Extending income tax cuts. New unemployment benefits. A reduction in Social Security taxes.
“It’s not perfect,” President Barack Obama said of the new plan, announced Monday night. We agree with him, but neither was the way it was created.
The plan is a compromise between Democratic senators’ desire to expand unemployment benefits and reduce Social Security taxes and Republican insistence on prolonging Bush-era income tax cuts. It came out of a six-person group dedicated to finding a solution.
But if this sounds like ideal bipartisan compromise, consider the result and the tactics involved.
The result is that the United States is spending more money on benefits, taking in less money from Social Security and not bringing in any more money from income taxes. What part of this is fiscally responsible?
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The way the compromise was reached is worse. All 42 Republican senators signed a letter saying they would filibuster anything Democratic senators tried to do until the Senate avoided raising taxes.
Illinois, that includes your own newly-elected Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, who has been on the job since Monday.
This tactic is akin to holding the entire Senate hostage. Yes, Obama could have done the same and also refused to move forward — but ultimately, the American people are worth more than these politics. Action on their behalf, even if we disagree with some of that action, is better than getting nothing done.
However, while we appreciate bipartisan legislation, refusal to work with another party until you get your way on one issue is inexcusable. Using these tactics just to get a decision to go one way or another on other issues would make the legislative branch even more ineffective in serving the people.
We hope that now that this issue is out of the way, Republican senators will be willing to work with their Democratic colleagues to serve the American people and to act on their behalf — even if the results are not always their first choice.
The stakes here are huge. This kind of legislation shakes our economy. It impacts our amount of debt. It directly affects the millions of unemployed Americans, and will affect all of us on some level.
Should 42 people really be able to force that kind of legislation through by refusing to cooperate?
