Well, after a long hiatus, I’m back. I could not sit around without commenting on the outrageous conduct of Congressional Republicans.
First, some quick background. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was
- passed by the Congress,
- signed into law by the President,
- upheld by the Supreme Court.
Then in the 2012 election, the American electorate was given a choice between a candidate who supported the law, obviously, and one who said he would shut down Obamacare “on day one.” That candidate, Mitt Romney, was soundly defeated. So “the American people” had spoken, clearly, about what they wanted, and the ACA is the law of the land.
The role of the opposition party, if they are not happy with this or any other law, is to work through the normal channels to bring about change. But in this case, a small band of radical Republicans threw a temper tantrum and threatened to deeply wound the American economy.
And they did. Yesterday, Standard & Poor’s estimated that the GOP-forced government shutdown sucked around $24 billion out of the economy – and the meter is still running. (Remember when the GOP was the party of “fiscal responsibility”?)
Sen. John McCain called the actions of the House Republicans a “fool’s errand.” He knew there was zero chance they could get what they wanted – the defunding of the ACA. Yet this small group of crazies persisted, and we will all feel the effects as the damage ripples through the U.S. economy and beyond, forcing interest rates up and holding GDP down.
As egregious as the shutdown was, even worse was the threat to allow the U.S., for the first time ever, to default on its obligations. Some radical righties argued that a default would not be harmful. They are idiots. Not one mainstream economist (and that covers a wide swath of economic thought and theory) agreed with that stance. Not one. Economists were, and are, horrified by the thought of a default.
But where were the “moderate” Republicans during all this? Almost all were strangely silent. That’s not merely my opinion. Listen to what one conservative thinker, Bruce Bartlett, a former advisor to both President Reagan and the first President Bush, thinks about the current situation:
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/53310099#53310099
As he said, the Republican Party has been “hijacked by crazy people, stupid people” and he cannot understand why more of his fellow party members are not standing up to them. (The whole 14 minute video clip is excellent. I hope you will watch it.)
What is my opinion is this: I don’t think it’s mere coincidence that the dumbing down of the Grand Old Party aligns with the rise of Fox News. That organization, watched religiously by millions, stokes paranoia and is not encumbered by facts and rational thought. And the rest of us pay the price.
Thanks for caring about the truth.
Sanity First! 
Good to see you back Mr Weber. I’ve been waiting for someone to debate with. I hope all is well with the family.
Let me first preface by saying I don’t really care about republicans vs democrats. I’m not a believer in being boxed into a 2 party system. The reality is both sides have done a great deal of damage and have contributed to the current fiscal crisis. I believe in pragmatic, free-market solutions, whether they cross party lines or not.
The republicans tried to play hard ball and they lost. Their tactics were flawed. But the democrats and Obamas insistence in raising the debt ceiling will not solve our problems. In fact it will only make it worse. It’s analogous to telling your son, who’s maxed out all his credit cards, and spends double what he earns, that the responsible thing to do is to get another credit card. It’s nonsense.
Regarding the ACA, I agree with some of these crazy republicans. It’s a horrible law. I believe it’s unconstitutional, it goes against free market principles, and will ultimately fail in such a spectacular way. But I prefer to let it fail on its own rather than fight it. So when it does, all supporters of it can look in the mirror and know how wrong they were.
Regarding default, it’s sad to see you buy in to such horrible ‘Obama’ propaganda. Default, at least the way that Obama speaks about it, and most mainstream media does as well, refers to the US failing to pay interest on its bonds. That’s it. This will not happen, whether the debt ceiling is raised or not. The US government brings in over 10 times the revenue if it’s debt service. So default would not happen. It’s just nonsensical scare tactics used to promote political agenda. Any rational, pragmatic person with a little initiative could figure this out. (BTW- the federal government has already defaulted before. when FDR changed the dollar’s weight in gold, and when Nixon took us off the gold standard)
Lastly, your comment that all economists-literally all-believe what you espoused is also nonsense. There is at least one out there that I know of. His name is Peter Schiff. And I would strongly recommend you listen to his radio show or reading one of his books. I think it would be enlightening for you. He is not a republican or a democrat. He’s an Austrian economist who just wants to get the country out the current crisis and understands that only true capitalism, small government, and a strong currency can do this.
Welcome back.
Josh
Hi Josh,
Sorry for the delay in replying.
I won’t go line by line, but you mention “debate.” If this was a debate, you would lose points because you failed to respond to most of the points I brought up.
Your credit card analogy is way off. The correct analogy in the debt-ceiling fight is (and you can especially relate to this) if you go to a restaurant, order the Chef’s 10-course tasting menu and then, when the bill comes, decide that you didn’t like two items so you won’t pay for them. That is exactly the correct analogy.
As for Schiff — I am well aware of him and he is neither an economist nor mainstream. He is, to be charitable, an outlier. Getting back to what I said originally, all “main-stream economists” agree that default is a terrible idea.
Hope you are well. And I am glad you respond; it keeps me sharp!
Ken
Wow! And here I thought you were on “Hiatus” because of the astounding amount of corruption and scandal that has been taking place in the White House over the past 18 months. Let me see, just to name a few, Benghazi, Fast & Furious, NSA and the IRS? I won’t even mention “Obamacare” the most truly, un-thought-out piece of legislation, which was never read by the lawmakers that were elected but passed only by the Democrats that controlled both Houses of legislation at the time… So much for Bipartisan participation.
Even after a dismal first term filled with broken promises, failed policies, high unemployment and economic miscalculations, there was no way the liberal media would allow the first Black President to only serve one term and then be booted out of office. It would not have made any difference who the Republicans would have run in the last election; Obama was a shoe-in to maintain the Presidency. However, counterbalancing the President and his Liberal agenda, the voters kept the Republicans in control of the House of Representatives.
Look, we can argue and debate political points all day. There is plenty of blame to be divided among both parties. But I believe, from what I see, read and hear from my friends who are equally divided among both Parties, our Country is in serious trouble. Our National debt is staggering, growing and frankly, unsustainable and unbelievable. Our political leaders have, and continue to mismanage our Country’s affairs. I once reported in one of my earlier comments to your Blog that it would take “Draconian” steps to put this country on the right fiscal path. Recently, when the “Tea Partiers” and Libertarians attempted to go after the current political establishment on both sides of the Aisle, they were vilified by their peers as being “Radical” and out of touch with reality. Of course, who’s reality; the reality of those same politicians who have brought us to the brink of where we are today?
You are right Ken when you say “Bad Politics can hurt us”. I believe the effects of the extreme Liberal agenda that the White House has been trying to force upon the American people will continue to polarize this Nation until “Sanity” returns and true leadership emerges from the ranks of the American people, be it Republican or Democrat. Stay well ken.
Shelly