All Republicans Want in Exchange for Not Destroying the Economy Is Everything

[babylonsister]

All Republicans Want in Exchange for Not Destroying the Economy Is Everything



Republicans gave The National Review a draft of their starting point for negotiations with President Obama on the debt ceiling. It's jaw-dropping.

A quick reminder: the debt ceiling is the amount the government is allowed to borrow in order to pay bills accrued by Congress. Here is what the Republicans offer:

Suspend the debt limit until December 2014.

Delay Obamacare for a year.

Include tax reform measures along the lines of the Rep. Paul Ryan principles.

Agree to a slew of environmental issues: Approve the Keystone pipeline, kill EPA clean air and climate regulations, increase drilling.

Approve "regulatory reforms" including the REINS Act, which would basically gut the executive authority to make any regulations.

Implement spending cuts, including reforming retirement programs, the child tax credit ("to prevent fraud&quot , and, of course, ending Dodd-Frank.

Reforming health spending, including tort reform.

This is literally every policy priority of the Republican Party. This is hostage-taking, not politics. "We have been unable to pass our core priorities because voters keep electing Democrats to the Senate and the White House so we are asking that in order to prevent the economic catastrophe of a debt ceiling default, you sign off on doing everything we have ever wanted, is that OK with you, yes / no?"

Some of these things, we will also note, are complete non-starters from a legal perspective. The EPA climate regulations, for example, are essentially mandated by the Supreme Court. George W. Bush dragged his feet on implementing regulations, but lawsuits from various environmental organizations helped force the issue. Adding that to a completely unrelated political measure is pure denial.

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http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/09/all-republicans-want-not-destroy-economy-everything/69895/