There is a very disturbing theory floating around Washington concerning the debt ceiling.
There are those who believe that the Republicans are purposely trying to stall negotiations so that the deadline for raising the debt ceiling will pass without resolution. This would cause the country to default on its obligations for the first time in history.
The theory is that the Republicans would take this tactic so they could lay the blame at the feet of the President. After a few days of making political hay the Republicans would then use their leverage to agree to a resolution on their terms. Theorists say that the country would pay its debts to foreign creditors and banks on time to avoid default; but they would delay issuing federal payroll, social security and veteran’s benefits checks for the few days it would take to bring Democrats crawling back to the negotiating table.
The genesis of this theory originated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s statement that his number one goal was to defeat Barak Obama in 2012. Not create jobs, or improve health care or get out of two wars. His number one goal is to beat Obama.
Fuel was added to the fire when McConnell said that any talk about raising taxes was a non-starter; Speaker Boehner then said that the deadline was “an arbitrary date;” and the only two Republicans attending the deficit meetings chaired by Vice President Biden walked out.
Stonewalling seems to be the Republican game plan.
It is hard to believe that Republicans would risk subjecting the country to a financial meltdown for political gain.
But then this is the party that withheld unemployment benefits for 2 million needy Americans until the President agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.
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