National Debt concern in Budget debate is all for show

One of the biggest debates raging in Washington DC this week is how much to cut from the Federal Budget. The three offers on the table right now are $100 billion from the Tea Party, $61 billion from the Republicans and $50 billion from Democrats. While I would argue that none of these proposals are good for the US right now due to their impact on the economy, Republicans are pressing forward as though the economy will collapse if we make no cuts.

With that in mind it should be noted that the Republican cuts would have an immediate impact of reducing the national debt by a 0.4% and a reduction of around 4% in the 2011 deficit. I thought Republicans were concerned about the national debt? Maybe we should listen to the Tea Party and finally put a stop to out of control government spending. If we implement their plan and reduce the budget by $100 billion we would put a massive dent into our national debt by reducing it by 0.7% this year.

I guess this is that adult conversation that Republicans have been talking about for all these months. Ironically Republicans would have already cut the budget by around $61 billion if they had just let the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire.

What I really don’t get is why a cut of 0.4% to 0.7% is important to Republicans. When debating global warming data many Republicans point to information suggesting that man made contributions to green house gases only account for an increase of 0.45% per year. The implication is that we might as well do nothing since the actual change is so insignificant. If 0.45% is insignificant when talking about green house gases then a reduction of 0.45% in the national debt, compared with doing nothing, can’t be the center piece of your legislative accomplishments. Especially when that cut will also cost jobs and slow growth.

If eliminating deficits and reducing the national debt are really priorities the current cuts being offered are woefully inadequate and when you take into account who suffers most from these cuts it only adds fuel to the fire that Republicans are only interested in propping up the rich on the backs of the poor.

The good news is that the Republicans aren’t serious about reducing the national debt and while these cuts are a bad idea they could be much, much worse. I for one will be happy when the whole dog and pony show of the budget debate is over so both sides can stand up and proclaim victory. At least then we can get back to doing what Republicans elected in the first place and focusing on job creation by debating DOMA.