Imagining the Worst at the Worst Time

Not wanting to be outdone by Rush earlier today, Mark Levin decided to take his turn thrashing the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and added the Senate Minority Leader to the heap, imagining Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell as colluding with Harry Reid in the Senate and the President in a concert of priorities with regard to the debt ceiling and budget.

The plan put forth by the Speaker in the house is certainly not palatable as it unfortunately does not do enough to challenge the spending problem the federal government has. And with that the Senate Leader has promised to kill the plan in favor of his own that was scored as cutting more by the Congressional Budget Office because it assumes a budget that dishonestly spends on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at their respective peak levels over the next ten years. With no chance of passage anyway, it’s no doubt tempting to just send a dream bill that slashes as much as can be justified. Unfortunately that would only serve as a tantrum of sorts, what the Speaker has tried to do is submit something of unfortunately limited substance.

In addition to a Senate Majority leader promising to never allow even a vote on anything that can pass the house, the house minority leader incoherently accuses Republicans of wanting “to destroy”, the President lectures about dire consequences and brags about willingness to compromise while offering no plans whatsoever. In what way is there to come to an agreement with people like this? There just isn’t.

This is what a divided branch of the federal government tastes like. At his age and after winning reelection with minuscule approvals, the Senate Majority Leader probably feels invincible. The House Minority Leader comes from a district in which Republicans are outnumbered by thriving Borders stores. The President is in reelection mode and is only concerned with the public relations aspect of every machination. As a community organizer, the President thrives on public fear and anxiety of constant crisis used to force elected officials to grant favors. This successful tactic has led to amounts of debt and government bloat that is simply unsustainable.

It may be therapeutic to voice frustrations with the Speaker of the House because his bill is unpalatable but it is ultimately counterproductive. Because the Republicans only control one-half branch of the federal government and one and one-half of the branches of government are conspiring against them they have almost no leverage. They are working with unserious legislators that can only denounce opponents and promote public anxieties towards imagined chaos. The point is, when the bad is as good as it gets is no time to cannibalize.