Courtesy of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Michele Bachmann is about to discover just how unpopular her radical plan to slash spending really is. From a VFW release:
VFW WILL DEFEAT BACHMANN PLAN
"NO WAY, NO HOW, WILL WE LET THIS PROPOSAL GET ANY TRACTION IN CONGRESS."
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2011 — America's oldest and largest major combat veterans' organization announced it will do everything within its power to defeat a plan introduced by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to cut $4.5 billion from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"No way, no how, will we let this proposal get any traction in Congress," said Richard L. Eubank, the national commander of the 2.1 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
On her website, the three-term congresswoman lists more than $400 billion in suggestions to cut federal spending. The VA suggestion would cap increases to VA healthcare spending, and reduce disability compensation to account for Social Security Disability Insurance payments — in other words, an offset. She says her plan is intended to generate discussion.
The thing that people like Bachmann don't realize is that while Americans are troubled by the long-term implications of budget deficits, they don't support austerity plans that slash vital services. Bachmann and her teahadist allies focus on spending as if it's the only part of the budget equation, but with federal tax revenue at its lowest level since 1950, it's foolish to ignore the revenue side of budget arithmetic.
Instead of holding the economy hostage for tax cuts for the wealthy, Republicans like Bachmann need to come to grips with the fact that the path to long-term fiscal health must include things like a return to Clinton era tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and lifting the cap on Social Security payroll taxes. (Not coincidentally, earlier today Vice President Biden echoed President Obama's call during the State of the Union to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.)
Bachmann can pretend all she wants that the public craves nothing but austerity, but if she does, she's just living in fantasy world. It's time for Republicans to get real and accept the fact that they are going to need to make some politically difficult decisions when it comes to revenue.
