Debt Limit: Child Play
Tea Bagger Assault - Courtesy Mark Damon
Unlike children, our politicians are not paid to play games, but, to manage our nation's affairs, responsibly. The greatest hypocrisy lies with the Republicans, however, at many levels. Republicans have for decades chided those who are irresponsible about their debt obligations. And yet, here Republicans are, threatening to refuse to pay our nation's obligations which they already contracted and borrowed for.
At the heart of this issue is the Tea Party whose purist attitude on our national debt reflects the height of childishness and ignorance. The Tea Party is holding House Majority Leader Boehner directly responsible for our government failing to live up to its contractual agreements. If Boehner concedes and allows the debt ceiling to be raised for any reason at all, the Tea Party is positioned to have Boehner removed as House Majority Leader.
The ignorance of the Tea Party leadership is enormous. On the one hand they cite fiscal responsibility and the hope of a healthy economy as their reason for refusing to allow the debt ceiling to be raised to honor our government's lawful obligations. On the other hand, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever, that if the debt ceiling is not raised for any protracted period, our economy will fall back into Recession (which it is not now in), interest rates will climb as America's credit worthiness rating is lowered, and millions of Americans will be pushed out of the consumer markets, causing businesses to fail, profits to fall, and social upheaval and unrest to begin.
The Tea Party's stand on this issue is akin to the Rev. James Jones nightmare when Jones led his flock to Guayana for a mass suicide on his false belief that the End Time was at hand. Just today, a leader of the Tea Party stated on TV that he did not believe raising the debt ceiling was an obligation for contract and debt already incurred. This is a patently false belief. The bottom line is, the voters having given power to people whose beliefs are false, and the whole nation and world economy is being put at immediate risk as a result.
There is absolutely no logical connection between America honoring its contractual obligations already incurred, and the pursuit of improved fiscal management and debt and deficit reduction going forward. America is not in a recession, our economy is growing, and has been for quite some time now, though, at a subdued rate. We can address the debt and deficit coming crisis without defaulting on our past obligations. And we should if we are to be a responsible and rational people.
Failure to honor our obligations will in fact, become a self-fulfilling prophecy for the Tea Party. This kind of tautology is insane. A person walks up to you and says, something bad is going to happen to me in 1 minute, I just know it. They then pull out a gun and shoot themselves in the head, and lie dying with their last words spoken, "See, I told you so". This is an entirely accurate metaphor. The Tea Party believes the debt is going to ruin our nation, and they are prepared to ruin our nation to prove their point. It will be all Americans and potentially the world's population, however, that will be harmed by the Tea Party's action.
I have to confess, that for the first time, I now think it is entirely possible that Republicans will go through with this suicide pact of the Tea Party. The GOP is suffering from the delusion that America is behind their actions, despite all empirical evidence to the contrary, based on the support of the Tea Party, a mere fraction of the U.S. population. They have so insulated themselves from the real and objective world of fact and evidence, that too many now truly believe their actions of destruction will be vindicated after the worst case befalls us all.
Ironically, those in the GOP who know their actions have already lost them the elections in 2012, now act as if they have nothing to lose, and find themselves acting in concert with their deluded Tea Party comrades, nonetheless. Rep.'s John Boehner and Paul Ryan are examples of those who know they have lost public opinion and 2012 hopes of holding on to the House Majority or gaining a majority in the Senate, as well as having lost hope of the presidency.
They literally have nothing to lose except their positions at the hands of the Tea Party voters. And so, they are acting in concert with the destructive Tea Party for nothing more than holding on to their current positions in government. This kind of politics is something our nation's founders could not possibly have predicted in drafting our Constitution, and hence, their are no Constitutional checks and balances to defend against such insanity that can surely destroy America's future.
All logic and reason dictates that our government honor its obligations first and foremost, and then proceed to measures to dramatically improve our debt and deficit debacle going forward. Such logic and reason however, has been abandoned by the Republican Party, even those who know better, out of a perverse sense of political self-preservation at the hands of the Tea Party voters.
The Communist Party has never posed a threat as great to our nation's future as the Tea Party now poses to the futures of all Americans. And yet, we have constructed a political system that appears to lack any resources to stop this Tea Party from ruining opportunity for all Americans, as a response to their awareness that Tea Party's ideology has been rejected by the majority of the voting public.
The Tea Party wants to end Medicare and Social Security, replacing them with private sector for profit opportunities for themselves. The Tea Party wants our economy to collapse in the belief that reconstruction of the tax, budgetary and fiscal policies will favor their belief that the smallest of taxes and government will ultimately create increased opportunity for their children in a Darwinian world without regulation and oversight of unethical and immoral competitive acts in the for-profit arena. This is the ideology that underwrites the Tea Party leadership and supporters, and if they can't have that future, they intend to destroy it for all.
