Give Paul Ryan and Patty Murray SOME Credit!

Ok. I'll be the first to admit that the budget deal that Paul Ryan and Patty Murray struck and has passed the House of Representatives, isn't the best thing in the world. But,, I gotta give Paul Ryan some credit....and as much as it disturbs me to say it....I have to give Patty Murray some credit too.

Paul Ryan would never make a great president. Patty Murray wouldn't make a decent Senator. But, they both realized one thing. Nobody was going to get anything done in DC ever if they didn't reach a budget compromise. It's the single most important thing Congress does. And they haven't been able to do it even once while Bobo Obama has been in the White House. So, give them some credit.

I think Ryan makes a great numbers guy. He was an OK VP candidate to Romney, who was a terrible candidate himself. Patty Murray has as much in common with me as I do with olives and chives (nothing). But Ryan knew one thing going into the negotiations. The Dems over the years have mastered the art of incrementalism. Get what you can now, and expand on it later. Think long-term. That's what he did. He cut spending a little, boosting the defense spending a little, while getting no new taxes. And we got rid of that crazy ass "continuing resolution" for the rest of Obama's term.

Yes, I'm fully aware that he also gave Harry Reid over the Senate the chance to raise taxes with a simple majority vote. But you know what? It doesn't matter. As it stands now, the GOP will most likely take over the Senate next year, and even if they don't the House is certainly not going to vote to raise taxes. A bill to raise taxes in this congress is as dead as a bill to repeal Obamacare. It ain't happening!

So, let's take what we got, live to fight another day, and next time, take a little bigger bite. It's how we got into this mess in the first place, and it's how we need to get out of this mess. I don't know why it took the GOP this long to understand it. Incrementalism works. You just have to have enough people committed to it. What Paul Ryan did showed leadership that nobody else in the house has been able to show for the last five years. For that, he deserves credit.

And when the debt ceiling issue comes up early next year, we need to do the same thing. We need to tie something to it and stick to our guns. That is the issue that Obama is afraid of. Because that is the issue that if we cave on that, all hell breaks loose. Don't shut down the government and give the Dems a chance to let the Obamacare debacle slip out of people's memory. But at the same time, realize when you have the upper hand. Don't cave when you hold the cards, and on the debt ceiling, the GOP holds the cards.

The major problem with the GOP isn't philosophy, it's execution. They just don't know how to govern, and when they get the chance they screw it up. Maybe what Paul Ryan did this week will teach them how to lead. It's the one thing that scares the Democrats more than anything else. If you get a GOP that actually understands how to win when you're in power, there'll be no stopping them!