Tea Party: One; Obama: Zero

Barack Obama lost the battle over the debt ceiling. Republicans got everything that they wanted. Democrats are divided, alarmed by their president’s failure to negotiate with Republicans, yet Republicans are also divided, though more determined.

The compromise is painfully slim. Its only advantage is that it avoids the unthinkable — default of Treasury payments. It covers $2.1 trillion in savings over 10 years. For the record, the budget deficit this year will exceed $1.5 trillion. The Republicans hijacked the global financial markets by threatening to artificially cause a Treasury default. Their tactic does not seriously advance a solution to the United States’ enormous problem of excessive indebtedness in the medium and long term.

Let’s not be too pessimistic. The special commission that Congress will set up could do a good job. It will be forced find $1.5 trillion in additional savings. Above all, it is supposed to work on fiscal reforms that will simplify the tax code, broaden the tax base, and stimulate growth and especially employment. In any case, that’s the theory; good can come out of this commission’s work because its recommendations will be subject to a mandatory vote by Congress.

Without the tea party taking the Treasury hostage, nothing would have happened. We would still be without a solution for the debt ceiling. We would still be postponing real reform. So, out of all that work come tiny results. But it’s better than nothing.

If you don’t believe me, read the White House’s February 2011 budget plan. There’s nothing in there about controlling the debt in the medium and long term. It’s a huge joke. So much so that the Senate immediately threw it into the trash.

For at least a month, the American political system has shown that it doesn’t work very well. The deterioration of the United States’ debt is now widely anticipated. Barack Obama is heavily criticized by the left. He is ridiculed by the right for his simplicity and his overly detached style. None of this is good in a country whose growth is vanishing and which no longer has the means to make a recovery.