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The New York Times’ Ross Douthat argued this week that the congressional Republicans’ debt-ceiling hostage strategy only seems crazy.
The Republican Party’s strategy in the debt-ceiling negotiations has baffled centrists and vindicated liberals. For months, the party’s leaders have repeatedly turned down deals that would cut spending significantly because their members won’t compromise on taxes. To moderates, this intransigence is inexplicable: Are they crazy? To the left, it’s all-too-predictable: See, we told you they were crazy!
But there is a method to the Republicans’ madness….
There’s a fair amount to Douthat’s pitch, but to summarize, GOP officials are really just shrewd negotiators, pushing for the best possible deal. There’s certainly nothing crazy about that, right?
Wrong. Jon Chait explains today:
[T]he evidence that’s leaked out about internal republican deliberations suggests the Republicans are not shrewdly trying to maximize their leverage. They’re just barking mad. […]
The more we find out about the House Republican caucus, the more obvious it becomes that they’re not just trying to maximize their leverage by pretending to be crazy. They’re crazy.
For the country’s sake, I’d love to believe Douthat. Really, I would. I’d be absolutely delighted to learn that Republicans are just aggressive poker players, but when push comes to shove, they’ll be able to tell the difference between fantasy and reason, and they’ll put the nation’s interests first.
But here we are, 20 days until a brutal deadline, and Republicans give every appearance of being downright certifiable. We know this from their own rhetoric, and we know this from every published description of Republican deliberations in this process. According to the party’s own Speaker, at least a quarter of the House GOP caucus actually wants to see the United States default. The actual number is probably much higher.
As one leading economist put it yesterday, observers around the world are saying of Republicans, “There’s no way they could possibly be this stupid.”
It’s time people start coming to grips with the fact they very well might be precisely this stupid.
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g. powell on July 13, 2011 4:01 PM:
" 20 days until a brutal deadline"
No, the deadline already passed. Aug. 2 is just a guess of how long Treasury can keep gimmicks going until it has to stop paying bills. It could be sooner than that date.
Califlander on July 13, 2011 4:03 PM:
There's no way they could possibly be this stupid.
Only someone who has never watched them in action could think this is true.
slappy magoo on July 13, 2011 4:03 PM:
Republicans in Congress were told this amount of stonewalling could cause disastrous repercussions to the economy. They were told this by people in business, people they are bound to suck up to and ask for donations for re-election. They were told sooner, rather than later, ws better for everyone.
If they're not crazy, they've let the desire to seem crazy to their allies and enemies go a little too long
T2 on July 13, 2011 4:09 PM:
"observers around the world" just don't get the steady diet of Rand Paul, Rick Sartorium, Bachmann, Pence, Cantor, Ryan, Angle, Perry, Inhofe and the rest like we do.
Pick any of the above GOPers and point to one constructive, intelligent, normal thing they have said or suggested.
Take your time.
Mudge on July 13, 2011 4:10 PM:
They are stupid and they are traitors. They seek to destroy this country from within.
zeitgeist on July 13, 2011 4:12 PM:
next, the WH should tell McConnell and Cantor (just skip right over Boehner) that Obama will take McConnell's deal with 3 small modifications.
1) On the "recommended savings," everyone understands that Obama can send whatever mix of spending and revenue he wants;
2) Only 2 votes instead of 3: now and 6 months from now; and
3) the implementing legislation starts in the House, and no Democrats will cast a vote until all of the Republicans have.
The Republicans now want help climbing down off of the legde. Let them get it from their own minions.
Ron Byers on July 13, 2011 4:16 PM:
I heard that Bernanke has said the interest payments are going to be paid. The checks that probably won't go out are social security checks, payments to medicare providers, checks to veterans, disablity checks and checks to vendors. Michelle Bachman might not get her farmer welfare check. Of course, our national credit will be wrecked, and interest will go through the roof. On the 10th day of August the Republican party will totally melt down.
My guess is Boehner will quit before August 2 and Cantor will have the shortest Speakership in history, and for his trouble will be voted out the next election.
