The fact that Tim Pawlenty said on Sunday that congressional Republicans should vote against an increase in the debt limit tells you more about his campaign for president than it does what congressional Republicans will actually do. Unlike Pawlenty, congressional Republicans will have to live the political consequences of their decision, and if you listen to what they are actually saying about the vote, it's increasingly clear they are mostly posturing.
Case in point: Rep. David Schweikert, Republican of Arizona. Early today, Fox's Megyn Kelly interviewed Schweikert, introducing him as a Republican who agrees with Pawlenty. Indeed, Schweikert said he didn't want to vote to increase the debt limit. But when Kelly pressed him on the negative repercussions of such a vote, Schweikert started to back off, agreeing with Kelly that what's actually going on is that the GOP is making threats in the hopes of gaining bargaining power on spending priorities.
But more notable than his concession that GOP threats on the debt ceiling are attempts to gain political leverage, Schweikert also said that raising the debt limit is something that must be dealt with soon. "You don’t also want a situation where you get up against the debt ceiling," he said. Ultimately, Republicans must do "what's right for the country" to avoid "dramatically raising the costs of borrowing for everyone."
Those words are a pretty clear indication that even conservatives like Schweikert have neither the stomach nor inclination to actually vote against raising the debt limit and plunge the nation into financial chaos. Obviously, Republicans want Democrats to think they are crazy enough to tank the economy -- they see that as the best way to get leverage. We can debate the ethics of whether Republicans should be playing with fire, but as even Schweikert suggests, there's virtually no chance they ultimately play the role of arsonist. Democratic negotiators ought not live in fear of calling the Republican bluff.
Watch Schweikert here:
Full transcript below the fold.
KELLY: Congressman David Schweikert is a Republican from Arizona who happens to agree with Governor Pawlenty. Congressman, thanks for being here on the program. So it’s nice and easy to be able to sit in beautiful Arizona or beautiful Capitol Hill and say you’re going to vote against raising the debt limit, right?
But we have got the Treasury Secretary of the United States saying it will cause catastrophic damage to the economy if you don’t raise that debt limit and saying it would cause a worse financial economic crisis than anything we have seen in recent years. So how do you respond to him?
SCHWEIKERT: Well, the fact of the matter is we’re walking a bit of a tightrope. The problem is being asked — you know, I’ve been a Congressman now for what, ten days, I’m being asked to pay off the credit card for the crazy spending from this president and the House Democrats. Problem is, they’ve already spent the money. The bill is now coming due, so for someone like myself, you look your constituents in the eyes and say I cannot vote for this debt ceiling.
…
KELLY: But when you listen to the experts, and even people who are not fans of how this administration has spent, they are telling that if we don’t raise this debt limit, we — America — will default on our obligations for the first time in history. We’re going to ruin our credit rating. We’re not going to be able to borrow any more. We’re not going to be able to pay our bills. Our interest rates are going to go up, and we’re going to spiral downward into yet another really bad economic crisis. That part doesn’t sound so good.
SCHWEIKERT: Yeah, but you’re doing a terrific job of making the argument why the Senate Democrats need to come over and work with us as the House Republicans and say here’s the spending cuts, here’s the systemic changes we’re agreeing to make. Let’s start the path to some fiscal sanity.
KELLY: It’s your only time with any bargaining power, in other words?
SCHWEIKERT: Well, in some ways it is that. But we need to be doing what’s right for the country, because you don’t also want a situation where you get up against the debt ceiling, and we start, because of making the markets nervous, we start dramatically raising the costs of borrowing for everyone.