The supposed endgame behind the whole “starve the beast” plan was to end up creating a crisis that would force the elimination of Social Security and Medicare.
Those two programs have long been a major thorn in the side of ideological conservatives because they refute basic conservative dogma by…
1. Being government programs designed to help the entire population.
2. Actually working.
3. Being tremendously popular.
These facts damage one of the primary tenets of conservatism, that government doesn’t work, period. Why do you think they have also tried so hard for a plan “B” by their repeated plans and attempts to privatize both programs? Luckily for us those plans have always failed, at least so far.
By purposefully being fiscally irresponsible by lowering taxes while increasing government spending over 30 years the GOP has sent both the debt and the deficit skyrocketing. Their problem is that now that they finally have the “crisis” they have been trying to engineer, they lack enough public support to follow through. The overwhelming majority of the population wants to keep SS and Medicare going, even exits polls in this election confirmed that.
Those same polls and others have also shown that most people understand that a combination of both spending cuts and increased revenues via higher taxes is necessary. Not only to try to shore up the viability of the social programs but to avoid more damage to our credit rating and ultimately a possible economic crash and default on our debt.
The funny part of all this is that by agreeing to sequestration the GOP has now painted itself into a corner where taxes will go up no matter what happens. I don’t see how they can spin this into a win politically even with their PR machine cranked up to 11. As I said elsewhere here, Obama simply outplayed them in the “long game.” The Dems planned for this at the last debt ceiling negotiations while the Republicans failed to think it all the way through.
Personally I am going to stock up on a lot of popcorn because we are about to see four weeks worth of crying, whining, and hand wringing by the GOP. Regardless of what happens during those weeks the deficit will eventually end up being reduced and the Republicans are not likely to get much of the credit for doing so. Who knows, maybe instead of simply using it as a slogan the Republicans will finally see the need to actually become a fiscally responsible party in the end?
/Not holding my breath