Friends, Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden reached a deal last night to raise the debt ceiling and prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations. Is it a good deal? Who will bear the burden? Should it have ever gotten to this point? Did Biden blow it?
This was a crisis manufactured by Speaker McCarthy. He does not deserve any praise. In fact, we should all be condemning him for creating this crisis. He and his Republican colleagues never showed any concern about government spending when there was a Republican President. For the good of the county, the Biden Administration must find a way to prevent Hill Republicans from hijacking the debt ceiling issue in the future like they just did. This whole episode is pure partisan politics that is dangerous to the US economy. Shame on Speaker McCarthy for creating this crisis in the first place and shame on all those Republicans who facilitated the debt accumulation under the previous Administration and now have suddenly decided the government needs to address its debt problem.
This is small potatoes. Two things matter. First, regain the House in 2 years. Second, hold onto the Senate and White House.
Then we can get rid of this budget process and make the 14th Amendment rule clear that any budget passed is paid for. We must also add 4 seats to SCOTUS including a new Chief Justice. Let them undo citizens United and reinstate the voting rights act.
This never should have gotten to this point. A country that moves in fits and starts, bouncing from crisis to crisis is what happens when people who aren't serious about governing get elected. As Professors Reich and HCR have often noted, the MAGAs have a mission of making government dysfunctional to force it to fail and prove their point that it doesn't work. If they don't accomplish that, then they try to starve it of funds at every turn.
Imagine a large faction of employees hired to a Fortune 500 that constantly thwarts its efforts to make it fail and prove their claim it is poorly managed. That company would fire those saboteurs. In our Congress they're elected and reelected.
I'm glad it appears the country may avert default but I fear Biden likely achieved it by allowing the sacrifice of poor and working people on the altar of Republican greed.
I am extremely disappointed.It should never have come to this.This should never have been negotiated.There is no dealing with appeasement to fascists and history will bear out this truth.I fully support our POTUS but believe he has weakened himself and our party with any kind of deal.
Here we go again. How do parents pay for child care so they can work? My experience is most people who can find jobs and are able will work. If they work at the local casino they may not have paid sick time, and will get points for every time they are out sick or out caring for a sick child. After only a few points they will be fired. We did this once before and, at least where I lived it didn’t work. Mentally ill patients who are forced to work may worsen under the stress of a job, especially if they need child care. How will these people get to work? Bus transportation in the area where I worked involved walking to a bus stop, getting off to transfer to another bus, etc. The ignorance of what it means to be truly poor is astounding. How about disabled people? And the selfishness of those who would take away from the needy in order to essentially make up for welfare for the rich is unconscionable. There are now people who are working who get food cards, because they work at pitifully low paying jobs. I hope that these issues are taken in to consideration when choosing who loses their food stamps for not working. Of course I don’t know the details. They tried workfare and that didn’t work. Not that the Republicans care.
" Republicans have succeeded in holding the nation hostage, and now we have to pay the ransom that’s been negotiated."
This is the real lesson to be learned: The vast majority of today’s Republican Party is neither familiar with nor cares about the concept of governance. Diktat and fiat they know, but not governance.
This is a total travesty of justice and sanity. They should have invoked the 14th Amendment when it first started. There would have been time to take it through the courts. Sure it has to pass, but I feel totally betrayed and feel for those parents who will have to scramble for child care and end up earning just about nothing, basically slaves to a barbaric ideology.
Hope the Democrats don’t trade away the increased appropriation for the IRS . That is vital for restoring fairness to the economic inequality in our society . And raising revenue that can sustain social spending programs.
The more fundamental issue is the future of the debt ceiling legislation. The law must be reversed. That is the priority for the Democrats and should be a primary election issue. These contrived crises every couple of years damage our economy, raise interest rates and cost us credibility. End it .
