The Republican Strategy on the Debt Ceiling

Take a second and imagine this scenario: It’s mid-October 2012. Ever since Republicans refused to compromise with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling, and the nation defaulted on its debt, the United States and the world economy has crumbled. We’ve slipped into another Great Depression. Unemployment is at unprecedented levels. The US dollar has collapsed. Gas prices are double what they were a year ago. Credit has become impossible to obtain and the equity market has crashed. The housing crisis has intensified. Politicians have admitted to us that Social Security is no longer solvent. Poverty levels have gone through the roof, along with crime and murder rates. The U.S. has never been in a more cataclysmic condition.

A middle aged couple in the swing state of Ohio lie in bed watching the 11 p.m. news. Right before they turn off the TV to go to sleep, a campaign commercial comes on. A man with a deep and frightening voice begins to explain that President Obama is the man responsible for this catastrophe. He says Obama is the only American President to ever allow us to default on our massive debt, sending our country into economic ruin. The couple is willing to do anything to change the direction of our country. For the first time in 20 years, they have decided to vote Republican. 

Welcome to the Republican strategy on the debt ceiling.

They understand that if the U.S. fails to raise the debt ceiling and we default on our debt, they have a much better chance at defeating Barack Obama in 2012. After all, that has been their goal all along. Even Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said publicly that his number one priority was to make Barack Obama a “one-term President.” Almost every Republican in the House and Senate voted against the President’s stimulus package. Not only did they fail to produce an alternative plan to stimulate the economy, but numerous Republicans even attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies taking credit for projects paid for by a stimulus that they opposed. Not a single Republican in Congress voted for Obama’s healthcare bill. There are literally hundreds of federal judicial vacancies due to Republican opposition to anyone Obama nominates. Republicans even pulled support for the wildly popular START Treaty, simply because Obama endorsed it. If Obama came out in support of sunshine, Republicans would pray for rain and say something about socialism.

Their strategy? Oppose, oppose, oppose. Even if it wrecks our country.

Now President Obama needs to raise the debt ceiling. And even though Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling nearly 20 times, and George W. Bush raised it seven times, Republicans are in staunch opposition to Barack Obama raising it once. In fact, the debt ceiling has been raised 102 times since 1917. However, unlike previous Presidents, Obama has offered to attach $4 trillion in spending cuts to raising the debt ceiling. And since our President can add and subtract, he realizes such severe cuts can’t come without raising revenue in other areas. He’s proposed eliminating tax loopholes and slightly raising incomes rates for the top 1 percent of earners. Raising taxes to reduce the deficit is another economic policy of Ronald Reagan. Although Republicans love to invoke Reagan’s name in every debate, he was very pragmatic in his ability to compromise with his political rivals. Current Republicans must have skipped that chapter in Reagan history. 

Republicans are on the verge of causing a Great Depression, just so they can blame it on Obama. The President has offered severe budget cuts along with revenue increases on the wealthiest Americans so we can get our financial house in order. This is exactly what Presidents Reagan, Bush 41, and Clinton did to deal with the deficit.

Politically, the last thing Obama wants to do the year before an election is raise taxes. But unlike his Republican counterparts, he is willing to risk losing an election to do what’s right for the country he loves. That, my friends, is real leadership.

Tyler Jones is a lifelong Democrat and is active in state politics. He has served as a consultant on several campaigns and is co-founder the progressive organization South Carolina Forward Progress.