Default Terrorism, that's what it is - that's what we should call it when John Boehner admits that some Republicans want the U.S. to Default because it will strengthen their hand in getting a Balance Budget Amendment through the Senate and White House.
If they ultimately have no other choice, everyone will cave - or so they think.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said today that some members of his own caucus who are refusing to agree to a compromise debt ceiling deal are hoping to unleash “chaos” and thus force the White House and Senate Democrats to make bigger concessions than they’re already offering. As many as 40 House Republicans, especially Tea Party members and freshmen, have demanded nothing short of changing the Constitution to include a balanced budget amendment before they would vote to raise debt ceiling, even though that has zero chance before the U.S. faces potential default on Aug. 2.
Speaking on Laura Ingraham's show, the Orange One said this.
BOEHNER: Well, first they want more. And my goodness, I want more too. And secondly, a lot of them believe that if we get passed August the second and we have enough chaos, we could force the Senate and the White House to accept a balanced budget amendment. I’m not sure that that — I don’t think that that strategy works. Because I think the closer we get to August the second, frankly, the less leverage we have vis a vis our colleagues in the Senate and the White House.
What we are dealing with here dear friends, is truly a suicide cult, only they've strapped on a bomb that just might take the entire country out.
Some of these people don't believe the the default crisis is even real.
In a Web video posted Wednesday, freshman House Republican Joe Walsh of Illinois accused the president of misleading people.
"President Obama, quit lying," Walsh said. "You know darn well that if Aug. 2 comes and goes, there's plenty of money to pay off our debt and cover all of our Social Security obligations."
Oh, sure we could cover the debt, and Social Security but what about the Interest payments which would explode upward? What about Defense? What about Homeland Security? What about the Department of Justice? What about Medicare? What about Medicaid? What about Food Safety, Water Safety, Drug Safety and Air Travel Safety?
And then you have Michelle Bachman.
"It's this: that if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, that somehow the United States will go into default and we will lose the full faith and credit of the United States," she said. "That is simply not true."
The Credit Agencies are already said they're likely to downgrade our credit if the Boehner plan passes.
But that hasn't slowed the Tea-Publicans, who still say "Damn, the Torpodoes (and Most of the Nation)", if they don't get their way.
The tea party is so hell-bent on getting America's finances in order, they're willing to suffer the personal consequences of a government default. That's according to leaders of the Tea Party Patriots, who spoke with reporters in Washington this morning as the city remains gripped in debt ceiling stalemate.
Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots (the grassrootsier wing of the movement) agreed that default -- and the requisite end in government payments for the programs that go with it -- could hurt the thousands of tea party voters she represents. But she said her members are willing to take the hit.
"If it injures the people that we represent, but it's benefiting the whole country, that's what we need to be concerned about," she said.
Yeah, yeah - you're gonna Hurt A lot of People, we know - we know. Terrorists usually do.
I have two points to show how this is not a bluff on their part, this is how deeply tragically deluded they truly are. First example comes from Lawrence O'Donnel confronting Rep. Marsha Blackburn just after the President's Primetime Speech earlier this week.
During this clip Blackburn claims.. in response to O'Donnel's point out that there is NO POLL that supports the Boehner plan - that the American people really are "With the GOP" plan(s), and she's got the Polls to prove it. Somewhere.
Blackburn: I think there are plenty of polls out there that show that the American people also agree that spending reductions have to take place.
O'Donnell: No, Congresswoman, there are no polls out there, no polls out there...
Blackburn: Oh, I think there are.
O'Donnell: ..that support the Republican position.
Blackburn: CNN! CNN!! Cnn had a poll that did. Cnn had a poll that did.
So is she just batty like Donald Trump when he falsely claimed CNN had a poll putting him ahead of President Obama as I noted in Surprise Surprise: Trump Lies - Again!
No, it's actually worse than that - this is a far more insidious and calculated lie that not only Blackburn is peddling. This if found when I tried to look up the Poll that Blackburn is referring too.
And what I found is interesting and frightening if you've never bothered to try and source track Republican Spin. The level of self-delusion can be amazing.
The first problem to verifying her claim was finding a direct link to the source.
