The Fiscal Cliff

John Boehner has the hardest job in D.C. It doesn't help that he is also a self-serving prick, most concerned with maintaining his position as Speaker -  but really, his job is hard. He's got nutso people to his right (not that there's a whole lot of room to his right these days) and he's got a bunch of people with a substantial amount of political capital on his left. He's stuck between a rock (in the case, the fiscal cliff) and a hard place (loosing his speakership).

I'm not that sympathetic really. The Republicans, under Boehner's leadership, brought us to this point with their ridiculous obstructionism throughout the first four years of President Obama's administration. It's also hard to be sympathetic to a party that will only even talk about raising taxes on people making over a million dollars. It's also hard to be sympathetic to Boehner himself after 2 years of him refusing, as Speaker, to stand up to his party's own right-wing nuttery.

All this (though indisputably true in my opinion) doesn't answer the question of what to do about the "fiscal cliff" that the Republicans seem hell-bent on running off of.

Here's my answer:

Just jump off. Boehner first.

I know I'm not the first to make this argument, and I know that it risks another recession, downgrading our credit rating, etc. But we're talking politics, and politics is not about economics - it's about public perception. Yes, sometimes the two intersect, but generally speaking, politicians only care about the economy insofar as it affects their chances of reelection. Otherwise, nowhere near this much ink would have been spilled over something that is going to be so trivial as raising taxes on 1% of the population - or cutting funding for things like NPR.

There are benefits to be had by going over the cliff. First, we institute painful cuts from "outside." Neither party has to take responsibility for the cuts themselves so everyone saves face (they'll play "blame-the-other-side," which always works with your base). Second, everyone then gets to vote on a huge tax cut. Everyone loves a tax cut, especially the public, so that's good for politicians. Third, because the cuts mentioned above are already implemented, it's a hell of a lot easier to keep some of them. Fourth, we now have a "bank" of savings (that's totally fake, of course, but it'll look real on paper) that we can spend on something that we really need, like a large amount of stimulus for the economy (hopefully in the right areas like infrastructure).

And, just as a bonus, Boehner will probably loose his speakership meaning someone who can actually whip might get the position, meaning there might actually be a possibility for legislation next session.