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Republicans are Losing the Budget PR Battle

By: KC (Diary)  |  April 2nd, 2011 at 10:40 AM  | 

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It’s not the $1.6 trillion Federal deficit this year that’s “extreme” – it’s the Republican proposal to trim it by a mere $61 billion. Obama’s own 2012 Budget projects $7 trillion in new debt. But what’s “radical” is defunding the Nevada Cowboy Poetry Festival.

This is one Conservative who has become totally frustrated – even to the point of disgust – at the effortless ease with which Democrats are controlling the budget narrative and trampling over Republicans.

The Democrat strategy is becoming clear: force a shutdown and pin the blame on Republicans.

Where the hell are Boehner, Ryan, and Cantor? Why isn’t Mitch McConnell standing on the floor of the Senate with his hair on fire ripping into Reid and the Democrats with the fiery passion of a General George Patton?

The ghosts of 1995 are coming back to haunt Republican leadership. Boehner has conceded the GOP will get the blame for a shutdown. He may be right, but only because he and his leadership have been playing nice while Reid, Schumer, and Pelosi have taken slash-and-burn politics to a new level. Republicans are still playing defense against an all-out blitz by an aggressively-attacking Dem offense.

That needs to change.

A recent Gallup Poll indicates that only 13% of the public views debt/deficits as the most important issue facing the nation. That strongly suggests the average American doesn’t understand the seriousness of the debt crisis and what their future will look like if the Democrats’ insane spending habits cannot be stopped.

Republicans have an opportunity to draw the public to their side, but they must be forceful and relentless. And they must have a coordinated, consistent message that attacks on two fronts.

First, paint a dark, scary, “doom & gloom” portrait of the future we can expect if spending is not contained. Explain why a collapsing U.S. Dollar will give us $7 gas, sky-high interest rates, and double-digit inflation that will erode the purchasing power of all Americans. Make it ugly enough to scare the pants off everyone. Talk about the inevitable massive tax increases that are coming to pay off the debt and the resulting loss of many millions of jobs. Don’t let up. Let Harry Reid whine about fear mongering all he wants, but keep pounding the message home.

Second, force Reid to explain his plan to pay back the $6 trillion in new debt they will have accumulated by the end of Obama’s first (and hopefully last) term. Put him on defense. Make future budget/spending negotiations contingent on Reid’s plan to pay off the new debt.

It’s time to start passing out nasty pills to Republican leadership. They can’t go into the rink with boxing gloves while Democrats are bringing switchblades, chains, and brass knuckles to the fight.

Playing nice won’t get it done.

　

　

　

COMMENTS

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  • fpete13527

    I hope this post gets to the recommended diaries section. More importantly I hope this post is telegraphed to every Republican in the House, and Senate.

    This embodies the main thing that they need to get …and the ONLY thing that they need to DEMONSTRATE…NOW.

  • JX12

    It will, unfortunately, take a few primary elections to ultimately weed out the boneless chickens in the GOP – and even then, some regions appear determined to go with the chickens over the hawks (the California GOP primary voters of 2010 come to mind).

    There are political animals, and there are principled patriots. The political animals’ first objective will always be personal gain, and they will join whichever political party (and say whatever has to be said) in order to achieve power and its associated trappings for themselves. I’m convinced John McCain identified with the Republican party back in the day because he was in Arizona – and in Arizona, the path to political power is (or at least was) considerably less fraught with obstacles for Republicans than for Democrats. Had McCain moved to, say, Pennsylvania or New York after he left the Navy, we may very well have known him only as a Democrat. I consider most – if not all – Democratic politicians to be political animals, by the way.

    The principled patriots, on the other hand, are in it for love of God and country, the Constitution, the principles of freedom and personal responsibility, the things that make the U.S. the envy of the rest of the world. They are convicted in their hearts that they are doing the right thing, regardless of the heat they may otherwise have to take for it. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I would put people like Scott Walker in this category – although we’ll see how he holds out in the long run.

    Sometimes principled patriots eventually deteriorate into political animals after they’ve had a taste of power (either that, or they were political animals all along, and they just had us fooled with their convincing words and initial actions – Lindsay Graham comes to mind here).

    At any rate, there are a number of political animals in the GOP right now. You can spot them a mile away when their first concern is whether or not the GOP will be blamed for things like government shutdowns, or if their poll numbers will suffer if they take a stand on anything controversial, or if they’re worried about how the Democrats will paint them to be extremists, or whatever.

    Principled patriots may not always be as easy to spot initially. Anyone can talk a good game at first, and we’re often placed into the position of having to trust what they’re saying on the campaign trail and then see if they follow through when in office. If they pass through the fires of controversy, Democratic vitriol, and – sadly – the scorn of the Republican political animals, coming out on the other side just as convicted of their principles as when they went in, then we may have ourselves a winner.

    Until the political animals are eventually weeded out of office via the primary elections, we’re going to continue to have to deal with the frustrations we’re currently enduring while we watch them behave as though they lost the election of 2010.

