Republican Party Suicide and the Concept of Shared Sacrifice

The Republican Party continues to slit its own throat by planting the psychological seeds for the failure of President Obama’s economic recovery program. No one can tell whether or not the plan will produce the desired results or lead us to a lower standard of living that will last for generations. But it should at least be given a chance and there have been some positive signs lately of the beginnings of a recovery.
There are three things I do know for sure. First, if Obama was taking a laissez faire approach and allowing the economy to stand or fail on its own, Republicans would be screaming that he is a “do nothing President.”
Second, I haven’t seen one credible alternative plan presented by the President’s opponents. All Republicans can do is talk about stimulating spending and investment by cutting taxes, the same plan that did nothing to prevent the current crisis from happening. It’s a failed philosophy but it plays well among those who would benefit most from further tax cuts.
Third, there is no way we are going to get out of this current crisis and sustain anything near the standard of living we have become used to without raising taxes. Yesterday, I watched an appearance on Good Morning America by Peter Peterson, a billionaire, who pointed out that the unfunded, “off balance sheet” liabilities of the US government total 56 trillion dollars. Yes that’s trillion folks and it’s five times the amount of the known, more publicized national debt. This is the shameful legacy of apathy and complacency that we have left to our children and grandchildren.
Mr. Peterson made a comment that I have written about many times before. He talked about the concept of shared sacrifice and the fact that it has become career suicide for any politician to suggest that we all have to join together as a national community and accept the fact that the economic landscape has been permanently, negatively altered. Of course, in order to make this point to the American people, both political parties would have to admit to their failure of leadership and we all know that is not too likely. The Republicans embody this reality by pandering to their ever shrinking base through proposals that will increase the economic inequality that is at the root of our current problems.
The most amusing part of the story was that the Republicans were happy to have an actor speaking at their function and agreeing with them, as if having one representative of moral bankruptcy on their side validates their judgment of the President’s performance to date.
It would be so nice if they came up with something original instead of pointing fingers and calling names like testosterone filled teenagers in a locker room. But I am not holding my breath.