Ryan Streeter
"They said these evil House Republicans are here and they're going to kill all these programs that support little kids, senior citizens, and health care. They're trying to instill the fear of God that Republicans are basically going to blow up all these programs, kill these programs, defund them."
This is from an unnamed source who attended a closed door meeting of Democratic Senate committee staffers with lobbyists and interest groups. The story is reported by ABC. The meeting, attended by more than 400 people, was a "call to arms" to rally against Republican plans to cut funding.
Putting aside the militaristic metaphor, which a good many Democrats have accused Republicans of carelessly tossing about, the Democrats are fighting against an impatient populace, but they know that punching back is worth their while. They know that getting a range of interests involved will go a long way to thwarting GOP plans - since most people are for "cutting" in the abstract, but not when it touches their interests.
The unnamed source is also reported as saying: "We obviously have to cut the budget deficit and address the debt problem, but are we going to do that on the backs of the poor, the unemployed, those without child care, et cetera?"
This way of framing the cuts debate presents Republicans with an opportunity, actually. Here's what they should be saying:
- You're right, we don't want to balance our books on the backs of the poor.
- But until we get serious about the debt and deficit, as all of you always say we should, there simply will be fewer and fewer resources each year to address the needs of the families struggling the most in our midst.
- So, show us where and how you are willing to scale back benefits to the middle and upper middle classes, so that all of us can be sure to provide for those with the greatest needs.
- Our idea is we should start by rolling back the costly expansion of health care entitlements to middle and upper middle class families in the health care law. Then, we should reform Medicare and Social Security by means-testing them and changing the benefit formula so the government is not paying unnecessary bills.
- We know you want to raise taxes on the rich, but no analysis shows we can tackle the deficit in any meaningful way by doing that.
- So tell us where and how you're willing to tackle the true drivers of our deficit, and then we'll talk about tax reform.
No Republican should be surprised that the Democrats are reverting to the tried and true scare tactics with which they have many years of practice. The question is how the GOP controls the public discussion. The smart way to stay out front is to force their hand on the deficit.
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