Crossposted from The People's View
These are the facts...
* Since 1917, the debt ceiling has been raised 102 times.
* Since 1962, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times.
* During the Reagan era, it was raised 18 times.
* Under George W. Bush, it was raised 7 times.
The Republicans are again at work trying to obstruct and shut down the Government by refusing to extend debt ceiling without entitlement cuts to appear fiscally responsible.
...but I will get to that a little later.
However, the same old shit is being said in different form from one diary to another scolding this President repeatedly multiple times over the head again and again and again with so much insult and poutrage. That is what electing more and better Democrats mean at Dailykos lately.
I don't know. Some seem to think the phrase "make me do it" is a license to verbally put the President on life support because I swear the condescending shit that is being said about the President in the comments of some of these diaries are horrific, irresponsible and completely Juvenile.
Here is the latest on the recommended list, a diary, It’s not like you weren’t warned, another bullshit diary if I may add, sourcing a diary written by someone in December 2010, who a couple of days ago uprated one of the most vile insulting comments on the President - a comment by an idiot who said, "Obama can blow me. The same uprater who also wanted to "Kill The Bill", a health care bill that provides subsidized insurance to 31 million Americans.
The whole premise of that sourced diary was to pretty much undermine the President's negotiations of the Bush's tax cut deal for not including the debt ceiling last December while it has been put on the table and rejected by the Republicans then, not to mention the accusation of how "the President has advances Republican right-wing framing on the tax cuts issue". I have written about the benefit of the tax cut deal here extensively if anyone wants to see the detail and the multiple credible source who praised President Obama's final agreement.
Here is another diary,Compromise My Ass, on the recommended list that makes the word "compromise" as the most cynical thing ever for Democrats to use forgetting the fact that American politics is not a dictatorship. Negotiations are always important to advance progress regardless of the fact some out there don't like it. An example of compromise that is acceptable and not acceptable must however be distinguished and Rep. Pelosi and Rep. Frank have some examples of each here on the debt ceiling worth the read in this TPM article.
What is disheartening however is, the fact that in these posts, you will find the same ole same ole foaming at the mouth, throwing punches at the President with vile and ugliness but non of them discuss what we are facing if the debt ceiling is not increased, the hardship it will cause many Americans and how to educate the public about what is at stake. Better yet, we don't have any messaging strategy to show the American people how the Republican strategy will cripple the Economy and bankrupt our livelihood.
So, for a change, I ask those who never quit to throw punches at the President to get to the core issues of the Republican agenda and the problem why President Obama is having a problem to get a bill out of Congress since past debt ceiling increase Bills were in fact a one sentence bill that passed the House without $0.01 of cut to any programs.
So today, the Republican party does not want to increase the debt ceiling without some spending cut. Spending cut that goes against Democratic principles. They want to gut out Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They want to undo the HCR bill piece by piece. They want to shut down community health care services. They want to take away college grant funding from kids who are attending college. They want to shut down Government facilities so that basic public services are discontinued. They want to take away from the poor. All done in the name of fiscal responsibly.
What we have today is nutcase racist members of the Republican party running the House of Representatives.
All done to make "Obama a one-term President" in the process paralyzing the Government of the United State, weaken its already weakened economy and tanking the world economy along with it.
Destroying this country and the middle class is what these people are willing to do to defeat President Obama. It is Irresponsible. Cowardly. Un-American.
I am not about to hold back so here is a little more dose of truth.
A large portion of the Republican Party is run by Racists who have declared a class warfare.
What the Republican party is has nothing to do with this so called "fiscally responsible" ideology but a divide and concur class ideology. A racist ideology.
I think it is important that we start acknowledging these people for what they are and not give them a pass. It is time to tell it like it is.
These people can't stand a Black man in a position of power leading the most powerful country in the world.
They can't swallow the idea of taking direction from a black man whose heritage come from a race that used to be enslaved and still oppressed.
They think he is an African nationalist.
They think he should be inferior to them portraying him as someone who is illegitimate and not American or not smart enough to have gotten into Harvard.
Oh, they don't call him "nigger" of course. That is old school.
They don't call black folks "niggers" either. No, they are going abstract now. Totally abstract that the effect of it is not just on blacks. It has trickled down to white America but still blacks get hurt worse than white.
They hit you below the belt where it hurts. On economic things. On job. On education. On health care. All of it using institutionalized racist laws that will deprive the have nots, the poor, any chance of living the American dream.
They think his policies are targeted to "re-distribute" wealth. Another code used to say he is taking from white folks and giving it to blacks as if black folks are the only poor people alive.
