Supposedly Bi-Partisan Budget Voted Down By Bi-Partisan Majority
In the Grand Forks Herald today opinion editor Tom Dennis extols the virtues of a supposedly bi-partisan budget, and expresses consternation over its defeat in the House (pre-emptive consternation, as it happens, as the bill hadn’t yet been voted down by the time Dennis’ editorial went to press).
“As support from job-creators such as the Business Roundtable continues to grow, hardcore conservatives and liberals alike are running out of excuses,” writes Dennis. “There is a way forward — a bipartisan approach that American leaders by the hundreds or even thousands have been impressed by. It’s the Simpson-Bowles plan; Congress should accept its broad outlines and get to work.”
The problem? The budget went down to a bi-partisan vote. Just 38 members of the House voted for the budget, with 382 voting against.
Frankly, I’m a little tired of this fetish for “bipartisanship” as if it were an inherently good thing. Any time a D and an R endorse a bit of policy, the magic term of “bipartisan” is applied and the proposal because a Really Good Thing according to the professional moderates who mask their own ideological agendas by occupying a fictional middle ground.
I’m not against consensus. Our founders made the federal legislative process arduous specifically so that any bills that emerged would have consensus. But one thing we cannot have consensus on is legislation that is bad for our country.
We cannot afford to run deficits like our nation has run in recent years. We also can’t afford to raise taxes in a time of recession, which will only exacerbate our problem. Thus, Republicans are sticking to their guns to make spending cuts and entitlement reforms the agenda. If that’s not “bipartisan” enough for the phony consensus builders, so be it.
Tags: deficits, national debt
