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Editorial: Fiscal Cliff Compromise

By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter

A true compromise is an agreement that neither side can stand.  Compromises are often, ugly nasty agreements that both sides agree to with some measure of revulsion and disgust.  What I am proposing here is a compromise.  It is something I do not like.  If I were to write my own budget plan I could write one that protects America’s defense, protects the benefits of current seniors, downsizes government, simplifies the tax code, and would balance the budget in three years, while promoting investment in American and the private sector.   If a Congressman were to introduce THAT plan it would be dead on arrival in the partisan gridlock that the American people shackled our country with on November 6th.  Given the vast ideological divide between the philosophies of liberalism and conservatism nothing that is ideological pure (or even very sensible) is going to pass both the Republican controlled House and the Democrat controlled Senate, much less get signed by the most liberal President in American history.

We are then forced to ask ourselves what each side in this debate really wants at the core level.  The Republicans want to grow the private sector and protect our national defense.  This is not true of ALL Republicans of course.  The Ron Paul faction would throw defense under the bus and some more liberal Republicans are fans of big government; but on the whole is close enough that the majority can agree with those principles.

The Democrats believe in government as the great equalizer.  They believe that everybody is entitled to a nice dwelling, three meals a day, warm clothes, education, transportation, healthcare and if you can’t (or won’t) do what it takes to get that for yourself they have a couple of dozen federal programs that will bring that to you.  In 2012, the Democrats are the party of BIG Government.  Apparently 52% of the voters agree with them.

In the past moderate Republican would get together will likeminded moderate Democrats and a moderate President and they would craft some sort of a deal that would leave those of us on the far right and those of us on the far left shaking our heads.  Well there really aren’t any moderates anymore.  The Republicans have been influenced by the Tea Party and the Democrats by the socialists.  The majority in the Congress is not in the middle and President Barack H. Obama certainly is not.

What I am about to propose is a nasty dirty idea and if implemented would have negative repercussions all the way down the line; but arguably not as dire as if we actually went over the fiscal cliff in the midst of an already lethargic economy.

What I am proposing is giving both sides most of what they want.  Republicans want to keep the Bush Tax rates and make them permanent.  They also want to keep America’s defense industrial complex fully functional and our defenses intact.  I will give them that too.

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Democrats like sending people government checks.  They have led the way on expanding Social Security to include the flimsiest excuses for a disability check imaginable.  Over 80 million Americans qualify for Food Stamps.  They have extended unemployment benefits for years and years even though the recession supposedly ended back in September 2009.  They have expanded Medicaid beyond its original bounds to the point that today over half of the medical bills in the U.S. are paid by either Medicare or Medicaid.  Since the Democrats won control of the Senate in 2006 deficits have mushroomed out of control and the national debt has almost doubled.  Democrats have heavily subsidized questionable “green” technologies while over regulating proven industries like oil, coal, and natural gas that provide the overwhelming amount of energy this country needs.  Since President Barack H. Obama was first elected he has expanded the federal workforce by a staggering 101 new federal workers a day.

I think the man has been a disaster as a President; but 52% of the American people apparently disagree and support both the man and his destructive policies.  They even strengthened his majority in the Senate.

The sad sad compromise I am proposing is to let him have what he wants which is another $5 to $6 trillion in deficit spending so he can live out his utopian fantasies about building America up one government check after another.  If we can protect the private sector economy as much as humanly possible……maybe just maybe our national nightmare will finally be over and a sane administration can succeed in restoring some fiscal sanity to our country.  This President has proven time and time again that he has no grasp of economics and he really doesn’t care any about private sector job growth.  Accept that fact and move on.

The dollar is an imaginary construct anyway.  It is nothing, backed by a promise of nothing.  It is a fantasy at best and a lie at worst.   People who understand this take the dollar in exchange for their labors and then promptly exchange it for equities such as stocks or for commodities such as gold and silver or “real” assets like land, real estate, and businesses.   I don’t like what I am suggesting here; but I think it is necessary to move on from this quagmire of endless negotiations with the entire economy held hostage to the capricious whims of our government overseers.

Brandon Moseley is a former reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter.

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