I remember a time back when all the right wingers were shouting "No negotiating with terrorists."
Well, today they want us to negotiate with terrorists.. and they *are* the terrorists.
The republican party has apparently decided that politics through brinkmanship is the way to their ends. First they held the country hostage to a governmental shutdown, and now they are doing it again with a vote they have never opposed in the past but, if not taken now, will cause the immediate financial collapse of the government.
"These increases to the limit are a yearly occurrence. In fact, many of the Republicans who railed against this bill voted to raise the debt limit by more than $6.4 trillion under President Bush. "
http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/1499-Senate-Votes-To-Raise-Federal-Debt-Limit
Is it really good politics to try to appease someone just because he is sitting in a room full of gasoline and playing with matches?
Or maybe they aren't actually in the room with us at all. The *true* constituency of the republican party has a lot less to lose by a US financial meltdown then you might think. The richest Americans have been quietly taking their money *out* of our system and investing it in others:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/your-money/20wealth.html
Supposedly-American multi-national corporations keep most of their wealth outside the US to avoid US taxes. (See my previous blog on GE paying no taxes. of $14B in revenue last year, $9B of that never saw US shores.)
SO, maybe its not so crazy for them to threaten financial anarchy when all it will really harm are you and me.
But last time I read the document they like to wave in the air more then actually read (the constitution) this wasn't how we were supposed to be governed-- by threat of anarchy.
It is hard to negotiate with someone who wants to see you fail more than they want to succeed. And the Republicans have definitely made defending their party a higher priority than serving the country.
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