If the deal goes through then the economy will continue to improve. Trump has a good chance of going to jail. The crazies will continue to be bizarre and ridiculous. M T Greene and George Santos will be the image of the party. DeSantis will be seen for who he is-- a miserable power hungry, bigot.
It’s on to 2024 and giving Grampa Biden ( 2 years older than me) both houses of Congress!
This should have never been the point of discussion in the first place. Some guards rails should be put in place to avoid such abusive use of power by the speaker of the house in the future.
Okay. Sign on and agree for now. Then in every county in the whole country, go door to door talking to voters about what the people need and deserve. And have a strong message on the details of how we get there from here.
Republicans caused this. Democrats are being the adults in the room. Again. And again and again.
Stop whining. Pull up our collective socks and re-elect Biden, take back the House, and increase the margin in the Senate.
If the good people of Santos’ districted had sussed him out and elected a democrat, McCarthy’s bill would not have passed. If just one of those new red districts in NY or Florida had gone blue, McCarthy’s bill would have failed. If just a 547 voters in Colorado had voted for Democrat Adam Frisch, McCarthy’s bill would have failed. If there had been just one more sane normal Republican vote, McCarthy’s bill would have failed.
Once that bill passed, it took away much of the leverage the democrats might have had.
So, what do you want Biden to do? He is not dealing with normal sane people. He is dealing with people who want him and the Dems to fail and they see defaulting as a way to make that happen. The Unfreedom caucus is on record as saying that. As is the twice impeached, sex assaulter, criminal defendant, insurrectionist, former guy.
The alternative stealth bill that would “only require 5 sane Republican votes” isn’t going to happen. There aren’t those votes to be had.
Invoking the 14th amendment to pay the bills will be tied up in court, undermining the credibility of the USA. Would you lend money to the government under those circumstances?
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for providing this forum to discuss this maddening matter in a reasonable way. Someday the strategic debt weapon will be a thing of the past like slavery and segregation. It’s a cynical construction that never should have been allowed to stand.
Disappointing. All because Biden was unwilling to enforce the Constitution that should take precedence over these silly debt ceilings.
This was a crisis manufactured by Speaker McCarthy. He does not deserve any praise. In fact, we should all be condemning him for creating this crisis. He and his Republican colleagues never showed any concern about government spending when there was a Republican President. For the good of the county, the Biden Administration must find a way to prevent Hill Republicans from hijacking the debt ceiling issue in the future like they just did. This whole episode is pure partisan politics that is dangerous to the US economy. Shame on Speaker McCarthy for creating this crisis in the first place and shame on all those Republicans who facilitated the debt accumulation under the previous Administration and now have suddenly decided the government needs to address its debt problem.
This is small potatoes. Two things matter. First, regain the House in 2 years. Second, hold onto the Senate and White House.
Then we can get rid of this budget process and make the 14th Amendment rule clear that any budget passed is paid for. We must also add 4 seats to SCOTUS including a new Chief Justice. Let them undo citizens United and reinstate the voting rights act.
This never should have gotten to this point. A country that moves in fits and starts, bouncing from crisis to crisis is what happens when people who aren't serious about governing get elected. As Professors Reich and HCR have often noted, the MAGAs have a mission of making government dysfunctional to force it to fail and prove their point that it doesn't work. If they don't accomplish that, then they try to starve it of funds at every turn.
Imagine a large faction of employees hired to a Fortune 500 that constantly thwarts its efforts to make it fail and prove their claim it is poorly managed. That company would fire those saboteurs. In our Congress they're elected and reelected.
I'm glad it appears the country may avert default but I fear Biden likely achieved it by allowing the sacrifice of poor and working people on the altar of Republican greed.
I am extremely disappointed.It should never have come to this.This should never have been negotiated.There is no dealing with appeasement to fascists and history will bear out this truth.I fully support our POTUS but believe he has weakened himself and our party with any kind of deal.
I know, Robert Reich what you say is correct but it still makes me sick.
