Republicans in congress have been holding the American people hostage for weeks now. Despite the fact that nearly every credible analyst – economists, politicians, academics, etc. – agree that a default by the United States would bring about an economic calamity, the GOP is still threatening to submit the nation to that fate if Democrats do not capitulate to the Tea Party platform of austerity for average Americans and opulent prosperity for the richest one percent.
Make no mistake, the Republicans know exactly what their threat entails. They know that default would be catastrophic. We know because they’ve said so. And we know because we have their voting record to prove it. Between the years 2002 and 2008 Republicans voted repeatedly to raise the debt ceiling while George W. Bush was in the White House. So what changed?
Oh yeah — that.
The Republican’s are playing “Chicken” with our economy. They don’t care about the deficit. They don’t care about taxes. They certainly don’t care about the elderly or the poor or you or me. They only care about their wealthy benefactors, the billionaires and corporations who bankroll their campaigns. And, of course, their obsession with defeating President Obama next year. They know that a bad economy makes things more difficult for incumbents to get reelected, so they are endeavoring to produce such an outcome to achieve their political goals – at the expense of everyone else and multiple future generations.
Thanks GOP. And thanks Corporate Media for failing to report this in context.
Here’s another thing, Mark: Every journalist should demand from EVERY Republicker candidate for president their SPECIFIC plan on how they would fully repair the economy and eliminate the national debt within the first two and a half years of their term as president.
I’m beginning to think they will let the US default. They are that crazy. They know initially the republicans will get blamed but the election is over a year away. They would then with the help of Fox not News repeat daily how this horrible calamity and the resulting economic disater are all Obama’s falt, because he wouldn’t do it their way. They know the public has a short memory and I believe they have already calculated they have over a year to change enough minds so it will benefit them politically. They will have control of WH, Senate and House and then they can finish off what is left of the New Deal and Great Society. But I also think Obama will use his constitutional option and obligation to prevent a default and technically it will but will still do great harm to the economy as they challenge it in court.
The Great Society and the new deal may already be finished in reality due to our enormous debt – both government and personal – and our government’s unwillingness to live within its means. Unless something major is done to change things, those programs created during those periods are done.
The economy as a whole is nothing but a house of cards. This is bound to happen some day across the world, not just the U.S. If the Right-wingers have their way, permanent economic collapse will just happen sooner.
Although there were many factors leading up to Soviet collapse, what eventually led to the end of the Soviet Union was a default on the national debt. Maybe the same will happen to the U.S..
This is a made up crisis all belonging to the Tea-Republican Party. So when people want to ask who’s to blame? The blame lies with John Boehner and his Tea-Republican Party.