Over at the Washington Examiner, Philip Klein has a good analysis of a “a new USA Today/Gallup poll” which shows that, by and large, Republican arguments on spending are resonating with the American people:
This survey comes on the heels of a New York Times/CBS poll finding a plurality of Americans supporting the Ryan budget. While it’s far too early for either side to declare victory in the early stages of a long-term budget fight, we now have multiple polls suggesting that proposing changes to entitlement programs is not as politically toxic as we have been led to believe.
After the Ryan budget was proposed, Democrats were salivating and it became conventional wisdom that these programs still enjoyed their third-rail status and thus the GOP was taking a big risk by embracing changes to them. But if the opposite is true, and Democratic scare tactics prove ineffective, it will shatter a dynamic that has existed for decades that have made these programs untouchable in Washington.
To be sure, he notes, some Democratic critiques are resonating. “Two-thirds of Americans,” for example, “worry the Republican plan for reducing the budget deficit would cut Medicare and Social Security too much.”
That said, the real point to bear in mind that Klein raises in the last line quoted above. We may well be experiencing a paradigm shift in American politics, where, in times of crisis, American people see spending cuts and fiscal solvency as the driving issues, rather than increased government spending as a necessary stimulus. This paradigm has been shifting for thirty years — at least. Only it’s started to become particularly manifest in the past two years, with increasing popular opposition to the president’s big-spending initiatives.
Question for those who are saying “Deficits don’t matter because we need to stimulate the economy.” If you guys really believe that, then why collect taxes at all?
Senator Joe Manchin endorses spending caps & a balance budget amendment:
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/04/26/manchin-endorses-spending-caps-balanced-budget-amendment/
Translation: Manchin wants to be re-elected in 2012.
This is the same guy who voted against the repeal of ObamaCare.
Total tool.
Sure Daniel, I know what you’re saying here, but I wonder if you and your readers have heard the latest scuttlebutt coming outta Washington,DC?
“The Tea Party is not growing. They are not strong. You do not need to worry about how they will react to your vote.”
“If you do not like what we are doing, and don’t vote with us, you should get the hell out.”
Those sound like words from the White House or Senate leaders, don’t they? But they’re not. As a matter of fact, they were comments made behind closed doors by the Republican House Leadership and their allies.
Wow. Have you had enough yet? Do you like being downplayed and disregarded by Republicans who won a majority last year based on millions of conservatives casting their votes based on the core values of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets?
How would you feel as a freshman in Congress, if you were standing up for your country’s core values in a meeting, and told by the leadership that you could get the hell out for doing what you were sent to Washington to do?
Some first timers to Washington must be frustrated, to the point that fighting seems pointless. In fact, you can bet many of them say, “Why fight a fight that seems like it cannot be won?” And I don’t fault them for saying it… Do you?
But we all knew the system is corrupt, and at times we knew it would seem impossible to overcome the political double dealing……. But ya know, now is not the time to throw in the towel. Thankfully we have our history to draw from now… Our founding fathers didn’t give up, and we all know the odds against them were greater than what we face today.
Conservatives everywhere must stand up now and be heard. Now is the time to tell your representatives on the Hill that we’ve had enough of their meaningless back room deals and infighting. Tell every one of them how we expect real changes to be voted for……. And for those in Washington standing with us, we must let them know we are standing with them.
One year ago I started to see a gradual change in the public viewpoint in concerns to government spending. At the time it appeared the Tea Party movement was growing larger and larger by the week, and was becoming a powerful voice in Washington. I recognized that fiscal discipline was becoming an issue of increasing concern with the public.
At the time I was taking a required introductory Economics course. The issues that were being brought up by the Tea Party were frequently discussed in the class sessions. It was through my observations of the Tea Party, and the introductory economics course, that shifted my political leanings to the right, and solidified my decision to change my major to Economics.
The Republicans really only have to use a four-word answer to critics of Medicare Reform: “Would you prefer bankruptcy?”
Spartann,
Yeah, it’s an insurgency in the Republican Party. if it doesn’t succeed, then we’ll see a third party form.
Budding Economist: Be careful! Just remember, most macro econ out there today (Keynesianism) is crap. The micro guys are OK but the macro guys are basically paid (via endowments, grants, etc.) to justify government spending. Traditional C + I + G + (X – M) analysis, which they often pull out to justify spending, is a joke: it ignores balance sheet / wealth effects, the productivity of spending and so forth.
The deeper problem with it is that spending (or the demand side) does not drive the economy; production and trade (the supply side) drive the economy. Human demand is infinite; people always need/want more stuff. “Effective demand” means demand backed by purchasing power, and purchasing power comes from having something that others want in trade, i.e. from production. So the economy (both micro and macro) is driven by production, not by Keynesian aggregate demand.
The trouble with economics is, it can send you in a direction where you think you know everything, but you’ve lost your common sense. It is often important to forget the theories and mathematical models of economics, and just remember the basic realities of production and trade. A book that tries to reconnect people with the basics, and which therefore is intentionally fun and simple to read, is here: http://www.amazon.com/How-Economy-Grows-Why-Crashes/dp/047052670X
In general, the unpopular (in academia) “Austrian School” of economics – von Mises, Hayek, etc. – is the closest thing to an accurate/valid macroeconomics. I’ve been trading Austrian predictions/theses in the markets the last few years and doing at least well enough to impress myself. Some “supply side” economics can be OK too, but not all of it; some of those guys retain vestiges of Keynesianism. Austrian School is the fundamental alternative to Keynes.