One of the most boring things in the world is watching John Boehner try to figure out how to pass a clean debt-ceiling hike with a majority of Republican votes in the House. It’s an example of the Republican majority having to deal with the repercussions of politicizing the debt ceiling over the entirety of the Obama presidency.
The way I usually describe this is as “being high on your own supply of bullshit.” Members acted like raising the debt ceiling to pay the country’s bills was some kind of irresponsible betrayal, despite the fact that we were in the midst of the Great Recession, and despite the fact that they didn’t raise a peep about raising the ceiling when President Bush asked them to do it.
They were always denying any validity to Keynesian economics, even though they have no real alternative theory for how to end a recession. They kept insisting that we were bankrupting the country, despite the fact that we print our own money. It was always about mortgaging our kid’s future. So much bullshit. Over and over, they repeated it. Nagging and scolding about the deficit became so hip that the Obama administration began echoing some of their talking points. “The government cannot create jobs.” More bullshit.
So, now, when it comes time to pass a clean hike, Boehner has a bunch of members who have promised never to do that, and who believe it wouldn’t matter a whole lot if the country defaulted on its debt. The mouth-breathing base has been drinking this bullshit like mother’s milk for five years now.
I don’t care about Boehner’s predicament. He can figure it out on his own.
