The most-recent former British prime minister and his chief political ally are under increasing scrutiny for the spending and taxing decisions that they made in the last years of their tenure. Leaked documents paint an uncomfortable picture of senior politicians ignoring clear warnings about the consequences of their financial profligacy.
Gordon Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair to Number 10 Downing Street, received explicit advice as early as January 2006 that the flood of ineffective spending was leading to few demonstrable benefits on the ground, and, as a result, the tap should be turned off as soon as possible. Regardless, Prime Minister Brown proceeded with an historic $135 billion spending spree that left his country with record deficits. The documents surrounding these fateful decisions surfaced in connection with ongoing investigations into the role which Brown's close ally Ed Balls played in a plot to topple Blair and dislodge him as Labor Party leader.
These official papers demonstrate that objections to Labor's taxing and spending plans were widespread. Defying these recommendations, Brown proceeded to increase public spending by twice the amount recommended as safe.
The governing coalition that replaced Brown and Labor in 2010, comprised of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, now argue that this evidence demonstrates the reckless approach that Brown and the Labor Party took with the nation's finances, leaving the country compromised and vulnerable when the global financial crises began to unfold. Brown has left the national political scene, although Balls currently holds the brief as shadow chancellor and has loudly opposed the steep cuts in public spending imposed by Prime Minister David Cameron and his coalition.
These disclosures paint a picture of a political party undermining itself with backroom chicanery, while poor decisions got pushed through in the face of a wide spectrum of voices counseling against rash actions.
America may come to learn similarly painful lessons from its own budget mistakes. Under the threat of a credit rating downgrade, the U.S. is witnessing rising unemployment and an economic recovery moving glacially, if at all.
Like his administration's ongoing reliance on "targeted killings" in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, President Barack Obama continues with an economic policy that sits uncomfortably with many of his 2008 supporters.
Instead of political leaders making difficult but necessary decisions, we witness a governing party distracted and out of tune with popular concerns. On the one hand, Obama found time last week to arrange a private Oval Office meeting with an African dictator, President Ali Bongo of Gabon, who has stolen billion of dollars of oil revenue from his citizens. The meeting was held despite widespread criticism from Democrats. On another, the ongoing trials and tribulations of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., have begun to resemble a modern-dress dramatization of Philip Roth's classic novel of identity and onanism, "Portnoy's Complaint."
The question then becomes whether the administration, and the Democratic Party that it leads, is suffering from a breakdown of leadership and effective consensus similar to what the previous left-wing British government endured its last, limping days?
Trying to extrapolate too much from political events overseas is always a tricky business, even in the case of Britain, which has historically enjoyed such a "special relationship" with the U.S. Regardless, there are lessons that can be learned from the rapid decline of Brown and his Labor Party when, in the face of mounting challenges, political leaders become deaf to the suggestions and criticisms of supporters, as well as opponents. Despite a commanding Labor victory in 2005 under the moderate Blair, the unreconstructed leftist tendencies of Brown pulled the governing party away from widely held views on fiscal responsibility.
Of course, these were unique and difficult times, with a global financial crisis of historic proportions causing unforeseen consequences to spring up unannounced on a daily basis. Voters, however, will reward effective leadership, even when certain decisions are unpopular at the time, if in the calm light of day (and the quiet reflection of a polling booth) they believe that such decisions were the best available at the time.
The leaked documents have provided tangible evidence that Brown and his allies disregarded any voices other than their own, and have now left a generation of Britons to pay the price for their profligacy and their short-term political calculations.
Americans, who next year will decide the fate of the current administration, should reflect on whether they are prepared to pay the same price as their special friends across the Atlantic.