This post originally appeared here.

National Review columnist Mark Steyn makes an excellent point this morning:

There is something surreal and unnerving about the so-called “debt ceiling” negotiations staggering on in Washington. In the real world, negotiations on an increase in one’s debt limit are conducted between the borrower and the lender. Only in Washington is a debt increase negotiated between two groups of borrowers.

Actually, it’s more accurate to call them two groups of spenders. On the one side are Obama and the Democrats, who in a negotiation supposedly intended to reduce American indebtedness are (surprise!) proposing massive increasing in spending (an extra $33 billion for Pell Grants, for example). The Democrat position is: You guys always complain that we spend spend spend like there’s (what’s the phrase again?) no tomorrow, so be grateful that we’re now proposing to spend spend spend spend like there’s no this evening.

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Yesterday the GOP under the leadership of house speaker John Boehner agreed to a tentative deal with Democrats regarding the remaining budget for this year.The more I reviewed the details of the deal, the moreI have come to believe that we actually won a huge victory. By “we”, I mean the American people and the conservative movement.On the other hand, I am somewhat saddened and disappointed that many conservatives who I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for somehow think the deal was a horrible betrayal on the part of the GOP leadership. Washington still has a culture of deal making that will not change overnight or because of one election, and last night we made a deal that no realist would have thought possible a week ago.  The facts is that in this war over our country’s future we need real victories and not just moral ones. 2010 was a real victory, but unless we win in 2012, bills to change this presidents policies permanently that are just passed by the house will simply be limited to moral victories.  We already know that the democrats have a strategy of painting us as extreme, a strategy that we see as ridiculous, but one that unfortunately has an effect on the uninformed voter.I have always said that the left cannot compete with us in a fight over ideas, and yet they beat us by winning the messaging in the debate and I think this deal is a good example of how we need to change that.

Do we have a national movement that is demanding cuts and voted in 2010 for just that? Yes

Does that change the facts that until 2012 Republicans only have control of one branch of congress and effectively cannot fix anything unilaterally? NOT AT ALL.

If we are going to win then we need to win more than just the informed conservatives who know our country is on the brink of financial disaster, but also those millions who do not.The fact is that we did not want a shut down, Obama and the democrats did, but that is not how the public saw it. Anyone who spoke to those lay people who get tidbits of news from the lame stream media knew that Republicans really were losing the battle on Friday.  The shutdown was being portrayed and believed as an argument over Planned Parenthood, a debate that Republicans were not even openly having at the time.The Democrats were using over the top language about Republicans wanting to “kill women” and while we saw that as crazy, the fact is that it was shifting the window of the debate to successfully paint us as extreme.Furthermore, we painted ourselves in a corner by setting a bar where somehow our supporters thought we were going to reach a deal without compromising.Were the Democrats playing political games with troop pay, government shutdown stories etc.? Absolutely, but that does not change that those games were working.If a shutdown had happened there would be fighting back and forth over who was to blame, but based on the messaging eventually many of those affected would have blamed us.As time went on we would have to cave and likely concede a lot more than what we did last night.So let’s go over what we got:

1)We are now discussing how much to cut instead of how much to spend in Washington, that is an enormous accomplishment

2)38.5 Billion in cuts in addition to the billions we cut in past weeks while passing continuing resolutions (people seem to have forgotten about this money).Is this a miniscule amount compared to what we need? Yes.However for those pointing to how small it is they are forgetting that is way better than zero, especially because of point 1.

3)These cuts are permanent and will actually save hundreds of billions more for years to come.

4)Senate votes on the repeal of Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.People have no idea what a huge concession this is.The fact is Democrats control the Senate and do not want to have these votes because then they have to go on the record as supporting these policies.That means these will be issues that we can use against the Democrats in 2012.Obama and the Democrats have shown they care more about funding Planned Parenthood than preventing a shutdown, funding the troops, and making serious budget cuts.This revelation will be a huge campaign tool for 2012.Furthermore, the truth is and realistic Republicans know that they would never have agreed to pass a bill that defunds PP or Obamacare.Those actions are virtually impossible in our system of government unless we win in 2012. This deal helps us do just that.

5)Restores the D.C. school voucher program.Another concession that Dems must have gritted their teeth through.

6)Tools to fight Obamacare through studies of both waivers and impact of the bill.These are important because once again they can be used as tools in the 2012 election to bash a horrible policy that now Democrats will have to defend.

7)Denies additional funding for the IRS to enforce Obamacare.Since repealing Obamacare is impossible until we win in 2012, slowing it down with measures like this that really prevent its effective implementation will be the key.

Mandatory audits of new regulatory system set up under the Dodd-Frank bill.These regulations are job killers and these audits will expose them as such, giving us yet another tool for 2012.

The truth is Republicans gave up things they were likely to never get (PP funding etc.) in exchange for a change that we needed, the direction of Washington.We not only hit the brakes last night on spending, but we started going in reverse.This is not sugar coating or saying that we fixed everything, but we have to start somewhere and this was it.We are fighting to save the country here and that will not be possible unless we stick together and realize that the statists will not just forfeit.We have to fight them at every step and we have to recognize that our allies are not our enemies just because they do not accomplish everything we want them to.Boehner and other Republicans not only got us on the right path with this deal, but they also set us up for a victory in 2012, which is the one we really need to change course.We have often criticized the Democrats for yelling about our plan of spending cuts without actually presenting their own.Please do not make the same mistake here by complaining this deal does not accomplish enough, without recognizing that realistically we could not have possibly accomplished more (at least not until 2012).With all these concessions we also have to keep in mind that we still have several even bigger battles yet to come, such as raising the debt ceiling and next year’s budget. Those battles will be talking about much bigger numbers and reality is there will have to be some compromise on those as well since once again we will only have control of the House.However, if we win those battles in even close to the same fashion we won this one, I will be very impressed with the new Republican party. John Boehner is not the problem; he is part of the solution.The big government liberals will never want to give up their power or spending, but that is exactly why we are fighting to take our country back and need the public to know about it.So let’s take credit and enjoy this small win while we can, because tomorrow we have another battle and it will only get harder.  All hands on deck.

