So why do it? It would, I hope, change the dialogue from the current emphasis on small fixes – trimming spending and imposing new taxes on the rich – toward a deeper discussion on the root causes of the problem and the real, structural solutions required.
For most people, diving into the deficit debate is less exciting than watching paint dry. And that is why the discussion has devolved into schoolyard smallness focusing on the rich paying their “fair share,” the strength of Obama’s postelection mandate and which side is going to be bad or good this Christmas.
We got here through a series of similar disagreements and a lot of buck-passing. Failed deficit talks in 2011 led to the congressional supercommittee, which also failed, leaving in place automatic spending cuts. Likewise, we’ve seen repeated extensions of the Bush tax cuts and other supposedly temporary measures, including payroll tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits.
At this point, I don't know if there is any way to get the American public – which just can’t seem to get its head around the scale of the problem – to understand what’s at stake, other than jumping off the fiscal cliff and getting a taste of Europe’s austerity nightmare.
Joblessness will rise as the economy tips back into a mild recession. Taxes will go up, mostly on the rich but on everyone else, too, reminding people that giving more money to the Internal Revenue Service should always be a last resort and that the middle class has grown too accustomed to what were to be temporary tax cut measures. And defense spending will be slashed to remind everyone that we can either pay for a strong military or overpay for senior care, but not both.
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