Debt ceiling deal is politics as usual

August 2, 2011

Letter: Debt ceiling deal is politics as usual

To the editor:

To listen to the media, we have a deal! Woo-hoo! Only one problem — this is a deal we have seen time and again throughout history, and it always ends the same.

This deal allows a $2.4 trillion rise in the debt ceiling immediately. This number was crucial to Obama because it means this subject will not have to be addressed again until after the election. However the vast majority of the alleged spending cuts do not start until 2013 — again, after the election.

Washington will tell us, and act as if these cuts are really going to be made. But if history is any guide, they will not.

Consider 1986. Reagan wanted spending cuts. He was mainly negotiating with house Speaker Tip O'Neill. The final deal promised $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax increases. Reagan agreed. The only problem was the tax increases were immediate but the spending cuts were scheduled to begin in 1988, conveniently after the next congressional election. As O'Neill knew, today's Congress cannot bind the hands of future congresses. The cuts were never made. In 1991, George H.W. Bush made essentially the same deal, breaking his "no new taxes" pledge to get three-for-one spending cuts. The cuts never happened, and, in the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton used Bush's breaking of that pledge as a rhetorical bludgeon, beating him about the head with it.

Flash forward to today. House Republicans tried to use this debt ceiling increase to force Washington to put its fiscal house in order. They announced their intent to do this in January, leaving eight months to resolve this before any deadline. Congress, as usual, waited until the month prior to begin serious proposals. Unfortunately, our president did not get involved until three weeks prior to deadline, other than making speeches.

This is another deal where the spending cuts will likely not materialize, and in January 2013, we will be having this debate again, hopefully with a president who will lead on this very serious matter.