John Kyl is proud of his compromise with Obama that has resulted in an agreement to extend all of the Bush tax cuts until the next election, except for the death tax.  Those who are content with the death tax compromise are remembering the time when 55% of anything over $1 million was taxed upon death.  They therefore are praising the new rate of 35% on assets above $5 million.  The problem with it is that a 35% tax for dying is immoral, unconstitutional, and confiscatory no matter how you slice it.

The reality is that most of these taxable assets from estates were already taxed at least once (if not several times) and there is simply no reason to tax them again upon the owners death.  Also, if we cut through much of the class warfare rhetoric we will see that $ 5 million is not that much.  Keep in mind that we are not referring to $5 million in annual income.  The death tax confiscates all land, equipment, and assets of businesses and farms that have accumulated during the lifetime of its owner.  It is not hard to understand that any successful entrepreneur would be able to accrue such assets during his lifetime without reaching the top 1%.  Why should his descendants pay a dime to inherit the fruits of his labor?  The death tax, in any shape or form, fundamentally violates the spirit of liberty and property rights that the country was founded upon.

Even some authentic conservatives are applauding the Obama deal, especially in light of his surprise tax holiday on payroll taxes.  They believe that we have achieved an unimaginable victory by securing the Bush tax cuts while the Democrats control all branches of government. However, the fact is that the Democrats have been backed into a corner on this issue for quite some time and were forced to pass the tax cuts.  This is not only a result of the midterm elections, but also a consequence of so many red state Democrats up for election in 2012 (including Obama himself).  Despite their bravado shown through their class warfare rhetoric, in private, they knew that they could not raise taxes on anyone in a recession.  This is why they waited until the last minute to agree to the deal.  They didn’t want to be perceived as giving into the Republicans until the last week of the session in which it would be do or die for the Democrats.

With this in mind, it is quite transparent that a temporary extension of all the tax cuts was a foregone conclusion.  The Democrats were compelled to approve at least a temporary extension of all the tax cuts.  It was the Republicans who gave in on everything else.  They didn’t push for a full extension.  Also, they agreed to extend unemployment benefits (which are nothing more than welfare at this point) for a whopping 13 more months!  This will bankrupt the nation while perpetuating and exacerbating unemployment.  The Republicans could have negotiated for spending offsets or for just a four month extension.  Instead, they agreed to everything on the spending side of the equation.

So the question begs, after all these concessions, did the Republicans really need to agree to reinstate the Death tax in any capacity?  Once they gave the Democrats everything they wanted on the spending and dependency side of the equation (which was more important to them in the first place), couldn’t they have forced a full extension of the DT repeal, especially considering that it is only for two years?

Another interesting dynamic of this tax deal is its effects on the politics of debt.  For many years, the Democrats have successfully tainted the Reagan administration with the explosion of the national debt as a result of his tax cuts.  We all know that the real reason for the debt is that although Reagan successfully cut taxes, he could not succeed in stemming the tide of the growing welfare state because of the Democrat congress.  This tax deal will do the same thing.  Any benefits of the Laffer curve will be mitigated by the insane 13 month subsidy of unemployment.  The payroll tax cut will also raise the debt because the liberals will not cut back on any of the FICA benefits despite the lost revenue in taxes.  Then, the left will get to blame the debt calamity on the tax cuts.

The bottom line is that whatever one feels about the necessity for the Republicans to cave on the welfare part of the deal, they could have gotten away with another two year extension of the death tax repeal.  Unfortunately, it appears that Senator Kyl has bought into some of the class warfare rhetoric, even in time of death.  He believes that if you accumulate more than $5 million worth of assets, your death should trigger a confiscatory tax.  He therefore felt there was no reason to negotiate for a “tax cut for the rich”.

Cross-posted to Red Meat Conservative

There are two immutable laws of Washington, D.C. To understand the tax compromise in the Senate, you must know the laws.

1. Politicians in leadership believe that if they make both the left and right angry they must have done something right; and,
2. If Democrats and Republicans come together in a compromise — no matter how bad that compromise may be — the media will herald the compromise and inevitably use the word “tone” in discussing it.

Then there is a corollary to the two rules: people who want a seat at the table with the politicians and media will turn into sycophants and tell you how delicious the compromise tastes.

Understanding those two immutable rules and the corollary tell you all you’ll need to understand about how the tax compromise will be played. Let’s review what the compromise is:

Read More →

There are two immutable laws of Washington, D.C. To understand the tax compromise in the Senate, you must know the laws.

1. Politicians in leadership believe that if they make both the left and right angry they must have done something right; and,
2. If Democrats and Republicans come together in a compromise — no matter how bad that compromise may be — the media will herald the compromise and inevitably use the word “tone” in discussing it.

Then there is a corollary to the two rules: people who want a seat at the table with the politicians and media will turn into sycophants and tell you how delicious the compromise tastes.

Understanding those two immutable rules and the corollary tell you all you’ll need to understand about how the tax compromise will be played. Let’s review what the compromise is:

Read More →