Opinion

Bad deal

Opinion of, The Orlando Sentinel
Published: January 10, 2013

The always dysfunctional 112th Congress saved the worst for last with its desperation deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. The deal will protect more than 99 percent of Americans from higher income taxes, while increasing deficits by some $4 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. For anyone who needs reminding, the reason the cliff loomed in the first place was because Congress and the president had failed to meet their own deadline to reduce deficits.

That means the table is set for yet another budget showdown in March, when the federal government will bump up against its borrowing limit. If you were frustrated, frightened or furious with Congress for holding the economy hostage while members jockeyed for partisan advantage, you ain't seen nothing yet.

The deal leaves untouched the biggest drivers of deficits — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Those entitlement programs account for more than 40 percent of federal spending, and their share is growing as America ages and health care costs rise.

The deal didn't address the desperate need to reform the nation's hopelessly complex, loophole-ridden and growth-inhibiting tax code. It actually made the code worse.

President Barack Obama came into office vowing to be a post-partisan president. With the deal on the fiscal cliff emerging, however, Obama couldn't resist needling his Republican rivals at a campaign-style event. That'll make progress on what's still undone — spending cuts, the debt ceiling, entitlement and tax reform — even more difficult to achieve.

The newly seated 113th Congress owes it to all Americans to mount a more serious and successful effort to deal with the fiscal problems that threaten the nation's prosperity and security.