Tea Party Brings U.S. to Brink of Economic Calamit

[discoberry]

www.alternet.org/news/151750/in_bid_for_control_of_gop%2C_tea_party_brings_u.s._to_brink_of_economic_calamity

There's a temptation, when assessing the showdown over the debt ceiling that is bringing the United States to the brink of defaulting on its debt, to view the confrontation in terms of Republicans vs. Democrats, liberals vs. conservatives, Obama vs. Boehner.What we're really witnessing, though, is a ruthless power-grab by the architects of the Tea Party movement for control of the Republican Party. And if they have to destroy House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to do it, they will. Heck, if they have to destroy the United States in order to grab the levers of GOP machinery, they will, content in the knowledge that, as elites, they will have first pick of the spoils.

Maybe I am being optimistic but I am hoping Boehner won't bring down the US just to keep his seat as Speaker. Or perhaps in a glass half full kinda way...economic collapse might keep a far worse teabagger out.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the newfound love between Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Tea Party organization founded by David Koch, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., the Tea Party-allied second-in-command of the House of Representatives. Cantor has made a specialty of undercutting his own speaker's negotiating power as Boehner tries to cut a deal with the president.

When, two weeks ago, Vice-President Joe Biden and GOP leaders were close to making a deal that would have given in to Republican demands for budget cuts, Cantor refused to go along because the deal included some tax increases. By walking out of the talks, Cantor won the hearts of Tea Party leaders, and, many said, a shot at the speaker's job. For if Cantor can prevent Boehner from brokering a deal with the president, the logic goes, the speaker could be so weakened as to lose his footing as the House Republicans' top man. That would leave Cantor positioned to step in.

Oh great, more "I am the REAL conservative" dick swinging.

[gyeonghwa]

I like how the teabaggers don't give a shit if they screw the USA over in the process of this power grab. "Patriots" my ass. . .

[discoberry]

Jul 23, 2011 14:52:02 GMT -5 gyeonghwa said:

I like how the teabaggers don't give a shit if they screw the USA over in the process of this power grab. "Patriots" my ass. . .

Every time that I read something like this; I think that they want the gov't to fail and fall apart. Don't really know why, it just seems to me that since Chocolate Jesus and his Big Bad Negro Army (to use a Bill Maher term) were elected they think the system is fully broken.

They make me want to buy guns because they are bat-shit Beckinese insane.

[shykid]

A part of me almost hopes the U.S. defaults on its debts (the keyword here being "almost," because unlike the Tea Party, I do not actually wish economic collapse for my own political schadenfreude), since if the GOP's game of political chicken keeps up, the consequences will prove at least as utterly devastating for them as it will the economy. It will, more or less, guarantee the end of the "Tea Party" movement, the GOP in its current bugnuts crazy form, and its majority in the House come 2012. However, a default would also possibly kiss goodbye any chance of a second term for Obama, which I don't like the idea of, given the alternatives at the moment.

[Amaranth]

Jul 23, 2011 15:06:09 GMT -5 discoberry said:

Don't really know why, it just seems to me that since Chocolate Jesus and his Big Bad Negro Army (to use a Bill Maher term) were elected they think the system is fully broken.

The American Conservative definition of broken is "didn't get our way," so they probably do.

Jul 23, 2011 15:16:53 GMT -5 shykid said:

A part of me almost hopes the U.S. defaults on its debts

At the very least, when everything collapses I could rub Ron Paul's face in it.

...Before his raving asshole fanatical followers tore me apart for questioning him even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary of his claims...

[ltfred]

Nah, bullshit. Cantor is the bad cop to Boehner's good. This is all worked out in advance.

[itachirumon]

.....I don't suppose at this point it's possible to arrest the tea tards for treason is it? That's too fascist isn't it? The article depresses me because it DOESN'T sound like they'll be out circa 2012, their followers won't vote them out, they're idiots. They trust their masters to do their thinking for them and will continue to vote tea partier regardless of how much trouble they're causing.

Edit: and if they ever win the senate and presidency again, God help us all because their followers sure as hell won't let them relinquish power.

[Meshakhad]

I do think that President Obama should order the Marines to surround the Capitol, forcing Congress to remain there until they either A) come up with a deal, B) are voted out of office, or C) die of natural causes.

[canadian mojo]

Jul 23, 2011 19:58:46 GMT -5 Meshakhad said:

I do think that President Obama should order the Marines to surround the Capitol, forcing Congress to remain there until they either A) come up with a deal, B) are voted out of office, or C) die of natural causes.

I wonder if that isn't exactly the endgame the repubs have in mind. Consider the political repercussions if Obama is facing impeachment charges for contempt of congress and constitutional violations as 2012 rolls around.

If he caves he's fucked, if he doesn't and allows a default he's probably fucked, and if flips off congress and circumvents them there's a good chance he's fucked.

[Colosphe]

Jul 23, 2011 20:26:13 GMT -5 canadian mojo said:

Jul 23, 2011 19:58:46 GMT -5 Meshakhad said:

I do think that President Obama should order the Marines to surround the Capitol, forcing Congress to remain there until they either A) come up with a deal, B) are voted out of office, or C) die of natural causes.

I wonder if that isn't exactly the endgame the repubs have in mind. Consider the political repercussions if Obama is facing impeachment charges for contempt of congress and constitutional violations as 2012 rolls around.

If he caves he's fucked, if he doesn't and allows a default he's probably fucked, and if flips off congress and circumvents them there's a good chance he's fucked.

That... sounds like a republican Xanatos Gambit. Every path Obama can take will lead to a victory for the GOP.

I wish politics didn't have an "Us Vs. Them" mentality where the voters ultimately lose...

[stormwarden]

Personally, I'm wondering if he won't use the "Full Faith and Credit" clause of the US Constitution if they don't come up with a deal. After all, the GOP had plenty of opportunities and blew it.

[devilschaplain2]

I'm pretty sure the Constitution doesn't allow the U.S. to welsh* on its debt.

*Apologies to everyone from Wales, I just didn't think of another phrase.

[John E]

Jul 23, 2011 15:06:09 GMT -5 discoberry said:

Every time that I read something like this; I think that they want the gov't to fail and fall apart. Don't really know why, it just seems to me that since Chocolate Jesus and his Big Bad Negro Army (to use a Bill Maher term) were elected they think the system is fully broken.

That's exactly what the right wing wants. They've said as much, and it's been going on since long before Obama. You can see it in their rhetoric, with things like, "Government is not the solution. Government is the problem." To the far right wing, the government is not only broken, but government in general is a Bad Thing. They've been seeking to dismantle the government for decades.

The most frustrating part is that they're always saying that the government doesn't work, and then when they get in power, they wreck the shit out of everything and go, "See!? We were right!"

[lighthorseman]

Seems relevent to say it again

This isn't the ultimate exercise in cutting off one's own nose to spite one's face, is it? I mean, I'm pretty cynical, but even I have trouble believing this could be an engineered ploy by the Republicans to deliberately tank the economy so as to be able to say "and look, it happened on Obama's watch!" But honestly, I'm kinda having trouble seeing any other rationale. Given the "run the government like a business" mantra, surely these guys understand that when the company doesn't pay its bills on time, bad things happen, right?




Right?

Right?

[Vene]

Jul 23, 2011 22:00:24 GMT -5 stormwarden said:

Personally, I'm wondering if he won't use the "Full Faith and Credit" clause of the US Constitution if they don't come up with a deal. After all, the GOP had plenty of opportunities and blew it.

Two problems.

1) Obama has referred to it as a gimmick.
2) Obama seems to genuinely want to cut social security and medicare.