Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Democrats! For The Love! RAISE THE DEBT CEILING!

9/28/2021

1 Comment

 

​BOOKS BY PATTI LISZKAY
​AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

Picture
​​"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
​Available on Amazon.


​​DEMOCRATS! FOR THE LOVE! RAISE THE DEBT CEILING!

Picture
     As anyone knows who's been paying even the slightest attention to the news over the past few days, the United States could be on the brink - no, make that already is on the brink - of an economic disaster that would make the 2008 collapse look like a day at the circus.
    The situation is that, for better or worse, our country runs on debt. The national debt is a business. People and businesses invest in it, they borrow against it, they take out loans, they pay back loans, the process hums along smoothly.  However the debt ceiling - the  maximum amount of debt that the country can legally incur - was reached back in July and since then the U.S. has been slowly running out of cash to keep the American financial process running, pay existing bills, and cover the continuous costs involved in the day-to-day operation of our country.  
       Should the United States, the strongest, most stable economic entity on the planet, actually run out of cash and subsequently default on our debts the result would be, according to economists the world over, a financial crisis not only on the national level, but on a global level.
 In our country among the aftereffects of a default would be that there would be a government shut-down in the midst of the pandemic, Social Security payments would not go out, U.S. troops and federal civilian employees would not be paid, food assistance benefits would stop, retired military and government employees would stop receiving their pensions, and businesses would falter. Inflation would skyrocket and the stock markets around the world would plunge and the planet would tumble into a deep recession, if not a depression. All this is apparently in the cards if the debt ceiling isn't raised, and fast.
       But here's the thing: There's nothing to raising the debt ceiling. Congress can do it in one quick vote. Congress raises the debt ceiling all the time. Congress - Democrats along with Republicans - voted to raise the debt ceiling twice during the Trump administration, which was necessary after Donald Trump cut taxes then went on a spending spree even before the COVID pandemic, 
  
Picture
     Still, Democrats voted to raise the debt ceiling because even when a President's devil-may-care attitude about finances blows a trillion dollar hole through the debt roof, you raise that roof to keep the country from defaulting and causing a global financial crisis.
      Now that the debt ceiling needs to be raised again, this time under Biden, Senate Republicans under Mitch McConnell are refusing to vote for the raise, and promise to filibuster if Democrats try to pass the ceiling raise on their own. 
​
Picture
      He and the Senate Republicans intend to sit back, cross their arms and enjoy the show of the United States government falling into default and shut down and our country crashing into a state exponentially more miserable than where we are now with the interminable COVID pandemic. Enjoyable this would be for Republicans because come the 2022 elections they could blame all the misery on Biden and the Democrats.
       But even amidst the cruel recalcitrance of the Republicans there's still a way to avoid a  default of our national debts. There's a fast-track congressional process that Democrats could pursue that would bypass a Republican filibuster. This process is really what Republicans are trying to force Democratic members of Congress into undertaking so that during the 2022 elections Republicans will be able to put together campaign ads in which they can point fingers at Democrats for raising the debt ceiling. 
        So, then, Republicans see this debt crisis as a win-win for themselves: The Democrats will have to take responsibility either for raising the national debt or for the country falling into default. Either outcome will yield good campaign material.
        Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, don't want to use the fast-track process to raise the debt ceiling for the same reason: they don't want their vote to be used against them by the Republicans during the midterms. Democrats want the vote to be bipartisan so that Republicans are sharing the responsibility, especially since it was the Republicans who voted for the Trump tax cuts that created the need to once again raise the debt ceiling.
        And so Congress is basically playing a game of high-stakes political chicken with the welfare our country and the whole world at stake.
          I am not so naive as to hope  the the Senate Republicans will relent and vote to raise the debt ceiling. They have too much to gain from a national disaster during Joe Biden's administration.
      
Picture
     My hope is in the Democrats, that they'll be the ones to put political ambitions aside and do whatever they must - and do it fast, before time runs out - to save our country and the world from more suffering. If the Republicans would be happy to sit by and watch our country put to the economic sword, I beseech the Democrats to be the ones who would not let that happen even if it meant handing over a political victory to Republicans. I beseech the Democrats to be the ones who care.
​    And you know what? In spite of all the political hay that Republicans may try to make of Democrats raising the debt ceiling, the truth is that by next year voters aren't really going to remember or care much about the debt ceiling. Unless our country is plunged into a terrible recession or depression brought about by the United States defaulting on our debt. Then we'll all care, and we'll all remember who let it happen. 
​
Picture
1 Comment
vidmate link
10/1/2022 11:34:27 am

anks for sharing the article, and more importantly, your personal experience mindfully using our emotions as data about our inner state and knowing when it’s better to de-escalate by taking a time out are great tools. Appreciate you reading and sharing your story since I can certainly relate and I think others can to

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Tropical Depression" 
    by Patti Liszkay
    ​Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1685131832

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly