Thirty-nine Democrats and every Republican in the House voted to default on America’s debt today. I think it is fair to say that our government is broken.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Can you add a little background on what that would mean?
.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2009 (Reuters) — The House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly voted to raise the nation’s debt limit by $290 billion, enough to cover the government’s financing needs for another two months.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Congress had no choice but to raise the limit to avoid a catastrophic default that would rattle financial markets.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."we have a government?
I know we have a bunch of officials with investments in multinational corporations who will do anything to protect the bottom line.
I did not realize we still had a government, or at least one that was of, by, and for the people. not at the national level.
Is there something new in this? Seems like it’s become pretty routine. Care to elaborate?
Haha, Grayson voted no.
so did kucinich.
That it’s even a matter of debate whether we default or not. Or that sanity won by only a handful of votes. Where was all this fiscal responsibility when the Cheney administration was spending half a trillion dollars on an unnecessary war, and another half a trillion failing miserably at what might have been a justifiable police action?
If it’s routinely raised? If I spend my Visa card to the hilt and Chase refuses to lift the limit, should I scream that they are telling me to default on my payments?
Ask yourself why liberals are voting to not raise the limit? Perhaps because they think we can have fiscal sanity AND Keynesian stimulus? That we could do things like not throwing money and blood into the Muslim ratholes? That we could undo the Bush tax cuts and restore the inheritance tax without materially cutting demand? Or do you believe that trickle down bullshit that Obama has bought into?
And if we DID default on bonds? Yes, the dollar would fall like a stone and inflation would skyrocket, but Chinese crap would cost a hell of a lot more and it just might revive American industry. It would have to lift itself by the bootstraps like the 1800’s, because unlike the 1930’s the expertise to run manufacturing plants has either retired or died, but we would be heading up instead of down.
Let’s put together a bake sale for those needed additional funds.
Thirty-nine Democrats and every Republican in the House voted to default on America’s debt today.
How many of them are Blue Dogs? And how many of them voted to continue funding for Iraq while Dubya was President?
Looks like a well-crafted vote by the majority leader. All of the Democrats who needed to go home and tell how tough they were on government spending got a pass, plus Massa, Kucinich, and Grayson.
And the measure passes with exactly 218 votes. That is not broken. That is party discipline.
Bottom line: the measure passes.
And one Democrat and two Republicans ducked it entirely.
Now the Senate, that is broken.
Validating insanity is not good caucus management.
For example, here in 2006 you’ll see the Republicans voted for the debt increase and Democrats voted against it. Not one Democratic Senator voted yes.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/109/senate/2/votes/54/
It’ll always pass but the minority party will vote no.
Bottom line: it passed. How is that not good caucus management.
If you want to talk about validating insanity, we can talk about the healthcare bill in the Senate that is both validating insanity AND not passing.
Reps going for a perfect no voting record, interesting to watch and sickening at the same time. I tend to agree with your assessment that the Senate is broken and it may as well include the house as well because nothing they do will matter if it can’t get through S.
And, insanity is not a good formula for handling the problems that we face in the world. From climate change through depression to the control of our horrendous weapons, to providing decent health care for all our citizens, to achieving world peace and maintaining the value of our dollar and preserving our way of life.
Seems like the Empire is entering its final days. When it exhausts the good will of its creditors, the BRIC nations + Japan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, it will be time for the USA to give up its imperial role. Sure hope that American Nutzoids don’t destroy the planet in a fit of picque.
The extension of the debt limit passed. Everything else was for local domestic consumption.
Worry about the deficit scolds in the Senate who are going to hold extending the debt limit hostage to their desire to gut Social Security and Medicare.
“Thirty-nine Democrats and every Republican in the House voted to default on America’s debt today.”
As opposed to the 218 who voted to default on our debt tomorrow.
Sorry Booman, but the people who voted for our eventual, probably inevitable, default are those who voted for continued wars abroad, and multi trillion dollar bailouts of financial institutions at home.
The insanity isn’t in saying that we can’t borrow money forever. Its saying that we can.