Let’s say that a few months ago, Senate Democrats had made it clear that they would refuse to vote for an extension of the debt ceiling unless the Clinton tax rates were restored immediately.
As a progressive who was catatonic with apprehension when the Supreme Court selected Bush, knowing that his tax plans were catastrophic, I would certainly like to see a restoration of the Clinton tax rates. But if the Democrats had held the economy of the nation and the world hostage in an effort to extort this outcome, this would have been unconscionable, bordering on treason.
How is this different than what the Republicans are doing now?
THIS IS EXTORTION, and from the moment that the Republicans broached their plan, Obama and every Democrat should have labeled it as such, literally screaming bloody murder.
Who is the tactical genius who agreed that we should negotiate with these extortionists?! I don’t need to answer that, do I?
And who is it that decided, at a time when we are still trying to dig our way out of a deep recession, and the current crop of Republicans, currently in control of the House, are – not to put too fine a point on it – borderline psychotic, that this would be the perfect time to negotiate a grand bi-partisan solution to the “debt crisis”. (A crisis directly attributable to Republican policies which apparently was no crisis to any Republican until a Democrat was elected.)
The proper deal that Democrats should negotiate is NO DEAL. It is the duty of our elected representatives to authorize the payment of our acknowledged debt; to do otherwise will wreak an economic catastrophe on our nation and ultimately the world. The Democrats should make it clear that they will vote for the debt ceiling extension, as a matter of simple patriotism. And if the Republicans insist on voting it down, then the whole nation will know who is responsible for the subsequent collapse – and the Republicans would likely soon back down when their Wall Street sponsors go berserk.
As far as grand solutions to our long-term indebtedness situation – the main thing we need to do is just let the Clinton rates be restored automatically by doing nothing. Or, if the Democrats don’t have the guts to ask the employed upper middle class to make a slightly higher contribution than they do currently, for the profound good of our future, they can try to negotiate a different solution once most of the American people have gotten wise to what the Republicans are up to, and have thrown a number of the rascals out.
Agreeing to negotiate such a grand solution with the current crop of Republican criminals is a profound betrayal of the American people.