Inquirer Editorial: Fiscally, we're the Titanic

Negotiators in Congress are nearing agreement on relatively small budget cuts, but they're ignoring the need for a long-term plan to lower deficits.

It's all well and good that the House and Senate are on a path to avoid a government shutdown before the April 8 deadline. In the long run, however, it's irrelevant whether Republicans and Democrats settle on cuts of $33 billion or $61 billion.

The national debt is more than $14 trillion! Since January, House Republicans and Senate Democrats have been haggling over a mere 2 percent of this year's $1.4 trillion deficit.

"Washington is crying over the bar tab on the Titanic," said David Walker, ex-U.S. comptroller general, speaking to the Inquirer Editorial Board. "The threat is not today's spending. The threat is where we are headed."

We're headed off a cliff. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the federal government is on a course to compile deficits totaling $9.5 trillion over the next decade - about $2 trillion more than President Obama's budget team predicted.

Walker has been crusading for Washington to get its deficits under control. He argues for taking action sooner rather than later, because the longer Congress waits, the more drastic the inevitable cuts will be.

Lawmakers had a perfect opportunity last year to commit to long-term fiscal discipline, but they dodged it. Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission made many sensible recommendations, using a combination of spending cuts and tax increases (mostly cuts). It would reduce deficits by nearly $4 trillion over 10 years.

But rather than deal with a serious problem like adults, lawmakers in both parties tried to exploit the commission for partisan advantage. Republicans called it an excuse for raising taxes; Democrats resorted to their familiar position against any trimming of entitlement programs.

Other nations have learned their lessons. Greece was forced to impose harsh cuts in spending and broad tax increases to stave off default. Britain has enacted austerity measures.

Congress should resume the tough budget controls it imposed in the 1990s. Setting caps on annual spending would help lower deficits. If spending targets aren't met, automatic cuts and tax increases would kick in. But lawmakers facing reelection would be unlikely to allow those drastic steps to take place.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) has proposed a balanced-budget amendment. He's got the right idea in terms of fiscal discipline. But amending the Constitution is an onerous and lengthy process. Swifter steps should be taken.

President Obama must exert leadership on budget controls, but so far he has been "missing in action," as Walker put it.

Without a long-term strategy, the alternative is not promising. Congress will lurch from crisis to monthly crisis, risking government shutdowns while indulging in partisan squabbles over family planning or corporate tax breaks. All the while, the debt clock is ticking.