Las Vegas Review-Journal - Vin Suprynowicz

I see where "conservative" Republicans on Washington's budget cutting "supercommittee" have offered to "compromise" by embracing $300 billion to $500 billion in tax hikes pretty much right away, in exchange for Democratic promises of more of the kind of "spending cuts" that leave federal spending higher than it was before the "cuts" -- with most said "cuts" to be phased in between 2018 and 2021.

Since this has been tried before, resulting in our current slow-motion economic collapse and ruin (most heavily impacting the hard-working, blue-collar, lower middle class, who wouldn't vote Libertarian if you hit them over the head with a four-square beam, an exercise now well under way), why don't Republicans propose a new type of "compromise," in which Democrats agree to the kind of spending cuts that result in total federal spending dropping by 40 to 60 percent, "phased in" in late 2011 and early 2012, in return for which Republicans promise, "cross our hearts and hope to die," that they or whoever holds their offices at the time will embrace "massive tax hikes on the rich" -- in 2020 and 2021?

Giggle giggle snort.

The common wisdom is that Republicans don't try it this way because they're stupid. In fact, their personal greed for wealth and the percs of power certainly exceed their desire to leave other people's children with more economic opportunity (or even as much) as our parents enjoyed, but they're not "stupid" in the "my two pair beat your four-of-a-kind!" sense that's meant.

The more sensible explanation is that Republicrats want more tax loot to spend in order to buy themselves re-election, the same as any Demopublican. The only difference is that Republicrats have to maintain the POSE of aiming to reduce government size and power, which requires them to occasionally look like clowns in oversized shoes trying to find their asses with both hands, a price they will gladly pay in exchange for brief six-figure "retirement" jobs working for their favorite lobbyists, followed up with those grandiose and eternal federal pensions.