Apr 18, 2023·edited Apr 18, 2023Liked by Robert Reich
I agree, Bob. Raising the debt limit is not negotiable. PERIOD. Discussions about the debt limit should be completely separate from talks concerning the annual budget and budget deficit. We can not be held hostage by Republicans who want to conflate debt with deficits. Simply irresponsible!
The Trump administration added a whopping $7 trillion to the national debt!
The Republicans have shown us over and over that they have no idea how to govern!
TRUMP’S ELECTION WAS GROUND ZERO!
Republican voters don’t want any part of a Republican party that looks anything like it did before 2016. Trump’s administration was a culmination of forty years of Republican attempts to get rid of taxes and regulations by insisting that anyone calling for business regulation and a basic social safety net was a socialist who wanted to redistribute tax dollars from hardworking white men to minorities and women. But the racism, sexism, and religion in that formula used to be the quieter undertones of the call for small government. Now, though, the party is openly embracing the replacement of democracy with a strong government that would make white Christian nationalism the law of the land.
If Kevin McCarthy REALLY wants to avert default on the debt ceiling and the fiscal calamity that it will bring down on the nation, he’d round up the mere half-dozen of the most moderate members of his caucus needed, the ones who genuinely despise the radicals leading him around by a ring in his nose, and join with the Democrats to raise the ceiling (since the bill cannot be brought to the House floor without the Speaker’s assent).
But McCarthy is interested only in being Speaker — much in the way that George W. Bush wanted to be elected president without much enthusiasm for actually BEING president once the Supreme Court, acting in an arena in which it actually had no legal authority, handed him the presidency — not in serving the interests of the nation or, for the most part, his own constituents.
"If the mainstream media gets the debt ceiling wrong, how do we expect most Americans to get it right?"
By telling the truth: the national debt is NOT the same things as the deficit. Apparently, Jake Tapper et al haven't understood this. The debt includes the deficit, of course, but it also includes money Americans owe other Americans, so it's a nebulous concept that includes stuff like economic activity - so it can be a sign of economic activity.
The only thing you have to know is that throughout the 19th Century, at the peak of its wealth and power, Great Britain had a national debt that ran 150% of GDP, that's quite a bit higher than current US national debt. Yes, the Victorians ran a huge national debt, but kept their deficit under control.
The national debt is NOT a big deal. It's really depressing that this is even a news item. The "debt ceiling" is an artificial concept that goes up automatically because of inflation. It should be scrapped.
This should be the Democratic talking points in response to all questions/ misinformation about the republican created “debt crisis”. Reich is so clear and strong. And start all responses by saying Rubbish! Or Baloney!😝
Republican donors hold the key cards. They don’t want the GOP to tank the economy and send their bottom lines into free fall. That’s why Dems have always been able to count on calling their bluffs to this point. Without huge billionaire and corporate donors, the GOP has NO nationwide leverage to keep power in the future.
Let’s do an end-around on this GOP game of chicken. Why don’t Dems in the Senate introduce a bill to eliminate the debt ceiling forever? It has never acted as anything but a political leverage tool since its inception. Force the House Republicans to vote against our nation’s solvency and see how their next elections turn out.
Regrettably, much of the electorate are unaware that Republicans, who campaign, and falsely claim they will govern, on a promise of fiscal responsibility, under a Democratic administration, conflate voting to raise the debt ceiling with spending money we don’t have. As media coverage indicates, we’ve done a lousy job of explaining 1) the immediate domestic and global consequences of the U.S. defaulting on its loan payments and 2) that raising the debt ceiling doesn’t give the government permission to borrow more money; it gives the government permission to pay back the money we’ve already borrowed.
As with other issues, I believe much of the responsibility rests with us to press our public representatives to drive this message home. Along these same lines, I believe it’s long past due that we recall Lincoln’s thoughts on “public sentiment,” which he advised “is everything,” further noting that “With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed….”
Of course, The very wealthy's minions want to argue that it's the working class and the Democrats who are responsible for the 'debt ceiling'. The Republicans will try to use this to 'win' in 2024. Everybody 'knows' that "It's the economy, stupid" ; That lazy non-thinking knee jerk cop out brings the party that is raping our country back into power to rape it some more. The modest, urgently needed infrastructure bill passed by President Biden was overdue, and not really enough. The glaring reality of tRump's tax cuts for the billionaires are hardly mentioned, like 'Senior' justice Clarence Thomas' undeclared gifts from a Nazi loving benefactor. I hope Biden and the Democrats don't cave on this one. Instead of illegitimate investigations into Alvin Bragg, there should be an investigation into where George Santos' campaign money came from and the other three 'Congress members' he shared the dark money with, who also have questionable resumes. Was Congress stolen?
This is the fight over the debt ceiling: Republicans
want to tackle the deficit by CUTTING SPENDING on:
medicare/medicaid, affordable healthcare & social security( although I haven’t been able to figure out
exactly why social security has anything to do with
spending since it’s funded separately from the budget.)
