economy, politics

Yeah, The GOP Is Pretty Much Screwed

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It doesn’t matter what the Republicans do these days. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t. I met with some local activists  last night and they made it clear in no uncertain terms that they loathe the GOP. That’s all fine and good, but look at the alternative.

It’s not that I don’t totally get the sentiment. We conservatives want representatives who will stand up for us and our values. We want fierce defenders of capitalism, private property and life itself. If not for the media, perhaps we’d get that. But, we have this media and Democrats who know how to work them. In a nutshell, we’re screwed.

But the notion that Republicans have leverage is silly. It’s the same kind of happy thinking that led some to boldly predict a Romney victory.

Look at it from Obama’s perspective. Would allowing the sequestration cuts to kick in be that bad? It would allow him to cut the U.S. military (and blame Republicans), make some much-needed spending cuts (without taking heat from his base), and — as a bonus – raise taxes!

To be sure, aside from the obvious national security implications, most experts predict that this would also have serious consequences for the economy.

Of course, it would presumably be better for Obama’s legacy if the economy were to improve during his second term. But he managed to get re-elected once despite failing to turn around the economy. And he doesn’t have to stand for re-election again.

Read the whole thing if you want to know just how screwed we are.

Sometimes I get the impression from people on our side that they expect these human beings to do super-human things. But they’re just people like the rest of us. It’s easy to say we would not do things their way from our living rooms and kitchen tables. But we don’t have the glare on us from an unfriendly media like they do. I’m happy they’ve held out as long as they have in these sham fiscal cliff negotiations. Instead of constantly knocking them down maybe we should just pray for them to have the strength to do the right thing.

Then again, maybe there’s an out for them that will totally tick everyone off, while getting them off the hook.  But hey, what do I know?

Update: If you don’t get where I’m coming from, read this: It’s the Culture, Stupid