When is a crisis not a crisis? When it's a stunt.
When a faction in Washington decides to hold the economy hostage instead of simply going through the basic procedure of raising the debt limit it is not a crisis.
It is theater. It is politics. It is a stunt.
In this instance, the faction claims they are holding out to reduce spending because, as everyone who watches Fox News 18 hours a day knows, spending is out of control.
And because spending is out of control, we should not raise the debt limit without cancelling spending plans already enacted as law.
And we believe this so hard we're willing to cause the country we've all taken an oath to protect and serve to default on its financial obligations.
In other words, the Republicans are saying screw the people we owe, like the military and the retirees. They can do without that monthly check. Let them sell their homes to get by. And if the economy goes into recession, which is likely because of this, too bad.
We're going to pull a stunt to get what we want and our partners on television will call it a crisis. What we're sure they won't do is tell you about the CBO report that puts our debt problem solidly in a different place.
If the Republicans in congress were serious about dealing with a debt crisis they'd be raising revenue, not cutting spending.
In a report released last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office showed extending the infamous Trump Tax cuts for corporations and billionaires would increase the debt by 3.5 trillion dollars by 2033. The Republicans holding the economy hostage are pushing to extend those tax cuts.
Those same reports show that the combined Bush and Trump tax cuts, since the year 2001, have added nearly 10 trillion dollars to the overall deficit and are responsible for 57 percent of the increase in the debt ratio in that time. Spending's portion of the debt ratio has decreased the last two years.
Without those tax cuts for corporations and business, the debt ratio would be on a decreasing trajectory instead of increasing. Tax cuts were all sold to working people on the basis of "paying for themselves" through the magic of trickle down.
Trickle down works on the same magic as pyramid schemes. The magic of you being too foolish to notice us stealing from you.
Ten trillion added to the national debt is stealing from you. Your roads, your emergency services, your schools, your hospitals, all suffered because somebody stole ten trillion dollars from you. Their tax breaks increased costs on each and every one of you.
But those guys just want to break more contracts. They want to make it harder on everyone who doesn't belong to their country club. Especially the ones who work at their country club.
What is happening in the White House between Biden and Wannabe Joe McCarthy is not a discussion over the debt ceiling. It's a hostage negotiation with the kidnappers. The kidnappers are the 3 stooges.
Can we start referring to congressional Republicans as crisis actors?