Before President Obama took office, raising the debt ceiling was pretty much a ceremonial thing because the full faith and credit of The United States throughout the world depended upon Congress approving the printing of money they had already spent.
Once Obama took office, Republicans began threatening the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip to destroy any sort of legislation that helps the working class.
Republicans used the threat of the U.S. defaulting on its loans to force sharp budget cuts to nonmilitary spending. Remember what the sequester brought us?
Republicans were thrilled that the national debt was raised almost 8 trillion under Traitor Trump's regime as long as they got their tax cuts for billionaires. In 2019 Trump signed a budget deal that also suspended debt ceiling votes for two years with nary a whimper from the GQP.
Since President Biden took office, Republicans counted on the MSM to behave exactly as they always do when Republicans obstruct.
Mitch McConnell just reiterated this point, saying, "We will not support legislation that raises the debt limit."
Dan Froomkin correctly observes, "Predictably, the Washington Post on Tuesday headlined its story “U.S. careens toward shutdown, financial crisis amid congressional stalemate.” Reporter Tony Romm describes — but doesn’t question –the “political standoff” in which Republicans “refuse to raise the cap out of opposition to President Biden’s broader agenda — even if it means grinding the country to a halt.”
The House under Speaker Pelosi's direction just passed a bill to fund the U.S. government through Dec. 3 and suspend the nation's borrowing limit until the end of 2022. Of course, no Republicans voted for it.
Senate Republicans have vowed to block it. This is a dereliction of duty, but as usual in the Beltway, if every Republican votes to block a measure; then it's the Democrats' fault that it failed.
It's impossible to govern in the United States without the participation of both parties. If ONE party refuses to act like an actual political party when it comes to the country paying its bills, then that party should held accountable.
Riiiight?
The AP said the House vote is "inviting clash with GOP."
Huh?
There shouldn't be any clash when it comes to the debt ceiling. It's Republicans that are dooming the nation if they block it, not Democrats.
"Both sides" reporting, especially, is having a devastating effect on this country. Understanding what the debt ceiling is, for a nonengaged political person, is tricky, but not accurately explaining what's happening and who is to blame is journalistic malpractice.
At least somebody in the beltway media is reporting on it properly.
Former New York Times reporter Catherine Rampell is now free to point out the obvious, as an opinion columnist for the Washington Post. “Democrats always have to be the grown-ups and prevent infantile Republicans from trashing the Constitution and causing a global catastrophe,” she writes. “[T]hat’s apparently how our government works now.”
Infantile Republicans.
That says it all.