Via the revolution.
walt on July 13, 2011 4:18 PM:
When you define yourself by your enemies and those enemies are satanic in scope and depth, then almost anything that enemy does must be opposed. Say, like raising the debt ceiling.
This is the problem when a party has become a vessel for hard-core fundamentalism (religious, market, and cultural). Not only is compromise wrong, it's morally reprehensible. Fundamentalists want a purgative cleansing of America, a fire that burns down all the moral iniquity of the nation and they're a majority now of Republican voters. We're getting very close to the point where sane Republicans are losing their grip on the party leadership.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: the number one security threat in America today isn't al Qaeda, China, cyberhacking, or Casey Anthony. It's the Republican Party.
LL on July 13, 2011 4:28 PM:
I have a practical question. Assuming everyone except the nuts in the House want the raise the debt-ceiling, and assuming nothing changes here, how could everyone else get the job done and bypass the nuts?
Put up a clean bill with no conditions and get enough goopers and Dems in the house to vote on it that they outvote the nuts?
I'm thinking that's all Boehner has left, isn't it? And if he does that, he probably loses his job to Cantor.
Interesting. I'm going to lay in some popcorn because the next two weeks promise to be highly entertaining.
ckelly on July 13, 2011 4:50 PM:
We Americans get the government we deserve by vote. Elections really do have consequences.
Sarafina on July 13, 2011 4:59 PM:
For the past 2 years the terrorists I've feared the most are named Boehner, Cantor and McConnell.
exlibra on July 13, 2011 5:01 PM:
There’s a fair amount to Douthat’s pitch, but to summarize, GOP officials are really just shrewd negotiators, pushing for the best possible deal. -- Steve Benen
And, up to a certain point, it might have even been true. But they enjoyed it too much to let it stop. Now they're like any 2 year old whose grandma fed him a double portion of dessert and let him stay up a couple of hours past his usual bedtime. Between the sugar high and tiredness he's so wound up he's crazy and the only thing you can do is let him crash and then put the wreck to bed.
"sky atincep". Craptcha fail; it seems to be still thinking about Murdoch and his BSkyB deal being aborted shortly after inception (plan B?)
FRP on July 13, 2011 5:01 PM:
................Mighty Dr. Norquist has struck out
Mans best friend
The Republican
Steady to the end
Always there ready to serve
Bright eyed and bushy tailed
Mom , apple pie , and our friends
To the end
When you are the only one left standing the love is all self reflection .
Self reflection an alien concept brought to mans best friend in the hope neither a Narcissus or Echo would rise where
Dr. Norquist pasted the parts together for thirty years . The persistent Doctor carefully following the recipe from an prequel Victorian summer camp project , sponsored by Lord Byron .
Lord Byron and his projects ! Where even by Republican book keeping standards the results were dodgy .
There were the expected battles over Stevenson's and Byron's pets with as much spleen and as little blood as it is not found in seekers of Poe's Goldbugs .
The howling would mean something had it risen from any but the powerful lips of the patched monstrosity that moved under the direction of the icy chambers of the still dead Dr. Norquist .
Then suddenly
The sneer gone from Dr. Norquist's leep , his teeth clenched by fickle , romantic fates
Pounding away cruel with impotent violence ,
The lovely recipes , a thousand year dominion now a whisper of red hate
A mist on putrid breath
And now the debt ceiling castles , now he lets it go
The air is shattered by the force of Dr. Norquist's devoted dog and pony show
Oh , somewhere in this ravished land John Galt Jr is out rhyming very late
The crushed psyches of true believers play on somewhere
Somehow there where hearts are light , and youthful eyes are bright
Unknowing men are laughing and children shout politely
But there is no joy for John Galt Jr. , Mighty Dr. Norquist has struck out .
bigtuna on July 13, 2011 5:06 PM:
LL - maybe that would have worked a few days ago. However, Nate Silver at 538 something went through the math.
Boner has 100+ who will not vote with him; possibly more. He might have the 25 he needs to get to 218 (218-193 dems = 25).
