Shutting Down the Government for Fun and Political Profit

[LFC]

So here we are as Republicans once again use one of their favorite toys, a government shutdown, for fun, mischief, and political profit. Moscow Mitch appears to have gotten his fascist brigade in line and is trying to force Dems to avert the shutdown all on their own by using up this year's reconciliation to keep the country running.

As a consequence of Republicans’ highly irresponsible game of chicken with the debt ceiling, it’s looking increasingly like Democrats will have to raise the debt limit on their own through reconciliation.

A bill temporarily suspending the debt ceiling and keeping the government funded will come to the floor Monday, but Republican senators have gleefully previewed their coming filibuster. The bill will almost certainly fail.

That leaves it to Democrats to be the only party responsible enough not to risk global economic catastrophe in favor of causing the opposing party a little political pain. And they won’t have long to do it. While it’s hard to pin down exactly when the Treasury will exhaust its “extraordinary measures” to keep paying our bills, experts estimate it will likely happen sometime in October.

Much of the way forward is uncharted, punctuated with the jagged rocks of bad Republican actors, procedural hurdles and an unelected parliamentarian-turned-king of the Senate.

So much for Manchin and Sinema's statement that there's no rush on the infrastructure reconciliation bill and that we need a "pause." This is the unlevel playing field the Democrats face whenever they are in power. To succeed they must accomplish big things and it only takes a very tiny minority to prevent that from happening. For the Republicans to succeed all they need to do is prevent things and stick their collective fingers in the eyes of the Democrats, no governing required.

[LFC]

Pelosi is working on pinning the blame for everything that happens on the Republicans. We need more Dems out pushing this message. The fact is that the Democrats have always supported keeping the government running but the Republicans view this as a game with the people who end up being laid off in both government and private contracting companies being of no concern.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Sunday reiterated her criticism of Republicans’ brinksmanship on the debt ceiling amid their refusal to help their Democratic colleagues with suspending it, despite having voted to raise the debt ceiling throughout the Trump administration.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi was asked whether she has confidence that the government will avoid default, given how Republicans have made clear that the suspension of the debt ceiling through Dec. 2022 is dead on arrival in the Senate.

Pelosi replied that Republicans’ standoff on the debt ceiling is “irresponsible beyond words.”

“The full faith and credit of the United States should not be questioned,” Pelosi said. “That’s in the Constitution of the United States, the 14th Amendment. Go look at that. It’s in the Constitution of the United States.”

Pelosi insisted that the votes are there to raise the debt ceiling, citing the three times Democrats voted alongside Republicans in lifting it during Trump’s presidency.

“Even to have the discussion that it could possibly be in default, it lowers our — it did the last time lowered our credit rating,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi then jabbed at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) by pointing out the irony in his remarks last week telling Democrats to not play “Russian roulette” with the economy and to raise the debt ceiling on their own.

Pressed on whether Democrats can pass a suspension of the debt ceiling on their own, Pelosi replied that Democrats would prefer to raise the debt ceiling in a bipartisan manner, which is why it wasn’t included in the reconciliation bill.

“That would have been a decision we had to make when we wrote the budget out,” Pelosi said. “But nonetheless, the decision was made that it would always be bipartisan, whether on our part as we have cooperated in the past with Republican presidents or on their part.”

Pelosi reiterated that Republicans’ standoff on the debt ceiling is “totally irresponsible” and that she hopes that the business community would speak out on the impasse due to its “devastating impact” on the country’s credit rating as well as global economy.

“So let’s hope that the Republicans will find some — enough of them, find some level of responsibility to our country to honor what’s in the Constitution, that we not question the full faith and credit of the United States of America,” Pelosi said. “They know full well what the consequences are. They preached it when the former president was in office, and we always cooperated. It’s always been bipartisan, and it should be again.”

Well she lied about one thing. It hasn't always been bipartisan. In fact the Republicans made sure of that starting with Gingrich.

