Matt Yglesias

30 Responses to “More Platform Blogging”

1. MNPundit Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 am

   Isn’t that like the lesser half of TABOR or something?

2. Craig Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am

   If these people were serious about “original intent” and “limited government” and all that jazz, they’d explicitly require a congressional declaration of war to play the “time of war” card that trumps all their other supposed principles. ‘Course, you don’t hear much about the parts of the Constitution they find inconvenient…

3. Jeff Hebert Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:10 am

   But the “War on Terror” won’t ever end, meaning that the we won’t ever have to have a balanced budget. See how easy that was!

4. Brent Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 am

   require a balanced budget except in times of war

   Okay, fine. And since the War on Terror apparently meets that requirement, then we should include the War on Poverty and the War on Drugs. So as long as there’s one homeless dope fiend in the country then we don’t have to make budgetary cuts.

5. edawg Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 am

   That “ratchet effect” is exactly what laws like TABOR in Colorado achieved. Look no further than Colorado’s budget crisis and the fact that eventually even Bill Freaking Owens had to face reality and suspend TABOR for evidence of what a moronic idea this is.

6. djeri Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 am

   David Stockman speaking to William Greider anyone?? This has been policy, if not always acted on, for 30 years. Oh, and Stockman was fired for speaking on the record…

7. mike Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 am

   For evidence of how irrelevant this part of their platform is, see Bush, G.W. They just say this in an attempt to retain the fiscal conservatives.

8. dday Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 am

   These are exactly the laws in the State of California. There’s a balanced budget amendment and a 2/3 majority is needed to ratify a budget or any tax increases. This is why there’s no budget 60 days into the fiscal year. This is why it’s the most mismanaged state in the union.

9. lerxst Says:
   September 3rd, 2008 at 10:58 am

   Its funny I made a similar point about the Alaska Independence Party platform in a post over at Economists for Obama.

   I forgot how absurd even the modern GOP platform is.

10. Bondo Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Writing from the land of TABOR, Colorado, I can definitely affirm that an enforced balanced budget (less relevant on the state level because it already was) and strict limits on the ability to raise taxes (here it has to pass popular referendum, let’s just say voters aren’t always high-information individuals when it comes to issues of taxation) spell disaster for effective governance. But then, the Republicans were never about effective governance were they. They prefer the social darwinism of anarchy.

11. rea Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 am

    But the “War on Terror” won’t ever end, meaning that the we won’t ever have to have a balanced budget.

    Oh, sure it will end–just as soon as a Democratic president tries to get a budget passed . . .

12. Noah Yetter Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 am

    Speaking as a Coloradan, TABOR was extraordinarily effective and worked exactly as intended to restrain budgetary excess. It’s only flaw was that like any law we could change it, and the voters were hoodwinked with promises of free stuff to delete the ratchet-effect clause.

    Of course if you believe the size and scope of government should grow ever larger I can see why you might not like it. But while it was in effect it kept the budget of the State of Colorado in good health while other states became unable to maintain their runaway spending. I worked for the State during the budget cuts and got to see them from the inside. They were 100% necessary and highly effective.

13. Cardinal Fang Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    To add to what dday said, this is exactly the law in California. It’s a disaster. The Democrats have a majority in the state legislature, but the Republicans can block any tax increase, and they do. But there aren’t enough votes to cut services (schools and prisons) either. So instead we end up with ridiculous gimmicks like floating bonds to pay teachers’ salaries. And how will those bonds be paid back, you ask? In the sweet bye and bye we’ll have more money, is the answer.

14. Roger Tompkins Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    And, if you want to see what government looks like with Page 17 is implemented look at California,where a Republican minority has locked out a budget for two months fighting even their Republican governor. Our brilliant voters implemented super majority for taxes by referendum, mandated 40% of spending by referendum and left the state ungovernable.

15. Ergonomic Slingshot Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    It is interesting how the laws of the country’s most populous state “are truly ideas from the policy fringe.” The fringe of actuality, I guess.

16. daveNYC Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    The fringe of workability is more like it.

17. Kenneth Almquist Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    It’s downright insulting for the Republicans to pretend that they think that “the problem is too much spending.”

    Of course, the Republicans have claimed to be in favor of smaller government for a long time. The difference is that we now know that they are in favor of pushing government spending through the roof (as long as the money goes to Republican allies) because we’ve seen what they did when they got control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

    Anyone can be fooled once, but Republicans seem to think that the American people are so gullible that Republicans can simply repeat the lies that they have used before and the American people will fall for them again. I’m not a fan of Republican policies, but it is their contempt for America that really grates on me.

18. Muzz Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 5:03 pm

    So…

    We can run deficits until the War on Terror is over.

    Reversing a tax cut is raising taxes, so none of that.

    Less spending is the only way to reduce a deficit.

    Tax cuts heal the economy in bad times and strengthen it in good times.

    Sounds like good fiscal policy to me.

19. Ryan Early Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm

    Actually, any changes to the tax code that are not revenue-neutral already require a supermajority vote to make permanent. Otherwise, the changes cannot last longer than 10 years. That’s why the Bush tax cuts have an automatic expiration in 2011, and why the drawdown of the estate tax (aka the “death tax”) couldn’t be made permanent.

    Of course, the Republicans didn’t even bother to try to make the Bush cuts permanent. They knew they didn’t have the votes.

20. Sefrankel Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 pm

    Count me as opposed to the Colorado style TABOR platform, although I can respect different points of view on the matter. However, this came up for ballot initiative in Maine and all I’d say is don’t underestimate how much traction it can gain relatively quickly.

21. Anthony Damiani Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 11:38 pm

    ‘actually implementing them would require really huge budgetary cutbacks.”

    Ahh, but you underestimate the true goals of the GoP’s intent!

    If this passed, the only way the federal government could function in anything resembling the manner Americans have come to expect… is to remain in an eternal state of war.

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