NY Times Editorial: A Republican Ransom Note (and a comment I just posted to it)

[markpkessinger]

Last edited Fri Sep 27, 2013, 02:30 PM - Edit history (1)

My comment follows the excerpt.

[font size=5]A Republican Ransom Note[/font]
[font size=1 color="gray"]By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: September 26, 2013 [/font]

On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent the House a very serious warning that, for the first time, the United States would be unable to pay its bills beginning on Oct. 17 if the debt ceiling is not lifted. House leaders responded on Thursday with one of the least serious negotiating proposals in modern Congressional history: a jaw-dropping list of ransom demands containing more than a dozen discredited Republican policy fantasies.

< . . . >

The list would be laughable if the threat were not so serious. A failure to raise the debt ceiling would cause a default on government debt, shattering the world’s faith in Treasury bonds as an investment vehicle and almost certainly bringing on another economic downturn. Unlike a government shutdown, a default could leave the Treasury without enough money to pay Social Security benefits or the paychecks of troops.

The full effects remain unknown because no Congress has ever allowed the government to go over the brink before. The Government Accountability Office estimated that simply by threatening to default in 2011, Republicans cost taxpayers $1.3 billion in higher interest payments because of that uncertainty. The 10-year cost of those higher-interest bonds is $18.9 billion.

< . . . >

To prevent the House from making every debt-ceiling increase an opportunity to issue extortionist demands for rejected policies they can achieve in no other way, the president has to put an end to the routine creation of emergencies once and for all by simply saying no.

And the text of my comment:

Mr. President, it is time to put an end to this nonsense once and for all, for the sake of both the immediate future as well as the long-term health of the country. As a citizen and taxpayer, I urge you to claim authority under Section IV of the 14th Amendment ("The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned&quot , and declare the debt ceiling to have been raised. No doubt, the House will respond by voting to impeach you, but the Senate does not have the two-thirds majority needed to convict you on such a scurrilous charge. Explain your action fully to the American people in a prime time address before you proceed; explain the risks, both immediate in terms of the economy, and longer term in terms of the right of the American people not to be held hostage to a minority party's ransom, and I believe you will have the support, as well as the deep admiration, of a solid majority of Americans.

I realize that battling an impeachment attempt was not how you envisioned spending the remainder of your time in office. But Mr. President, with all due respect, if you manage to put an end to this kind of minority rule-by-hostage-taking, you will leave a legacy that will be the envy of future Presidents for decades to come.

[Itchinjim]

1. Excellent editoral, excellent comment.

[Laelth]

2. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[kelliekat44]

3. Kick. I tried sending a pleas similar to this mto the WH.gov site but the site

declared my e-mail address I"invalid" I am delighted that this has been published in a major newspaper. I hopr the pundits at MSNBC and CNN will pick up on this. With some visible help from some Dem senators this kind of action by the President just might put the final nail in the GOP coffin.

[JRLeft]

4. The POTUS won't do it.

[cali]

5. thanks for posting this excellent editorial, mark

k&r

[magical thyme]

6. excellent commentary...can we borrow it?

I'm thinking to send it to senators and reps alike. They need to know where we stand on this nonsense.

[markpkessinger]

12. By all means ....

Feel free to borrow any or all of it.

[madokie]

7. I believe they've just about pushed this President to do just what you suggest

I'm fed up with them and I know a lot of other people are too. I even think the President is also.

[Orsino]

9. Hasn't he specifically taken this option off the table?

Or was that an announcement from a spokesman?

[madokie]

10. I haven't seen or heard it if he has

dig up me a link pls

[Orsino]

11. Link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/us/politics/23fiscal.html

It's near the end of the second page, and it is not clear that POTUS was absolutely ruling it out.

[DCBob]

8. I think we are heading for a serious confrontation.

The Repbulicans are in turmoil and cant unite on common strategy other than not agreeing to what Obama and Dems want. I think time is going to run out and there wont be an agreement. Given that scenario the President will have to step in and do something like claim this is a national security issue and simply instruct the the Treasury to ignore the debt ceiling. Then the fun will begin. The Republicans will go ballistic and claim he is acting like a dictator and I suppose impeachment will then be on the table.