If by long term you mean before the adjournment of the 112th Congress and without increasing our publicly held debt to 100% GDP then we agree.
The only way to have the clarity we need to have those decisions made is to refuse to raise the debt limit just as Pawlenty has argued. That is leadership talking and not excuses nor blame shifting.
I mean a long term plan that has milestones, benchmarks, etc. beginning now and continuing into the future. We are still a long way from the publicly-held debt exceeding 100% of GDP. The debt ceiling will have to be raised this year regardless since it applies to the entire debt.
The only way to have the clarity we need to have those decisions made is to refuse to raise the debt limit just as Pawlenty has argued. That is leadership talking and not excuses nor blame shifting.
Agreement to raise the debt ceiling should come with conditions. The GOP must educate the public or we will have a reprise of the Clinton debacle. Obama and the Dems will be playing a game of chicken on the debt ceiling. Their propaganda efforts have already begun, i.e., they are forecasting a disaster for our economy if the debt ceiling is not raised immediately.