Deal on ‘fiscal cliff’ resolved almost nothing

Is the United States going over the fiscal cliff ? No, the possible tax increases for average taxpayers was avoided.

Did the country avoid going over the fiscal cliff ? No, the federal debt still must be cut or there will be disastrous consequences.

If the last-minute deal only put a patch on the problem of cutting the debt by increasing taxes for some and freezing them for others, it yielded some clear conclusions that have little to do with the numbers.

First, we have a remarkable lack of leadership.

President Obama has repeatedly shown himself to be a poor negotiator. While he got an increase in taxes on the most wealthy, though less than he had promised, he failed to take the lead in setting forth the full-scale tax and spending proposal that is needed.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner could not deliver his own party for his alternative “Plan B” approach and was forced out of the serious negotiations.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could not bring himself to negotiate at all and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had to call the White House and ask for Vice President Joe Biden to negotiate.

In fact, because there was a deal, Biden may be the only person who came out of the fiscal cliff mess looking good.

What about the dwindling group of moderates? Any one of them could have embarrassed the bumbling partisan negotiators by putting forward a reasoned compromise. Even if it did not pass, it might have provided a centrist alternative.

Second, the 2012 elections, which should have strengthened Obama’s position, turn out to have meant nothing. The country sees the same kind of public posturing by both sides without their worrying about keeping their latest campaign promises or responding to the public’s demand for real compromise.

Third, the fiscal cliff was supposed to produce such terrible results that both parties would be forced to make a deal halting the growth of the federal debt.

In the end, the threat was not scary enough to cause anybody to press hard for a significant compromise. In the last two weeks of December, all of the effort went into fashioning a patch to put on the debt problem, just so taxes on the middle class would not increase.

The massive federal debt problem remains virtually unchanged. In coming months, there will be round after round of negotiations to patch over the latest cliff-like crisis, but probably no real solution.

The debt situation requires action on spending cuts, entitlement revisions and tax reform. Increasing the debt limit, which should be routine, will yield yet another confrontation.

One senator proclaimed that the fiscal cliff bill would mean that middle-class tax rates are carved in stone. They aren’t.

To begin reducing the national debt, part of the solution will be tax increases. Raising taxes on the wealthiest alone will not raise enough revenue. Income taxes for all taxpayers will increase, probably back to the levels of the 1990s.

That may not happen until both houses of Congress and the presidency are under the control of the same party and the recession has passed.

Fourth, the partisan deadlock on finances is likely to prevent Washington from dealing with other major national issues. Obama had hoped to use the early years of his second term to deal with other urgent matters that have already been delayed.

Immigration, tax reform, economic, environmental, and farm policy, and regulating some aspects of gun ownership could be the victims of the debt deadlock.

Finally, the worst effect of the endless partisan confrontation in Washington is the harm it has been doing to our national self image and the way the world views the United States.

Some may remember the emphasis that President Ronald Reagan placed on making Americans feel good about being Americans. It was effective politics, and it represented an attempt to recapture the spirit that suffused the country during World War II and immediately afterward.

Today, that spirit seems to have been lost. Many politicians are beholden to well-heeled contributors representing special, not national interests.

Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after one year in office, not because of great accomplishments, but because his election was seen as a message that the United States would again lead the world to embrace change.

Instead, the United States increasingly risks shedding its leadership role in the world as it focuses inward on the multi-year confrontation over putting its financial house in order.

Perhaps the most surprising effect of the debt crisis is the failure of political leaders to recognize the harm at home and abroad from prolonged deadlock and controversy that goes far beyond money.