If the Republicans are smart, unscrupulous and want to win in 2012 at any cost, here’s a game plan.
Step 1: Fight like a demon against any fiscal stimulus that would help accelerate economic growth and reduce unemployment. Make up any excuse that sells. If one excuse begins to lose its juice, switch to another; consistency is irrelevant.
Step 2: Wait for the economy to stall or even go into reverse by early 2012.
Step 3: Once it’s too late for policy to have any effect before November, switch gears and demand an emergency program to create jobs, coupled with tax cuts for carefully targeted campaign contributors. Blame Obama for the endless slump and paint yourselves as tireless activists for full employment. Obama then faces the ugly choice between remaining consistent and toughing out the feeble economy or flip-flopping and chasing after your policies.
It’s all hypothetical, of course, except that we’ve been living in Step 1 since the moment McCain conceded in 2008.
4 comments:
The GOP Strategy Centre just called. They want their policy memo back...
The real life example of the euro and the European austerity should have served but didn't. We are now entering the phase of Republican induced uncertainty with the "debt limit". The Republican economic yes men will now be pointing to the mess and claiming victory for the "uncertainty" thesis and fear of tax increases. Obama and the Democrats will hide under the bed and hope things get better.
The other part of the argument is to refuse to raise the debt ceiling and hope the administration flubs it and lets this allow a default bringing on another financial crash, which can really put us into that recession that can bring B.O. down.
It is impossible for the administration to _NOT_ "flub it" politically. Anything the administration does will be illegal or it will result in the end of the US government as we have known it. The president can issue an executive order to ignore the debt limit law and he will be immediately impeached by the Republican majority in the House. But the Senate will not remove him. There will also be legal challenges that will be fast tracked to the Supremes. It is unlikely that Obama wants to put himself in the hands of the current rightarded court.
But perhaps I am wrong. To ignore the "debt limit" law and make the congress accountable for its budget(s) and its rules concerning all deficits must be financed via Treasury securities, is the correct thing to do. But I do not know if that is LEGAL. Seems to me that the congress has shirked its responsibility to create clear and consistent laws.
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