[goldenvalley]

Sept 27, 2021 16:15:32 GMT LFC said:

Pelosi is working on pinning the blame for everything that happens on the Republicans. We need more Dems out pushing this message. The fact is that the Democrats have always supported keeping the government running but the Republicans view this as a game with the people who end up being laid off in both government and private contracting companies being of no concern.

snip

Well she lied about one thing. It hasn't always been bipartisan. In fact the Republicans made sure of that starting with Gingrich.

The latter is all part of the dance.  She needs to somehow appeal to the few Republican House members that want to go along with the Dems on this.  Plus she gives them cover..."it's always been bipartisan" they'll say on the reelection campaign trail.

[LFC]

TDB's pet conservative is on the bandwagon that if all of the Republicans refuse to vote to raise the debt ceiling and the Democrats don't do it alone then of course it's the Democrats' fault. There's some reality here, like the slightest head nod at the hypocrisy of Moscow Mitch saying "It’s their obligation to govern", but not much.

The time to hesitate is through. Congress needs to get its act together.

If it doesn’t raise the debt limit, the government won’t be able to pay its bills come October. And the key to this is for Democrats to suck it up and do the job the American public elected them to do. If they don’t, there will be hell to pay.

Now, there is a temptation to try and blame Republicans for refusing to help. But according to a Politico and Morning Consult survey, twice as many people (33 percent compared with 16 percent) are prepared to blame Democrats over Republicans. This is a departure from the norm. Shutdown showdowns in the mid-1990s, and again in the early 2010s, predictably cut against Republicans and forced them to ultimately cave to pressure (whether we’re talking about a government shutdown showdown or a debt limit standoff, the blame dynamics are similar—with the only difference being no one has ever been insane enough to actually default on the debt). But things are looking different this time around, for a variety of reasons.

First, though, let’s concede a few things: a) America’s level of spending is out of control and reckless, b) This is a bipartisan problem, and c) Defaulting on our debt would be unwise.

So why are Democrats playing the weak hand this time around?

The most obvious reason is that, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, Democrats “have the House, the Senate and the presidency. It’s their obligation to govern.”

That’s a debatable assertion. Isn’t it everybody’s obligation to govern? But what’s inarguable is that Dems can do this alone. This is a factual statement that is easily understood by the masses. And facts are stubborn. They can’t blame Mitch McConnell or Donald Trump. The Dems have the majority. And they need to play to their strengths, come together, and be organized. (It’s worth noting that in 2018, then-Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said this: "Every American knows the Republican Party controls the White House, the Senate, the House. It’s their job to keep the government open.”)

So why don’t Democrats want to do this alone, via the reconciliation process, and be done with it? One reason, out of many, is that raising the debt limit can be easily portrayed as running up the nation’s credit card bill—so vulnerable swing-district Democrats would rather have some bipartisan cover.

He says they're playing the weak hand but I don't think so. They have 3 votes of responsibility on the record while Trump was in office. Moscow Mitch is going to have a hard time pitching "we refuse to do what they did but they can do it themselves so it's their fault." Of course their base will love it but I don't think a single Republican shutdown has ever helped them gain votes. Their reward is all in making it as hard for Democrats to govern as possible.

[goldenvalley]

Sept 27, 2021 16:46:33 GMT LFC said:

TDB's pet conservative is on the bandwagon that if all of the Republicans refuse to vote to raise the debt ceiling and the Democrats don't do it alone then of course it's the Democrats' fault. There's some reality here, like the slightest head nod at the hypocrisy of Moscow Mitch saying "It’s their obligation to govern", but not much.

snip

He says they're playing the weak hand but I don't think so. They have 3 votes of responsibility on the record while Trump was in office. Moscow Mitch is going to have a hard time pitching "we refuse to do what they did but they can do it themselves so it's their fault." Of course their base will love it but I don't think a single Republican shutdown has ever helped them gain votes. Their reward is all in making it as hard for Democrats to govern as possible.

All this is in the service of the 2022 elections.  