However, if that is the case, given how much he seems to be unravelling, what 25+ repubs will stay with him?
And, Let's assume that for the good of the country there are 25 repubs. left in the house to do the right thing. How does this look for the so-called leader - to bring a vote and reequire that THE OTHER PARTY brings ALL their votes to your bill? A "clean bill' is really a repudiation of their months of bullshit, and the rank and file yahoos will be really pissed. To make a stand, and have nothing to show. Esp. when they probably could have had 2 T in cuts a week ago, with most of it being real cuts.
That is why people are talking about short time Jon Boner.
However, how many dems would Nancy P let vote for it? Back in the old days, they used to pair votes, so that a D and a R would vote together, walking the plank together, as it were. I bet nancy wants the R votes on the board first, to flush them out. Ugly, but funny, if it weren't so important.
majun on July 13, 2011 5:07 PM:
I keep saying it and I'll say it again - anybody who tries to legitimize the thuggery of the GOP in taking hostages and extorting policy concessions shares the guilt with them. If they do bring the world economy down, Douthat gets to share the blame and criminally liable the same as Boehner, McConnell, Cantor and the rest of the hacks in the GOP (lack of)Leadership. If you use criminal means to achieve a goal you are still a criminal, no matter how deserving you imagine your goal to be.
wihntr on July 13, 2011 5:13 PM:
For the last thirty years the GOP has been saying that "government isn't the solution; government is the problem." For the last thirty years the GOP has been saying that taxes are not a necessary evil; they are just evil. Combine that with the fact that many of the narcissists that politicians are also are not all that bright (no matter how many years of education they may claim) and it really should be no surprise that we are in the position we are. As others have pointed out before, how can we expect good government from people who believe that government is bad?
Zorro on July 13, 2011 5:14 PM:
Mudge: hey are stupid and they are traitors. They seek to destroy this country from within.
Mudge makes a good point: the GOP, esp. the teatards, certainly are acting like traitors. This being the case, there could well be grounds for bringing charges of treason against some of them, esp. the leadership.
-Z
yellowdog on July 13, 2011 5:15 PM:
Who are the really certifiable people? The big contributors to these right-wing wackos. They're the ones who thought they could put nut-jobs in office but still get them to do some rational things when it mattered--like pay the government's bills. Being nuts is pretty much an all-or-nothing phenomenon. You can't be half-nuts, half-reasonable.
Woops? You betcha.
FRP on July 13, 2011 5:23 PM:
Gee bigtuna , we have not even gotten around to impeach the President rages and furies yet , we still have yards and yards of bandages to roll up .
Anonymous on July 13, 2011 5:23 PM:
This is the old, "they must be crazy, so we have to do whatever is necessary to save the country" fear. It's like "The mullahs of Iran are crazy, so we have to assume they will use the bomb" approach. No! The Tea Party is stupid, and the Republican leadership are trying to save their own political careers. But under no circumstances should the Democrats save the skins of Boehner and McConnell. These people are willing to ditch the U.S. economy to hurt Obama. Throw them to the wolves.
The President should say, If you want to end the debt ceiling, then send me a bill to repeal the entire law, and I will look at it. Otherwise, step up to the plate and be leaders.
A wedge has been driven deep into the Republican Party between the leadership and the Tea wing. Don't stop now. Let Wall Street and business leaders stand up -- for once in their cowardly and intellectually corrupt lives -- and put their foot down firmly on the Tea bags. The Democrats should stand aside. Economists who fret about how the debt ceiling is the worst armageddon of all are doing us no good service. Boehner and McConnell cannot fail to raise it. So the Democrats would be fools to let them off the hook. There is no upside to saving their skins.
Indeed it would be political suicide for the Democrats to accept McConnell's deal. It would guarantee a unified Republican Party, and no end to their vile shenanigans, for years to come. Destroy the Republican Party!
JM917 on July 13, 2011 5:27 PM:
McConnell's suggested prestodigitation is probably unconstitutional.
