We’ve been reporting on the Republican sticking points in the latest debt drama. Brian Beutler noted that leeriness over defense cuts may scuttle this deal yet.
Evan McMorris-Santoro described the outrage of hardcore conservatives who had pinned their hopes on the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment that would lock in future spending. This provoked a fascinating observation from TPM reader, PS:
“These groups have repeatedly rejected deals that appear (to people like me) to have given them everything they have wanted, and more. The sticking point? At least without a balanced budget amendment, future Congresses might undo deals made in the present. But that is the essense of republican government — trusting future generations to govern themselves as we today govern ourselves. Seeking restrictions on future generations, at least on issues of spending and generating revenue, is to reject a central premise of republicanism — that experiment at each moment of a people governing itself as best it can.”