  • KC

    I really want to see Boehner get all his members on the same page and present a consistent message to the American people. The average voter isn’t worried enough about the coming debt crisis because nobody is telling them how serious it is and how it will have devastating consquences for everyone.

    The media won’t tell the people, so it’s up to Republicans to do it. Reid and the Dems will accuse the Republicans of using “scare tactics” – but Americans SHOULD be scared.

    I’ve seen Paul Ryan on numerous occassions trying to quantify the problem by expressing debt as a percentage of GDP. Who the hell understands that? Tell the people that oil will go to $400 per barrel and gas to $8 after the Dollar melts down. They can understand THAT.

    I’ve lost all faith in Republicans that they will take a stand without wetting their pants everytime Harry Reid barks.

  • 6eorge Jetson

    Something that shows the proportions of the budget like

    ————————————————————————————————————-–

    Color Key
    Green: Covered by Taxes
    Red  : Deficit
    Gray : $61 Billion in Cuts

  • http://www.itsaboutliberty.com IronDioPriest

    You’re talking about congressional Republican leadership. I appreciate your passion and agree with your suggestion 100%. But isn’t it becoming apparent to just about everyone by now that the GOP as an establishment institution is simultaneously both our only hope of a political solution, and that solution’s prime obstacle?

    We read on these very pages every day of the transgressions of the GOP against conservative principles and diminishing of the concerns of conservative Americans.

    The Leftists are what they are, that’s a given. They have an anti-American vision for the country that they’ve effectively kept under wraps for decades that is now exposed.

    But all along – every step of the way in their march toward full-on Socialism with a capitol “S” – they have been aided by an unwitting enabler in the GOP. In accepting the premise that their function is to stand against progressivism, the GOP long ago ceded the argument that Leftism would advance, and have placed themselves in the position of merely being the regulating valve to ease our entry into the Socialist America that their Leftist colleagues have envisioned.

    Now we stand at the abyss, and we desperately demand of these same Republicans that not only must they adhere to constitutional conservative principles, but they must become something other than what they have been all along – our champions against the advance of Leftism that will not just stem the tide, but kill the beast.

    To back up our demands, we sent them reinforcements and an unmistakable message in November of 2010 and they regurgitate John Beohner and Mitch frikkin McConnell.

    They cannot, and they will not do what is necessary. I have become convinced of this.

    Cold Warrior will undoubtedly now enter and ask me whether I am a committeeman. I will remind him again with all due respect that since I reside in a conservative precinct in a conservative county in a conservative district, my services are not needed, but still applied on the periphery as an active member of my local GOP.

    Efforts to reclaim the party are worthwhile, valiant, and really, our only hope. My sarcasm and snark aside, I do retain hope – just not faith. But while advancing with a grassroots effort now is a vital must-do, it does nothing to rid the GOP of the people right here, right now, who are showing that they are willing to allow this country to slouch toward mediocrity for the sake of political expediency – even in the face of the message we sent in November.

    These GOP fools think the Tea Party is what Harry Reid says it is. They could not be more mistaken.

    • KC

      ….I’m as frustrated with the GOP leadership as you.

      It infuriates me to see the likes of Reid, Schumer, and Pelosi slapping Boehner around – and getting away with it. The Dems are in total control of the budget narrative and are spreading Grade-A, hi-octane BS. But it’s *effective* BS and the public is buying it because Boehner and McConnel won’t counter-attack..

      I fear our only hope is that the Tea Party and Republican freshmen class can keep enough heat on leadership to grow some testicles and take a stand. Marco Rubio has broken his silence and is taking to the airways to make his position painfully clear. He leaves no doubt as to the thickness of his backbone.

      I expect a vote next week on a bill to cut $20 more billion for the remainder of the year.

      Let’s hope the measure is defeated, and let the screaming start.

  • carolina

    What # would make you happy? The ‘whole’ 100? 90? 80?

    (I guess the 73 is the obama ‘original’ 41 in reduced request plus 32 new) That is 73 of the “100″ promised, according to the GOP.

    The hard part is that the GOP says they can’t find any more cuts without the WH agreeing to some of the riders – like EPA or PP.

    I wonder why they can’t just select some of the 200+ bil in over-lapping programs that the GAO just identified in that report?

    We need some people with common sense. Political bureaucrats are hopeless it seems.

    • KC

      Even $100B is miniscule considering the baseline is $3.7 trillion. That’s only a reduction of 2.7%.

      To me, this is more about principle than anything. It’s about Boehner keeping his promise. It’s about the GOP leadership taking a stand and not backing down every time Harry Reid growls. It’s about defunding Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.

      The House vote to cut $61B was nothing more than a symbolic gesture – not a serious effort to cut spending.

      The time for symbolism is over.

  • carolina

    What # would make you happy? The ‘whole’ 100? 90? 80?

    (I guess the 73 is the obama ‘original’ 41 in reduced request plus 32 new) That is 73 of the “100″ promised, according to the GOP.

