Republicans just voted en masse to extend upper-income tax cuts and add hundreds of billions to the deficit. But since they can outline imaginary spending cuts, they somehow retain fiscal credibility:
The incoming Republican majority in the House is moving to make good on its promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year, a goal eagerly backed by conservatives but one carrying substantial political and economic risks.
House Republican leaders are so far not specifying which programs would bear the brunt of budget cutting, only what would escape it: spending for the military, domestic security and veterans.
This is only the first round of budgetary evasion from the GOP; spending cuts are deeply unpopular, and to cut where it counts -- in Medicare and Social Security -- would be an exercise in political self-immolation.
As the Times notes, this might be an attempt to build leverage against the White House in upcoming budget negotiations; by promising deep cuts, Republicans could force Obama to accept smaller cuts as a precondition for raising the debt limit. I have no doubt that the newer, more radical Republicans in Congress would plunge the economy into crisis over a few billion dollars. Of course, a U.S. default over GOP intrasigence would destroy the party's brand, especially if Obama were to stand as the voice of reason. Which is why I doubt symbolic spending cuts as a way to build leverage; even with Tea Party voices clamoring for default, John Boehner doesn't want to be the speaker who cost the GOP its electoral future.
-- Jamelle Bouie