If America thought that in electing more Republicans to Congress that the gridlock and partisan bickering would be a thing of the past, guess again. Not even 48 hours since the elections and a full two months before actually seeing the 112th Congress take their oaths of office and begin the session, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out a plan to ruin the global economy if the Republicans do not get their way.
At some point in the next year the United States will hit its statutory debt ceilling and would be barred from offering for sale further treasury bonds to raise money to operate. Unless Harry Reid and the Senate leadership revise the Senate rules, the Republicans could filibuster the bill authorizing the raised ceilling unless their demands are met.
In any other venue this would be called blackmail or extortion. These tactics could make the government shut-down of 1995 seem like a walk in the park. In an interview with Fox news he said that any cooperation would come with strings attatched and every Republican for the last two days has said thier first priority is to repeal healthcare so that Insurance companies can once again have the right to deny care and recind coverage to enough people so that they can exceed their earnings expectations.
To the Democrats in congress and the President I would say stand strong. It is clear that the Republicans are less in the mood for comrpimse now than they were in the last Congress. Let them run the game of brinksmanship and become the poster children if the global economy tanks. We as a nation have never bargained with terrorists and we should not kowtow to Boehner's and McConnell's strong arm tactics. Let them stall what is in the nation's and the world's best interest at their peril.
Currently, at least according to some economists, our deficit and debt load aren't as important as getting the economy back on track. That should be first priority, any piece of legislation that does not address this should never see debate in either house. We need to spend money on infrastructure and other projects that will take people off the unemployment roles and out working. Once we get stabilized, we do need to begin to get our taxes reworked so that we can get our government on a paying basis. Yes that means the inheritance tax, which only affects less than 5% of estates and serves to collect taxes on wealth that has been tax deferred, income and corporate taxes as well as the royalties on resource exploitation. We can come up with a fair and progressive system without loopholes so that everyone and every company can pay thier fair share and we an continue our investment in the future.
To the Republican Leadership....you got what you wanted....no you have to work on behalf of the American People and deliver. 2 more years of partisan bickering will not be accpetable. If you try to hold the world's economy hostage like some petty crook in a stick up gone bad, you do so at your peril. The world is watching....the voters will remember who forced the shutdown of the government if it comes to that and you will pay the price in 2 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment