Cliff Diving

Does anyone else think it's ironic that the current regime, which vilifies Bush as if he were Scrooge himself, suddenly feel the Bush tax cuts must be renewed at all costs?

The odds of rectifying the situation by the end of the year are nil.  Sure, a temporary fix might be passed, but the politicians are predictably spending most of their time worrying about the tax side of the problem as opposed to the spending side.  Even if they are successful with a modified patch to the tax situation (by extending the Bush environment with an extra kicker for "rich" people), it'll only generate enough revenue to fund the government for 8 days.  And that's the best case - it might actually DECREASE revenues.  But at least the liberals will feel good about themselves the next time they ask for an increase in the debt limit.

The real problem is spending, which has swelled to 25% of GDP and continues to mount.  History suggests 20% would be the proper level.  We could achieve this in a few years by simply freezing the budget at today's level; economic growth would naturally restore the proper balance after a few years.

This is something which could be done easily in the next two days, but the chances of achieving a real solution under this regime are not favorable.  The Senate won't even create a budget!  It reminds me of what Kobe Bryant said about fellow roundballer Pao Gasol a few weeks ago: "It's time to put on the big boy pants".