In other words, the gop insists on making average Americans pay down the deficit by taking away our medicare/medicaid, affordable care, social security, SNAP nutritional supplements & school lunches, which to me, are the most basic necessities of life.
Democrats want to tackle the deficit, not by cutting spending, but by bringing in more money. We can do that by making corporations & the rich pay their taxes instead of sheltering income and using tax loopholes that are only available to wealthy people & corporations.
It’s important to note that republicans cater to big business, corporations & the wealthy because they
get huge campaign donations from them and for all we know, also get free vacations on luxury yachts.In other words, it’s preferable to republicans to force us to give up basic necessities of life so they can keep collecting huge campaign donations and free vacations or whatever, from corporations and rich people.
That’s it. Does that seem fair to you, because it doesn’t seem fair to me. The purpose of a democratic government isn’t to cater to the rich.
Although the republican party has been catering
to the rich for a decade or two, it has finally become
frighteningly obvious that’s what they’re doing--at our expense.
The current GOP are masters of disinformation, and the rest of us are terrible at counter arguments, or even getting the media to help out in positive ways. Are we doomed to this pyrric situation forever? I think if the GOP is successful, and our economy and our global credit suffer, the repercussions will be huge, and maybe will even finally indermine all the awful legislation that has been pushed through by the current GOP. Raising the "debt limit", more properly called the "deadbeat limit", as you say, Mr. Reich, is, indeed, imperative.
An article on exactly what would take place with the Treasury in default would be helpful. Readers need to know their money market accounts are held in treasuries and the global collapse that would follow.
Shouldn't we be expecting the current administration to be all over the media telling the truth??!
Why is the reporting on Biden about a jolly trip to Ireland, tears shed, overwrought hoopla - and malarkey! and meanwhile, back here at the ranch, all hell continues to break loose.
I saw Jamal Bowman on MSNBC tonight and was VERY impressed with him and was not previously much aware of him. That man has leadership qualities and the Democratic Party needs people with leadership qualities, attention to real issues and spines!
It's a good thing that you, at least, are calling out the media on their imputation of moral equivalence. Maybe we need a book on false equivalences and unjustified neutralities. Meanwhile, Scientific American brought out an excellent special issue "Truth vs Lies" in Fall 2022. Maybe someone should ask them to publish the material as a book, as Scientfiic American have done in the past with material from the magazine. Perhaps they should invite you as a special additional contributor on Political Economy!
I agree, Bob. Raising the debt limit is not negotiable. PERIOD. Discussions about the debt limit should be completely separate from talks concerning the annual budget and budget deficit. We can not be held hostage by Republicans who want to conflate debt with deficits. Simply irresponsible!
The Trump administration added a whopping $7 trillion to the national debt!
The Republicans have shown us over and over that they have no idea how to govern!
TRUMP’S ELECTION WAS GROUND ZERO!
Republican voters don’t want any part of a Republican party that looks anything like it did before 2016. Trump’s administration was a culmination of forty years of Republican attempts to get rid of taxes and regulations by insisting that anyone calling for business regulation and a basic social safety net was a socialist who wanted to redistribute tax dollars from hardworking white men to minorities and women. But the racism, sexism, and religion in that formula used to be the quieter undertones of the call for small government. Now, though, the party is openly embracing the replacement of democracy with a strong government that would make white Christian nationalism the law of the land.
If Kevin McCarthy REALLY wants to avert default on the debt ceiling and the fiscal calamity that it will bring down on the nation, he’d round up the mere half-dozen of the most moderate members of his caucus needed, the ones who genuinely despise the radicals leading him around by a ring in his nose, and join with the Democrats to raise the ceiling (since the bill cannot be brought to the House floor without the Speaker’s assent).
But McCarthy is interested only in being Speaker — much in the way that George W. Bush wanted to be elected president without much enthusiasm for actually BEING president once the Supreme Court, acting in an arena in which it actually had no legal authority, handed him the presidency — not in serving the interests of the nation or, for the most part, his own constituents.
"If the mainstream media gets the debt ceiling wrong, how do we expect most Americans to get it right?"
By telling the truth: the national debt is NOT the same things as the deficit. Apparently, Jake Tapper et al haven't understood this. The debt includes the deficit, of course, but it also includes money Americans owe other Americans, so it's a nebulous concept that includes stuff like economic activity - so it can be a sign of economic activity.
The only thing you have to know is that throughout the 19th Century, at the peak of its wealth and power, Great Britain had a national debt that ran 150% of GDP, that's quite a bit higher than current US national debt. Yes, the Victorians ran a huge national debt, but kept their deficit under control.
The national debt is NOT a big deal. It's really depressing that this is even a news item. The "debt ceiling" is an artificial concept that goes up automatically because of inflation. It should be scrapped.
This should be the Democratic talking points in response to all questions/ misinformation about the republican created “debt crisis”. Reich is so clear and strong. And start all responses by saying Rubbish! Or Baloney!😝
It really sets the correct tone. 🤓
Isn’t it about time the media loudly chastised the media?
