It’s been a bad stretch for the Democratic majority in Congress.
Their polling numbers have been going from bad to worse. The White House press secretary has openly speculated that House Democrats could lose their majority in November. Nasty disputes between Democratic congressional leaders and the White House staff have broken out in the press. One of the most senior House Democrats is now under an ethics-investigation cloud. And, worst of all, the public now sees the Obama agenda clearly and recognizes that it is far too liberal, government-heavy, and anti-business to be compatible with a vibrant American economy. That spells near-certain doom for many House and Senate Democrats seeking reelection and who are viewed by their constituents as accomplices in the administration’s pursuit of massive new spending, onerous taxation, and clumsy regulation.
All is apparently not lost, however — or so the optimists among them now surmise. Yes, these are desperate times; then what’s needed are desperate measures! What do Democrats do when they are cornered and desperate? Why, attack Republicans on Social Security, of course!
Never mind that Democrats have now controlled Congress for nearly four years and have controlled both the White House and Congress for half of that time. They don’t want to talk about their record, probably wisely. Their signature initiative — a massively expensive government takeover of American health care — remains highly unpopular, so much so that most Democratic candidates are now tiptoeing around the subject and almost never bringing it up themselves. Their so-called “stimulus” plan has done little to nothing to generate job growth, even as unemployment has hovered around 10 percent for months on end. And the Obama budget would run up $10 trillion in deficits through 2020 at a time when the American public has come to realize that excessive government spending and debt pose very real threats to their long-term economic security.
No, in the heavy campaign season between now and November 2, congressional Democrats don’t want to talk about what they have done with the voters’ trust since 2006. They want to shift the focus off of themselves by resorting to a tried-and-true scare tactic. If they can’t get voters to affirmatively support them for office, perhaps they can still get their votes by scaring the heck out of them about what the other guys might do.
Specifically, top Democrats, from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on down, have apparently decided that their ace in the hole is a concerted attack on Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to save the country from economic collapse. We are told that House Democrats plan to hold a hearing on the Social Security component of the Ryan blueprint sometime this fall, and the expectation is that Democrats will also make it the focus of a coordinated campaign ad attack as the election approaches.
Though not surprising, the shameless irresponsibility of these planned attacks is still something to behold. Rome burns, and those who are the notional stewards of the nation’s finances continue to play the same political games they have always played – indeed, the very games that have brought us to the precipice in the first place.
Every credible economist views runaway federal entitlement spending as the most serious threat to the nation’s long-term prosperity. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently reported that spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare’s new entitlement commitments will rise from 10.3 percent of GDP in 2010 to 15.9 percent in 2035, a jump of 5.6 percent of GDP — and that assumes that the unrealistic Medicare cuts in Obamacare continue in perpetuity. A more realistic projection shows spending on these programs rising to 17.1 percent of GDP in 25 years. Beyond 2035, the situation will only get worse.
For the record, the Ryan Roadmap is a comprehensive plan to actually fix the problem — permanently. It would rework the federal government’s main retirement and health programs and tax laws to ensure spending commitments can actually be met now and in the future without pushing tax rates or debt to catastrophic levels. Moreover, the reforms reward work, promote economic growth, and empower consumers and markets. Among its many provisions, in the Social Security section, the Ryan plan would very gradually phase in voluntary personal accounts for workers under the age of 55. No one currently in the program or about to retire would have their benefits changed based on the introduction of the accounts, which in any event would be very small for the foreseeable future. Once instituted, the personal accounts would be entirely voluntary. Enrollees would still get a defined benefit from Social Security, but they would also get an annuity from an investment that they own and that is no longer subject to the unpredictable whims of political control. The balances in the accounts would grow at least at the rate of inflation. Workers would be offered more control over their own money, making it easier to also implement the modifications needed to keep program spending in line with revenue.
Where is the Obama-Pelosi plan to head off fiscal disaster? It doesn’t exist, of course. Obamacare did nothing to solve the problem of rising health-entitlement costs. In fact, it made the problem much worse by bringing tens of millions of people into new, open-ended entitlement programs. And there is no plan to keep Social Security solvent, even though the program is already running cash deficits.
The only Democratic “plan” — such as it is — is the appointment by the president of the so-called “debt commission.” But this is a transparent political ploy in its own right. It is aimed first at providing cover for Democrats between now and November. To every question from a reporter on runaway spending and the hemorrhaging of debt that has occurred under President Obama, the Democrats can simply say they are waiting for the commission to make its recommendations — conveniently scheduled by the president for December 1. Moreover, the Democrats are hoping to use the commission to maneuver Republicans into giving them cover for massive tax hikes to temporarily paper over the explosive costs of the Obama welfare state.
Republicans would be fools to go along with this game. Sooner or later, the fight must be joined, and it almost certainly will in 2012, in any event. Voters need to see as clearly as possible the choice that is before them. We can either stay on the road we are on, with crushing taxes and wholesale middle-class dependency on government. Or we can return to a uniquely American formulation, one which protects the vulnerable but also relies on individual responsibility and initiative. Congressman Ryan has done everyone a favor by laying down a blueprint for responsible American self-government that can produce wealth and prosperity in this century just as it did in the last. With the choices clear, Republicans have nothing to fear from this fight.