Debt Poker

With all the discussion over the US debt situation....this odd suggestion came up from Senator Mitch McConnell this week (a Republican)....that the Republicans were ready for a possible "plan B".  This idea was that they'd just give the President the power to fix up the debt problem himself, and if they didn't like it....they'd have to muster around sixty percent of the House to fix the problem.  A lot of Republicans came back and really hated this plan.  Some Democrats came on TV and said it was a possible surrender by the Republicans and they could work with this.

I sat for a good long day thinking about the offer, and have now came to realize that this is plain and simple "debt poker".  Basically, if you hold only a pair of aces and really wanted to bluff your way into a poker win....then you'd double up or even triple up the bet....to make everyone quit the game.  Obviously, there are huge risks in doing this.

Here's the outcome of McConnell's offer.  The President would accept and then smile to the public as he now had this power to fix the debt.  The curious thing is that you'd need to show some cuts in order to get things moving in a positive direction.  The President's team would obviously work hard to avoid the cuts and double up on taxes.  You can kinda see where this is going.

So by November....a fair amount of taxes are now being shipped around to companies and rich folks.  They start to pull their money and sit tight.  Without thinking much about the consequences.....you create wave number two of the recession by March of 2012.  Everyone from the banks to Moodys....would now admit that we are in more trouble than we were in July of 2011.  Naturally, we are embarking in the Presidential election period.

So the President walks forward with a fresh new recession....that only he could create, and the only way to fix this is a massive cut in government funding....which he just can't do in the midst of an election year.  Bluntly.....it's a lose-lose situation from that point on.

So what should the President do?

One, accept any deal that the Republicans have on the table today, and offer up fair-sized cuts.

Two, hire some retired Democratic Senator to be your chief negotiation Czar from this point on because you....the commander-in-chief....are lousy at this mess.

Three....haul out to Montana and just camp out for three weeks.  Disappear from public sight.  Rest.  Drink some beer.  Don't show your face around.

Four.....hire up some economic guy and start tossing out a $500 million cut every day on the US government's requirements.  Close up our bases in South Korea, Japan and Europe. Close down the wars. Find money and just cut.

Five....order any government department that is given money by senators or congressmen....and they didn't ask for it.....to just NOT SPEND it.  Yes, forbid them from taking money unless they really asked for it in the first place.

Six.....if you don't want any advice and you want the absolute power to play debt-king....start asking yourself what you'd like to do in January 2013 when you are out of the President's office.  Return to Chicago?  Run some national charity?  Return to the senate?  Guest-host Saturday Night Live as a ex-President?  Sit around a Presidential library in South Chicago?  Run off to Norway and be a Nobel Committee member to pick future winners?  What if it's that Sarah Palin gal....could you sit there and accept that on election night, being beaten by six percent by the grizzly lady from Alaska?

I kinda think McConnell has played a few games of poker in his life....and knows how to double-up on a bad hand.