Making a deal with the GOP

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Nice, huh? Democrats and Republicans made a deal, so they'd have some chance of success with that deficit-cutting "super committee."

To encourage both sides, both would have something to lose. For the Democrats, it would be big cuts in Medicare and other social programs. For the Republicans, big cuts in defense spending. If they couldn't come to an agreement, cuts would be made in both.

Well, they couldn't come to an agreement. Republicans on the committee refused to accept any extra taxes on the wealthy, even in exchange for massive cuts in domestic spending. With the GOP refusing to give an inch, compromise was doomed.

So what do Republicans do now? They renege on the agreement. Instead of cuts in the military budget, they're going to cut social programs again, including Meals on Wheels! Note that that's on top of the cuts the Democrats were required to accept under this deal.

Obviously, it's not as though we can't afford cuts in defense spending, as we're spending more on our military than the rest of the world combined, while our only enemy is a rag-tag bunch of religious nuts armed with improvised explosives.

But Republicans won't agree to a dime in extra taxes for the wealthy, even when people like Mitt Romney pay a far lower tax rate than you do. And they won't accept cuts to military spending, even when they already agreed to it.

So how do you expect our government to function, when you can't make a deal with Republicans and you can't trust them to keep their end of the bargain even if you could? And you're wondering why we're struggling to climb out of this economic collapse they created?

Republicans aren't just dragging their feet, they're deliberately being dishonest. In fact, they're doing everything possible to make sure that America's democracy fails.