[LFC]

WTF, Joe? Debt limit votes have ceased to have any practical impact and are just a Republican political tool anymore.

The White House said Tuesday that President Joe Biden opposes changing the filibuster to suspend or raise the debt ceiling, closing off a break-the-glass option to avoid financial calamity.

[goldenvalley]

Even after 8 years as VP Biden defaults to the Senate of his youth. Perhaps an age related problem. Needs constant reminders that those days are gone.

[LFC]

No shutdown ... for now.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that senators have reached a deal on a stopgap government funding measure to prevent a shutdown.

"We are ready to move forward," Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. "We have an agreement on ... the continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown, and we should be voting on that tomorrow morning."

If the bill is not enacted, the federal government would face a shutdown after the calendar turns to Friday. The deal announced by Schumer would keep the government open through Dec. 3.

The House passed a government funding bill last week on a party-line vote of 220-211.

The Senate blocked the House bill in a procedural vote Monday. Republicans opposed the bill because it included an extension of the debt ceiling, which for political reasons they want to force Democrats to approve on their own.

[LFC]

The Republican Party is the very definition of "rule or ruin."

Only 34 House Republicans Voted To Keep Government Funded

The vast majority of Republicans voted against the continuing resolution, which included money for the resettlement of Afghan refugees and for American victims of hurricanes and wildfires this summer.

That's 34 out of 212 or 16%.

The Senate vote was 65-35 so better but still only 30% of Senate Republicans weren't willing to drive us into chaos. What a country we live in.

[goldenvalley]

Sept 30, 2021 21:37:40 GMT LFC said:

The Republican Party is the very definition of "rule or ruin."

Only 34 House Republicans Voted To Keep Government Funded

The vast majority of Republicans voted against the continuing resolution, which included money for the resettlement of Afghan refugees and for American victims of hurricanes and wildfires this summer.

That's 34 out of 212 or 16%.

The Senate vote was 65-35 so better but still only 30% of Senate Republicans weren't willing to drive us into chaos. What a country we live in.

This is a wealthy country with some mega wealthy people in it.  It is also a land of contrasts with some nasty, multigenerational poverty pockets, and a middle class that is shrinking as the economy moves away from a manufacturing base with strong unions. No one acknowledges anyone else's points of view, let along empathizes with anyone else.  I invite Republicans in Congress to come to CA to tour the burned out areas, the agricultural areas, and all the spaces where homeless people appear.  Of course, we have some nasty types that purport to represent California.  I don't include them in my invitation.

[LFC]

This. I have no idea why Moscow Mitch would have even bothered sending that letter.

Biden Says He’ll Meet With McConnell Over GOPer’s Demand

The President confirms that he got McConnell’s letter urging him to pressure Democrats into raising the debt ceiling on their own, and says that he plans to talk to the Republican leader to discuss it.

“He and I have been down this road once before back when I was vice president, and I hope we can have some intelligent and honest conversation about what he’s proposing,” Biden tells reporters.

And this. It's nice to see a Democrat pushing back. We need more of that, though. A HELL of a lot more.

Biden Says He ‘Can’t’ Guarantee US Won’t Hit Debt Ceiling, Puts Onus On McConnell

The President closes his briefing by highlighting the GOP Senate leader’s responsibility to prevent the debt crisis.

When asked if he can guarantee the U.S. won’t breach the debt limit, the President replies “No, I can’t. That’s up to Mitch McConnell.”

Biden says he “can’t believe” that would be the outcome “because the consequence is so dire.”

“I don’t believe that, but can I guarantee it? If I could, I would, but I can’t,” the President tells reporters before leaving the podium.

[LFC]

Moscow Mitch is filibustering the bill to raise the debt ceiling while demanding that the Democrats raise the debt ceiling on their own.  Of course he's just trying to force them to use reconciliation instead of voting in a manner should be quite easy. The problem I see for MM is that the Dems are already out in the open saying they'll meet his demand and do it themselves, he just has to let them. The case he now must make is:

• Despite much/most of the recent debt belonging to Republicans the Democrats must raise the debt ceiling.
  
