At the stroke of midnight tonight, the authority for the US government to issue debt ceases to exist. Also known as "the ability to pay our bills". Technically, there will still be enough money in the coffers to pay all our current debt for another 1-2 weeks. But then that is it and the US will be in real, actual default.
That would be catastrophic. Not only would interest rates go through the roof here in the US, but you'd see the housing industry collapse again and jobs start to be lost once more. Add to that having the global economy take a massive hit and we'd have the Great Recession, Part II. As a topper, it would also likely be the end the run of the US dollar as the global reserve currency. That is a current benefit of about $100B to the US as it lowers borrowing costs.
So, because Republicans can't accept the fact that the Affordable Care Act was passed and deemed Constitutional, because Republicans can't accept the fact that we had an election that centered on this law and the President WON, they are going to hold their breath, stamp their feet, and ruin the nation because we had the audacity not to agree with them.
And that brings us back to that asshole Ted Cruz.
For someone who went to Princeton and Harvard, he is an idiot. He went behind the backs of his Senate GOP brethren and stirred up the dumbest Republicans in the house (stalwarts like Michelle Bachmann, Steve Stockman, Louie "Terror Babies" Gohmert and Steve King of Iowa) to actually block anything that didn't defund the Affordable Care Act. Which is the one thing, the one thing the President would never ever consider going back on.
And he did this in public. Why? Because Cruz has his eyes on 2016 and the Presidential race. And he is thinking this will shore up the Tea Party base to back him. Which, to be fair, it will. The problem is that the rest of the country is now pissed with him and Republicans in general. And the Tea Party is a shrinking part of the electorate. Which means that this whole thing has likely put Cruz even further away from reaching the White House.
And it has actually put the House of Representatives in play for the Democrats in 2014. Poll after poll is showing that the GOP is taking a massive hit with voters. To such an extent that there is an actual chance that, if this current public mood holds until 2014 (and that is a big if), the Democrats will retake the House. Which would be unheard of.
So, in short, Ted Cruz's ego and desire for self-aggrandizement has put the US (and world) on the edge of another recession while damaging his own party's election chances in 2014 and pretty much making sure he'll never see the inside of the White House unless a standing President invites him inside.
And he doesn't regret it a bit.
Like I said, this guy is an asshole.
0 comments:
Post a Comment