That Debt Limit Show - WSJ
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress. As the majority they can pass an increase in the U.S. federal debt limit as part of their budget bill without a single Republican vote. Yet Democrats are insisting that Republicans provide votes to give them political cover in raising the limit.
That's the bottom line on the latest political theater unfolding in Washington over raising the statutory debt limit. The Treasury is playing its familiar perils-of-full-faith-and-credit song. Captains of industry are calling default unthinkable, unconscionable, un-whatever-able. So why aren't Democrats, who have the power, raising the limit and saving the world from supposed catastrophe?
The answer is that they don’t want to be solely responsible for casting a vote that acknowledges all of the spending and borrowing that Congress does. They want GOP fingerprints on the fiscal knife. It’s a made-for-TV melodrama.
Democrats on Monday escalated this gambit by linking the debt-limit suspension to a vote to fund the government through December and provide emergency disaster relief. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hope this will force Republicans to vote “yes” lest they be blamed for shutting down the government and denying aid for hurricane and wildfire damage.
“As the Administration warned last week, a reckless Republican-forced default could plunge the country into a recession,” the Democratic duo said in a statement. Only in Washington can the majority party blame the minority for not funding the government the majority controls—and hope to get away with it.
The GOP needn’t fall for this. The voters know Democrats run the government, and if some cataclysm unfolds as a result of government failure, Democrats will deservedly get the blame. Elections have consequences, and one of them is taking hard votes to finance the spending that Congress passes.
If Democrats really want GOP cooperation, they could drop their radical $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend plan, settle for the victory of passing the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill, and move on to more constructive pursuits. But as long as Democrats are freezing Republicans out of their entitlement blowout, and refusing to make any budget-reform compromises, they can’t expect Republicans to spare them the responsibility of raising the debt limit.
Democrats own the government. Cut the “we’re helpless” act and raise the debt limit.
"Democrats do not get to ram through radical, far-left policies on party-line votes, brag about how they are transforming the country, but then demand bipartisan cover for racking up historic debt.
As I've said since July, they will need to address the debt limit themselves."... ..Mitch McConnell
Guess McConnell is still upset that the Democrats played him and the Republicans on the bipartisan infrastructure bill; and then still sending their "infrastructure" bill to reconciliation.
Democrats own this monster debt they are trying to foist on the country; they need to take full responsibility for it.
Don't worry about your mortgage or loans
It's okay to be a moocher
Don't worry about the known
Drop another bomb on your kids financial future .............
The limit should have never been raised in the first place. These idiots in D.C. have absolutely no concept of what it means to be responsible. And it's all our fault.
But right now, Democrats have been in power for 9 months and resumed the careless spending from the Obama administration.
How many times have we seen this play out? Congress has been too busy dividing the country to complete a budget by Oct. 1. And Congress has maxed out its credit card again trying to buy votes and protect incumbency.
Damned Republicans just have to threaten another government shutdown and threaten default on the debt. That's the only thing Republicans are good at. Thank you, Newt Gingrich. Neoliberals gotta do what neoliberals are best at doing; sitting on their thumbs and doing absolutely nothing.
Democrats are a lost cause. The Democratic Party has attracted every lunatic in the country. There is little sanity left in the Democratic Party. But these damned neoliberal Republicans are no better. Republicans are also refusing to do their job just to score political points. Putting those types of Republicans in charge ain't any better than Democrats being in charge. Stupid is as stupid does. And, right now, Democrats and Republicans are acting pretty stupid.
Why should Republicans come to Biden's rescue?
Why should anyone give a damn about Republicans? Republicans are more concerned about scoring points against Biden than governing. We've seen what Democrat's angst over Trump got the country. Why is Republican stupidity any different?
What happened to America First instead of party first?
Which party votes in lockstep? How did Pelosi pull so many rabbits out of the hat?
Which party has people who think for themselves? Why did John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski vote against replace & repeal?
