Copeland's Corner: May 18, 2023
Our economy is being held hostage by right-wing Congressional terrorists.
I was never a big fan of Ronald Reagan. His rise to power by demonizing the poor, the “have-nots” and those categorized as the “other” I found despicable growing up as a poor child and I still do. However, there is one position he took that I agreed with then and I still believe in today: DON’T NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS. Once you do that, you openly encourage further acts of terrorism when extremists want to extract concessions of some kind from you. Whether Reagan held to that declaration or not is up for debate, but the principle itself is sound.
The United States of America will run out of money and be unable to pay the debts that it has already incurred on June 1, 2023 unless Congress does its job and raises the debt ceiling. This action has ZERO to do with spending or the budget, this is about paying debts we already owe as a nation. For the last several years, whenever there has been a Democrat in the White House and a Republican-controlled Congress, suddenly they GOP is concerned about debt and spending and hold the economy hostage by refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless a list of draconian cuts that primarily fall on the backs of the poor and the “other” are implemented.
Again, this is only a problem when a Democrat is in the White House. When Donald Trump was President, the Republicans in congress raised the debt ceiling three times without incident or acrimony. It was done on a bipartisan basis, as it should be. The Trump Presidency is a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the Republicans when it comes to spending. As of today, the National Debt stands at 30.9 trillion dollars. Trump’s share of that, primarily due to the massive tax giveaway to the rich and corporations during his tenure, is 7.8 trillion dollars. That means that 25% of the entire National Debt in the history of the union was run up by Trump and a Republican Congress. They increased the debt by one-fourth, but when there is a Democratic President, it’s a problem.
Our economy is being held hostage by right-wing Congressional terrorists. A default will affect every man, woman, and child in this country. It will affect everything from Social Security and Medicare to veterans’ benefits to tax refunds to our national parks. The financial markets will take a hit worldwide since so much of the world’s economy is tied to the U.S. dollar.
President Biden’s initial position was the correct one. He said that he would not negotiate on the debt ceiling because the full faith and credit of the United States is not a bargaining chip. He said he’d be happy to negotiate budgetary priorities at the appropriate time. The debt ceiling has nothing to do with the budget. Now, he appears to be wavering.
Yesterday, the White House said that a “clean” debt limit bill that simply allowed us to pay the bills we’ve already incurred is “off the table.” There will have to be some kind of “bipartisan compromise” in order to get this done in time. I emphatically say NO! Once he allows the debt ceiling to be held hostage, he’s just opening the door for the Republicans to do it next time. And the time after that. And the time after that. Why stop taking hostages if you know that it’s effective?
DO NOT NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS. If you do, don’t be surprised when it becomes a common tactic for giving them what they want. Let them default on our debt if they’re stupid enough to do that. Then, in the election of November of 2024, they can explain to seniors, veterans, Medicare recipients and the rest of the world why they aren’t getting paid and why they’ve plunged the economy into a recession.