Balancing Budgets Without Balancing Budgets

Somehow I stumbled upon a blog post at Chicago Reader that touches upon some things I've been saying for a long time now.

I know nothing about the website Chicago Reader or the contributor named Whet Moser. This is the first time I've read his work, that I know of. But he is more right than he's giving himself credit for when writing about how the far-right tea bagger crowd will not contribute anything substantial to fixing America's deficit problem, and why others on the right aren't doing anything to calm them down (and may actually be secretly egging them on). Why? Because tea baggers are Republicans and people who vote Republican are glad that there is still a motivated faction in their party. No one tries to stop a hurling train by jumping on it while it's moving. You wait until it hits a wall or runs out on its own momentum. And that's what moderate Republicans are doing.

If tea baggers win a seat, the GOP picks it up.  They want their party to pick up seats, just like anyone who votes a certain way.  If a tea bagger candidate loses, then oh well.  Let it run its course.  The worst that could happen is you lose.  And Republicans are used to losing so it's no big deal.

As far as fixing the deficit, we have to remember these are still Republicans no matter what they want to call themselves and no where in history as a Republican ever shrunk the deficit.  Quite the contrary actually.  The $1.4 trillion deficit we have today is 80% contributed to policies of the last Republican administration.  The chances of tea bagging Republicans fixing-- or in the least caring about-- the deficit now is zilch.  Especially when you consider their bedrock policy they have been touting for over a year now will actually increase the deficit by $4 trillion of the next ten years.