{"id":807,"date":"2011-01-18T10:10:45","date_gmt":"2011-01-18T17:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/?p=807"},"modified":"2011-08-05T19:06:19","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T02:06:19","slug":"%e2%80%9crepeal-or-revise%e2%80%9d-and-the-thunder-out-of-china-hughhewitt-com-01-18-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/2011\/01\/18\/%e2%80%9crepeal-or-revise%e2%80%9d-and-the-thunder-out-of-china-hughhewitt-com-01-18-11\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRepeal or Revise\u201d and the Thunder out of China | HughHewitt.com | 01.18.11"},"content":{"rendered":"

A column last Friday in The Financial Times<\/em> underscored the urgency of the new GOP House majority\u2019s \u201crepeal or revise\u201d agenda. \u00a0Not that addressing domestic U.S. concerns was the author\u2019s intention.<\/p>\n

The article by columnist Philip Stephens (see: http:\/\/tiny.cc\/my1m0<\/a> ) surveyed the deterioration of US-China relations during the past year: \u00a0tensions over Korea, Taiwan, and the Western Pacific, the unveiling of the J-20 stealth fighter hours before a meeting between defense secretary Robert Gates and Chinese president Hu Jintao. \u00a0Add to that China\u2019s insistence since Mr. Stephens\u2019 article appeared that the dollar is yesterday\u2019s global currency. \u00a0It all adds up to an increasingly toxic bilateral brew.<\/p>\n

Why China\u2019s growing aggressiveness?<\/p>\n

Mr. Stephens\u2019 list of reasons includes China\u2019s economic rise fueling expansion of its military, the military\u2019s \u201charnessing of popular nationalism\u201d, the military\u2019s \u201cmisunderstanding and miscalculation\u201d of the US, and the perception in China (particularly in the current economic crisis) that the US\u2019s financial and military power are in decline.<\/p>\n

It is hard to miss here the direct link between China\u2019s perception of the financial weakening of the US government on one hand and China\u2019s readiness to mount military and security challenges on the other.<\/p>\n

Note I emphasize \u201cfinancial\u201d weakness. \u00a0Despite administration and Democratic Party rhetoric, the current economic turmoil follows two-and-a-half decades of stunning economic growth. \u00a0China has done well in those years, too \u2013 well, enough to suggest a symbiotic link between their economy and ours, each complimenting and strengthening the other. \u00a0In other words, the current economic crisis would not be so provocatively inviting if our government\u2019s financial house were in order. \u00a0Clearly the Chinese government \u2013 or at least its national security establishment — is rapidly moving to the view that the US government has squandered its financial heritage and through it the nation\u2019s global power.<\/p>\n

What is to be done?<\/p>\n

Call it the second order injunction of the Hippocratic Oath. \u00a0The explicit injunction of the oath is \u201cdo no harm,\u201d which would make the second order injunction, \u201cif you are doing harm, stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are four laws and policies that now do or will do immense harm to our government\u2019s finances, harm that the new Congress should stop:<\/p>\n

Harm #1 — Budget Reform Act of 1974<\/strong>: \u00a0When I was in the Reagan White House, I was asked to review the history and consequences of this law. \u00a0It grew out of President Richard Nixon\u2019s frustration with the prisoner\u2019s dilemma dynamics of Congress when it came to spending. Nixon saw that the legislature lacked an internal capacity to say no to new spending. \u00a0He sought to devise new rules that would reverse that dynamic. \u00a0Liberals quickly caught on and, as Watergate leached the president\u2019s power, took control of the legislative process. \u00a0The result: the bill was transformed (some were explicit about their intent) into one that made Congress even looser with the purse. \u00a0As a graph given to me at the time by member of the Council of Economic Advisors staff showed with utter clarity, the rise in US government real indebtedness dated from the enactment of this legislation.<\/p>\n

Harm #2 \u2013 The stimulus and spending packages of the last two years<\/strong>: \u00a0Think of these as the ultimate fruits of the 1974 act. \u00a0The act diminished the role of the White House as a restrainer of spending. \u00a0Since the current administration took power (and to an alarming but far, far lesser extent under its predecessor), the White House has been a cheerleader and instigator of previously unimaginable federal lavishness. \u00a0The new Congress should cancel all unspent funds from these packages.<\/p>\n

Harm #3 \u2013 The health care overhaul<\/strong>: \u00a0Like cultists with a parallel universe doctrine, the administration has convinced itself that it overhaul plans will reduce federal spending. \u00a0That doesn\u2019t mean that anyone else should drink their Kool-Aid \u2013 and from the polls it is apparent that no one will. \u00a0Given the presidential veto, defunding enforcement is all that can be done for now. \u00a0Repeal and replacement with consumer-and-market-driven reforms should come as quickly as a change in the White House allows. \u00a0If this bill goes into force, it is impossible to imagine how the government\u2019s balance sheet can be made healthy again.<\/p>\n

Harm #4 \u2013 Social Security and Medicare\/Medicaid<\/strong>: The rise of the Tea Party and the outcome of this past election suggest that touching these issues is no longer the third rail of American politics. \u00a0Instead, failure to touch them and fix them may have become fatal. \u00a0George W. Bush\u2019s post-2004-election decline began with his inability to win Social Security reform. There is a new American majority that will respect those with the courage to address the unfunded liability problem. \u00a0Restoration of our government\u2019s financial health cannot be achieved without reform.<\/p>\n

There is much more that needs to be done to insure our government\u2019s continuing place as the unquestioned financial powerhouse of the globe. \u00a0The thunder out of China warns us that not just money is at stake — but national security and possibly even war and peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A column last Friday in The Financial Times underscored the urgency of the new GOP House majority\u2019s \u201crepeal or revise\u201d agenda. \u00a0Not that addressing domestic U.S. concerns was the author\u2019s intention. The article by columnist Philip Stephens (see: http:\/\/tiny.cc\/my1m0 ) surveyed the deterioration of US-China relations during the past year: \u00a0tensions over Korea, Taiwan, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us-debt-crisis","tag-hugh-hewitt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":955,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions\/955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarkjudge.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}