Watch Scott Jennings Slap Down This Shoddy Talking Point About the Spending Bill
Merry Christmas, And Democrats Can Go To Hell
A Quick Bible Study Vol. 247: Advent and Christmas Reflection - Seven Lessons
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and Ransom Captive Israel
Why Christmas Remains the Greatest Story of All Time
Why the American Healthcare System Has Been Broken for Years
Christmas: Ties to the Past and Hope for the Future
Trump Should Broker Israeli-Turkish Rapprochement for Peace in Middle East
America Must Dominate in Crypto
Biden Was Too 'Mentally Fatigued' to Take Call From Top Committee Chair Before...
Who Is Going to Replace JD Vance In the Senate?
'I Have a Confession': CNN Host Makes Long-Overdue Apology
There Are New Details on the Alleged Suspect in Trump Assassination
Doing Some Last Minute Christmas Shopping? Make Sure to Avoid Woke Companies.
Biden Signs Stopgap Bill Into Law Just Hours Before Looming Gov’t Shutdown Deadline
OPINION

The White House Does a Gary Bettman

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

If you’re a hockey fan, you’re probably pretty irritated that the National Hockey League’s owners and players still haven’t reached a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement, and thus the 2012-2013 season remains in limbo. You also probably know that negotiations got off to a rough start after the owners, who are presumed to have the upper hand, made a rather insulting initial offer to the players.

Advertisement

Well, the Obama administration must’ve stolen a page from the NHL owners’ negotiating playbook. Last week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner—playing the role of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman—delivered to congressional Republicans the president’s opening proposal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

The proposal’s reported contents were too extreme for the GOP, and they should insult anyone who gives a fig about the federal government’s unsustainable budgetary path.

Here are the details as reported by the Wall Street Journal:

    • $1.6 trillion (over 10 years) in tax increases by raising rates on the wealthy and limiting their deductions.
    • $50 billion in new federal spending on infrastructure projects in fiscal 2013. Yep, more “stimulus.”
    • A measly $400 billion (over 10 years) from alleged savings from entitlement programs, and no structural changes.
    • Authority for the president to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling.
    • The scheduled sequestration spending cuts would be postponed for a year.
    • Another extension of unemployment benefits (because, I guess paying people not to work creates economic growth).

In case there was any doubt remaining, this administration has zero intention of trying to get the federal government’s finances in order. Zero.

Advertisement

The only good news is that the president’s extreme opening proposal is going nowhere, which the administration apparently expected.

The polls show that Republicans will get most of the blame if Washington goes over the fiscal cliff. If that does happen—and I still don’t think it will—the president will be the guiltier party for having passed up a chance to be a genuine leader (as the pundits like to say), in exchange for scoring some political points with his base.

This work by Cato Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos