No, I'm not being hyperbolic or ironic with that headline. The prez set up a bipartisan commission of unelected rich guys who have taken it upon themselves to tell us we must both pay higher taxes and accept fewer services. And unsurprisingly, much of Official Washington thinks this is an ingenious idea because everyone in America hates it.
And what's worse, it's inspired creepy authoritarians like Kevin Huffman to declare that commission co-chairs Bowles and Simpson should "go rogue" if the people whom we elected to represent us don't go through with their plans:
Debt commission co-chairs should go rogue
By Kevin Huffman
The chairmen of the president's debt commission should keep on pushing, and threaten to go rogue, if needed. Their proposal Wednesday went down like a lead zeppelin. Their own commission members pussy-footed away from it; the president's knees showed early signs of buckling. And raise your hand if you were stunned when Nancy Pelosi disavowed it for cutting benefits and Grover Norquist slammed it for raising taxes? Well, at least they are consistent in their cowardice.
It probably didn't help that Bowles and Simpson released their paper the same day British students took to the streets in violent protests over Prime Minister David Cameron's austerity measures. You could imagine Republican strategists watching TV and thinking to themselves, "When we said 'Tea Party' we meant the peaceful kind."
[...]
This is precisely why the commission is not an effort to build bipartisan congressional consensus.
Which brings me to the rogue part of the operation. Bowles and Simpson surely released their thoughts because they can't get 14 commissioners to support them and because they certainly can't get either party on board. If they feel strongly about the deficit, they should go totally independent, get some private funding, and engage in the 2012 elections. Demand a balanced budget plan from every national candidate. Release an independent report card of what the deficit will look like for each plan (and run TV ads showing, e.g., "Sarah Palin's deficit reduction plan: F.") And in case anyone needs a real wakeup call, play some footsie with Mike Bloomberg if and when he gets bored in New York.
Ah yes, let's draft Mike Bloomberg, the ultimate fantasy candidate for rich people who hate Social Security and Medicare!
Also: It isn't "cowardice" to be an elected representative and oppose something that your constituents will absolutely hate, especially when it was concocted by two jerks who haven't held elected office in God knows how long. The Bowles/Simpson "plan" is basically a compromise where they agree to kick the American people in both the nuts and the teeth equally rather than focusing exclusively on one or the other. It's a plan so politically toxic that anyone who votes for it will not only be driven from office but also likely kidnapped, strapped to a rocket ship and fired into the sun. It's that freaking bad.
In a way, I find it comforting that so many of our elected representatives are giving this toxic piece of trash a "HAAAAAAAAIIIIIILL NO!" It shows that they're still responsive somewhat to public pressure and that our country hasn't yet become a feudal state run by unelected commissioners. Here's to the little pleasures in life, eh?