• The Democrats must do it without any Senate Republican votes.
  
• The Senate Republicans must be allowed to block them.
• And he can explain it as, "Well, you see, we demand that they raise the debt ceiling and yeah we're blocking them but there's this other way the Dems could do it that would let them get around us blocking them and that's how it has to be done because ... FREEDUMB!" That's a tough sell to all but the MAGAts who can't even spell reconciliation and would read that explanation (or more likely hear it on Faux News) and just  grunt "UGH! Dems BAD!"
  

Josh Marshall wonders if they could get a filibuster carve out for this. Personally I doubt it because a 49-1 vote would give Sinema a chance to show off her maverickiness.

I’m starting to think this latest bout of debt limit hostage taking will end with a filibuster carve out. On its face that seems highly improbable given the resistance through the year from Manchin and Sinema. And I think Manchin has said no way to this specifically. So it seems really improbable. But we’re down to very improbable outcomes and this is starting to seem like the least improbable one.

It would be interesting to get this carve out like we have carve outs for reconciliation and judicial nominees. Maybe one day the filibuster will die a death of a thousand cuts rather than outright repeal.

[jackd]

Read Sec. 4 of the 14th Amendment and ask yourself if this debate isn't over something that doesn't exist.

[LFC]

Little Lindsey acts like a complete asshole as he claims he won't be a complete asshole.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Politico that if he and his GOP colleagues successfully force Democrats into raising the debt ceiling via reconciliation (a long, drawn-out process), he will generously avoid making it too long and drawn-out.

“I mean, I’m not going to be a complete asshole about it,” Graham said. “But I’m going to make them take some tough votes.”

Too late, Lindsey. You crossed that threshold years ago.

[LFC]

Are the Dems planning on a full blow PR campaign the moment the Republicans predictably block raising the debt ceiling? Maybe a straw vote to show all Dems would pass it and lay the blockage at Moscow Mitch's feet? It's going to be interesting to see what they do.

After a meeting with his fellow Democratic senators this morning, Schumer signaled to Punchbowl reporter Max Cohen that they’ve got something prepared in the face of Republicans shooting down today’s vote.

“You’ll see, you’ll see. Stay tuned,” the Democratic leader told Cohen.

[LFC]

The vote has been delayed. MM made an offer to kick the can down the road until December while demanding that the Democrats abandon the use of reconciliation to move their policies forward. It is, as expected, classic Moscow Mitch.

McConnell’s new offer to Democrats isn’t much of an offer at all, though it probably won’t be treated that way in many publications. He’s reportedly about to offer to a) greenlight a short-term debt ceiling extension or b) not slow down the reconciliation process if Democrats do it alone.

The first piece is basically no different than where we are now — he’s willing to kick the can down the road… so Democrats have to deal with it by themselves later. The second piece is almost insulting. After weeks of demanding that Democrats raise the debt ceiling alone through reconciliation, he’s willing to not impede that process? To not use the procedure to draw out Democrats’ bowing to his demands for longer than it has to take? Gee, thanks.

Don’t be fooled by how the Republicans will spin this, as doing everything in their power to help Democrats deal with the debt ceiling. This is akin to a hostage-taker giving the ransomer a couple more weeks to cobble together the funds, and promising not to hurt him as he drops off the briefcase full of money.

TPM has McConnell's "offer" up. More on this "offer."

“…We will also allow Democrats to use normal procedures to pass an emergency debt limit extension at a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December,” he wrote (bolding mine).

None of this is about an earnest belief that Democrats should raise the ceiling by themselves; it’s all about inflicting maximum political pain and chaos. If it wasn’t, why would McConnell care if Democrats suspended the debt limit or raised it by a fixed amount? Both would take care of the problem. But only one will allow Republicans to use the number as a political cudgel against Democrats in the future.

[LFC]

Democrats don't seem to think much of MM's "offer."

