises that put the country back on track.

Tags: politics, President Barack Obama