Robert Reich: Ransom Paid

[highplainsdem]

New blog post from Reich this morning, following his tweets last night:

http://robertreich.org/post/8331408301

More than a year ago, the President could have conditioned his agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts beyond 2010 on Republicans’ agreement not to link a vote on the debt ceiling to the budget deficit. But he did not.

Many months ago, when Republicans first demanded spending cuts and no tax increases as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, the President could have blown their cover. He could have shown the American people why this demand had nothing to do with deficit reduction but everything to do with the GOP’s ideological fixation on shrinking the size of the government — thereby imperiling Medicare, Social Security, education, infrastructure, and everything else Americans depend on. But he did not.

And through it all the President could have explained to Americans that the biggest economic challenge we face is restoring jobs and wages and economic growth, that spending cuts in the next few years will slow the economy even further, and therefore that the Republicans’ demands threaten us all. Again, he did not.

-snip-

The budget deficit is not the biggest obstacle to our prosperity. Lack of jobs and growth is. And the largest threat to our democracy is the emergence of a radical right capable of getting most of the ransom it demands.

[tinwi]

1. I hope that Congress votes no on this

We should have a clean debt ceiling. The teabaggers are the minority why should they cave? There is still the 14th amendment

[deacon]

2. Ransom paid = a near perfect description of all this. n/t

[DrDan]

3. a hearty REC