I’ve ripped into the GOP leadership more times than I care to remember, but honestly, I don’t have a problem with this from a tactical perspective (provided it’s handled properly) under the circumstances.
The problem that we’re facing is that the original proposed cuts have been scaled down to $2 Trillion or so, and of course, the Dems will stand ground claim that it’s only half that, or less- so splitting it down the middle, you’re looking at $1.5 Trillion perhaps (and they need to get to $2.4 T). Because $2.4 Trillion over a decade is a drop in the bucket really, it’s not worth making any concessions now on our side to get to that total.
I think the GOP should use a two-pronged approach: Go for even bigger cuts in “Plan A”- knowing that Obama is going to reject it anyways. Then make Plan B look “reasonable” (throw in a few Federal buildings to sell for “revenues”, etc.), and pass it at the last minute. You get $700 B in cuts now, with second and third opportunities to go for more cuts down the road (*And I’d much rather have $700B in real cuts now than a bunch of phony “cuts” in a supposed $2.4 T proposal- especially if tax hikes are the price).
If Obama vetos plan B, he owns it. If he signs it, hammer him even harder the next time this comes up. I don’t like this idea of continually kicking the can down the road, but if it can be used to extract political leverage against Obama- that’s about all we can ask for at this point.
Provided there are $700 B in cuts up front, which doesn’t appear to be the case, unfortunately.