Tea Party Holds U.S. Economy Hostage

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 7, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

            Threatening to shut down the government, 85 newly elected, rebellious Tea Party members of the House of Representatives currently hold the economy hostage, while they battle ideological differences with Democrats.  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) finds himself squeezed between what’s left of GOP moderates and Tea Party zealots, ready, willing and able to shut off military paychecks to score points against President Barack Obama.  Boehner’s a helpless pawn in the ongoing, behind-the-scenes internecine warfare inside the Republican Party.   Ultraconservative Tea Party folks think they know what’s best for the economy, despite mirroring former President George W. Bush’s economic polices that left the nation in the worst recession since the Great Depression.  Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have shuttled between the Hill and the White House to find a deal.

            Tea Party folks claim to support the military but know that a government shutdown would result in military families receiving 50% of their current pay.  Conservatives are convinced that the way to prosperity are dramatic reductions in government spending.  They don’t quite get that if you lay off thousands of federal employees it would damage the economy.  “If the president vetoes this bill and shuts the government down, our men and women in uniform serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world will not be paid,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in classic Orwellian doublespeak.  Forcing a budget-slashing bill on Democrats doesn’t constitute shutting down the government.  Congressional Republicans have gone after Medicare and Medicaid but refuse to look at the plethora of extravagant and wasteful jobs, salaries and pensions in the federal budget. 

            Instead of slashing vital government programs, Congressional Republicans should be asking for the best ways to stimulate the business community.  Throwing more people into unemployment hurts the government by reducing the tax base.  To add jobs and stimulate the economy, the White House must pursue policies that grow the stock market, including regulating short selling, commodity trading and hedge and private equity funds that drive oil prices through the roof.  Neophyte Tea Party Republicans should demand not cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security but in the federal bureaucracy where employees currently receive excessive salaries and pensions, causing too much waste, fraud and mismanagement.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pleaded with House and Senate Republicans to compromise on budget cuts and keep checks flowing to the U.S. military.

            Whether House and Senate Republicans like the system or not, they simply can’t shutter the government to get their way.   Slashing vital social programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security hurts all citizens, whether Democrat, Republican on independent.  No one wants the government to run whopping budget deficits.  But the surest path to reducing deficits is putting the unemployed back to work.  Since taking office Jan. 20, 2011, Obama has grown the Dow Jones Industrials from around 8,000 to its current 12,400 level, a nearly 55% increase.  That change has resulted in billions of dollars in capital gains revenue to the U.S. treasury.  As private sector jobs continue to increase, like they did by 216,000 in March, the government can expect further reductions in the nation’s $1.5 trillion budget deficit.  Slashing the budget shows no confidence in economic growth.

            In the latest budget, House and Senate Republicans have tried to end federal subsidies for abortion.  While there’s nothing wrong with debating the abortion issue, there’s something very wrong about holding the budget hostage for a calculated political agenda.  White House and Congressional officials need to deal with waste, fraud and mismanagement in the federal budget by going through a top-down audit of all federal jobs in terms of salaries and benefit.  Picking on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security doesn’t deal with the badly out-of-whack salaries and pensions that have placed so much pressure on the U.S. Treasury.  Expanding the tax base by growing the stock market and adding private sector jobs is the only sure way to reduce deficits and eventually create the same surpluses seen in the late ‘90s.  Picking on vital social programs cause more economic problems.

            House and Senate Republicans must compromise with the White House to keep the government running, no matter what the size of the deficits.  With the stock market and economy growing, budget deficits will eventually fall into line.  Federal government must learn from the states that targeting only education or social programs is not the appropriate way to tackle today’s budget woes.  Bashing unions and collective bargaining is also no responsible way to deal with today’s budget shortfalls.  Only by growing the stock market and finding ways to add more private sector jobs, including banning companies from outsourcing and encouraging foreign manufacturers to set up shop in the U.S., can the federal government expect to generate more tax revenue.  Slashing budgets shows no confidence in long-term economic growth.  Obama and Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke must stay on track..

About the Author

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

©1999-2005 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.