Much Ado about Not Much

We may have dodged a bullet in terms of the debt limit, but we certainly defaulted once again on responsible governance. The agreement on the debt ceiling was a paper tiger, if not a sham, and the stock market immediately reflected how feckless the agreement was to improve the economy and create jobs.

Again, it was all about politics, and in that respect, the Republicans, driven by the Tea Party zealots, carried the day. Speaker Boehner said he was happy with the results because he got “98 percent of what I wanted.” While the President, hoping to reach a balanced, grand compromise that would have helped reduce the deficit and promote economic growth, comes across as a dupe and a failed leader.

On top of that, this embarrassing spectacle between the Congress and the White House is not finished. We’re just getting a short reprieve while the Congress is on its five-week break. Then it’s back to business as usual. Although some optimists have suggested the agreement was a good first step, the 12-member so-called Super Committee that was created to find additional ways to reduce the deficit is not likely to achieve much, if anything. And the legislative triggers that would go into effect if no agreements are reached are a joke. Been there, done that.

Besides, the Republicans have already made it clear that its six members will be chosen for their adamant opposition to tax increases, and chances are the Democrats will stock the committee with those equally opposed to any changes in Social Security and Medicare. This despite most economists maintaining that we can’t just cut ourselves out of this problem, that we need to raise revenues and we need to put everything on the table, including sacred cow entitlement programs.

So, it looks to me like continuing stalemate and gridlock for the foreseeable future because what’s not on the table is compromise. The Tea Party, in particular, is not willing to budge in the slightest. They’re a scary bunch which gives them a decided edge in negotiating with sane, responsible people. Senator James Webb of Virginia, who served under President Reagan, hopes that the Republican Party, which is riding the Tea Party wave, doesn’t look back one day and realize, in the words of the infantry officer in Vietnam, they tried to “destroy the village in order to save it.”

Whatever happened to the concept of “compromise?”

Once considered “the genius of American politics,” in the words of the late historian Shelby Foote, compromise is now considered a dirty word, to quote President Obama, and a sign of weakness.

American greats such as Benjamin Franklin and Henry Clay were lauded for their ability to forge compromises. Our very Constitution is a paragon of compromise and our Civil War a tragic reminder of what can happen when compromise fails. In our time, President George H.W. Bush believed in prudence and balance, and paid the price for it politically when he agreed, despite his “read my lips” pledge, to raise taxes that helped pave the way for the prosperity of the 90s and a budget surplus that his son inherited and squandered.

Warren Buffett said he could solve the deficit problem in five minutes; “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.” Cute thought, but removing politics from the legislative process is the stuff of fantasy.

However, there are faint glimmers of hope, with the emergence of The Coffee Party www.coffeepartyusa.com on the right side of the political spectrum that aims to restore the balance that the Republican Party once enjoyed, and a third-party movement http://www.americanselect.org/, -- recently cited by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman -- of unhappy Republicans, Democrats, and Independents fed up with the two-party system who want a third choice.

So, once again, hope springs eternal, even though these movements show the level of national discontent rather than any hope of relief for the immediate future.

Meantime, thank God, the NFL owners and players have reached a settlement and we’ll at least have football to distract us.

Gerald E. Lavey