I respect the rights of the Tea Party to dissent, protest, and lobby their representatives. That is American as apple pie, and one of the great strengths of our system and society. What is taking place today regarding the debt ceiling however, crosses the line when the objectives are to undermine the nation's economy, diminish opportunity for all, and destroy the credit rating of the United States to serve the Tea Party's belief that they should not be held responsible for taxes which their government representing the all the people passed into law.
The Tea Party's patriotic and sane approach should be to lobby for tax reform and balanced budgets. But, to take direct aim at the full faith and credit of the United States to honor its contractual obligations, represents an effort to destroy America, if this minority doesn't get what they want. Al-Queda';s attack on the World Trade Center towers was an attack upon America's icons as the financial center of the world. How are the Tea Party's objectives different from terrorists who seek ways to hack into and undermine the computerized financial system of America? I can find none.
Where is the media in exposing this threat to America? Why are so many Democrats and Obama still working to appease these horsemen of the apocalypse? Where are the demands for political reforms that would end this two party intransigence that is now incapable of managing cooperative management of our nation's future?
At the heart of fiscal responsibility is the commitment to honor one's contracted obligations. There is nothing fiscally responsible about the actions of the Tea Party or the Republican Party where this raising of the debt ceiling issue is concerned. Their actions lack integrity, logic, reason, and sanity. And if you quietly stand by while this going on, you are complicit in fostering such insanity upon your own future and that of your family. It's a heavy responsibility we all now face. Americans don't appear to be willing to shoulder it. I truly hope I am wrong. Please do your part to prove it so.
Comments Section
8 Comments
i've yet to hear anyone explain to me how raising the debt ceiling has anything to do with reducing the deficit.
All this noise about debt ceilings and the reluctance to raise it illustrates the complete and utter ignorance of those who wish to run from the issue rather than deal with it.
Recent polls stated that around 70% of those polled stated that they did not want the debt ceiling raised. In the same poll those people were asked about supporting stopping social security payments if the debt ceiling isn't raised, the numbers instantly became reversed; the people then supported raising the debt ceiling.
Great points, Johnny.
The American public as a whole, lacks the education to understand and wrestle with economic issues. Common sense says the absence of debt is better than being in debt. On the other hand, if refusing to honor the debt is going cost Americans jobs, wages, and future opportunity, which Bernanke just told Congress it will, the people would say Hell No, Honor the Debt and raise the debt ceiling.
The majority of the public operates under the false premise that raising the debt ceiling will mean more debt going forward. That is of course, false. Raising the debt ceiling is nothing more than authorizing the payment of debt and meeting contractual obligations already incurred. The budget on the other hand, is where future spending, revenues, and debt are to be addressed. The general public is not aware, as you are, that these are completely independent decision issues.
Asking the public about economic issues is like asking a welder for advice on treating brain cancer. All you will get is an uninformed and uneducated opinion. It has political value for the politicians and elections, but, no value regarding what economic decisions will best serve the people and nation.
There is no logical reason to believe congress has a leg up on the populace in decision making. My reasoning: recall Bush recommending we invest some SS dollars in the stock market? Recently the ATF watched while druggies bought guns for their drug wars. If these folks are so smart why is there problems with SS?
IMO, there is no reason to be alarmed over the latest ‘world is coming to an end’ scare tactic. It’s just the actions of the corpocracy on their march to globalisation. They needed this debt to get a headlock on the people in getting us ready to compete in the world economy. They will use the debt as a great tool of manipulation for at least the next 50 years to precisely guide the US economy where they want it to go. Stagnant wages since 2000, doesn’t that tell you something. If China and the developing world can get wages up to $3-5/hr and the US can get down to $8-10/hr then they can make globalisation work pretty well.
Since 2000, Russian, Argentina and one other one has defaulted on their debt. Their stock markets have steadily climbed since.
Congress is driven by the corpocracy which is driven by greed, decisions driven by folks that has billions of dollars on the line, etc. Helped to fruition by not letting a good crisis go to waste.
Otherwise - - -
Roy, man that's cynical and conspiratorial. Have to admit, though, the corporate conspiracy appears to garner evidence of its reality with each passing month.
On the more optimistic side, the corporate world has the most to lose if the debt ceiling is not raised. If the debt ceiling is not raised, it is evidence that the corporate world DOES NOT have complete control of the political system, and that is an opening for the rest of us to take advantage of, and build upon.
Before there can be fiscal responsibility, their must be political reforms that remove corporate influence from the halls of Congress and the White House. More Americans each year are becoming aware of that reality. Again, reason for a more optimistic outlook.