That is how they sell it to their uneducated and stupid base. They coat them as being better than the poor (blacks) by default because they are white and these fools believe their white privilege meme all day long. That seems to be the only way to earn votes. It has worked for them. Some knowingly and some unknowingly voting against their own self interest.
Their goal is pretty blatant and nothing matters to them more than making President Obama a one-term President.
Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term.
To do that, they had to say NO to Public Option. NO to Regulatory Reform. NO to Tax Increases on the rich, NO to Immigration Reform, NO to pretty much every agenda that has been brought up by this President.
And today, they are saying again NO to raising the Debt Ceiling where the US debt limit has always been raised before the debt reached the limit.
Since 1917, the debt ceiling has been raised 102 times. Since March 1962, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times. During the Reagan era, it was raised 18 times. Under George W. Bush, it was raised 7 times. Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl combined voted 19 times to increase the debt ceiling from $5.9 trillion to $9.8 trillion during the Presidency of George W. Bush.
Now, after the Republicans have been distributing wealth to the richest 1% for years, they are suddenly concerned about Government spending in the last two years of President Obama. Spending that has helped to pull this country from the worst economy since the great depression. Spending that keep the bleeding of jobs. Spending that stabilized record bankruptcy. Spending that stopped an economy on the way worst than the Great Depression. Now, they are refusing to increase the debt ceiling and basically shutting down the Government from functioning so that the consequence of their callus and cowardly actions would hurt President Obama politically.
Making Obama A One-Term President Is My Single Most Important Political Goal.
~Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
The Republicans will never afford this President any thing that can remotely help him political standing as other Presidents have been afforded in the past. In the eyes of Republicans, rejecting the debt ceiling is suppose to do the "single most important political goal" of the Republicans.
The White House has been trying to address the issue of the debt ceiling during the tax extension compromise with the Republicans while the Republican rejected to include it as part of the deal. However stated in the Treasury letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Reid on January 6, 2011, these were warnings sent to Congress as to the consequence of not increasing the debt ceiling:
1) "Treasury would be forced to default on legal obligation of the US, causing catastrophic damage to the economy" (more harmful than the financial crisis)
2) "A default would impose a substantial tax on all Americans". (expect to see interest rate increase in all government, corporate and consumer borrowing. Add nearly $19,175 to every mortgage in process.)
3) Equity Prices and Home value will decline as interest rate increases. Your retirement account and an average of $8,816 in 401K lose.
4) Less business investment and spending causing a significant level of job losses
5) Say goodbye to 642,500 jobs
6) Lop 1% off the United States GDP;
7) Give the S&P a 6.3% plus haircut;
8) Discontinuance of payment to the following benefits and other US obligations:
a) U.S. Military salaries and retirement benefits;
b) social Security and Medicare benefits;
c) veterans' benefits;
d) federal civil service slaries and retirement benefits;
e) unemployment benefits to states;
f) defense vendor payments;
g) interest and principle payment on Treasury bonds and other securities;
h) student loan payments;
i) medicaid payments to states; and
j) payments necessary to keep government facilities open.
This was what David Min, Associate Director for Financial Markets Policy at the Center for American, said in 1995 when the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was flirting with the idea but reversed course learning it is a bad potical move as their poll numbers plummeted:
In short, a freeze on the debt ceiling would cause our interest payments to spike, making our budget situation even more problematic, while potentially triggering greater global instability—perhaps even a global economic depression.
The very idea of a federal debt freeze among the radical right in our country, while they continue to ignore responsible deficit reduction measures and continue to focus on the wrong policy solutions, exemplifies their obstinacy as much as their short-sightedness. A freeze on the debt ceiling, or shutting down the federal government will not reduce the federal budget deficit and will in fact increase it over the long run by tipping the global economy into depression. Voters may assume that conservative candidates will not live up to their pledge of recklessness once they understand the consequences.
The consequences are atrocious if we don't come to some level of compromise to avoid these difficult predicament the Republicans have put all Americans in. As such, we as progressives must focus on exposing the obstructionism of the Republicans and not let them get away with pushing us all under the bus and force them to compromise so that we have a balanced approach to solving our country's problem. Progressives throwing a fit at President Obama as he continues to try to avoid a very difficult time for the country does not help but aid Republicans frame the issue to their advantage. Unless of course some of these progressives are just fronting as Democrats doing the work of Republicans.
One said:
The wealthy keep on taking we keep on compromising. How's that working out for us?
Well, wait and see how it is going to work out for you when the debt ceiling timeline expires and our country goes bankrupt. I will come and ask you how it is working out for you then.
Oh, I know This whole "Teach Obama a Lesson" thing is working so perfectly, isn't it?
Contact your House Representative and Senators and tell them to end the debt ceiling stalemate by working towards a balanced approach as President Obama eloquently explained it to avoid the stability of our economy: