Bad Reason, Good Reason
Posted on July 21, 2011
Bad reason: Opposing the grand bargain because you think a grand bargain would help President Obama get re-elected.Good reason: Opposing the grand bargain because you think raising taxes will hurt the economy.
Bad reason: You strongly support a tax increase because you want to stick it to Republicans.
Good reason: You want to get rid of tax breaks and loopholes because you think it will help create jobs and make the economy stronger.
Bad reason: Taking a pledge to not raise taxes because you want to get Grover Norquist off your back.
Good reason: Deciding to take only one pledge – the pledge to defend and protect the Constitution, because you think that a politician who can’t think for himself and use his best judgment shouldn’t be elected in the first place.
Bad reason: You want to cut spending because you want to stick it to poor people who should be working hard just like you do.
Good reason: You want to cut back on spending because you believe that in the long run, if we don’t scale back our government spending, our nation could face financial ruin.
Bad reason: You don’t want to raise the debt limit, because you don’t want to get grief back home.
Good reason: You don’t want to raise the debt limit unless the government is required to take some common-sense steps to curtail future spending.
Bad reason: You don’t want to support any deal that includes Medicare spending reductions because it will screw up your campaign commercials next fall.
Good reason: You support a Medicare deal because you honestly believe that if don’t do something about the Medicare cost curve, we will run out of money to pay the Pentagon.
Bad reason: You decided to go to law school because your husband told you that God told him that you should be a tax attorney. God doesn’t take positions on the efficacy of the tax attorney profession.
Good reason: You decided to run for office because you were worried that the country was seriously moving in the wrong direction and you thought you could help.