Matters of Church and State

CORRECTION:  MAKE THAT GRADE SCHOOL 

   

        A month or more ago, I posted a piece on my blog site titled “Washington as High School.”  It was prompted by the continuing adolescent behavior of the politicians in Washington in the face of national issues that require adult behavior and compromise.

         The high school analogy was taken from Meg Greenfield, the late Editorial Page Editor of the Washington Post.  She wrote a book called simply WASHINGTON, and in it she said that after observing the behavior of politicians in Washington for decades, she concluded that the best analogy was high school. When I first read the book years ago, it was like a “eureka” experience.  It immediately resonated. 

         But, now after watching the Congress and the White House wrangle over the sequestration issue, I have concluded that Meg Greenfield and I have been grossly unfair to high school students and adolescents everywhere.

         Now, I have decided that grade school, or even pre-kindergarten,   would be a better, more apt, analogy.  And, I suspect if Meg Greenfield were alive, she would agree.

         If you haven’t been paying attention, but have been leading a normal life instead, let me bring you up to speed.  As the March 1 deadline looms to trigger draconian, across-the-board cuts to programs that both parties agree would be catastrophic, the White House and the Congress can’t agree on a compromise by sitting down together and agreeing on a more rational approach.  That would be an adult thing to do but don’t forget the premise of this piece.

         Incidentally, this mindless, looming set of cuts called inelegantly a “sequester” are cuts both the White House and the Congress agreed to almost a year ago.  Why?  Well, because they couldn’t agree on a wiser approach at the time and hoped that by the time the cuts were due to take place they would be old enough and mature enough to sit down and work out a reasonable approach.

         Well, now (surprise, surprise) they are no older and wiser, and here we are facing another artificial disaster – another fiscal cliff, if you will.  As the deadline approaches, President Obama is on the hustings telling “real people” how these looming cuts will affect “real people.”  Admittedly, this is a blatant PR gesture designed to rally support for his position and to put pressure on Congress to compromise.  But, using PR to rally support is nothing new.  President Theodore Roosevelt called the presidency a “bully pulpit” and it has been used by both parties since then, if not before.  That’s why the Presidency is such a prize for political parties: It gives the party in power enormous leverage.  Besides, the cuts will come down hard on the very people the President is talking about.  No fakery there.

         Meantime, the members of Congress are trying to figure out how the sequester will affect their political ratings.  If the sequester goes into effect, which party will get the most blame?  That’s their major concern.  Seriously, don’t take my word for it – read the news reports and the political analysis.  The only constituency the House Republicans seem to be worried about are their wealthy supporters.  If you think that’s unfair, take a look at the single most critical issue causing the stalemate:  The President wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans in exchange for cuts in programs that the Democrats hold dear, including Medicare.

         That’s the crux of the issue.

         It seems to me that – politically – it would be harder and require more courage to tell Medicare recipients that you aim to cut their benefits, or ask them to pay more for their benefits, than to tell the Koch brothers and Donald Trump that they would have to increase their taxes.  Don’t you think?

         Oh, but you must pardon me, I keep forgetting, this is Washington, we are in the nation’s “romper room” where we are still learning to play together.  But, don’t forget, we adults do get to fill out their report card.

Jerry