By now, it's probably dawning on some Republicans (not the band of nitwit freshmen in the House, of course or our Great National Homophobe, Michelle Bachmann), that you can't keep saying you're going to kill the hostage if you know it means your own suicide. People like Lindsey Graham and even the comical Tim Pawlenty are realizing that.
On the same token, Obama opened the door for these idiots by even agreeing at all to discuss conditions and concessions for raising the debt ceiling. He should have foreclosed that possibility from the beginning by using a loud and bully pulpit and framed the debate away from debt and towards the here-and-now jobs crisis. As it is, he let the Republicans define the tone of our entire economic debate (but that's another subject).
Within two weeks, something is going to have to give. It's absolutely stupid to try to push through massive reforms with no time left on the clock. So no grand bargain, no balanced budget amendment, no raising the qualifying age for Medicare.
We need to recognize we have a stalemate. And a stalemate means you start a new game. So here's a simple proposal:
- Congress raises the debt limit by whatever amount necessary to take us six months into the next presidential term. I suspect this is something like $2.5 trillion.
- There are no strings attached to the limit; no specified spending cuts and no tax increases. Congress goes about its business until January 2013 and passes budget resolutions and makes appropriations that they can agree to send to the president for his signature. If the GOP can slash spending for the time remaining in the Congressional term, let them do it.
- In the 2012 election, the two parties fight out the battle over the role of government that has been at the heart of this hostage crisis. The American people decide which path they want to take.
Here are the advantages for both sides:
- The hostage gets freed and the US doesn't default. The investment community and the adults in places of power are happy and relieved.
- The Republicans don't get blamed for ruining the economy.
- Obama and the Democrats can't lay claim to having cut spending and having solved a big national problem.
We really are at a point where it's time to move on and have an election that will sort all of this out. The 2010 election left us with divided government. While that works sometimes, in this case the new majority in the House is unusual--it's dominated by an ultra-radical wing that wants things their own way or else. The only way to deal with that at this point is to take the fight to the highest level possible--a presidential election.
The tea party can have its chance to sweep it all. They don't have to kill the hostage to acheive their goal. All they have to do is persuade enough of us that they're right.
Then the Democrats and the liberal elitists can set about beating them like a bad piece of meat.
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