This is a thing that could be fun for Democrats to watch. Except for the problem of House Republicans. To quote Yeats: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity.” The worst are happy to let everything blow up. The rest have a track record of just letting them do it.
The worst are pushing McCarthy hard on this, CNN reports, with one source saying that includes “several” members of the Freedom Caucus. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) confirms it, adding, “Debt ceiling has been a conversation that has been perennial in every single conversation or meeting around here since I’ve been here.”
These guys also don’t understand how any of this works. “I don’t fear not raising the debt ceiling, because if we didn’t raise the debt ceiling, all that would mean we’d have to cut discretionary spending so we stop spending more than we’re taking in,” said Rep. Bob Good (Virginia). He’s a never-McCarthy guy. “That’s a panic here in Washington because we’re so beholden to spending.”
That’s not what it would mean at all. It’s not about making spending decisions, it’s about paying the bills that have become due based on previous spending decisions. Good doesn’t understand the fundamental difference between funding the government into the future, and paying off past obligations. And he should fear not raising the debt ceiling, because the repercussions could be widespread and catastrophic to the U.S. and global economies.
His would-be leader isn’t a hell of a lot more intelligible on the issue. “If you’re going to give a person a higher limit, wouldn’t you first say you should change your behavior, so you just don’t keep raising and all the time?” McCarthy asked rhetorically. “You shouldn’t just say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna let you keep spending money.’ No household should do that.”
Raising the debt ceiling Is. Not. Creating. A. Higher. Limit. And we’re not a household. We’re the goddamned largest economy in the world, and much of the rest of the world’s economy is wrapped up in it. Good god.
Meanwhile, the moderates, CNN says, “have expressed uneasiness over using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, risking both a catastrophic default and the political blame, especially if Republicans push for cuts to popular entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.” That includes Rep. Dusty Johnson (South Daakota), who proves the problem of not standing up to the monsters with this statement to CNN: “We shouldn’t put the United States in a position to default on our debt, clearly. […] But I also think every member of Congress needs to acknowledge that the $32 trillion debt is not in our national interest.”
No. There is no “but” there. The nation shouldn’t default on debt. Full stop. Lawmakers, the people we hire to take care of that government stuff, should absolutely not put the United States in that position. Period. What the hell is wrong with all of these people? There really needs to be an entrance exam on how all this stuff works for anyone going to Congress.
So, anyway, that’s a thing that Democrats really should be thinking about fixing right about now, not giving those people this time bomb (set to detonate next June). Fix it.
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Joan McCarter
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