A #Path2Balance or Another Failed Debt Ceiling Strategy

Blog Articles · Jan 16, 2013 · Budget and Spending

Last night, Heritage Action CEO Mike Needham explained the conservative approach to the debt ceiling debate and elaborated on the plan laid out with the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins and Club for Growth's Chris Chocola. It's a plan that's really hard to argue against: balancing the budget over a period of ten years without raising taxes in exchange for a debt ceiling increase. There's nothing drastic about it.

Although CNBC's Larry Kudlow initial reaction was slightly negative - "You mess with the debt ceiling - I'm gonna tell you buddy - the whole world, fiscally, politically, and economically, is going to come crashing down on your head" - by the end, the conservative plan was starting to make some sense.

The bottom line is this: reasonable, cool-headed conservative plans infuriate proponents of incrementalism. When you break outside that kick-the-can approach, it takes a while for some folks to catch up because it does not follow the usual pattern of kicking spending cuts down the road.