Get Jon Stewart- where’s that pit bull tie-in?
Republican donors hold the key cards. They don’t want the GOP to tank the economy and send their bottom lines into free fall. That’s why Dems have always been able to count on calling their bluffs to this point. Without huge billionaire and corporate donors, the GOP has NO nationwide leverage to keep power in the future.
Let’s do an end-around on this GOP game of chicken. Why don’t Dems in the Senate introduce a bill to eliminate the debt ceiling forever? It has never acted as anything but a political leverage tool since its inception. Force the House Republicans to vote against our nation’s solvency and see how their next elections turn out.
Excellent as always. The media profits from division, so they fuel it.
Regrettably, much of the electorate are unaware that Republicans, who campaign, and falsely claim they will govern, on a promise of fiscal responsibility, under a Democratic administration, conflate voting to raise the debt ceiling with spending money we don’t have. As media coverage indicates, we’ve done a lousy job of explaining 1) the immediate domestic and global consequences of the U.S. defaulting on its loan payments and 2) that raising the debt ceiling doesn’t give the government permission to borrow more money; it gives the government permission to pay back the money we’ve already borrowed.
As with other issues, I believe much of the responsibility rests with us to press our public representatives to drive this message home. Along these same lines, I believe it’s long past due that we recall Lincoln’s thoughts on “public sentiment,” which he advised “is everything,” further noting that “With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed….”
Of course, The very wealthy's minions want to argue that it's the working class and the Democrats who are responsible for the 'debt ceiling'. The Republicans will try to use this to 'win' in 2024. Everybody 'knows' that "It's the economy, stupid" ; That lazy non-thinking knee jerk cop out brings the party that is raping our country back into power to rape it some more. The modest, urgently needed infrastructure bill passed by President Biden was overdue, and not really enough. The glaring reality of tRump's tax cuts for the billionaires are hardly mentioned, like 'Senior' justice Clarence Thomas' undeclared gifts from a Nazi loving benefactor. I hope Biden and the Democrats don't cave on this one. Instead of illegitimate investigations into Alvin Bragg, there should be an investigation into where George Santos' campaign money came from and the other three 'Congress members' he shared the dark money with, who also have questionable resumes. Was Congress stolen?
This is the fight over the debt ceiling: Republicans
want to tackle the deficit by CUTTING SPENDING on:
medicare/medicaid, affordable healthcare & social security( although I haven’t been able to figure out
exactly why social security has anything to do with
spending since it’s funded separately from the budget.)
In other words, the gop insists on making average Americans pay down the deficit by taking away our medicare/medicaid, affordable care, social security, SNAP nutritional supplements & school lunches, which to me, are the most basic necessities of life.
Democrats want to tackle the deficit, not by cutting spending, but by bringing in more money. We can do that by making corporations & the rich pay their taxes instead of sheltering income and using tax loopholes that are only available to wealthy people & corporations.
It’s important to note that republicans cater to big business, corporations & the wealthy because they
get huge campaign donations from them and for all we know, also get free vacations on luxury yachts.In other words, it’s preferable to republicans to force us to give up basic necessities of life so they can keep collecting huge campaign donations and free vacations or whatever, from corporations and rich people.
That’s it. Does that seem fair to you, because it doesn’t seem fair to me. The purpose of a democratic government isn’t to cater to the rich.
Although the republican party has been catering
to the rich for a decade or two, it has finally become
frighteningly obvious that’s what they’re doing--at our expense.
The current GOP are masters of disinformation, and the rest of us are terrible at counter arguments, or even getting the media to help out in positive ways. Are we doomed to this pyrric situation forever? I think if the GOP is successful, and our economy and our global credit suffer, the repercussions will be huge, and maybe will even finally indermine all the awful legislation that has been pushed through by the current GOP. Raising the "debt limit", more properly called the "deadbeat limit", as you say, Mr. Reich, is, indeed, imperative.
An article on exactly what would take place with the Treasury in default would be helpful. Readers need to know their money market accounts are held in treasuries and the global collapse that would follow.
Shouldn't we be expecting the current administration to be all over the media telling the truth??!
Why is the reporting on Biden about a jolly trip to Ireland, tears shed, overwrought hoopla - and malarkey! and meanwhile, back here at the ranch, all hell continues to break loose.
I saw Jamal Bowman on MSNBC tonight and was VERY impressed with him and was not previously much aware of him. That man has leadership qualities and the Democratic Party needs people with leadership qualities, attention to real issues and spines!
The GOP parades its arrogant ignorance as if they had civilized spines and as if they had even a little bit of knowledge. It’s dispiriting.
It's a good thing that you, at least, are calling out the media on their imputation of moral equivalence. Maybe we need a book on false equivalences and unjustified neutralities. Meanwhile, Scientific American brought out an excellent special issue "Truth vs Lies" in Fall 2022. Maybe someone should ask them to publish the material as a book, as Scientfiic American have done in the past with material from the magazine. Perhaps they should invite you as a special additional contributor on Political Economy!