The Republicans are playing a cynical political game with hugely high economic stakes

[564826]

So we would have been better off without them? lmao

Well lets see, have we?

[Forever_frost]

How have the Bush Tax cut worked so far?

CAn you say that paying higher taxes would have helped the economy?

[Broncojohnny]

How have the Bush Tax cut worked so far?

So we would have been better off without them? lmao

[bcoop]

Jesus. People disappoint me. Ignorance runs rampant, and common sense is all but comon anymore. I have no faith in America's future anymore. The libs have single handedly destroyed it.

[564826]

How have the Bush Tax cut worked so far?

[BP]

It's not a game to the Republicans, it's a matter of saving the country or not. Going down the current path will lead to our eventual downfall. You just can't keep spending more than you make forever, eventually something has to give. Republicans want a balanced budget, hell they'd like a budget period but the Democrat controlled congress never bothered to pass one.

[GhostTX]

It's already been proven that no amount of tax raising will help the debt. It's a SPENDING problem.

Morons.

[Forever_frost]

http://www.economist.com/node/18928600

You're an idiot. They were elected to not raise taxes and what sense does it make to raise taxes on those already paying when 48% of Americans don't pay any? How about those who pay zero pay something before you start increasing on anyone?

[Broncojohnny]

How dare those Republicans listen to their constituents!! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!

Where is all this worry about the country's credit rating and default when the Dems spend $1.4 trillion more than they take in? It doesn't exist. Fact is, the Democrats are doing everything this article accuses the Republicans of doing, only at a slower pace.

[Baron Von Crowder]

I love iit! The Republicans win seats because they compained on not wanting to raise taxes, and now its all their fault fortrying to keep their word to the american people.

[The King]

Now, quit posting this Liberal-biased crap on here. It makes the monitor smell.

Now that there's funny no matter who ya' are......

On the other hand, too bad the clowns in both parties have elevated this subject to being such a serious one.

[Vertnut]

This wasn't even worth you crawling out from under that rock you call home. Your man and his minions are indefensible. LOL!

[Denny]

Actually, they are both to blame with this farse of a debt ceiling. Both sides are using it as an excuse to move their own agendas. President Obama is showing his ass by threatening those who cannot fend for themselves and are OWED the money that they've been forced to pay into over their lifespan.

I'm glad that I'm not a piece of shit like our President. He's an embarrassment to our country on so many levels and he just hit new lows this week. There are special places in hell for sons of bitches like him. I know a new President won't be our answers, but DAMN, we need to get this sorry sack of shit and his little Liberal followers out of DC before they do more damage.

His best defense is having Biden as his replacement if someone were to get a little too tired of his shit.

Now, quit posting this Liberal-biased crap on here. It makes the monitor smell.

I can't wait for Rachael Maddow to do something productive and cornhole Liberal homers like you.

[Aceman85turbo]

its the conservative media's fault.... now I have heard it all.

that article is so funny I fell out of my chair.

[Durantula]

http://www.economist.com/node/18928600

Shame on them
The Republicans are playing a cynical political game with hugely high economic stakes

Jul 7th 2011 | from the print edition



IN THREE weeks, if there is no political deal, the American government will go into default. Not, one must pray, on its sovereign debt. But the country will have to stop paying someone: perhaps pensioners, or government suppliers, or soldiers. That would be damaging enough at a time of economic fragility. And the longer such a default went on, the greater the risk of provoking a genuine bond crisis would become.

There is no good economic reason why this should be happening. America’s net indebtedness is a perfectly affordable 65% of GDP, and throughout the past three years of recession and tepid recovery investors have been more than happy to go on lending to the federal government. The current problems, rather, are political. Under America’s elaborate separation of powers, Congress must authorise any extension of the debt ceiling, which now stands at $14.3 trillion. Back in May the government bumped up against that limit, but various accounting dodges have been used to keep funds flowing. It is now reckoned that these wheezes will be exhausted by August 2nd.

The House of Representatives, under Republican control as a result of last November’s mid-term elections, has balked at passing the necessary bill. That is perfectly reasonable: until recently the Republicans had been exercising their clear electoral mandate to hold the government of Barack Obama to account, insisting that they will not permit a higher debt ceiling until agreement is reached on wrenching cuts to public spending. Until they started to play hardball in this way, Mr Obama had been deplorably insouciant about the medium-term picture, repeatedly failing in his budgets and his state-of-the-union speeches to offer any path to a sustainable deficit. Under heavy Republican pressure, he has been forced to rethink.

Now, however, the Republicans are pushing things too far. Talks with the administration ground to a halt last month, despite an offer from the Democrats to cut at least $2 trillion and possibly much more out of the budget over the next ten years. Assuming that the recovery continues, that would be enough to get the deficit back to a prudent level. As The Economist went to press, Mr Obama seemed set to restart the talks.

The sticking-point is not on the spending side. It is because the vast majority of Republicans, driven on by the wilder-eyed members of their party and the cacophony of conservative media, are clinging to the position that not a single cent of deficit reduction must come from a higher tax take. This is economically illiterate and disgracefully cynical.

A gamble where you bet your country’s good name

This newspaper has a strong dislike of big government; we have long argued that the main way to right America’s finances is through spending cuts. But you cannot get there without any tax rises. In Britain, for instance, the coalition government aims to tame its deficit with a 3:1 ratio of cuts to hikes. America’s tax take is at its lowest level for decades: even Ronald Reagan raised taxes when he needed to do so.

And the closer you look, the more unprincipled the Republicans look. Earlier this year House Republicans produced a report noting that an 85%-15% split between spending cuts and tax rises was the average for successful fiscal consolidations, according to historical evidence. The White House is offering an 83%-17% split (hardly a huge distance) and a promise that none of the revenue increase will come from higher marginal rates, only from eliminating loopholes. If the Republicans were real tax reformers, they would seize this offer.

Both parties have in recent months been guilty of fiscal recklessness. Right now, though, the blame falls clearly on the Republicans. Independent voters should take note.