The National Journal asks what would happen if the Pledge to America, proposed last week by congressional Republicans, were fully implemented.
As I understand it, the authors of the “Pledge to America” want not just to renew permanently all Bush-era tax cuts, but also to balance the budget while exempting social security, Medicare, and military spending. To ask what would be the effects if the Republicans put this pledge into law is to ask what would be the effects if they repeal the laws of arithmetic. It can’t be done. All the money is in the parts of the budget they are putting off limits. (That is what we all assume they mean by “common sense exceptions for seniors, veterans and troops” when cutting spending. Admittedly, it is hard to tell what they are really proposing, due to the usual lack of specifics in the 21-page document.)