Is the Public Part of the Grand Bargain?

By Scott Bittle on February 3, 2009

One of the biggest questions facing the Obama administration is whether it can pull off what the Washington Post calls "the grand bargain": a bipartisan deal that brings the federal budget under control and tempers our skyrocketing national debt. The story talks about the chances of a deal with Republicans, framing the issue around getting a plan through Congress. It even examines the proposal for a bipartisan panel based on the successful military base-closing commission of the 1990s.

But when will we strike a bargain with the public?

Don't get me wrong. Congress is the body that's actually going to do the work in solving this problem, and the commission idea might well break the congressional gridlock. But there are two obstacles in tackling our budget challenges. One is persuading Congress and political leaders to act. The other is persuading the public to allow them to act.

This is critical because the nation's long-term fiscal problems can't be solved without bringing the public into the process. We're running enormous short-term deficits, our national debt has topped $10 trillion and we've got huge expenses ahead of us for Medicare and Social Security. Everything that needs to be tackled here – taxes, health care, Social Security – touches the public closely. The public simply isn't going to allow Congress to change their health insurance or their retirement benefits without their consent.

Historically, one of the major obstacles to reform has been that the public doesn't trust the government to spend their money wisely. In Public Agenda's research, we've found people are willing to consider tax increases or spending cuts to solve the nation's fiscal problems, but only if they're convinced that those sacrifices would be put to good use.

President Obama has a lot of goodwill as he begins his presidency; that will be useful. He's also made a number of statements that suggest he's interested in engaging the public more fully. It's not clear how Obama might want to apply that interest in public engagement to the budget situation, but he certainly should.

Because at some point, no matter what the process is, no matter what the specific proposals are, somebody's got to persuade the public that this problem needs to be addressed, and that it's being addressed fairly. Otherwise, they're just not going to let it happen.

Tags: entitlements, Facing Up to the Nation's Finances, Federal Budget, federal deficit, Medicare, national debt, social security

Re: Is the Public Part of the Grand Bargain?

On February 11, 2009 Anonymous says:

If one looks at what Obama has already done such as pass H.R. 2 which expands health insurance to children on the backs of smokers and allows those who can afford private insurance a free ride on the government dole, the Lilly Ledbetter Act which will increase the cost of business by making it easy for women to shout sex discrimination after they receive pensions, repealing the ban on federal taxpayers paying for foreign women's contraceptives and abortions (the Mexico City Policy), closing Gitmo and stopping the trial of the U.S.S. Cole terrorist bomber, and his ultra-leftwing, Socialist nominations to head his administration's agencies, one knows he isn't much interested in any other agenda than the one put forth by the extreme radicals that control the Democratic Party, i.e., feminists, environmentalists, lawyers and homosexuals.