The crisis is over! Well, no, not really. With hundreds of trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities, it’s probably just beginning. But the always-dependable Yuval Levin has a number of interesting things to say about the whole “fiscal cliff” debacle, so representative of our hopelessly malfunctioning federal governement. A few highlights:
The Democrats have made the Bush tax rates permanent for 98 percent of the public, which Republicans couldn’t even do when they controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency.
The fiscal trajectory of our welfare state is not sustainable, no matter how much taxes go up. That is the truth at the heart of our budget crisis. The fiscal-cliff debate ignored that truth from start to finish, and so has achieved nothing worthwhile for anyone.
If you must, read the whole thing here.
Someday we will look back on this as the Age of Madness.
Thanks.
Anyone who is DONE with “cliffs” and “emergencies” please raise your hand.
Aren’t both houses of congress supposed to, you know, pass budgets in a transparent way and then work out the differences in like a conference and then vote on the the compromise.