It is very disheartening to see so much focus on the high income tax cuts. I’d gladly cheer a bill that gave Obama what he wants on those if we got a major spending reform in return – something like repealing Obamacare, enacting the Ryan Medicaire reform, or repealing/reforming other programs sufficient to save a few hundred billion per year. But it looks like we are going to give away one of the most effective policies of the Bush administration in order to preserve other tax cuts that the Democrats claim to favor themselves. The GOP should have said up front that everything is on the table, but there have to be major spending reforms.

I think that logic is flawed from a lot of perspectives. It isn’t like the spending isn’t going to bankrupt the family.

Because the Democrats control the Senate and White House, and they don’t care about GDP or the budget deficit. Their priorities are expanding government spending and punishing achievers with high tax rates. For the last few decades we’ve denied them their punishing tax rates at the cost of letting them have their spending. We can’t afford that anymore and have to stop their spending. Since we didn’t beat them at the polls, the price of cutting spending will probably have to be higher taxes.

I agree. It is on the spending side where the GOP has utterly failed. As you and Tanner point out, neither party has taken the spending issue seriously. From the article you link:

Most significant, neither the president nor Republicans are offering any serious structural reforms to entitlements, especially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Those three programs alone constitute 44 percent of federal spending this year, and by 2022, they will amount to more than 54 percent of the federal budget.

But I expect as much. What frustrates me, though, is that the conservatives in Congress haven’t tried to take more of a leadership roll by coming up with their own solution which actually took an axe to spending. Honestly and explicitly. We’ve got to start being grown ups about these things and honestly identifying what needs to be done.

Where I disagree with Tanner is that he seems to think that the GOP leadership is at least trying to be fiscally responsible by proposing revenue increases through closing loopholes. To the contrary, the GOP leadership too afraid of the political ramifications of even identify their proposed tax hikes! They sent a message to Obama that they would acquiesce on taxes, but they don’t even have the guts to identify those the areas where they will raise taxes. They are cowards all the way around. They have sold out on both sides of the equation, yet they move no closer to fixing the problem from either side.

In reality GDP measures SPENDING. That is why the dems are so opposed to cutting spending, as it will lower GDP. What we need more than anything is economic growth. This means we need tax reform. We also need entitlement reform. It is insane that we are encouraging folks to stay on welfare programs because they can’t live as well by working (in the early years of a career). My primary concern is removing the fiscal barriers to starting and growing a new business. We have a major problem in that area, which continue to get worse.

What House Republicans put forward was a very common sense plan that got spending under control in exchange for avoiding a default. In the end, though, that wasn’t enough for the Democrats, and neither was the Boehner plan, so in the end, we passed the Budget Control Act., but even if we hadn’t, the Democrats should be an awful lot more careful with the finger-pointing about hostage-taking and sacred cows.

Now, once again, Republicans have put forward another plan with spending cuts and base broadening measures (a.k.a tax hikes, or as some trolls like to call it, manipulation of the tax code on behalf of the top 2%). And this time, the fight doesn’t even involve the debt ceiling. Get spending under control, and we can avoid bankruptcy, If you don’t, well, we were going bankrupt anyway.

The Democrats don’t believe in relying on growth (or creating it). In any case, fiscal chaos will make it impossible.

Yes, and that is a sea change since at least the 1980s for Congressional Dems and 2000 for their presidential candidates

That is certainly true, but threatening to preemptively do exactly what you are trying to avoid is neither prudent nor credible. No one was actually willing to shoot the hostage, and for good reason, so the dems simply called our bluff. I want to get spending cuts passed quite badly, but I’m not under the illusion that we can simply have our way without compromise. If we can get meaningful spending cuts in exchange for a tax raise on the top 2%, then we need to take that deal and be happy that the Bush era tax cuts are enshrined long-term for all but the top earners.

More taxpayers who are making more money, that is.

Yes, government shutdown is still a viable tool, and I have no problem with shutting down Washington in order to gain leverage. I am all for getting spending cuts by hook or by crook, but debt brinksmanship simply isn’t an effective tool.

Fact: 73% of jobs created over the last five months have been for government bureaucrats.

Fact: Workforce participation is near three-decade lows.

Fact: More Americans are still out of work, and many are more dependent on the government, than when the President took office.

Fact: Income inequality has risen as the poor become poorer, the middle class earns less, and the rich are insulated from over-tax, over-spend, over-regulate and over-borrow policies.

fIt’s very simple. Unless Obama and the Senate can agree on a budget and not a limitless debt ceiling and endless credit card, there will no tax increases on anyone and the Bush tax cuts will stay in place.

Either spending cuts happen immediately or no deal. Obama does not care about using revenues to help people. He wants to destroy the Republicans and assume dictatorial power.

We have a goverenmet comprised of three branches. Obama wants all the power in his branch, and if the house does not act now, he’ll achieve it.

SO, The Republicans also need to get a spine and a pair of brass balls and file impeachment charges against Obama on the dozen impeachable acts committed by him, starting off with treason, giving aid and comfort to our enemies, refusing to aid Amb. Stevens, two Navy Seals and a fourth victim in Benghazi and watching them die in real time, perjury about the cause of the attack, perjury about their requests for help, perjury about using Benghazi as a site to transfer weapons to Al Qaeda headed for Syria, selling guns and grenades to Mexican drug cartels via Fast & Furious, and using it as a false flag to violate our 2nd Amendment, accessory to the murder of Border Agent Brian Terry, illegal recess appointments, illegally bypassing votes of Congress to cut off aid to terrorist groups (Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad), inviting known terrorists into the White House, giving aid to foreign countries for abortion in violation of Congressional laws against it, ACORN for voter fraud, offering Stesak a job if he did not run for office, firing whistleblower Gerald Walpin who undocered fraud committed by Obama’s friend, violating the Logan Act (twice), going to war in Libya w/o congressional approval, acepting campaign donations from forgeign countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt (money laundering our foreign aid).

Besides impeachment, Obama has also been usurping the office of President via voter fraud and identity fraud having never proven his identity and citizenship at birth.

There is actually a long-term debt crisis, you know, and some people actually want to solve it instead of relying on growth which the Democrats will never allow.

Holding spending constant in real terms is hardly enough to balance the budget for the foreseeable future, much less restore the state of public finances and the safety net.

When we are unable to create confidence by getting our fiscal house in order, all the supply-side growth policies in the world will do no good. The same applies to full austerity without growth.

Growth comes when government is limited and prudent, when public finances are sustainable and stable, and work, saving, investment and entrepreneurship are not hindered. We cannot rely on the last alone to achieve the former.

Could you say more about that? What do you see as fiscal barriers to starting and growing a business?

That would depend on low and stable inflation. And robust growth.
Neither of which is likely to materialize under the policies of this administration.

You can’t just say “hold real spending constant” and expect the spending problem to fix itself with across-the-board cuts. Number one, politicians will never let wholesale, indiscriminate cuts happen. Number two, politicians will never have the courage to make the tough decisions to reform specific programs if they can get away with “growth”.

And there’s no guarantee that tax revenue will be at 19% of GDP (though that’s not the point) if we enact large tax cuts without accompanying tax reform and other supply-side measures, including deregulation.

The federal government continues to be far too bloated for any hope of significant growth without bold and swift reform.

In any case, you seem to agree that fiscal chaos will make growth impossible. Growth has to be part of the solution, but is not the only part. So I don’t know what we’re arguing about.