Mazie Keiko Hirono (D-HI): “His hypocrisy is so rank,” she told reporters. She added that there isn’t pressure on Democrats to accept his offer in her eyes because, “it’s bullshit.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “To me, this is not a policy debate. To me, this is political stupidity on steroids,” Warner said. “I mean, I understand you don’t want to change on policy issues, but this is, you know, everyone that’s got any level of responsibility says, you know, we’re not going to have this happen, yet we are, you know, Thelma and Louise with pedal to the metal, you know, heading towards that cliff, and everybody’s got their head buried in the sand.”

At first blush, a good number of Democrats seem disinclined to take McConnell’s deal, holding firm that they don’t want to use reconciliation to address the debt ceiling and that it should be done in a bipartisan way.

Durbin: “I don’t like using reconciliation for the debt ceiling.”

Murray: “We’re not using reconciliation.”

Murphy: “My God, that sounds like a terrible idea…Just pushing this crisis off for a couple months sounds like a disaster.”

[LFC]

Can kicked.

“We have reached agreement to extend the debt ceiling through early December, and it’s our hope that we can get this done as soon as today,” Schumer said on the Senate floor just now.

Moscow Mitch realized the politics were NOT going to play out in his favor so he was forced to give the Democrats breathing room to pass more than just the debt ceiling hike through reconciliation.

[LFC]

Republicans are planning on shutting the government down AGAIN and their excuse this time is a real doozy. (In full due to paywall.)

Conservatives are trying to get ahead of the impending bad optics that will come with obstructing their way into a government shutdown. And, it appears, they have a plan: Placing the blame squarely on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.

That messaging has been bubbling under the surface for a few days. Over the weekend, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted urging her colleagues to let the government run out of funding this week as a way to “STOP the vaccine mandates.” By Tuesday evening, members of the House Freedom Caucus thoroughly embraced the QAnon congresswoman’s tone, voting to pressure House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to join their gambit. The group also sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Wednesday, pressing GOP leadership to throw a wrench in efforts to keep the government open until funding for vaccine and testing mandates were removed from the spending measure under consideration.

Other wings of the Republican Party have, as is often the case, now curbed to pressure from the far-right and hopped aboard the bandwagon. Based on remarks from a handful of Republicans on the Hill today, GOPers seem to be trying to get ahead of any heat the party might take for denying the timely passage of a continuing resolution that would at least temporarily keep the government funded, avoiding a shutdown that’ll unfold beginning Midnight Friday when the last stopgate funding bill is set to expire.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said it most plainly: “I think we should use the leverage we have to fight against what are illegal, unconstitutional and abusive mandates from a President and an administration that knows they are violating the law,” he told reporters Wednesday afternoon, referring to the vaccine mandate that requires private employers with more than 100 workers to either mandate vaccination or implement weekly testing practices by the new year.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), along with several other Republicans, already indicated last month that they would use their opposition to President Biden’s vaccine mandate as fodder for an ultimatum in a crunch, vowing to block any necessary funding measures until the vaccine mandate is no longer part of the equation. Marshall reiterated that point today, telling reporters that that handful of Republicans won’t agree to unanimous consent on any measure to avert a shutdown unless Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) removes funding for the OSHA vaccine order from the still-in-the-works continuing resolution.

“So as long as he (Schumer) makes sure we don’t fund that unconstitutional mandate, we’ll be okay with unanimous consent. So it’s totally on his back,” Marshall said.

In short, anti-vax fanatics in Congress are now putting their party leadership in an uncomfortable position. McConnell has said for days there won’t be a shutdown as he and Schumer meet to negotiate a short-term solution to this most immediate threat. (The Treasury Department has also given Congress the deadline of Dec. 15 to either raise or suspend the debt ceiling, another crucial deadline on top of the looming shutdown.) Both Senate leaders have assured the public that the two sides are close to a deal, with the main hangup being the length of the stopgap funding bill, which is really just a matter of a few weeks difference.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) did try to throw some cold water on some of his conservative colleagues demands today. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) did the same, telling reporters he felt a compromise was still in reach — “I doubt we’ll have a shutdown,” Shelby said.

