Senator Tom Harkin gave a press conference in which he decided to elevate the public debate by referring to those with whom he disagrees as a “cult fringe.” But apart from this example of liberal civility, Senator Harkin made this claim: “Democrats are willing to do whatever is necessary to raise the debt ceiling.”
That statement is simply and demonstrably false. Democrats are not willing to do “whatever is necessary” to raise the debt ceiling. And I can prove it. If they were, Democrats, including the president, would embrace the only plan that has been presented and secured enough votes for passage in the House or Senate: The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011.
I make this point simply to highlight how ludicrous this debate has gotten. For Democrats as well as for many reporters and commentators, tax increases are talismanic. Their argument for higher taxes isn’t economic so much as it’s moral. They view increasing taxes as an act of virtue and opposition to higher taxes as evidence of a moral defect. And so for liberals, the notion we should raise the debt ceiling by capping spending without raising taxes – in the aftermath of an unprecedented two-year spending binge, I might add – is not only wrong; it simply doesn’t compute.
Here’s the dirty little secret of this debate: If President Obama embraced the legislation Republicans passed last night, this crisis would be solved. The debt ceiling would be raised. But the president, his Democratic allies, and many members of the fourth estate have placed a higher priority on raising taxes than they have on averting a default and a financial collapse. Which tells you just about everything you need to know.