Why There’s a Debt Stalemate - A Lack of Leadership

As it looks more and more likely that the Super Committee will fail to reach an agreement, Robert Samuelson has a column in the Washington Post that looks at the real underlying cause: a lack of leadership, particularly in the White House. I've noted time and time again over the last almost three years how rather than be a leader and rather than use the pulpit of the presidency to rally public support for on issues, Barack Obama merely punts the problem to Congress in the hope that someone will find a solution. And time and time again, what we've seen is a continued mess rather than a path to moving the country forward. This lack of leadership is one of the reasons I'd rather not see Obama re-elected unless the alternative is one of the knuckle draggers from the current GOP crop of would be nominees. Things might be so very different if we had leadership in the White House. But sadly, we do not. Here are highlights from Samuelson's column:

We haven’t had the robust democratic debate about the role of government that lies at the heart of America’s budget stalemate. The truth is that most Democrats and Republicans want to avoid such a debate because it would force them into positions that, regardless of ideology, would be highly unpopular. This does not mean that the congressional supercommittee, charged with making modest cuts in deficits, need fail. There is a basis for honorable compromise. Squandering it — as seems increasingly likely — would confirm politicians’ preference for fighting over governing.

How big a government do we want? What’s the balance of fairness between young and old? How much should other programs be reduced or taxes raised? Many Democrats duck the fundamental policy questions and reject any benefit cuts.

Only President Obama can start such a debate. He has the bully pulpit, but he hasn’t used it. . . . Noncommittal gibberish. There is no leadership from the nation’s “leader.”

The president won’t talk specifics, but government consists of specifics. The reason we cannot have a large budget deal is that Americans haven’t been prepared for one. The president hasn’t educated them, and so they can’t support what they don’t understand. Left or right, there are no comfortable positions. No one relishes curbing Social Security or Medicare benefits. But without changes, taxes will go way up, the rest of government will shrink dramatically or huge deficits will persist.

Toomey’s concession created a basis for a negotiation, if both sides wanted an agreement. Small successes today could rebuild trust, leading to larger successes tomorrow. Failure will further corrode the public’s already rock-bottom confidence in its political “leaders.”