President Obama has finally made a big move to do what is needed in the Great Budget Battle. He is proposing entitlement cuts, including Medicare and Social Security, in exchange for tax reform that raises revenues. This has always what has been needed: a way to raise revenue by lowering tax rates and closing tax loopholes, and real spending cuts in the areas that actually need to be reduced - entitlements.
Apparently, Speaker of the House John Boehner visited the White House on Sunday and said he was open to raising revenues if he was offered tax reform and spending cuts in return. Good for him. Good for Obama for responding with just that.
It has always been necessary to both raise revenue and cut spending since we are borrowing more than forty cents of every dollar the government spends. The partisans can be expected to lay out unbending non-negotiable demands, but we may finally be on the course to the obvious solution whereby both sides find a way to compromise for the benefit of the health of the nation, rather than obsessively pandering to the extremist wings of their parties.
It will be interesting to see how Democrats will react to the proposed compromise (we know that the Tea Party Wing of the Republicans will thump their chests in outrage at any suggestion of compromise). I expect a violent Democrat opposition to their president for abandoning their extremist and obsessive protections of their precious entitlement programs.
Both extremist wings must lose these battles. Compromise is necessary. Cut spending and raise revenues.
Have the grownups finally arrived?
