In desperate times, desperate men will seek desperate means to avoid their desperate ends. One South Bay resident jumped off the Rancho Palos Verdes cliff to skirt prosecution for murder. This man survived, broken and beaten, and now he faces sentencing for killing his wife, then cooking her body to dispose of the remains.
Thelma and Louise drove off a cliff in a blaze of glory to outrun the law. Rugged feminists running from the cops, the two ladies caused nothing but trouble, and refusing to own up to the consequences of a life of "no consequences", they chose the plunge. Then there was Keanu Reeves, otherwise known as computer-hacker "Neo" from The Matrix, who jumped off a building with nothing to fear, because everything in the Matrix was just a figment of the imagination. The jumping was the hard part, but then everything else fell apart as he fell and nothing befell him.
The United States of America sits on a mountain of debt, which is mounting fast, but our leaders in Congress, both Republican and Democrat, have not amounted to much in mounting fiscal reforms. Last year, six House Reps and six Senators set up a plan, but Congress rejected it, and triggered automatic spending cuts and tax increases for later, the fiscal cliff, an option so harrowing the both sides would come together to avoid the plunge.
Washington is facing the fiscal cliff in an attempt to run from the law of supply and demand, to run from their responsibilities in the previous Congress to enact serious cuts. If there is no compromise to aver the fiscal cliff, the following consequences will fall on January 1, 2013: the Bush Tax cuts will expire, which spurred economic growth during the "Naughts" (2001-2009). Also, a massive sequestration ($500 billion plus) will cut through military and other discretionary programs.
Senator Patty Murray of Washington declared on "This Week" that if the "rich" did not pay "their fair share", then the country would go over the fiscal cliff. Saxby Chambliss, the Republican Senator from Georgia, claimed afterwards that he "cares" too much about his country to stand by the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" that he signed to get into office, the one which induced his constituents to vote for him. Those two Senators were patting each other on the back, delivering contradictory messages, and we wonder why this country faces a fiscal cliff. The "fiscal cliff" was supposed to be bad enough to force compromise, but everyone now appears more locked in place to follow their leaders like lemmings.
The Weekly Standard's conservative editor-in-chief William Kristol offered that Republicans might as well cave on tax cuts for the rich, since most of the rich vote Democratic, anyway. George Will argued that the cuts and hikes fall right in place with the Democrats' race to explode domestic spending while imploding the military. Charles hammers Republicans to stand their ground, not give an inch on taxes, If they must, they should go over the cliff like an estranged version of Thelma and Louise and let Obama’s legacy suffer.
President Obama offered one plan for avoiding the fiscal cliff, which elicited laughter from the Senate Minority leader. Obama wants to spend more money and not touch entitlements, while raising taxes. It would be funny if the fiscal fallout were not so serious.
Republicans fear that they will be blamed for letting the country go over the cliff without a parachute. However, tax increases will harm small businesses and force more wealth into tax shelters. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released a commercial spotlighting the tight spot that small businesses find themselves in -- and tax hikes on the "Top 2%" will hurt their bottom line, stall business growth, and force more layoffs. Congress should not kill commerce just to make a deal.
Perhaps another cliff-jumper can give Republicans something to believe in. On his "Last Crusade" to find the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones faced an immense gorge, with the mouth of the final cave lying before him. He stepped out in faith, landing on a large land bridge disguised to match with the rocked ridges of the opposing side. It took a lot of guts to walk by faith, but he was rewarded with the Holy Grail at the end.
Perhaps the Republicans should call President Obama's bluff on the fiscal cliff, like Indiana Jones. If the President refuses to itemize specific and comprehensive entitlement reforms and spending cuts, then let him plunge with the rest of Congress. The Republicans will stand on their principles, and the Democrats will have to eat the consequences for their vision of a big government made bigger. By letting the massive sequester go through, Congress will enforce their promised cuts which they had enacted. Obama’s legacy will be ruined, and the Democrats will have the expansion of the recession on their hands, or they will have to deal on another round of tax cuts in 2013. By 2014, voters will then push off the cliff every legislator who refused to budge on cutting spending or reforming entitlements.
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