Competition is Good

John Boehner Ignores
Barack Obama

There has been plenty of talk about dysfunction within Congress and between the White House and Capitol Hill.  And while those relationships are anything but cooperative, they have resulted in healthy competition and some surprisingly positive fiscal and economic results this year.  As a result, the USA is headed for the first sub trillion dollar deficit since 2008.  That news is not nearly good enough, but a good start nevertheless.

As a right wing blogger puts it,

Because I’ve been sharing good news recently – which definitely is not my normal style, I joked the other day I must be on coke, in love, or rolling in money. For example:

• The fiscal cliff was a smaller loss than I expected.
• The sequester was a real victory.
• We have good evidence that the Tea Party has made a positive difference.
• The Democratic-controlled Senate rejected a permanent expansion of funds for the IMF.
• The burden of government fiscal policy has been reduced since the 2010 elections.

Well, the drugs, love, and money must still be in my system because I’m going to share some more good news. Our lords and masters in Washington have taken a small step in the direction of recognizing the Laffer Curve. 

I would add to his list of positives the Senate passing a budget (which the idiot Committee Chairwoman from Washington state says increases employment by increasing taxes) and reinstatement of the full social security withholding tax, which plugs a hole in the dike (one of many sadly) of the single government benefit program universally viewed as sacrosanct.  For those not initiated with the arcana of budget accounting, recognizing the Laffer Curve involves accounting for positive macroeconomic growth effects of tax reductions (and macroeconomic penalties of tax increases).

The President's lies, distortions and exaggerations have destroyed his credibility and rapidly made him an irrelevant arbiter in ongoing fiscal and policy debates.  Once again, he's transformed a chance to be a leader of the many into being a messiah for the few.  Obama's got C Team advisors and cabinet officers (most prominently Hagel at Defense, whatshisname as Chief of Staff, Low or Lew or whatever at Treasury and the charity gal at OMB) in place so his influence will continue to do little but wane.  That's all to the good, so let the games continue.