American voters
may or may not like the particular fiscal cliff deal reached Tuesday night -
and probably most do, given that many economists thought another recession
could be triggered if we went over the cliff.
But one thing
apparent to all voters was the depths of dysfunction to which their
representatives in Washington, D.C., have sunk.
It's reached the
point where Congress governs almost exclusively by crisis. Negotiations can't
get anywhere until dire consequences are hanging right over their heads, with
scissors poised to cut the line and let the consequences fall.
A deal to avoid
the cliff was reached, but only after the House and Speaker John Boehner threw up
their hands, and the White House and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had
to save the day.
The stock market
is rallying and the economy is out of immediate danger. But the deal - a small
one that's nothing like the grand bargain President Obama and Boehner have
flirted with a couple of times - sows the seeds of the next congressional
crisis, which will arrive around the end of February.
The fiscal cliff
deal put off the deadline for deciding what spending to cut by two months, and
that's about the same time U.S. government borrowing will hit its debt ceiling
again. There will be a huge battle over raising the ceiling, combined with one
on trimming the deficit.
And it was the
last battle over the debt ceiling that was settled by putting the fiscal cliff
in place - essentially, Congress holding itself hostage to make sure some
future deal would be made. Now the deal is in place, but it sets up another
debt ceiling battle.
Congress and the
White House have come full circle. Or, more accurately, they have run around in
circles and find themselves right back where they were.
So, get ready for
the next fiscal cliff, er, debt ceiling fight. By now we know better than to
get worked up about it until the deadline arrives; Congress certainly won't.
