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<DIV class=timestamp>August 12, 2011</DIV>
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<H1><NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type=" ">Magical
Unrealism</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE></NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>
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<P>There was nothing particularly surprising about the shrill skirmishing at the
ideological edges of Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate in Iowa.
What was shocking were the antics in the center. </P>
<P>In full public view, the party’s mainstream jumped the tracks of reality on
issues of spending and taxes, brightly illustrating the ruinous magical thinking
that has led to a downgrade of the nation’s credit and invited a double-dip
recession. When asked if they would reject a deal to cut the deficit that had 10
times the amount of spending cuts as it had tax increases, the hands of all
eight candidates <A title="Debate video of the deficit-deal question"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAsAhmlenM8&feature=player_embedded">went
up</A>. Even a tincture of new revenue, though mixed with huge cuts in
government spending, would be too much for the modern Republican Party. </P>
<P>The raised hands included those of Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney, two former
governors who have proved that they know better. Mr. Huntsman was the only one
on the stage who said he would have accepted last week’s budget deal and the
only one to point out that Washington should never even consider defaulting.
</P>
<P>Saying as much is already Tea Party heresy, so why not take the next logical
step and admit that the nation’s finances are unsustainable in the long term
without some tax increases? Even Mr. Huntsman was unwilling to take the
slightest risk of offending the rigid and unforgiving Republican Party primary
electorate. </P>
<P>Mr. Romney derided the budget deal as “Mr. Obama’s dog food” and said he
would not eat it, perhaps hoping the public has already forgotten that it was
really the deal demanded by the Congressional leaders of his party. (Speaker
John Boehner said last week the deal was “<A title="CBS News report"
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/01/eveningnews/main20086598.shtml">98
percent of what I wanted.</A>” We’d love to know what the remaining 2 percent
is.) </P>
<P>Rejecting compromise was not the way Mr. Romney governed. He balanced the
Massachusetts budget with new income from $269 million in closed tax loopholes,
and $271 million in increased fees. He has claimed <A
title="Boston Globe report"
href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/08/12/romney_hailed_tax_hikes_similar_to_ones_he_now_slams/">unconvincingly</A>
that those were not taxes, but it turns out that his administration boasted
about them to the bond rating agencies in 2004 and 2005, and his state won an
upgrade by demonstrating fiscal prudence. Now he is repudiating that approach at
the federal level. </P>
<P>That has been the nature of every Republican debate this cycle: deny the
truth or tell an outrageous lie with such bellicosity that no one dares to
challenge it. </P>
<P>Representative Michele Bachmann, for example, <A title="NYT report"
href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/fact-check-the-republican-debate">said
the credit downgrade</A> was because the government could not pay its debt.
Standard and Poor’s <A title="Politico report"
href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61147.html">actually said</A> it
was because lawmakers like her did not take a default seriously. Representative
Ron Paul ridiculously claimed that the United States is bankrupt. Tim Pawlenty
said President Obama had no plan to reduce social insurance spending,
conveniently forgetting that Mr. Boehner walked away from the president’s overly
generous offer to reduce that spending in exchange for revenue increases. </P>
<P>The Republican Party has been led into its current cul-de-sac by manipulative
officials who would not tell voters the truth about the government’s finances.
It will remain there if even its “moderate” leaders refuse to break the pattern.
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<DIV
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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>Wayne A. Fox<BR><A
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href="mailto:wayne.a.fox@gmail.com">wayne.a.fox@gmail.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>