As the debt ceiling deadline approaches, Republicans are once again sticking to their guns, refusing any and all deals that include tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. Of course, this shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us. We have all known for over a decade that Republicans only care about the wealthiest among us. Their recklessness and general irresponsibility over that span of time has put us in the economic situation we are currently in and once again they are willing to dig us deeper into economic calamity. It’s as if they think that a recession isn’t enough, that what they really want is a second Great Depression. Speaker Boehner has now withdrawn from the debt talks and the Republicans look worse for it. On the other side of the coin, President Obama has finally shown some anger, which should energize his base.
If Americans had no clarity about Republican intent before, they damn well better have clarity now. The Republicans have thrown temper tantrum after temper tantrum over the insistence of Democrats and the American people that closing tax loopholes on the wealthy be part of the debt ceiling deal. Their refusal to agree to tax increases or revenue increases means that they are negotiating in bad faith. President Obama, despite taking heat from his own party, put Social Security and Medicare cuts on the table and that still wasn’t good enough for the GOP. As the President stated earlier, Can Republicans say yes to anything? Republicans expect Democrats to cave in and give Republicans everything they want, and at the same time refuse to give Democrats anything in return. It’s a dishonest and dangerous game.
Republicans are already laying the blame at the feet of the Democratic Party in an attempt to spin away from the fact that they have been intentionally sabotaging the economy for political and personal gain. Eric Cantor is set to gain financially if the economy crashes and it is likely that many other Republicans have something to gain as well. They have made bets that the United States will fail, and they are doing everything they can to bring it to ruin. The Republican Party is using fear over the economy to advance their agenda and gain power. Their main goal is to make President Obama fail and has been since the day he won in 2008. That’s why they can’t say yes.
Their plan is beginning to backfire, however. As things get worse, the American citizenry is waking up to realize that the Democrats are the adults in Washington and that Republicans are acting like children that can’t have everything their way. Speaker John Boehner rejected a grand bargain that would have required compromise from both sides. He has also claimed that Democrats haven’t offered anything, which is a lie. Eric Cantor stormed out of the debt talks simply because taxes were brought up. Mitch McConnell continues to accuse Democrats of not negotiating in good faith. But all Democrats have asked for is that the wealthy pay only a bit more in taxes and that the tax subsidies for Big Oil and other corporate tax loopholes come to an end.
Republicans have continually sided with corporations and the wealthiest 2% of Americans. They have spent all of their time in Congress tearing down programs that benefit the other 98% of the American people. They have managed to spend every single moment in the House of Representatives focusing on their social agenda and have not spent any time on jobs and the economy. In fact, they have contributed to the unemployment rate by slashing government jobs and have destroyed jobs that depend on government funding such as Planned Parenthood. One of their campaign issues in 2010 was job creation, and now they don’t want to take it seriously.
When August 2nd arrives and America defaults, it will be the fault of the Republican Party. When Social Security checks fail to go out, senior citizens WILL notice. When our men and women in uniform go unpaid for their sacrifices, they WILL notice. And when businesses come to a standstill because the government shuts down, small business owners and even greedy CEOs WILL notice. And who will they all blame you ask? Surveys are showing that most Americans will blame the GOP for a government shut down. 71% of Americans disapprove of Congressional Republicans. And even if Congress kicks the can down the road, Republicans will still be blamed for not negotiating in good faith and for their irresponsible political posturing on behalf of the wealthy and corporations that results in no real solution to the big issue. Republicans are ignoring the vast majority of the American people at their own peril and may even take heat from their own masters since their profits ultimately depend upon a stable economy. Default is not good for anyone in these troubled times and Republicans are only making things worse (as usual).
The Republicans had the spending cuts they wanted on the table and they rejected them solely on the grounds that their corporate masters would see an increase in taxes. The way I see it, Republicans got the spending cuts they demanded, Democrats should get to close some tax loopholes for the rich like they’ve demanded. Of course in a perfect world, Democrats would take Social Security and Medicare off the table, and replace them with cuts to defense instead. The silver lining in all of this is that Republicans will get the blame. They actually believed that history wouldn’t repeat itself and that they could turn the tables on the Democrats this time. But just like they were in 1995, Republicans are being stubborn, uncompromising, and insensitive to the majority of Americans that demand a raise in taxes. As long as Republicans continue to demand spending cuts and reject revenue increases, they are finished politically and THAT is without a doubt something to look forward to.
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