Why Conventional Wisdom is Wrong on Debt Ceiling Fight
Why is Obama Smiling?
Obama has the Republicans just where he wants them. They are stuck with policies and tactics that are hugely unpopular--and their standing will only get worse.
No, this debt ceiling fight is not good for the country, and the crisis is a real crisis. The Tea Party people who think that threatening to default on our obligations, or actually defaulting, is a good thing are certainly wrong. Our credibility, which is in this case to say our "ability to get credit," is part of our national interest. Threatening not to make good on money already spent and bonds already sold is not a good idea for us.
However, the idea that the two-step process that Boehner and the House Republicans are pushing is Obama's most horrible nightmare is just politically wrong. To be certain, revisiting this mess in six months or a year would not be good for the nation, just as this is not good for that nation right now. However, it would be a political gift to Obama and the Democrats.
Most of the public hates the bickering in Washington and the stubborn inflexibility of the Tea Party members of Congress. That enmity is staining the regular conservative Republican members. The taking hostage of the debt ceiling debate by a relatively few Tea Party members is frightening big business and Chamber of Commerce types who supported the Tea Party only one summer ago. Business interests took back the Congress but at a price many already regret.
Speaker Boehner is being weakened because he can't sell his Tea Party people that politics is indeed "the art of compromise." Eric Cantor, second in what passes for command, has been actively working to replace Boehner by being the Tea Party's best friend forever. Now even Cantor is starting to shift towards accommodation. Both are beginning to understand how Robespierre felt just before being devoured by his own revolutionaries.
Having to relive this dysfunction in six months or a year, right in the heart of our national election, cannot be a Republican dream. It would be a showcase of Obama's seeming reasonableness and of Tea Party--and by extension Republican--intransigence.
We are involved in a bad and costly self-inflicted wounding of our national standing and worldwide reputation. It is best for all to settle this long-term. However, politically speaking, revisiting the scene of this criminal stupidity will help, not harm, Obama and the Democrats.
©2011 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
A good interpretation of the situation, as usual.
If our elected don't reach an agreement, we, the lowly public, are in for a very rough time and we would be ripe for a wealthy country to call in our debts and then where would the good ol' USA be? I am concerned for our longevity as a world power.
This must be the song of the week. I hear balladeers from all the major pubs, from the WSJ to the NYT singing this tune, and now I hear strains of it from the Daily News.
WAKE UP PEOPLE! These “journalists” are no longer doing the job you thought they were. They are not reporting, but rather singing off the sheet music as provided by major political interests. Don’t you get it? BOTH Dems AND Repubs are afraid of the TEA Party. The Washington elite are desperate to stick to the status quo, in which their power structure is more clearly defined and respected. But the situation the country is in right now is not “business as usual”, and status quo won’t cut it. The TEA Party is right to eschew compromise in this budget battle.
Oh wait, I can hear the orchestra tuning up in the background. Apparently I have been preempted, for another chorus of TEA Party naysayers.