Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Kroog Versus Sovereign Default

Paul Krugman reminds us of what's at stake in the debt limit hostage situation, and they don't get much higher.

Think about it. There’s a significant chance that failing to raise the debt limit could provoke a renewed financial crisis — and Republicans would rather take that chance than allow a reduction in tax breaks on corporate jets.

What this says to me is that Obama cannot, must not, concede here. If he does, he’s signaling that the GOP can extract even the most outrageous demands; he’s setting himself up for endless blackmail. A line has to be drawn somewhere; it should have been drawn last fall; but to concede now would effectively mean the end of the presidency.

Quite frankly, that's what the GOP wants.  Sen. Mitch McConnell has said in the past that the GOP's number one priority is not jobs, not the economy, not the American people, but limiting Obama to being a one-term President.  He freely admitted as such.  They figure if Obama capitulates, the GOP gets everything they want and Obama gets blamed for it, and if he doesn't then the economy goes into recession or possibly a depression and the country votes him out.

Either way, they're perfectly okay with this.  So when a Republican says "our top priority" is anything but getting Barack Obama out of office, know they are lying to you.

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails