Another Lesson Not Yet Learned By Republicans

It is astonishing that the latest ‘fiscal cliff crisis’ even exists but then again this stemming from the failure of the ‘Super Committee’ to reach a bi-partisan agreement back in August of 2011, I guess it is to be expected.
In what was really no more than a stopgap agreement between the White House and Republican lawmaker, The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) was enacted to end the 2011 debt-ceiling crises.  In exchange for a commitment from the White House to work towards real deficit reduction, House Republicans agree to raise the nation’s debt-ceiling by $400 billion thus putting an end to the 2011 debt-crises and forgoing the possibility of sovereign default by our nation.  And so, as stipulated in the BCA, the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, better known as the ‘Super-Committee’ was created, its purpose, to produce a bi-partisan piece of legislation by no later than November 23, 2011.

The BCA was highly controversial and widely unpopular amongst Republican lawmakers and also had Speaker of the House John Boehner coming under significant criticism from his party.  Although expressly implied that Democratic lawmakers would provide real spending cuts, there was no language in the BCA to hold them to it and so, it should come as no surprise that the November 23^rd deadline came and went with no agreement being reach.  By virtue of Republicans negotiating in good faith and Democrats reneging on their side of the bargain, Democrats managed to walk away with the debt-ceiling increased while not having to produce a single spending cut in return.

The failure of the White House to follow through with its commitments, legally bound or otherwise, has become the norm for the Obama administration, from budgets that have yet to transpire to President Obama’s more recent pledge to America that he would reduce spending.  These failures once again have the Federal Government just days away from reaching its debt-limit and the nation going over the fiscal cliff. 

This past Friday, shortly after emerging from a last minute ‘fiscal cliff’ meeting with Senate and House leaders, President Obama expressed that he was “mildly optimistic” that an agreement could be achieved to avert the fiscal cliff.  The President also went on to indirectly chastise Republicans for failing to do their job.   It’s the same old rhetoric from the same old President who has also been campaigning for his real desire, a short term agreement that would get us past the January 2, 2013 deadline and provide lawmakers ‘more time’ to reach a bi-partisan agreement.

Republicans allowed the can to be kicked down the road over a year ago with the The Budget Control Act of 2011 and look where it got them.  The Obama administration has demonstrated its complete inability to pass a budget, has shown inaction on dozens of fiscal and economic issues and now, after having over year to address the fiscal cliff issue, has once again come up short on standing by their word to produce real fiscal reform.

So, the big question is, “have Republicans learned their lesson yet” or are they going to allow the White House to be kick the can down the road once again?