Stan Geiger

Cut and Run Politics

Evan Bayh is the latest big-time senator to call it quits, claiming he is simply fed up with partisanship. I find his excuse dubious at best.

Sure, it's a rough time for Democrats. Heck, it's a rough time for any incumbent. But reports say Bayh had $13 million in campaign funds and a strong lead in the polls. It appears he was going to have no problem winning another term. Yet, he quit.

We experienced a similar situation in Tulsa a little while ago. Our beloved mayor, Kat Taylor, up and announced she would not seek reelection. Then, strangely, she bought TV time and ran ads telling us of her greatness. Her announcement fueled a lot of speculation. Was she going to run for Congress? Was she going to run for state school super?

Well, as it turned out, the Kat wasn't running for anything; she was running from something. She didn't want to risk being elected to a second term and having to deal with the current budget woes. She cut and ran.

Bayh is cutting and running. And he's not the only one.

Obama's proposed budget calls for $3.8 trillion in federal spending over 12 months. If I'm not mistaken, that's up $200 billion year-over-year. The budget calls for deficit spending of $1.6 trillion. If you're counting, Obama proposes borrowing 42 percent of spending. Projections say we are on course to have an official national debt exceeding $20 trillion in just a few short years. Actuaries say the unfunded liability for the entitlement programs is a staggering $70 trillion.

Elaboration is called for, but for now I'll simply say Congress is no longer in a position to do what it has done for the past 30 years and, as they say, kick the can down the road. Tough decisions have to be made---and they need to be made now if this nation is to survive. Those decisions---all of them---are going to be very, very, unpopular.

In short, dancing around the fringes won't git 'er done. Military spending is going to have to be cut. Social Security spending is going to have to be cut. Medicare and Medicaid spending is going to have to be cut. Spending on things generally classed as welfare is going to have to be cut.

Even after all that, taxes will likely have to be raised. And limiting a tax increase to the top 1 percent won't be good enough.

No senator wants to cast votes to cut funding for everything near and dear to the hearts of Americans. No senator wants to vote yes on a tax increase. But the simple fact is, we're out of time. The borrowing has to stop; the budget has to be balanced.

Adding to the situation where Bayh is concerned, I think he still holds out hope of making it to the White House someday. They say it's difficult for a longtime senator to get elected president. The voting record gets in the way. Can you imagine a guy running for president when his senate voting record shows, for example, that he voted to cut Social Security benefits and raise taxes?

If Bayh ever does manage to get the Democratic nomination, I doubt he would have a shot at my vote. A guy that bails when times get tough doesn't have the balls to be president.

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