To start with I found this link "Say Anything » CNN Poll: Americans Favor Cut, Cap And Balance Plan..." but every time I tried to link to the actual CNN Poll I wound up on advertiser sites like Groupon.
Despite the best efforts of Democrats to talk the House Republicans’ “cut, cap and balance” bill into the ground – it’s the worst bill ever, the founders would hate it and it will kill Medicare according to them – it seems as though the public is sold on it. At least according to this CNN poll.
But don’t expect CNN to actually report this eyebrow-raising finding. They don’t even mention it until the 13th paragraph in the article:
Republicans like the “cut, cap, and balance” approach to the debt ceiling, as do Democrats and independents. Most Americans support a balanced budget amendment, and most, but not as many, think an amendment is necessary to get federal spending under control. A balanced budget amendment passed the House earlier this week, but a vote in the Senate is expected to fail.
That’s right, even a majority of Democrats are on board with the CCB. In fact, the CCB got majority support in every single demographic polled notes Ed Morrissey:
Wow, a Majority of Democrats you say? Ok, but where's the Poll?
So I tried again and I found another article at AmeriPundit Blog, but they didn't have link to the poll, they had a link to the Heritage Foundation which breathlessly claimed...
Senate Democrats are on the warpath against the House-passed Cut, Cap and Balance Act. They have taken to calling it the “Cut, Cap, and Kill Medicare Act.” At a press conference on Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) aptly summed up the left’s characterizations of the legislation, calling it “cruel, dangerous, and stupid.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Thursday called it “some of the worst legislation in the history of this country.”
But a CNN poll released Thursday shows that two-thirds of Americans support the system established by the CCB Act. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they approved of a plan under which “Congress would raise the debt ceiling only if a balanced budget amendment were passed by both houses of Congress and substantial spending cuts and caps on future spending were approved.” Sixty-three percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents said they would approve of such a plan.
So everyone knows if Heritage claims it, it must be true, right? Except they actually did include a link to the PDF for the Poll and what is says is not exactly what they say it says.
This is the first question it poses on the debt ceiling talks.
In those discussions, several budget plans have been proposed that would reduce the amount the government owes by trillions of dollars over the next ten years. If you had to choose, would you rather see Congress and President Obama agree to a budget plan that only includes cuts in government spending, or a budget plan that includes a combination of spending cuts and tax increases on higher-income Americans and some businesses?
July 18-20 2011
Only spending cuts 34%
Spending cuts and tax increases 64%
Other (vol.) 1%
No opinion 1%
Hm, isn't it curious that Heritage and Blackburn don't mention this when running down the Hall with this CNN Poll in their hand, isn't it? The clear Majority, when given a direct choice of Republican Options and the types of Plans the President has advocated, choose the President's Plan.
Well, no - it's not curious, it's because They Lie. A Lie by Omission, Like this...
In some proposals, Congress would raise the debt ceiling while cutting between two trillion and four trillion dollars in government spending over the next ten years and raising taxes on some businesses and higher-income Americans. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?
July 18-20 2011
Favor 66%
Oppose 34%
No opinion 1%
In another proposal, Congress would give President Obama the ability to raise the debt ceiling several times in the next 18 months while cutting a smaller amount in government spending and not raising taxes at all. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?
July 18-20, 2011
Favor 34%
Oppose 65%
No opinion 1%
...Is still a Lie.
Clearly it says 2/3rd of respondents favor the President's "Balanced" proposal and are against the McConnel plan.
Now, to be absolutely fair it does include this result which is where Blackburn and Heritage are getting their spin.
In another proposal, Congress would raise the debt ceiling only if a balanced budget amendment were passed by both houses of Congress and substantial spending cuts and caps on future spending were approved. Would you favor or oppose this proposal?
July 18-21, 2011
Favor 66%
Oppose 33%
No opinion 1%
But this seems more like people will grasp at almost any straw in this storm, even something that includes a "Balance Budget Amendment" but they won't go for the 'Cut, Cap and Balance" or the Boehner Plan that has Cuts Only, versus one that has both cuts and revenue increases.
They'll accept a Balanced Budget Amendment if it passes both Houses, or a plan that cut spending while raising revenue but not a plan that cuts spending only.
