How then shall the government function for the next two years, with power and responsibility divided between a Republican House, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic White House?
Obviously, with cooperation, compromise and bipartisanship. But what does that mean?
For the last two years, Congress looked like a schoolyard playground:
Republicans: "If I don't get my way, I'm taking my toys and going home"
Democrats: "I'm bigger and stronger and can take what I want"
This may have served both parties well. Democrats passed big programs. Republicans won big in the midterms. The country didn't make out so well. Democrats acted on their own - in my opinion, they did so out of necessity and not by choice. I think the Republicans refused to play and got left out as a result. In any case, most major legislation was passed by the Democrats on predominantly party line votes. In almost every case, I believe that better legislation could have been created by men and women of good will from both parties working together in good faith to do the right thing for the country. We did not get what we deserved from Congress in the last two years.
Then the lame duck session came along. A lot got done and it looked like compromise was beginning. But it was the easy compromises. The START treaty - nobody really wanted to turn that down, so everybody wins. Everybody wins in a bill to improve food safety. The Obama - McConnell tax cuts gave away almost $1 Trillion (with a T) in tax cuts. Everyone got something they wanted, so everyone feels like a winner. Easy compromise.
Now the hard work on the deficit starts. There will be no winners. Every dollar of deficit reduction will cause real pain somewhere in the economy. Tax increases will take real money from real people. That is money that they cannot spend, save or invest. Spending cuts will almost certainly mean more job losses. Defunding health care will cause real medical and financial hardship for real people. So will cuts to welfare, SNAP, medicare, medicaid, and social security. Cuts to education, research & development and infrastructure will impair future competitiveness. Cuts to money sent to states will just transfer the pain. I can go on but I think you understand that every deficit reduction action will hurt someone somewhere, and there will be no winners.
In broad terms, Republicans do not want tax increases or cuts to Defense spending and Democrats do not want cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or other programs. However, every serious deficit reduction study has said that all of these have to be included. The Simpson-Bowles report is no exception. Spending has to go down. Both defense and domestic spending cuts have to be included. Taxes have to go up.
Compromise, in my opinion, means two things. One one side, everyone gets something they want - we did that in the Obama - McConnell tax cuts. On the other side, everyone gives up something they want, and it is time to do that now. Democrats have to accept some program spending reductions. Republicans have to accept some defense spending cuts and tax increases. Anything less is not a compromise, and will be less than the country needs and deserves.
I urge you all, Democrats and Republicans alike - do not expect and do not accept any deficit reduction plan that does not include roughly equal spending reductions and tax increases, or that exempts any budget item (including defense) from spending cuts. Do not try to do one now and the other as a future promise - do them all together.
Mr. President, you are the ultimate authority. It is up to you to accept or reject any spending or tax plans that come to your desk. I urge you, especially, to insist on equal contributions from everyone, with both spending cuts and tax increases in any deficit reduction bill that you sign. The sooner you address this publicly and set some ground rules, the better off we all will be. You may need to veto anything less and send it back for more work. This too is part of the job you campaigned for, won and accepted two years ago.
And everyone forget any notion of "shutting down the government unless I can have it all my way". That's just childish and stupid, and does irreparable harm to the country. We need real adult compromise, not more schoolyard tantrums.
Nothing else will work.
A separate note on social security: Social security is not included in the federal budget. It does not contribute to the deficit, and should never be considered as a deficit reduction action. Period. If the trust fund needs to be strengthened, everything I said above applies here as well. Any "fixes" to social security will have to include both payroll tax increases and benefit reductions, in tandem. But any such action does not address the deficit and you cannot honestly combine the two issues.