Smart Bombs: Embrace the climate ‘hoax’

The only way Republicans will seriously respond to global warming is if President Barack Obama locks arms with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Hoax, and calls out the world’s scientists.

“Hotter planet? This is good news, people.”

Inhofe, from oil-producing Oklahoma, has long called global warming a hoax, so naturally Republicans installed him to head the Environment Committee. It’s like putting Bill Belichick in charge of footballs or fashion. Last week, the Senate took a vote on whether global warming was a charade, but only one senator voted yes. That was followed by a tally on whether humans are to blame. Most Republicans said no, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. It does seem odd they would vote on such matters when their favorite dodge is, “I’m not a scientist.”

They’re not generals, but they decide defense matters. They’re not schoolteachers, but they decide education matters. But global warming? “The science isn’t in.”

I imagine them pacing on a porch waiting for a delivery truck to pull up and drop off the verdict. “You ordered some science? Sign here.”

Meanwhile, they make political moves that will make it more difficult to solve the problem if they’re ever persuaded. In Congress, it’s placing shackles on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and deriding carbon taxes and cap and trade schemes. In Olympia, it’s passing a rule requiring a two-thirds majority to pass the carbon-related levy proposed by Gov. Jay Inslee.

But if you ask them point-blank what should be done, they peer off into the distance looking for that truck.

The only answer at this point is for Obama to echo the “hoax” cry, and watch Republicans reflexively scurry to the other side. When substantive legislation reaches his desk, he can wink and say, “This is good news, people.”

Still in debt. Remember peering over the fiscal cliff and seeing Greece? The budget showdown that led to the government shutdown? Congress seemed so worried that it almost stopped paying the bills.

In the 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama mentioned “debt” and “deficit” 12 times, according to Peter Beinart of Atlantic Monthly. In the Republican response, Rep. Paul Ryan invoked those terms 14 times. In the latest address, the president mentioned the deficit once, noting that it had plummeted by two-thirds. In the Republican response, Rep. Joni Ernst didn’t mention the issue at all.

Mission accomplished? Not really.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that while the deficit will continue to shrink in the near term, public debt (the accumulation of annual deficits) will soon be twice as high as it was in 2007, and higher than any year since 1950 as a percentage of GDP. As a result, interest payments on the debt are taking a bigger chunk of the overall budget.

But don’t expect any mentions of a “grand bargain” between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, because both parties have moved on. Too bad, because it would be much easier to address the systemic issues under the present rosier economic conditions.

Discretionary spending – the kind Congress votes on annually – is at historic lows. So what’s the problem? Part of it is failing to react to an aging population. Medicare benefits have expanded and health care costs have gone up, but it’s been nearly 30 years since the payroll tax was increased to keep pace.

In his 2013 address, Obama said, “Those of us who care deeply about programs like Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms – otherwise, our retirement programs will crowd out the investments we need for our children and jeopardize the promise of a secure retirement for future generations.”

That challenge remains, but last week Democrats and Republicans joined as one … to ignore it.