"A Necessary EVIL"! YEP, To The Extent That EVIL Can Be Found To Be Necessary!!

A necessary evil

The deal that broke the debt-ceiling impasse is a manmade national disaster that nevertheless has several redeeming qualities.

First of all, of course, the bill that was signed Tuesday by President Obama prevents a far greater catastrophe, an unprecedented default on America's debt. Such a step would have triggered a plunge in America's prime credit rating, a panic in the financial markets, sharp increases in interest rates, disruptions in vital government services and possibly a global economic crisis. It is to the shame of the national Republican Party that it was willing to take the country to the edge of that precipice. That some tea party Republicans were ready to let the nation go over the cliff defies characterization.

Second, benefit cuts were avoided in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans and federal retiree programs. If Congress and the White House are serious about deficit and debt reduction, those programs will have to face scrutiny. (Cuts, however, are not the only possible answer; increased funding can also maintain their solvency.) That conversation needs to occur in a calmer atmosphere and to be conducted by adults. Given the Republican makeup in the House, it is hard to know when that might be possible.

Third, the deal likely provides enough debt-ceiling relief to put off a full-scale revisitation of the issue until after the 2012 campaign, during which it doubtless will be explored. It requires blind faith, however, to think that discussion will be edifying.

That said, the bill is simply a terrible piece of legislation. Its cuts in domestic programs will be cruel to the poor and severely damaging to the middle class and to students. It will contribute greatly to the apparent tea party agenda of creating a country that is less educated, unhealthier and dirtier. In the cause of anti-tax fanaticism, it asks no additional contributions from the wealthiest Americans and corporations. It lowers respect for and trust in the United States globally.

Moreover, the bill is not an effective instrument for stemming the federal deficit. It whacks away $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years — and depends upon a “supercommittee” from Congress to agree on and sell $1.5 trillion of those cuts, lest draconian across-the-board cuts go into effect. All that makes a fairly modest dent in the $7 trillion in red ink expected during the next decade — and that number will grow by trillions if the Bush tax cuts are extended beyond their scheduled expiration in 2013. (That at least gives Democrats a tool and argument for finally getting rid of the Bush tax rates, if only they will use them.)

Worst of all, the cuts threaten a vulnerable economy hobbled by high unemployment. Growth slowed almost to a halt in the first half of this year, in large measure because of spending cuts by state and local governments. Sharp reductions in federal spending will make matters worse. It is an eerie repeat of 1937, when Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided the Depression was over and tried to rein in federal deficits. Instead, they reignited the Depression, which lasted until World War II, when massive federal spending put the economy back on the road to full recovery.

During congressional debates, some Democrats accused tea partiers of lack of patriotism and “waging war on America.” Such rhetoric is almost always over the top and deplorable. This time it was fully justified.