    The hard part is that the GOP says they can’t find any more cuts without the WH agreeing to some of the riders – like EPA or PP.

    I wonder why they can’t just select some of the 200+ bil in over-lapping programs that the GAO just identified in that report?

    We need some people with common sense. Political bureaucrats are hopeless it seems.

  • Diogenes314

    The most important and most urgent problem facing the economy is the economy in general and the unemployment rate in particular. Without job growth there is no way to tame the deficit, and if unemployment is at these rates in November next year that just means there will be 10-20 million more votes for the Dems.

    • KC

      I will submit that there will come a point at which the crushing debt will have disastrous consequences to the economy.

      First, you can be assured the Dems will push through massive tax increases when they get control of Congress back. Second, the consequences of a near-worthless Dollar are huge. Oil prices will explode when measured in U.S. Dollars along with everything else we import. Interest rates will skyrocket as the Fed tries to tame inflation – and because China won’t take the risk of loaning us money without the reward of a high return.

      Tell an American citizen (as Paul Ryan does) that debt is 90% of GDP, and they will say “huh?” Tell that same American they will be paying $8 for gas and it will scare the hell out of them.

      As I see it, this battle isn’t about cutting $60B versus $30B – it’s a battle of winning public support. To do that, the GOP needs to be forceful in convincing the public of the extreme consequences they will face if spending is not contained.

      If Boehner *feels* he has the public on his side, he will (in my opinion) be more aggressive and more courageous in insisting on REAL fiscal reform.

      • Diogenes314

        My point is not on importance as much as urgency. To begin with, there is no way to get the deficit under control without the increased revenues that will come from an expanding economy. So any concern about the deficit/debt as a long term problem must address the economy first.

        Second, if we don’t focus on the jobs situation now and unemployment is anywhere near these levels in November next year, the millions of unemployed will undoubtedly be voting Democrat. Losing our one chance to regain power over more than a bare majority of 1/3 of the government will be the end of any chance at reform.

        As far as gaining public support, I submit that all of the badmouthing of the leadership before anything has been done is counterproductive. A united GOP would be much more effective at winning the PR battle and forcing the Senate Dems (22 of who are up for election) to negotiate in seriousness.

        Lastly, the whole thing at this point would be just a distraction if we did have a partial shutdown over a few billion dollars. Better to get this budget out of the way, focus on getting the economy moving via deregulation, opening up drilling and tax incentives to small business while Ryan works on the 2012 budget, which is where the real fight will be. If we do have a shutdown, better to do it right before the election and over meaningful budgetary change.

  • http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com katesmith

    “The Ruling Class of the Republican Party doesn’t want conservatives having any kind of a foothold, any success, or any leadership in the party…It appears to me they’re perfectly happy being in the minority if it means not supporting conservatives….Apparently the establishment Republicans will fight harder and more viciously to stop conservatives than to stop Obama and the left. “…11/4/10, Rush Limbaugh

  • earlgrey

    does not center around what the republicans are offering in return as vision for the country.

    Yes the doom and gloom picture needs to be painted, but the Repubicans need to hamemer home the benefits of getting our fiscal house in order. How many people have experienced the personal hardhsip of too much debt? Can’t we frame this as not cutting benefits, but securing a future where we are no longer indebted to our creditors, that we as a country wil have more ownership over our own destiny.

    Republicans are lost in the weeds of fiscal policy and not selling the need for economic freedom for economic growth and the welfare of this country.

    Why can’t they get a big picture message about the budget rather than ditehring over details.

  • renny

    and are now proposing $61 billion more cuts, so I cannot see why anyone here would think that because posters on Redstate are complaining that somehow they are going to impell Congress to act more forcefully than they are already acting. These throw-in-the-towel tiirades are short-sighted and self-defeating, like those cons. who didn’t vote for McCain because he was not the perfect conservative in their lights.

    Politces is called the art of the possible and getting NOTHING does no one any good. Shutting down the gov’t is not going to be in Dems.’ favor, but it won’t be good PR for Reps. either. Save for Paul Krugman, there is hardly a sensient person alive who doesn’t know we are in serious debt and the gov’t is in fiscal trouble.

    The truth is, no matter what is cut from the 2011 budget the Dems. could never pass is a benefit, because it keeps the 2011 budget from raising all the baselines the 2010 budget raised. It doesn’t give us a 2008 budget, but it gives us much less of a budget than was intended for 2011. And as long as some of it is cut back, it won’t be increased in 2012.

  • KC

    Yes, the 2012 budget is the best opportunity to get real spending cuts. But the 2011 budget battle is setting the tone for the big fight.

    Democrats will be emboldened by the weakness the GOP has shown so far. For me personally, I have little faith Boehner will put up a good fight that will give us meaningful cuts.

    As for ‘complaining” about GOP leadership – this forum has given me a platform to reach a wide audience. I have been led to believe even some politicans read posts here.

    I want them to know they are being watched and they WILL be held accountable.