taking america hostage

Steve Benen: President Obama met with several leading congressional Republicans yesterday to discuss budget cuts and the debt ceiling, and not surprisingly, there wasn’t much in the way of progress…

…one of the more striking aspects of yesterday’s gathering was the increasingly-explicit nature of the Republican hostage strategy … the hostage-strategy dynamic isn’t new, but it’s uncommon for Republican members of Congress to be this candid about their plan out loud. One leading GOP lawmaker acknowledged that the Republican plan is “dangerous,” but the party doesn’t care. Another conceded that the GOP is inviting a “sovereign debt crisis,” but figures Obama would get the blame, so Republicans don’t care about that, either.

…As far as Republicans are concerned, there’s no need to compromise – they’re the ones with the gun and the hostage. Why strike a deal? If Obama caves, they get what they want. If Obama stands firm, and the GOP deliberately destroys the economy, Republicans will blame the president and destroy his chances of re-election.

…this is arguably one of the great political scandals of recent American history. There is no modern precedent for a political party acting like an organized crime family this shamelessly. The American public isn’t hearing much about these tactics, but I can’t help but wonder what the mainstream would think if someone were to tell them that the Republican Party intends to cause a recession, on purpose, unless Democrats drastically cut Medicare and other popular domestic programs.

More here

Thank you Ladyhawke