{"id":26424,"date":"2023-05-12T12:29:33","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T19:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26424"},"modified":"2023-05-12T12:29:33","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T19:29:33","slug":"its-time-for-democrats-to-declare-war-over-the-debt-ceiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/05\/12\/its-time-for-democrats-to-declare-war-over-the-debt-ceiling\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time For Democrats to Declare War Over the Debt Ceiling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"U.S.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the North America’s Building Trades Unions as Secretary-Treasurer Brandon Bish listens during their legislative conference at the Washington Hilton on April 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day, Biden released a video where he officially announced his re-election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to quote Ulysses S. Grant, \u201cNo terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

STEVEN DAY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 11, 2023 Common Dreams<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes confronting political opponents calls for a soft touch \u2014 for nuance. And sometimes you just need to kick ass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to the GOP\u2019s use of the debt ceiling<\/a> as a weapon of extortion, even kicking ass isn\u2019t a strong enough response. The only response likely to be effective is a full-bore-political war. And in the words of Ulysses S. Grant<\/a>, \u201cNo terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.\u201d Every day that passes without Democrats absolutely clobbering Republicans for deliberately imperiling the economic security of every American constitutes political malpractice. And the time to change course is quickly running out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fairness, Democrats are saying a lot of the right things<\/a>. Where they are falling short is in failing to elevate the issue. Too many Americans are still oblivious to the Sword of Damocles the GOP is dangling above their heads. That needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day that passes without Democrats absolutely clobbering Republicans for deliberately imperiling the economic security of every American constitutes political malpractice. And the time to change course is quickly running out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The occasional statements being offered by the president and congressional Democrats aren\u2019t going to do the job. America faces a very real, and completely unnecessary, risk of economic Armageddon. If it occurs it will be due entirely to the reckless conduct of the GOP. In a situation like this the usual political pablum won\u2019t do. You can\u2019t sweet talk the congressional Republicans into being reasonable. And you won\u2019t get the public to understand<\/a> the complexities of the issue without raising the volume of the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What needs to be done is to grab hold of the issue and tie it around the GOP\u2019s neck. Make them own it. Make sure the public understands what is at stake<\/a> and who will bear the responsibility if things go wrong. That\u2019s not only smart politics. Absent successful application of the \u201cconstitutional option,\u201d this is the only strategy, short of capitulation, that stands any realistic chance of preventing default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Manchin notwithstanding<\/a>, there is no middle ground here. No compromise. Paying even a small part of the GOP\u2019s ransom constitutes trying to buy off an extortionist, something that never works. If Republicans gain anything by this stunt, they will have all the motivation they need to repeat it every time the debt limit needs adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fine to negotiate over the budget. That\u2019s an inherent feature of divided government. But when it comes to the constitutional duty to pay the nation\u2019s debts<\/a>, there is nothing to bargain about. Congress authorized the expenditures and having done so it becomes its constitutional duty to make the payments on the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States is facing a showdown \u2014 a high stakes \u201cgame\u201d of political chicken. We are watching two metaphorical cars barreling toward each other at high speed, waiting to see which of the two drivers \u201cchickens out\u201d and veers off to avoid the head-on collision. But there\u2019s a problem. One of the two drivers has gone stark raving mad. Every indication is that Republicans are not going to give way<\/a>. And Democrats can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides seem to be guessing the other guy will veer out of the way in the nick of time. But a lot of people are missing the X factor \u2014 the fact a significant percentage of Republicans in Congress are actually happy<\/a> with the thought of our country defaulting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are watching two metaphorical cars barreling toward each other at high speed, waiting to see which of the two drivers \u201cchickens out\u201d and veers off to avoid the head-on collision. But there\u2019s a problem. One of the two drivers has gone stark raving mad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can anyone, even the crazies in the Freedom Caucus, want to see something happen that will do massive harm to our economy and standing in the world? Remember, we are talking about the Republican Party \u2014 not your grandfather\u2019s Republican Party \u2014 the one that exists today. Why do so many Republicans secretly (and some not so secretly) want an economic meltdown that would hurt millions of Americans? You know the answer. They don\u2019t care. The Republican Party of today isn\u2019t interested in solving the nation\u2019s problems. They don\u2019t want political power to do great things for the country. They want power<\/a> for its own sake, end of story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They haven\u2019t exactly been coy about their willingness to do anything necessary to gain power. They\u2019ve made it inescapably clear they\u2019re ready to destroy our democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, they will enjoy using that power to reward the super-wealthy and to torture their foes, but those are just fringe benefits. It\u2019s the power itself that\u2019s important to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if throwing our economy into a tailspin, thereby harming millions of Americans, is what it takes for them to get that power, so be it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They haven\u2019t exactly been coy about their willingness to do anything necessary to gain power. They\u2019ve made it inescapably clear they\u2019re ready to destroy our democracy<\/a>. They\u2019ve made it equally clear they have no qualms with the use of violence<\/a> if that gets them what they want. Why would anyone question they will happily throw half the country into the poorhouse if doing so works to their political advantage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These people are playing for keeps. An authoritarian-minded political party, such as the GOP, only needs to get complete control of the government one time and they will be positioned to institute changes that will make it all but impossible<\/a> for them to ever be peacefully removed from power. We have seen the Republican Party do this at the state level in several battleground states, where they have used extreme gerrymandering to effectively lock-in perpetual control of state legislatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show the bastards there\u2019s a steep political price they\u2019ll have to pay if they insist on playing this dangerous game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You would think causing another Great Depression would hurt them politically. But not if they can redirect the public\u2019s anger at Democrats. And history is on their side. If the economy crashes due to a default on the national debt, it will happen on Joe Biden\u2019s watch. Voters have traditionally blamed the incumbent president for bad economic news<\/a>. Most voters aren\u2019t political junkies who study the details of public issues. All they know is that they\u2019re hurting. It\u2019s easy to blame the guy in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it won\u2019t help matters that GOP politicians know they can count on the major media to play the bothsides-ism<\/a> game, further confusing the public\u2019s perception on where to place the blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the time to strike is now, before the damage is done. Democrats need to go into campaign mode. Get surrogates out before the public talking about the recklessness of what the GOP is doing. Flood television screens with political-style ads making the same points. In other words, get out front of the problem for once. Get the truth into the public\u2019s minds before the GOP\u2019s spin masters go to work. Show the bastards there\u2019s a steep political price they\u2019ll have to pay if they insist on playing this dangerous game.This is the best chance we have of getting the GOP to back off. And if they won\u2019t, it at least helps to make sure the blame falls where it should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STEVEN DAY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Day practices law in Wichita, Kansas and is the author of The Patriot’s Grill, a novel about a future America in which democracy no longer exists, but might still return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the North America’s Building Trades Unions as Secretary-Treasurer Brandon Bish listens during their legislative conference at the Washington Hilton on April 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day, Biden released a video where he officially announced his re-election campaign. \u00a0(Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[539],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26425,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26424\/revisions\/26425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}