Does that answer your question?
Both parties vote in lockstep. And both parties punish those who stray from the party priorities of winning the next election. That's part of the Reagan legacy.
The TEA Party primaried a lot of Republicans and then became what they claimed to oppose. Elected Republicans wave around a lot of 'free stuff' just as Democrats do; mostly benefiting their largest donors and themselves.
Republicans aren't governing any better than Democrats because its all about party first politics. That's why Republicans are no better at preparing a budget on time than are Democrats. Republicans bicker, resist, and oppose the same way Democrats do. Republicans kick the can just as hard as do Democrats. There's really no difference between the politics of the two parties.
Why do Republicans leave office far wealthier than when they were elected? How does shutting down government and threatening a default on national debt benefit the country? Creating those phony crises have certainly guided their personal financial decisions. Elected Republicans are creating crisis for profit just as Democrats do. Elected Republicans and Democrats are in no danger of being harmed when they threaten the country with another phony crisis. Republicans and Democrats are feeding at the same public trough.
Reagan had a clear mandate.
The TEA Party primaried a lot of Republicans and then became what they claimed to oppose.
The Tea Party was around for about two years. They came into existance after Congressional democrats were whipped into walking the plank to pass Obamacare all by themselves. They paid dearly for that in the 2012 midterms.
There's really no difference between the politics of the two parties.
I have to disagree.
Why do Republicans leave office far wealthier than when they were elected?
I agree that should not be, but I think you have nailed it on political corruption with ideological, but you are ignoring the ideological differences. The democtaic party is in the hands of extreme elements. The worst in our society. It is also the party of the elites.
How does shutting down government and threatening a default on national debt benefit the country?
It's only political posturing. Democrats will lift the debt ceiling and it is they who will have to suffer the consequences should the economy collapse.
Perhaps but in the meantime it will be the electorate that will pay the real price. Politicians will never miss a paycheck or lose their healthcare, wonder how to pay for filling their tanks or worry about how they are going to feed their families next week.
And yet the sheeple keep defending them ...... amazing.
You bet!
Interesting little tidbit. The average wage in DC is over double most places in the USA. Highest in the land.
Our tax dollars at work .......
It's always that way with government. The benefits are also great. Postal workers get to retire in their 50's, while their Pension program can never be solvent.
I have a couple guys i served with, my age, that went to three letter agencies when we got out. Every one of them is retired, some for over ten years.
The Federal pension/Health plans don't even come close to tracking with the private sector. They are WAY OUT of line.
Fortunately congress made the Post Office take care of it's pension every year as it's first priority, so that tax payers won't be on the hook.
Yeah, the Fed can't operate agencies like the USPS or VA without F'n it all up and some folks want them to run a single payer healtcare plan for the entire country?
That's got goat rodeo written all over it
It's all party politics. If the Republicans felt they could come out winners in the battle they would vote to increase. But the calculation is that they feel making the Democrats "own" it will play out better for the Republicans in the 22 election cycle. So now in turn-around the Democrats announce they will tie the borrowing limit to an upcoming spending bill to keep the government funded thru the end of the year which everybody is saying is a must-pass bill. They did this to put the Republicans in the hot-seat so if the R's vote against the emergency funding bill and allow the government to shut down the D's can blame that on the R's in the 22 election cycle.
It's all fucking party politics...
Yup... It's all fucking party politics and fund raising. Not one pol there is immune. NOT ONE...
And Republicans can see so much economic catastrophe coming from this massive spending bill that if might just suit them to let the record show that democrats alone raised the debt ceiling.
Right now Pelosi is in a bind likes she's never been in. She promised moderate House Democrats that the chamber would consider the smaller bipartisan bill by next Monday, September 27. Progressives claim they have the votes to block it, absent agreement on the massive $3.5 trillion package, which does not appear to be close to final. And now moderates are saying that if Pelosi reneges on holding the vote, they will bail on the bigger bill.