As the economy prepared to take the final leap off the fiscal cliff with no parachute at the end of 2012, Congress somehow managed to snatch the economy back at the very last moment, but they lost their own footing and sent themselves tumbling down to future disasters.
The Senate’s bill, which was passed by the House late on Jan. 1, extends many tax cuts to most middle class Americans but increases rates for the wealthy, which is slightly more left leaning than most House Republicans would agree with. However, the deal came after weeks of useless arguing and deal making at the last possible minute.
The bill is nothing more than a Band-Aid trying to stop the flow of major economic issues facing Congress in the coming months. Sequestration, automatic federal budget cuts that would be harmful to the way the government operates, was only put off for two months and there’s going to be another debt ceiling argument materializing in the near future.
These are no small trials that the country will be facing. Sequestration would cost families jobs and the country would lose services in one fell swoop. One of the largest cuts brought on by sequestration would be in the defense budget. This means civilian contractors and employees at bases like Aberdeen Proving Grounds and Northrop Grumman headquarters in Bethesda would lose their jobs so that agencies could conform to the new budget.
These major economic debates should not be far from students’ minds at JC. While most tax cuts were extended in the new bill, middle class rates will still increase by approximately two percent and continued economic uncertainty creates doubts about job security for many families.
If this avoidance of the fiscal cliff tells us anything it’s that bipartisanship and compromise are possible in Congress, they’re just exceptionally bad at it.
Essentially, all this bill has done is both put off really important arguments that must be discussed and fail to please a lot of Republicans that voted for it. In interviews after the vote, many Republicans gave the impression they only voted for it because they felt they had to.
Both parties have excellent points that revenue needs to be increased and the budget needs to be cut to become more stream-lined and efficient. However these changes are not going to come about if Congress doesn’t quickly relearn the first rule of democracy: compromise.
What will happen in two months when Congress has to revisit the issue of sequestration? Or after that when the debt ceiling needs to be raised?
The United States can’t take more quick fixes without getting into more serious trouble. If a deep cut needs stitches it’s never going to heal if you keep slapping Band-Aids on it.
A crisis was averted this week but it only set Washington up for another round of ugly debates and stubborn unrealistic, unsuccessful deal-making in the future that could impact families in drastic ways.
Bryan Doherty is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.