Here we go again. How do parents pay for child care so they can work? My experience is most people who can find jobs and are able will work. If they work at the local casino they may not have paid sick time, and will get points for every time they are out sick or out caring for a sick child. After only a few points they will be fired. We did this once before and, at least where I lived it didn’t work. Mentally ill patients who are forced to work may worsen under the stress of a job, especially if they need child care. How will these people get to work? Bus transportation in the area where I worked involved walking to a bus stop, getting off to transfer to another bus, etc. The ignorance of what it means to be truly poor is astounding. How about disabled people? And the selfishness of those who would take away from the needy in order to essentially make up for welfare for the rich is unconscionable. There are now people who are working who get food cards, because they work at pitifully low paying jobs. I hope that these issues are taken in to consideration when choosing who loses their food stamps for not working. Of course I don’t know the details. They tried workfare and that didn’t work. Not that the Republicans care.
" Republicans have succeeded in holding the nation hostage, and now we have to pay the ransom that’s been negotiated."
This is the real lesson to be learned: The vast majority of today’s Republican Party is neither familiar with nor cares about the concept of governance. Diktat and fiat they know, but not governance.
Wise statements. It may be hard to swallow - but we’re here. Just hope voters remember who caused this debacle come 2024!
This is a total travesty of justice and sanity. They should have invoked the 14th Amendment when it first started. There would have been time to take it through the courts. Sure it has to pass, but I feel totally betrayed and feel for those parents who will have to scramble for child care and end up earning just about nothing, basically slaves to a barbaric ideology.
Hope the Democrats don’t trade away the increased appropriation for the IRS . That is vital for restoring fairness to the economic inequality in our society . And raising revenue that can sustain social spending programs.
The more fundamental issue is the future of the debt ceiling legislation. The law must be reversed. That is the priority for the Democrats and should be a primary election issue. These contrived crises every couple of years damage our economy, raise interest rates and cost us credibility. End it .
If the deal goes through then the economy will continue to improve. Trump has a good chance of going to jail. The crazies will continue to be bizarre and ridiculous. M T Greene and George Santos will be the image of the party. DeSantis will be seen for who he is-- a miserable power hungry, bigot.
It’s on to 2024 and giving Grampa Biden ( 2 years older than me) both houses of Congress!
This should have never been the point of discussion in the first place. Some guards rails should be put in place to avoid such abusive use of power by the speaker of the house in the future.
Okay. Sign on and agree for now. Then in every county in the whole country, go door to door talking to voters about what the people need and deserve. And have a strong message on the details of how we get there from here.
Republicans caused this. Democrats are being the adults in the room. Again. And again and again.
Stop whining. Pull up our collective socks and re-elect Biden, take back the House, and increase the margin in the Senate.
If the good people of Santos’ districted had sussed him out and elected a democrat, McCarthy’s bill would not have passed. If just one of those new red districts in NY or Florida had gone blue, McCarthy’s bill would have failed. If just a 547 voters in Colorado had voted for Democrat Adam Frisch, McCarthy’s bill would have failed. If there had been just one more sane normal Republican vote, McCarthy’s bill would have failed.
Once that bill passed, it took away much of the leverage the democrats might have had.
So, what do you want Biden to do? He is not dealing with normal sane people. He is dealing with people who want him and the Dems to fail and they see defaulting as a way to make that happen. The Unfreedom caucus is on record as saying that. As is the twice impeached, sex assaulter, criminal defendant, insurrectionist, former guy.
The alternative stealth bill that would “only require 5 sane Republican votes” isn’t going to happen. There aren’t those votes to be had.
Invoking the 14th amendment to pay the bills will be tied up in court, undermining the credibility of the USA. Would you lend money to the government under those circumstances?
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for providing this forum to discuss this maddening matter in a reasonable way. Someday the strategic debt weapon will be a thing of the past like slavery and segregation. It’s a cynical construction that never should have been allowed to stand.