House Republicans have moved off the simple statement that they don’t have to bring any bill up for a vote that they don’t want to, which is true – absent a successful ‘discharge petition’. So now they’re stuck on this point that a ‘clean’ continuing resolution can’t pass the House. There are pretty good reasons to believe that is not true. But the bravado is totally belied by the fact that they’re afraid to bring it up for a vote.
Ridiculousness is a seriously devalued commodity in Washington these days. But this is one of those claims that is so preposterous that I’m not sure it can hold as an argument. It brings into increasingly sharp relief that the root of the national crisis is the Tea Party factions hold on the House GOP conference and thus the House and thus, alas, the entire country.
If only Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was alive to tell this story.
TPM Reader PP:
I’m sure this isn’t a perspective lost on anyone, but has anyone asked the reps who want to breach the debt limit because it won’t be such a big deal why they think it is that they have such a great tool of leverage for extracting things with?
It seems that they want to have it both ways: They want the debt ceiling issue to be some hugely important thing to avoid in order to be able to get someone they would never ever be able to get by normal means, but they then want it to be “no big deal!” so they aren’t to be painted as people willing to light our country on fire.
Bill Moyers: Let’s call the shutdown what it is — secession by another means.
The Supreme Court is hearing oral argument this morning in the next big campaign finance case. Our Sahil Kapur is there. Look for his report later this morning.
Not terribly surprised that Carl Bernstein is one of them. But let’s record the major media figures who are willing to talk honestly about what’s happening in Washington. Here’s Bernstein. Watch.
And remember ABC’s Rick Klein and John Harwood from yesterday.
When approaching the cliff at top speed, do you (a) deny it’s a cliff; (b) deny gravity; (c) pretend it’s not going to hurt much; or (d) all of the above? Meet your government default denialists.
House Republican, Scott Garrett explains what his colleagues need to get if they’re not going to force a credit default. “They may try to throw the kitchen sink at the debt limit, but I don’t think our conference will be amenable for settling for a collection of things after we’ve fought so hard. If it doesn’t have a full delay or defund of Obamacare, I know I and many others will not be able to support whatever the leadership proposes. If it’s just a repeal of the medical-device tax, or chained CPI, that won’t be enough.” (emphasis added)
Something big is required because they’ve “fought so hard.”
Scared yet?
I’m a little bit out of my territory here. But I wanted to address one point that comes up repeatedly as sane people consider the prospect of the United States government defaulting on its debt obligations. Is there no escape hatch? No in extremis lever the President can pull to protect the country and the whole global economy from such cataclysmic damage?
Answer: no. Explanation: after the jump.