It’s Time For Democrats to Declare War Over the Debt Ceiling

Sometimes confronting political opponents calls for a soft touch — for nuance. And sometimes you just need to kick ass.

When it comes to the GOP’s use of the debt ceiling as a weapon of extortion, even kicking ass isn’t 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, “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” 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.

In fairness, Democrats are saying a lot of the right things. 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.

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.

The occasional statements being offered by the president and congressional Democrats aren’t 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’t do. You can’t sweet talk the congressional Republicans into being reasonable. And you won’t get the public to understand the complexities of the issue without raising the volume of the discussion.

What needs to be done is to grab hold of the issue and tie it around the GOP’s neck. Make them own it. Make sure the public understands what is at stake and who will bear the responsibility if things go wrong. That’s not only smart politics. Absent successful application of the “constitutional option,” this is the only strategy, short of capitulation, that stands any realistic chance of preventing default.

Joe Manchin notwithstanding, there is no middle ground here. No compromise. Paying even a small part of the GOP’s 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.

It’s fine to negotiate over the budget. That’s an inherent feature of divided government. But when it comes to the constitutional duty to pay the nation’s debts, 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.

The United States is facing a showdown — a high stakes “game” of political chicken. We are watching two metaphorical cars barreling toward each other at high speed, waiting to see which of the two drivers “chickens out” and veers off to avoid the head-on collision. But there’s a problem. One of the two drivers has gone stark raving mad. Every indication is that Republicans are not going to give way. And Democrats can’t.

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 — the fact a significant percentage of Republicans in Congress are actually happy with the thought of our country defaulting.

We are watching two metaphorical cars barreling toward each other at high speed, waiting to see which of the two drivers “chickens out” and veers off to avoid the head-on collision. But there’s a problem. One of the two drivers has gone stark raving mad.

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 — not your grandfather’s Republican Party — 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’t care. The Republican Party of today isn’t interested in solving the nation’s problems. They don’t want political power to do great things for the country. They want power for its own sake, end of story.

They haven’t exactly been coy about their willingness to do anything necessary to gain power. They’ve made it inescapably clear they’re ready to destroy our democracy.

Sure, they will enjoy using that power to reward the super-wealthy and to torture their foes, but those are just fringe benefits. It’s the power itself that’s important to them.

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.

They haven’t exactly been coy about their willingness to do anything necessary to gain power. They’ve made it inescapably clear they’re ready to destroy our democracy. They’ve made it equally clear they have no qualms with the use of violence 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?

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 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.

Show the bastards there’s a steep political price they’ll have to pay if they insist on playing this dangerous game.

You would think causing another Great Depression would hurt them politically. But not if they can redirect the public’s 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’s watch. Voters have traditionally blamed the incumbent president for bad economic news. Most voters aren’t political junkies who study the details of public issues. All they know is that they’re hurting. It’s easy to blame the guy in charge.

And it won’t help matters that GOP politicians know they can count on the major media to play the bothsides-ism game, further confusing the public’s perception on where to place the blame.

That’s 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’s minds before the GOP’s spin masters go to work. Show the bastards there’s a steep political price they’ll have to pay if they insist on playing this dangerous game.