The pseudonym "Philo Vaihinger" has been abandoned. All posts have been and are written by me, Joseph Auclair.

Monday, January 7, 2019

Captain Obvious says, "Make shutdowns impossible"

The entirely sensible suggestion has been seen here and there in recent days that a sane congress in a functional and responsible government would both institute automatic CRs to cover cases in which budget agreements are hanging fire and abolish the debt ceiling.

Shutdowns are irresponsible and childish rejections of the separation of powers and the fundamental idea of checks and balances.

They are mostly, but not only, a tool of radical Republicans who hate the government we have and the America we have, anyway.

Likewise, the debt ceiling is a creation of the same radical Republicans, designed specifically to create crises in which Republicans threaten to refuse to raise the ceiling as the heavy deficit spending they force upon the country with their massive tax cuts massively increases government debt.

If the ceiling is not raised the government defaults.

As that approaches, the radical Republicans demand the Democrats accept huge cuts in domestic spending to avoid default.

Recall that during the campaign Trump occasionally spoke in favor of the US defaulting, simply repudiating some or all of its huge debt.

That this would result in both enormous economic pain for the lower orders and grave harm to the credit - and so an increase in the cost of borrowing - of the American government are both features, not bugs, to radical Republicans.

Smashing things isn't just a means of getting their way.

Smashing things is a cherished goal.

So these sensible suggestions to end these absurd crises will not be implemented while Republicans control the senate or the Duce is in the White House.

That can probably happen only if Democrats control both houses of congress and the White House.

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