Concrete Steps to Nowhere

By ROBERT WRIGHT
NYT

Like many observers, I’ve been wondering how Republicans are going to deliver on the mandate they believe voters gave them last week. After all, it’s a lot easier to say you’re going to close a yawning budget deficit without raising taxes than to set out plans for doing so, because the plans will involve cutting programs that people like.

So I was delighted to see that Eric Cantor, the likely new House majority leader, issued a document last week titled “Delivering on Our Commitment.” Unlike politicians who talk vaguely about reining in spending, Cantor discusses what he calls “concrete steps” toward a balanced budget.

For example: “In 1995, the new Republican majority brought forward a rescission bill to roll back excessive spending. Rather than one bill, however, it is my goal to bring forward a series of rescissions bills as your majority leader.” See? Right there is a several-fold increase in spending cuts.

And Cantor doesn’t plan to rest on that laurel. Several pages later he says, “We can also take concrete steps to lay the groundwork for bigger reform, including reworking the budget process.”

(More here.)