The only problem with SS is the fact that the Federal Government owes it so much. SS doesn't pose a deficit problem for nearly another couple decades. Minor adjustments today can sustain it for another 75 years, assuming the economy doesn't collapse in the interim. A big assumption, these days.
Good article David. The tea party isn't the only problem the repubs have . It seems two hundred and thirty some repubs have signed a pledge. Not to the United States but to Grover Norquist and his outfit saying they would not raise taxes. Now that they have painted themselves into a corner with the bundling of budget and debt ceiling issues they have no option but to take everyone else out with them. Well I guess they could do the right thing and deal with the issues separately as you suggest but as Roy says there is no reason to believe Congress has a leg up on the populace when it comes to decision making.
If not raising the debt ceiling is just a "scare tactic" why have we raised it 75 times in the past?
Touche', J2T2.
I think Roy was being facetious, though!
I have been trying to wrap my head and experience around the cascade and domino effects failing to raise the debt ceiling would cause. Far as I can see, all considerations lead to a very deep reemergence into Recession, if not depression, should the default last more than very short time, like a week. Likely worse than the late 2000's Recession, and a surge in demand for political reform.
It would be nice to think the repercussions from not raising the debt ceiling would be minimal. It would be nice to think that all these past 75 times were all about nothing. But what if the debt ceiling needs to be raised to avert another financial calamity? Would our home grown terrorist we kindly refer to as Tea Party types want do overs? Or would they applaud our economic system as being self correcting and have us believe the system will work things out on it's own.
The Tea Party just needs to go home, get a brain and come back with an intelligent plan. They have our elected officials held hostage to stupid pledges and failed ideology. To think we can cut out way to prosperity is just plain wrong.
J2T2, well, the Tea Party is not going to go home. They absolutely refuse to reconsider their religious belief that anarchy, as opposed to government and taxes, is the long term objective and state of the union.
The heart of the Tea Party is libertarian which believes the least government is the best government. These folks have been in the American system for more than two centuries. They aren't going away.
They are, however, exposed to increasing numbers of Americans, as the anarchists they are, and that is a very positive turn of events. As long as Norquist and his supply side tax cutting followers were working quietly within the GOP, their influence upon legislation was felt without the ability to target them for their beliefs in the public eye. Now that they have segmented themselves as an identifiable group within the GOP, and publicly admitted to their unpopular agenda, the public is finally holding the GOP responsible for this wing of their party, in poll after poll.
Just as the GOP came to its senses over the political damage to their party caused by the Fundamentalist Right-wing Evangelical Christians, the GOP leadership is now coming to its senses (See McConnel's proposal this week) regarding the damage done to their party by the Libertarian wing of their party.
Rep. Ron Paul is a figure-head for this Tea Party group, and he announced he is resigning from his House seat in 2012 to run a failed bid for president. Hogwash. Paul is resigning because the GOP leadership will no longer welcome nor entertain his Libertarian extremism, which has lost favor with the general public in the wake of the Great Recession. All of Ron Paul's proposals would have worsened the Recession, or recreate it going forward.
The polls evidence increasing disdain by the general public for the Republican extremists dominating the fiscal actions by Republicans. 2/3 of Independents oppose Republicans on whether the wealthiest should see tax increases to balance the budget. A majority of Republican voters believe the wealthiest should be paying higher taxes. About 4 out of 5 Americans oppose Republicans on ending Medicare and Soc. Sec., replacing them with private sector for profit alternatives. Almost half of the public will hold the GOP responsible for failure to raise the debt ceiling, while only a third believe Obama should be held responsible.
The polls show the public is distancing itself from the GOP and the extremist positions emanating from the Tea Party within. This is crippling the GOP leadership which is being hit on both sides by the Tea Party core constituency and the general public.
The Tea Party will not go home, but, they may be forced out of the GOP and back into the Libertarian third party. I honestly cannot foresee any other outcome for the Tea Party if the GOP leadership intends to rescue its party. Unfortunately for the GOP leadership, booting the Tea Party can't happen until after massive GOP losses in 2012, since the GOP is dependent upon the fund-raising of the Tea Partyer's to even compete in 2012.
And, it should be noted that Eric Cantor potentially has the ability to replace the more moderate John Boehner between now and the 2012 elections. Of course, that would be disastrous for the GOP, but, hasten the end of the civil war within the GOP after the dismal GOP results in 2012.
BTW, Steny Hoyer laid Eric Cantor to waste on the House of Rep. floor this afternoon, by exposing the lies and misrepresentations of Eric Cantor's case. Democrats need to excerpt that exchange and make it central to their 2012 political advertising. It was truly remarkable how Hoyer exposed Cantor's position, leaving Cantor speechless without response or come back. Devastating.