By Steve Benen
Congressional Republicans’ debt-ceiling strategy hasn’t been subtle: give the GOP what it wants or the party will refuse to raise the debt ceiling. For months, Democrats and others who take reality seriously have called this what it is: a hostage strategy.
Yesterday, these same Republicans decided
President Obama is holding the economy hostage. No, seriously. Stop laughing. That’s really what they said.
“President Obama is holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage so he can continue his spending spree,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)
said at a press conference. Soon after, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) made a similar comment, prompting reporters to ask if he was arguing that the president is the hostage-taker in this scenario. “Yes!” Lee
said. “That’s
exactly what I’m saying. That’s
absolutely what I’m saying.”
No sane person could possibly take this seriously. It’s just laughable at every level. For one thing, Obama has gone to absurd lengths to strike a deal that Republicans should like. For another, it’s
up to Congress to pass a bill raising the debt ceiling.
The new GOP tack is also undermined by a few Republicans
who know better.
“Our problem is, we made a big deal about this for three months,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.
“How many Republicans have been on TV saying, ‘I am not going to raise the debt limit,’ ” said Mr. Graham, including himself in the mix of those who did so. “We have no one to blame but ourselves.”
He added, “We shouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it.”
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