"The problem with our country is people are not willing to stand up for what they believe in; that's the great threat to this country right now". The subject that truly obsesses Coburn, the one he comes back to over and over, is not homosexuality or abortion, but fiscal responsibility -- spending, the deficit, entitlements.
So budget deficits, entitlement reform, and all that simply don't deserve to be policy priorities, let alone dominate the national discussion the way they did for the past few years.
We've had periods of stability before -- such as the "Greenspan gold standard" in the 1990s -- but as we deal with the hangover from our low-interest-rate binge, along with longstanding issues regarding debt, deficits, entitlement programs and the like, another period of currency decline may commence.
Without such dealmakers, it is anyone's guess how major decisions on the tax code, budget deficit and entitlement changes will be made next year, regardless of the victors in the November election.
Administration officials, frustrated by the intransigence of House Republicans, have increasingly concluded that the best thing Mr. Obama can do for the economy may be winning a second term, with a mandate to advance his ideas on deficit reduction, entitlement changes, housing policy and other issues.
Today, in the U.S., we are actually talking about 70% income tax rates and "modern monetary theory". As debt, deficit and entitlement issues intensify in coming years, the U.S. government may turn to higher taxes and, when the economy drags as a result, "easy money" in response.
Forget about reducing the deficit, cutting entitlement programs, reducing taxes, ending tax subsidies -- all of these are highly divisive and counter-productive.
To hear some pundits tell it, the Lame Duck budget battle is about the "unsustainable federal deficit," or "entitlement reform," or even "tax rates".
President Obama fell all over himself to offer Republicans deals on things they loved, like deficit reduction, entitlement reform, and more, and they didn't budge.
Despite the president's rebound, Romney ably reiterated his strongest argument: that Obama's promises — of deficit reduction, entitlement reform, robust job growth and immigration legislation — have not come to pass.
