It has been fascinating and frightening to watch the train wreck that the country’s leaders are speeding toward as they struggle with the twisted, convoluted politics of the U.S. debt ceiling, which, they say, must be raised by Tuesday, August 2. On the one hand, you want your guys to win and the other guys to lose, whoever that is. Or, maybe you just want them to agree to compromise on something to avoid the alleged coming disaster. Maybe you just want the bastards to budge just a little, already. Or you want them to hold fast and tank the thing and then see what happens, because you think the country can’t go on like this.
Like most of the people paying attention, and that’s a growing number at this point, I’m scratching my head wondering what more the Republicans could extract in this bargain, wondering how the Democrats could give up so much and still not get a deal.
Now, I’ve read the arguments for and against the President invoking Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that might just give him the ability to act unilaterally to raise the debt ceiling. He could get sued, could get impeached by the House but certainly not convicted by the Senate. Still, in all, I’d hope that he’d take that action to prevent what he felt would be an untenable disaster to the economy of the country and the world. It might be a better deal than what the Republicans are insisting upon and that many Democrats have agreed to just for the sake of getting this thing done — bleed to death cuts in government services while protecting the perks and tax loopholes for the wealthy.
Better yet would be for a coalition of the center to emerge (and there is not much time for emergences at this point) denying the substantial far right contingent in the House of Representatives its clout, simply outvoting it and moving to the point where the polls tell us the American people sit.
It will be a wild weekend. Hold on. ++
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