Meet the "new" republican party....just as dumb as the old party

So who here knows who Bobby Jindal is?

Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana 

You might remember him as being the guy who botched the GOP reply to Obama's state of the union? you might remember him as the guy who after the BP oil spill criticized the president for not sending his state enough National Guard troops....only to have it come out he had been sent many more then he asked and refused to use them.

Or maybe you've just recently become aware of him, since he is supposed to one of the early frontrunners for the GOP presidency. Now especially if your fall into that last group, you might need to pay attention.

See it turns out in addition to being the Gov of LA, and the future of the GOP (in theory), the man is also a world class idiot. 

Who here knows what the Fiscal Cliff is? even vaguely? I mean you all know it involves tax increases and massive spending cuts right? well congratulations your now smarter then Bobby Jindal. 

From his new Op-ed in politico:

"Today it’s the fiscal cliff, but that surely will not be the end of it; next year it will be the fiscal mountain, after that the fiscal black hole, and after that fiscal Armageddon. But the truth is Washington already drove us off the fiscal cliff while no one was looking. A nation that has a $16.3 trillion debt, a debt that is larger than our entire economy, has already driven through the guard rail and is in free fall with the cliff somewhere in the rear view mirror."

Yea see, Bobby heres the thing, the Fiscal Cliff is not a shorthand for the national debt. In fact it is (we all hope) a one off event, that was designed never to happen at all.

And oddly enough it was created by YOUR party when they decided they weren't going to pay the bills on the very spending they ran up, with out massive cuts to be agreed upon later, and that got mixed in with the expiration of temporary tax cuts YOUR party passed

Point is though, if we go over the cliff or not, there wont be a "fiscal mountain", or "fiscal black hole" or any other term you want to use, because heres the thing WE WONT BE DOING THIS AGAIN, because all the unique events required to create it wont happen again.

Now I agree, IF the fiscal cliff was another way of saying Debt, you MIGHT have a point....maybe. But its not so you dont.

Now given that we have established you actually dont know what the fiscal cliff IS...and somehow think is a synonym for the national debt lets take a look at some of your solutions to avoid future fiscal cliffs (this should be fun) (note in the original these are bullet points) 

"A federal balanced budget amendment. States have balanced budget laws, small businesses have to balance their budgets, and families have to do the same. This is an idea that is supported by virtually every American who does not live in the 202 area code. It’s common sense. It is also laughed at in Washington. When you mention the BBA as a solution, they roll their eyes and write you off as a non-serious person. But the American public is dead serious about it, and they should be."

Two things: 1 most american families DO NOT have a balanced budget. Most American families have at least one of the following: Mortgage, Car Payment, Student Loan, Credit Card Debt. Now you can call it what ever you like, but all four of those things are just a fancy way of saying "debt". Every american family goes into debt pretty much all the time, with the expectation they can pay it off later. Now I do have to agree with you that, because your party has done a really good job of lying to convincing people that somehow magically those types of debt dont count as debt the majority (65%) DO support you.

And BTW, Im sure as governor, and a governor bound by a BBA, you know this next part, but you do know HOW you manage to balance your budget every year right? you BORROW money from the federal government. Which increases this thing called debt.  

2: now we get back to the whole "you dont understand what the fiscal cliff is do you?" problem. See again the fiscal cliff REALLY is a ton of cuts we need to make to make our budget for the year. Or basically EXACTLY the same thing you claim we NEED to do with a BBA. Therefore IF you actually want to stop the fiscal cliff from becoming a "fiscal mountain" or "fiscal black hole" each time we go through this, a BBA amendment would be EXACTLY the wrong thing to do. 

Now on to your next genius idea to stop something you dont understand:

"Place a cap on discretionary and mandatory federal spending by fixing a limit on it tied to a percentage of GDP. Eighteen percent is a reasonable number in my book, but almost any number would be a victory at this point. Require a super majority vote to over-ride this limit, which would allow for recourse in a time of war or other national emergency. Again, this solution makes far too much sense to be taken seriously in Washington, a sure sign that it’s a good idea. This president is rapidly making a permanently higher level of government spending the new normal."

In other words, make sure the federal government regularly has make massive cuts across the board to stay with in its budget. Or to put it another way FISCAL CLIFF ALL THE TIME! YAY! Once again remember this is supposed to be Jindal's advice on how NOT to repeatedly go over the fiscal cliff.

"A super majority to increase taxes. Make it harder for the politicians in Washington to simply take more from Americans, thereby forcing them to stop growing government. Yes, Washington hates this idea, so it should be pursued with vigor."

See that way revenue ALWAYS drops, and we have to borrow more, which will run up the debt leading to a bigger fiscal cliff when we are forced to make the cuts your first two ideas would require, a bigger fiscal mountain, if you will, or maybe we will call it a black hole. Or to put it another way FISCAL CLIFF NOW!  FISCAL CLIFF TOMORROW! FISCAL CLIFF FOREVER! 

Also side note: majority of Americans (65% oddly enough) ALSO favor RAISING taxes, kinda odd that you forgot to give a damn about what the majority of Americans thought when they didn't agree with you...

And your last point:

"Term Limits. I know, I know, we can’t do that. But we should. And while we are at it, how about forbidding congressmen from lobbying for 5 years after they leave office."

Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger. What does that have to do with the Fiscal Cliff and preventing it in the future? fucked if I know, but its at least as relevant to the issue as your comment. (although for the record I actually agree with you on this one, but thats not the point) 

Oh and one last thing, your concluding paragraph (which to be fair I'm not quoting in full) includes this line: "It seems to be a given that we will once again raise the debt ceiling"

Normally I would ask you why your surprised about that, I mean really whats shocking about the fact we pay our bills (which is basically what the raising debt ceiling allows)? but it occurs to me, you probably dont actually know what the debt ceiling is anymore then you know what the fiscal cliff is.

So instead I will just end with this: Governor Jindal when it comes to the Fiscal Cliff.....

(in fairness to the Gov, if people want to see his full Op-ed click here )