A Bad Compromise

By Bill Wheaton

Press Media Group, LLC

Published December 17, 2010 in the Lynchburg ledger

Politics is the art of compromise.  The more political power you have, the less you have to compromise, but what goes around comes around.  Those with the political power one day will in the next be the ones without.

In 2008, with the Democrat sweep, Republicans were effectively locked out of the debate.  When Republicans took their thoughts and ideas to Obama, they were greeted with two words, “We won.”

With the 2010 election the power has once again begun to swing the other way, but there is a difference.  Democrats in power are arrogant and have no hesitation to throw their political weight around.  They think nothing of denying Republicans a seat at the table.

Republicans on the other hand are much more conciliatory.  They give Democrats a chance to participate and compromise when there is no need to do so.  They find that this is a way to keep the liberal media off their back.

But this time around, Republicans need to play hardball with the Democrats in spite of what the media might say.  They need to give them a taste of what they have been dishing out.

In the lame duck Congress, the Democrats still have total power, but many Democrats have seen the handwriting on the wall.  They find they must compromise in spite of holding all the political power because that is about to end.

Obama and the Republicans reached a compromise on extending the Bush tax cuts and unemployment benefits.  In the compromise, all the Bush tax cuts would be extended for two years and in return, unemployment benefits would be extended for an additional 13 months or 56 weeks.  This is in addition to the 99 weeks of unemployment compensation already provided.  The “death tax” would also be reinstated, taxing estates more than $1 million up to 55 percent. 

I oppose this compromise for a couple of reasons.  First, let us look at the Bush tax cuts.  The only reason the tax cuts had a sundown provision is because they compromised with the Democrats in the first place.  Democrats still do not understand that by cutting the tax rate, you stimulate the economy, which produces more revenue to the government, not less.  John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush understood this principle well. 

The Bush tax cuts, although modest at best, helped pull us out of the economic slowdown which began at the end of the Clinton administration and was exacerbated by the 9-11 attack.  Allowing the tax cuts to expire at the end of the year will result in a de facto tax increase; the last thing you want to do in a recession. 

The argument has been in regard to the high income earners.  Democrats, most of which have no business experience, hate those with higher incomes, not understanding it is this group which produces the majority of the jobs in this nation. 

The compromise (all or nothing from the Republican standpoint) was to extend all the tax cuts.  This has enraged the liberal left steeped in class envy.  Their objective is “equality.”  But their method is not to raise up the lower income earners but to lower the upper income earners.

The extension of the unemployment benefits is also a very bad idea.  Not only will it add to the already out of control deficit, but it will actually prolong the recession and slow any economic recovery, but, that is exactly what Obama wants.

Employers pay into a fund for unemployment insurance, which is designed to provide a short term economic bridge for someone who loses their job and is in search of another.  However, it is far too easy for people to become accustomed to getting that free money every week and they don’t work as hard as they could in finding a new job.

Being out of work in the past, I have had that experience with unemployment compensation.  I found myself becoming complacent and not hustling as hard as I should to find a new job.  Just to get back to work, I took a job in another field that paid a lot less than I was previously making, but it was more than unemployment.  That carried me until I found something more suitable.

We hear stories today of employers who can’t hire the workers they need because qualified workers want to be paid in cash as they don’t want to give up their unemployment compensation. 

This again is the long-term objective of Obama and the Democrats, make as many people as possible dependent on the government.

The bill in the Senate is being loaded up with pork-barrel spending and Harry Reid’s payback to the gambling lobby – on line poker.  A bill has yet to be fully written in the House but already earmarks are being added.

The answer is for the Republicans to block everything until the new Congress convenes in January.  Their first order of business should to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent and send that bill to Obama, daring him to veto it.

Any extension in unemployment benefits need to be paid for by a cut somewhere else in the budget.  They must also be limited to the very hardest of cases and in areas where unemployment is higher than normal, such as Martinsville and Danville.

The incoming Republican majority in the House will be making a big mistake if they think they can cooperate with Democrats.  Unfortunately, those days are gone, and as long as the Democrats have socialist objectives, they will not return.  Republicans need to understand that and act accordingly.

Bill Wheaton lives in Concord, Virginia.  Recent columns are available at billwheaton.blogspot.com.  His email address is bwheaton@moreinformation.net.

NOTE:  The House passed this bill Thursday night and President obama signed it into law on today.