Two Very Bad Ideas (we should support)

 

 

 

"On another note, we will start the New Year out on a sour note..."

Hey! Wake up! Congress is back in session. Oh, were they gone, you say? Hard to believe,
yes. They were gone for most of six weeks. Now that they are back, they are going to start out the New Year addressing two very bad ideas. The first is extending the unemployment benefits for the million people who ran out late last year. The cost is around $25B to do so. The other is an increase to the Federal minimum wage. They are both terrible ideas. That being said, I think the Republicans should stand side by side with the Democrats and pass them - no strings attached.

Now before you hit the "defriend" button, or think the Polar Vortex has frozen my brain, hear my logic on this.

• Once again, the Democrats have managed to get the Republicans trapped in a box canyon. The "D"s are thinking with their hearts while the "R"s continue to think with their heads. Recent polls have shown many Americans are also thinking with their hearts instead of their heads on these two issues. To resist will allow the "D"s to once again paint the "R"s as heartless and uncaring.
• When I was in negotiations, one of the first lessons I learned was to cave on the small stuff and fight like heck for the important issues. In the scheme of things, $25B to extend unemployment benefits is "chump change". In 2014, the "R"s need to keep their eyes on the prize - the failures of ObamaCare.
• The worst kept secret in Washington is what the narrative is going to be for the State of the Union. The President is going to paint (in vivid colors) the difference between people who "have too much" those who "don't have enough". Most of this rhetoric will just be a canard to once again raise our taxes. Redistribute wealth. Fighting against the "D"s on these two initiatives will just give the Administration more ammunition to win their argument.
• Raising the minimum wage will be a self correcting issue. Less people will be hired and the cost of products will go up for those least able to afford them. Market forces will correct the blunder that government has made.
• I hate to say it, but much of the fiscal purity drained out of the "R"s cup when Bush (43) was in office. Now, I love the man for many reasons, but he showed he could spend with the rest of them. I could almost make the argument for the two wars without financial offsets, but the Medicare Part "D" was beyond the pale. For that reason the "R"s should agree to extending the unemployment benefits with no offsets. This can be made right in the bigger fight yet to come.

That is the way I see it from the first week in the New Year. Just like in 2012, the Administration has given the loyal opposition great openings to exploit. The "R"s blew it in 2012 - lets hope they don't repeat the same mistake this year.