Republicans haven't gone wobbly on the debt ceiling debate, but in the House they are laying a trap for themselves that will leave them holding the bag for any downgrade or default on America's sovereign debt.
President Obama, as he indicated Friday, still demands that significant tax hikes be a part of any debt ceiling deal. But as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday, "Republicans will not be reduced to being the tax collectors for the Obama economy ... We won't be seduced into calling a bad deal a good one." So far, so good.
But there's a lot of loose Republican talk -- magnified a hundredfold by the media -- that we shouldn't worry about a default. That plays into Obama's hand. He's perfectly willing to drive our economy into a downgrade or a default as long as he can blame it on Republicans. Conservatives mustn't position themselves as fiscal "dead-enders." They have to force Obama to avert these disasters on their terms, and they can.
Jed Babbin served as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum andIn the Words of Our Enemies.
It certainly SHOULD be blamed on Republicans!
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans are the ones who put us here, where we are!