Obama should say that he doesn't want or need a unconstitutional maneuver around Congress doing its duty and raising the debt ceiling--WITHOUT strings attached, and valid through February 1, 2013 (so as to allow the next Congress and the newly inaugurated President to decide on what to do next.
Hopefully, the first order of business of President Obama's second term will be for him and the new Democratic Congress will be to repeal the 1917 law requiring periodic hikes of the debt ceiling.
LL on July 13, 2011 5:35 PM:
@ bigtuna
thanks for the info. It occurs to me that Pelosi must be feeling pretty fine right about now. She has Boehner by his balls for sure.
That said, in the old days (30 years ago), this would have been easy. Pelosi would get all her members in line. Boehner would get his 25 in line by either telling them he would destroy them if they didn't vote with him, or finding some kind of goodie that a given member could not resist. This is House Leadership 101. If Boehner can't even do that, he doesn't deserve to be Speaker. And, of course, he knows it.
I know this is really terrible to say, but I'm finding all this quite schweeeeet at this point. Unless of course Obama does something to cave even further to the GOP. They shoulda taken that quisling deal Obama offered. Now they're fucked. One can but hope.
bdop4 on July 13, 2011 5:56 PM:
Yet, look what they've accomplished with their madness.
Everyone, including Dems, are focusing solely on debt reduction in an environment where that should be a secondary or tertiary concern. There is practically no serious consideration of creating jobs.
Maybe Dems can change the focus after the debt ceiling has been raised, but I'm not optimistic. The "debt crisis" meme is too heavily ingrained in our political discourse and the media.
dj spellchecka on July 13, 2011 6:22 PM:
shorter steve benen: ross douthat. wrong.
RalfW on July 13, 2011 7:22 PM:
There's an awful lot of people out there who think a default would be a "reset" that would give Wall Street it's comeuppance.
I appreciate that people feel screwed by the banksters. But putting the entire US economy through the shredder thru default is like massive chemo to treat a pre-cancerous lesion that some dry ice would fix.
The level of disconnect between cause and effect is stunning, in large part because it appears that up to 100 US House members buy the "it's no big deal" line. Criminy, they're uninformed or totally ideologically blinkered.
Doug on July 13, 2011 8:36 PM:
"My guess is that Boehner will quit before August 2 and Cantor will have the shortest Speakership in history..." Ron Byers @ 4:16 PM.
My opinion is that the ONLY reason "negotiations" have continued this long is because Boehner is still uncertain about commanding a majority of his caucus AFTER any legislation raising the debt limit is passed. Retaining the Speakership has been his main goal all along; crafting legislation that will pass Congress and not be vetoed by President Obama is secondary.
IF Boehner resigns anytime during the next 10-14 days, it means there WILL be a default, as the Teabagging Jacobins, who will then control the Republican House Majority, will NOT introduce any legislation that can pass the Senate or not be vetoed.
They ARE that blinded, stupid and reckless...
re FRP @ 5:01 PM - Why aren't you writing this stuff, and getting paid for it, for some publication such as the "New Yorker"? A weekly column, say, besides what you post here, of course...
NoVa on July 13, 2011 9:14 PM:
It would be quite something if (former) speaker pelosi found some way to quietly bring over the few remaining sane, patriotic members of the house that exist to get something passed. We can dream, I suppose.
Lee A. Arnold on July 13, 2011 10:03 PM:
I think the only reason the "negotiations" have continued this long is because Boehner and McConnell still hope they can feign their fake fear of the Tea Party, and try to scare enough people to get a deal out of the Democrats.
The key is that the Tea Party genuinely thinks that after a default, essentials like Granny's Social Security check and military paychecks will still be covered by revenues. But this true only for about a month, and then revenues are going to plunge over a cliff. Boehner and McConnell are irresponsible in other ways, but they understand this much about the reality. If the Democrats hold firm, the Republican leaders will have to read the Riot Act to the Tea Party shortly.
Trollop on July 13, 2011 11:26 PM:
They'll break before the end..
or, they had better, before I do.
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