Cornyn was more specific about the intentions of his detractor colleagues, pointing out that due to legal challenges to the Biden order, the vaccine mandate would likely not even be funded or enforced by the time this current CR would expire in mid or late January.

“Some people want to send a message because they object to the vaccine mandate across the board, and they’re looking for another opportunity to express themselves. But like I said, I think we have a number of options short of blocking the CR. And so we’re working our way through that,” Cornyn said.

[LFC]

McConnell is certainly evil but he's certainly not stupid. There's no f***ing way that shutting the government down over the holidays was going to play well for Republicans.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill to fund the government through mid-February, averting the risk of a shutdown after overcoming a bid by some Republicans to delay the vote in a protest against vaccine mandates.

The 69-28 vote leaves government funding at current levels through Feb. 18, and gives Democratic President Joe Biden plenty of time to sign the measure before funding was set to run out at midnight on Friday.

The Senate acted just hours after the House of Representatives approved the measure, by a vote of 221-212, with the support of only one Republican.

Adam Kinzinger was the only Republican. So much for Liz Cheney or the other supposed sane House Republicans being actual conservatives. They're all in the "deficits are fine in a Republican administration and horrible in a Democratic one" hypocrisy club.

[goldenvalley]

Dec 3, 2021 15:40:55 GMT LFC said:

McConnell is certainly evil but he's certainly not stupid. There's no f***ing way that shutting the government down over the holidays was going to play well for Republicans.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill to fund the government through mid-February, averting the risk of a shutdown after overcoming a bid by some Republicans to delay the vote in a protest against vaccine mandates.

The 69-28 vote leaves government funding at current levels through Feb. 18, and gives Democratic President Joe Biden plenty of time to sign the measure before funding was set to run out at midnight on Friday.

The Senate acted just hours after the House of Representatives approved the measure, by a vote of 221-212, with the support of only one Republican.

Adam Kinzinger was the only Republican. So much for Liz Cheney or the other supposed sane House Republicans being actual conservatives. They're all in the "deficits are fine in a Republican administration and horrible in a Democratic one" hypocrisy club.

Liz Cheney is a hard line Republican of the old school.  She is anti tax, anti government spending (except for defense spending). Her attitude about the Trump cultists who want to destroy the system of government we have is more consistent with old school too.  She'd rather starve government slowly than outright kill it quickly.

[LFC]

The debt ceiling will be raised. Moscow Mitch seems to have learned that shutting down the government, especially just before Xmas, is bad politics. The big Republican concession was to not filibuster the vote. In the House the only fiscally responsible Republican was Adam Kinzinger. Once again Republican refuse to pay for their own tax cut and spend policies.

The House voted 221 to 209 early Wednesday morning to increase the federal borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, a figure Democrats say will allow the government to avoid default until early 2023.

The measure, which was approved almost entirely along party lines, means Congress will likely avoid any major debt limit debates until after the 2022 midterm elections. Whichever party controls Congress after the midterms will have to determine how to address the issue or face the threat of federal default.

I see that Republicans are already trying to tie this to inflation. I have no idea how they can justify that but ... Republicans.

I also suspect the true MAGAts are furious with MM for allowing this to go through.

[goldenvalley]

Dec 15, 2021 15:04:15 GMT LFC said:

The debt ceiling will be raised. Moscow Mitch seems to have learned that shutting down the government, especially just before Xmas, is bad politics. The big Republican concession was to not filibuster the vote. In the House the only fiscally responsible Republican was Adam Kinzinger. Once again Republican refuse to pay for their own tax cut and spend policies.

The House voted 221 to 209 early Wednesday morning to increase the federal borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, a figure Democrats say will allow the government to avoid default until early 2023.

