re: #187 lawhawk

Going back to last year, Boehner has said that there’s a group within his own GOP caucus that seeks to take the economy hostage.

The caucus, Boehner says, has been infiltrated by a cabal that hopes to take the US economy hostage in order to force political concessions from President Obama and Congressional Democrats.

Appearing Wednesday on conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham’s,, Boehner acknowledged what every serious economic analyst has already said: that a failure to raise the debt ceiling before the August 2 deadline would be devastating to an already struggling US economy.

So “why,” Ingraham asked, were House Republicans resisting the deal that President Obama has offered—a deal that is ridiculously deferent to Republican demands for cuts to needed domestic programs and for tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

“Well,” Boehner said of the most belligerent members of his caucus, “first they want more. And my goodness, I want more too. And secondly, a lot of them believe that if we get passed August the second and we have enough chaos, we could force the Senate and the White House to accept a balanced budget amendment.”

Let’s be clear about what Boehner is saying: he has members of his caucus—perhaps sufficient in number to block resolution of the debt ceiling fight—who would be willing to force the United States to default on its debts. Why? Because they want to create so much economic chaos that the president and Congressional Democrats will sign on for a bad policy that could not otherwise advance.

That’s blackmail. But Boehner’s not concerned about the fact that his lawless colleagues would threaten the good faith and credit of the United States—not to mention the economic stability of their homeland—in order to score political points.

Note that this is all in reference to the debt limit talks last year (2011). That same mindset applies to the current GOP and to the current GOP caucus mindset over the budget talks - fiscal cliff, taxes, and debt limit. They’re hoping to create enough chaos in the economy, on Wall Street, etc., to force the Democrats and the President to accept their terms.

Here’s the kicker. The fiscal cliff that we’re hearing so much about is essentially an American-style austerity program. The kind of austerity program that the US and some European countries have forced the likes of Greece to accept/adopt as condition for receiving monetary support. It will constrict the economy because spending declines and taxes rise to cover costs and bring in sufficient revenues to better cover spending. That’s what’s going on here. But now the GOP is resisting all this because they know that the combination is toxic to the economy and they’ll take the heat (as shown by polls) for allowing the situation to go south. That government spending is tied to economic growth undermines the GOP arguments that government spending should be avoided - they just want it focused on the programs/places that favor them, not anyone else.