Thursday, June 30, 2011

It Took Folks Long Enough

Back in May, I wrote a blog post expressing my opinion that the number one goal of the GOP, as articulated by Sen. Mitch McConnell, was to deny President Obama a second term.  I also stated that the GOP has reached a point where its members "would be willing to deep-six the nation purely in the hope that the blame will go to President Obama."  I still believe that, and it's nice to know that I am not alone in that assessment.

I read with great interest Andrew Sullivan's post entitled "Boehner's Economic Terrorism," because I believe Sullivan is correct on the whole in his analysis of what we are watching, as our nation moves closer to the August 2 deadline regarding the debt ceiling.  I now agree with Sullivan that some variation on the Bowles-Simpson plan is what the country needs in order to move toward improving our long-term fiscal outlook.  Are there things within that plan that I don't like?  Of course, but I also recognize that ours is a nation that has been built on compromises.

I am also glad to hear that a Democratic leader has been willing to suggest this publicly.  Sen. Chuck Schumer is the one who has taken this plunge, and I hope that the suggestion leads to substantive questions directed at the GOP congressional leadership (not that we will get substantive answers, but at least the questions will be on the record for public consumption).  It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.

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