Leadership by Default

[Geee]

National Review:


On election night last year, when it had become clear that Republicans would take over the House of Representatives, John Boehner noted that in contemporary American politics the president takes the lead. Republicans, he would say on other occasions, control only one-half of one-third of the government.

It is the only part of the government, however, that has shown any leadership in this year’s budget debates. House Republicans passed a budget that cuts spending, including entitlement spending, even though many Republican voters objected. President Obama, meanwhile, first proposed a budget that even Senate Democrats rejected as unserious, and then gave a speech outlining a second budget but failed to follow up by submitting an actual proposal. Only Senate Democrats performed worse; they have not enacted a budget in more than two years.

Obama is at it again, saying fine things about cutting trillions of spending without making any public disclosure of what specifically he would cut. At the same time he is portraying the Republicans as obstructionists who are threatening Grandma’s Social Security checks. In light of all this, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is preparing for the worst with a “contingency plan” if the situation remains deadlocked.

The Kentucky Republican has proposed a convoluted scheme whereby the debt ceiling would increase and the president would have to submit specific spending cuts. Congress would have the power to keep the debt ceiling from rising if it amassed a two-thirds majority that found those cuts inadequate. The goal is to keep the government from hitting the debt ceiling, defaulting on its bonds, or interrupting popular programs on which millions of people rely, while also holding the president accountable for his fiscal choices.