As indicated, the Republicans released today their budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2012, The Path to Prosperity (pdf alert). Not surprisingly, it is as draconian as almost everyone anticipated. Anyone slightly to the left of the middle right is enthusiastically lining up to bash the proposal.
I have a suggestion: Curb your enthusiasm!
I am not suggesting for a second that this proposal is not off the deep end. It certainly is, but that is to be expected. All it represents is the opening salvo in a long and torturous debate. If the truth be known -- with the exception of extreme radical right wing ideologues -- not even the GOP would want to see this budget enacted as is.
If this proposal was passed without any changes, the protests in the Middle East and Northern Africa would seem like child's play. Even though most American are as docile as worms, the abrupt changes to the standard way of American life would be too stark and dramatic.
I'm not merely suggesting that there would be protests; it would be more like riots. Far worse, as a country with liberal gun ownership laws, the leaders who voted for this drastic proposal would fear for their lives. Unfortunately, many folks on the right AND the left would see little moral injunction against shooting down the architects of America's self-imposed implosion.
Regardless of what you think of conservatives, these people are not dumb. They understand this proposal will see a lot of changes before it becomes law. All they are trying to do now is to move the debate onto their turf, so they can get more of what they want.
And that's what those of us on the left should be spending more time trying to figure out -- what is it they realistically want? How far to the right do they really want the budget to go? If we spend all of our time and energy decrying the unrealistic portions of the proposal, we unwittingly will end up ceding too much turf at the outset.
I have a suggestion: Curb your enthusiasm!
I am not suggesting for a second that this proposal is not off the deep end. It certainly is, but that is to be expected. All it represents is the opening salvo in a long and torturous debate. If the truth be known -- with the exception of extreme radical right wing ideologues -- not even the GOP would want to see this budget enacted as is.
If this proposal was passed without any changes, the protests in the Middle East and Northern Africa would seem like child's play. Even though most American are as docile as worms, the abrupt changes to the standard way of American life would be too stark and dramatic.
I'm not merely suggesting that there would be protests; it would be more like riots. Far worse, as a country with liberal gun ownership laws, the leaders who voted for this drastic proposal would fear for their lives. Unfortunately, many folks on the right AND the left would see little moral injunction against shooting down the architects of America's self-imposed implosion.
Regardless of what you think of conservatives, these people are not dumb. They understand this proposal will see a lot of changes before it becomes law. All they are trying to do now is to move the debate onto their turf, so they can get more of what they want.
And that's what those of us on the left should be spending more time trying to figure out -- what is it they realistically want? How far to the right do they really want the budget to go? If we spend all of our time and energy decrying the unrealistic portions of the proposal, we unwittingly will end up ceding too much turf at the outset.
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