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Two high-profile issues have offered Utah's ambitious congressman from the 3rd District several opportunities lately for a star turn on the national stage.
In the debate over the debt ceiling, Rep. Jason Chaffetz has been a regular on the ubiquitous cable TV talk-back festivals, most recently as a live guest on Wednesday's "Situation Room" on CNN.
Chaffetz is also widely quoted on the TSA's announcement that it will start
The congressman stood firm, repeating the mantra that the debt ceiling must not be raised without a commensurate promise to work toward a balanced budget, perhaps as a constitutional mandate.
using less-invasive technology to screen airport travelers. The decision represents a victory of sorts for Chaffetz, who has vociferously challenged the propriety and necessity of using machines capable of revealing anatomical details to the point of causing squeamishness among almost everybody except, perhaps, practicing nudists.
Chaffetz has also pursued several other policy efforts aimed at protecting basic privacies, notably as House sponsor of a bipartisan bill aimed at the use of GPS technology in cell phones and other devices.
His work on privacy issues will likely be a good selling point for Chaffetz in his expected challenge to the incumbency of Sen. Orrin Hatch. But what about his position on the debt ceiling?
While Chaffetz has stood firm as one of the Tea Party's iron guards on the issue, Hatch has been, shall we say, conspicuously inconspicuous. Does the wily Hatch suspect Republican intransigence on raising the debt ceiling may turn out to be a political liability down the road? Chaffetz apparently harbors no such concerns.
CNN Anchor Wolf Blitzer gave Chaffetz several opportunities to "moderate" his position, but the congressman stood firm, repeating the mantra that the debt ceiling must not be raised without a commensurate promise to work toward a balanced budget, perhaps as a constitutional mandate.
The political liability of such intransigence may come from a couple of directions. Most, if not all economists agree that debt reduction cannot occur without at least some revenue increases. The Republican refusal to entertain any increases sans a major tax code overhaul is drawing international criticism. The conservative British publication The Economist calls it, "economically illiterate and disgracefully cynical."
In many ways, the election of 2012 may hinge on a common definition of just what constitutes common sense.
Another risk is that voters who choose to look just a bit beyond the rhetoric will see through the widely-perpetuated guise that raising the debt ceiling is tantamount to giving permission to spend more and increase the deficit. That's certainly the message of Michelle Bachmann's recent ad campaign in Iowa, in which she says it's just "contrary to common sense" to raise the ceiling. Contrary to common sense to let the U.S. default on its promise to pay for money borrowed and already spent? Contrary to common sense to deliberately toss the world financial system into chaos? Contrary to common sense to recognize, as the U.S. Treasury points out, that raising the debt ceiling in no way grants permission or creates a mechanism for the government to spend additional money?
In many ways, the election of 2012 may hinge on a common definition of just what constitutes common sense.
In that election, it's fair to point out that Chaffetz is not yet an official candidate for a seat in the Senate. He has openly told people in Utah - including the KSL Editorial Board - that he's "definitely in," but to national media, he's more coy, telling Wolf Blitzer on CNN Wednesday that he "may or may not" make such a move.
In any event, while his privacy position may prove positive, his stance on the debt ceiling debate may turn out to be a sword with two edges.