The measure, which was approved almost entirely along party lines, means Congress will likely avoid any major debt limit debates until after the 2022 midterm elections. Whichever party controls Congress after the midterms will have to determine how to address the issue or face the threat of federal default.

I see that Republicans are already trying to tie this to inflation. I have no idea how they can justify that but ... Republicans.

I also suspect the true MAGAts are furious with MM for allowing this to go through.

Lindsey Graham was already talking on Sunday:

Before the compromise last week, Graham had reportedly warned his GOP colleagues that McConnell had “led them on a charge up a hill and they were getting shot in the back” on the issue, according to the Hill. Asked whether it was “really such a big deal” on Sunday, Graham said it was and asserted it would have implications for the midterm elections next year.

“It was a big deal to me,” he told Wallace. “If we’re going to be successful in 2022, we’re going to have to work together as a team. And here’s what I would say to every Republican: If you want to be … a Republican leader in the House or the Senate and you don’t have a working relationship with Donald Trump, you cannot be effective. So, I hope we’ll get on the same page here.”

I doubt many MAGAs could pick him out of a line up but he's saying what they want to hear.

[LFC]

Dec 15, 2021 16:48:23 GMT goldenvalley said:

I doubt many MAGAs could pick him out of a line up but he's saying what they want to hear.

It makes you wonder if Little Lindsey, knowing he'll never be President, is eyeing up MM's leadership seat.

[LFC]

Look who is already tuning up shutdown threats unless they get their way, and only their way. (paywalled)

The DC insider sheets are already buzzing about the exciting news: House Republicans plan a new round of debt limit hostage taking next year. Of course, this is all treated as somehow totally normal, as opposed to an unconstitutional form of legislative terrorism. This piece in Axios walks through the ins and outs of it, noting the following ….

The debt limit turning into a “political football” has become a “pattern in divided government,” particularly with a Democratic president, Neil Bradley, chief policy officer for the U.S. Chamber of Congress, told Axios.

This is a crock. Let’s be honest. Only Republicans do this. It only happens with Democratic Presidents. Perhaps understandably, the head of the pro-business Chamber – which is, paradoxically, somewhat reviled now in the Trumpite GOP – can’t say this directly. But journalists don’t have to repeat their nonsense. The leading contender for the key committee chairmanship that would call the shots on this is already being clear on what Republicans will do. Tell the President that he has to repeal his 2021-22 legislation or the country has to declare national bankruptcy.

For various reasons I think it is more likely than not that the US will default on its debt. Remember that we came pretty close to default in 2011. That was with a far less crazy House GOP caucus and a much stronger House leader. Kevin McCarthy, as we noted on Tuesday, is a characterologically weak man with a penchant for toadyism. They will drive the country into debt default. At the same time, there is no appetite among Democrats for rolling back the president’s climate and fiscal agenda to appease this kind of terrorism.

So as I said, I think default is likely.

But there is an out. During the lame duck session of Congress after the election, Democrats can simply raise the debt limit on their own or if possible just get rid of the debt limit altogether. It’s a completely inane thing. Only a handful of other countries in the world have something like it. It creates a two tiered system: a decision to use your credit card to buy something and a separate decision on whether to pay your credit card bill. In the real world it doesn’t work that way. I’m not sure you can get rid of the limit system without running into the filibuster. But you can definitely raise the limit through reconciliation.

There will be lots of resistance to doing this. Moderate or marginal Democrats will say it will be used against them by Republicans, blah blah blah. But who cares? It will be two years out from the next election. (This only happens if the Democrats lose one or both houses of Congress.) So you just have to do it to avoid a genuine catastrophe next year regardless of the consequences. And frankly there won’t be any consequences. It’s two years out from an election. And normal people don’t pay any attention to this stuff. It will be long since forgotten about by the few people who actually care.

It’s not something the Democrats should have to do. There will be a ton of resistance to doing it. Sinema or Manchin alone could scuttle the effort. But this is a meteor hurtling toward the earth type situation. You have to send up the rocket to push it out of the earth’s path. It doesn’t matter what it costs.