So when Republicans say that they know what the "American People Think" run for the hills, they're doing their Professor X thing all wrong because somebody just let Magneto inside Cerebro - and he's switched all the circuits around again. (re: X2: X-Men United for the Comic-Con Challenged)
Further, these people very honest don't believe that the Default will actually amount to much of anything. They really don't.
This weekend I was flipping channels and briefly stopped on Fox News and caught a discussion during "America'a News HQ" between Brett (Serious Objective Reporter) Baier and former Morgan Stanley Exec Rich Desalvo over how serious the impact of breaching the debt ceiling would be.
I've tried to find video and transcripts for this, but no luck - it was a 3 minute middle of the day segment that I suspect few people noticed.
Rather than interview Desalvo, Baier presented the "argument" that violating the Debt Ceiling was NO Crisis at all, that it was simply a elaborate Political Lie by tbe Treasury to put greater tension on the budget negotiations. He claimed, with a set of back of the napkin calculations, that monthly government revenues exceeded the costs of Social Security, Defense, the Debt and a host of other items (sorry I didn't get a full list) by some $66 Billion.
Ok, and maybe that's where Rep. Joe Walsh is getting his numbers. Dirty Napkins during Happy Hour.
The next part is what really got my attention. Baier then claimed that this debt ceiling would amount to nothing because nothing really went all that wrong with the last debt ceiling crisis in 1995.
(Not a precise quote, I'm going by memory)
Baier: For five months between 1995 and 1996 the U.S. exceeded it's debt limit, and during those times there weren't any catastrophic effects!
So he argued of course, "Why should there be any of the horrible effects the President and Treasury Secretary Geithner are claiming now?" Rich Desalvo didn't argue with him, he simply heartily agreed - and the segment ended.
Well, I looked that up too and found a GAO Analysis of the 1995-1996 Debt Ceiling Crisis and he's right, kinda sorta the same way Heritage and Blackburn were "right" -which is to say completely wrong.
On August 10, 1993, Congress raised the debt ceiling to $4.9 trillion. This limit was reached in the fall of 1995, but was not raised until the following March, when it was set at $5.5 trillion. The intervening period, when the Secretary of the Treasury announced a debt issuance suspension period, became known as the 1995-1996 debt ceiling crisis. Treasury took several measures during the period to raise funds to meet federal obligations without exceeding the debt ceiling.
GAO found that: (1) during the 1995-1996 debt ceiling crisis, Treasury followed normal investment and redemption procedures for 12 of the 15 major government trust funds; (2) Treasury suspended normal investments and redemptions for the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Trust, Government Securities Investment (G-fund), and Exchange Stabilization Funds and took other actions to stay within the debt ceiling;
This would appear to support Baier's claim, except for one tiny weeny little inconvenient fact. The actions that Treasury took back then with essentially using the money from the Federal Employees Pension Funds to keep the U.S. Financial Head Above water during those five months - we already started because we reached that same point back in May.
We're already IN THE SAME POSITION that they were in 1995-1996 with Treasury desperately balling water to keep us afloat - so Baier's entire argument was completely and utterly FALSE on it's face.
We did not Default in 1995 -we never have, they eventually cut a deal. Maybe Lies like this are how Rep. Alen West (R-NutBagger) gets the idea that a default wouldn't be so bad after all.
Yeah, right - paying out bill's Late won't have any impact on anything. Have you ever tried that with your House Note? Car Note? Credit Card? We all know what happens when pay your bills late, it's not pretty. Like it won't do a thing to our Credit Rating and Interest Rates? Bagger, Please.
This is the kind of insane, deluded, stuff their dealing with on Capital Hill. These people are absolutely off their NUT. Reason doesn't work with these people. Facts Don't Matter.
Their holding the rest of us Hostage, to their Cultish - Cut, Slash and Burn Ideology.
And we thought al Qeada was dangerous to the nation? Not hardly compared to these people.
All of this is why more and more people are thinking the President should just treat these guys like any other Terrorist like the Somali Pirates or OBL and use a 14th Amendment Double-Tap to put this issue out of all of our misery.
He may not want to, but eventually - I truly believe he's gonna have to pull the trigger to avoid default.
Vyan
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