Despite whatever click-bait headlines you’re seeing on Fox News, and the predictable rage of rage-aholics, it’s been reported by the Wall Street Journal that Republicans and Democrats have basically reached a debt deal. Credit the skillful negotiations of Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the fumbling negotiations of President Joe Biden.
Biden’s opening card in this game was something he specializes in: nothing. He gambled this spring that he could portray the Republicans as intransigent extremists by refusing to negotiate with them, and the Republicans would wind up having to simply raise the debt ceiling without any concessions from the Democrats. More borrowed money to spend now and repay later, and no conditions on spending it.
Biden lost that gamble, bigly.
The loss was signaled early when, against all predictions, McCarthy managed to pass a Republican debt bill through the House. The bill certainly reflects Republican priorities, but it isn’t radical. It called for modest spending caps and redirection of funds away from the IRS – which is nobody’s friend – and toward the military.
Even then, Biden continued to refuse negotiations. He still thought his strategy of doing nothing was shrewd, and, besides, it dovetailed nicely with his practice of spending 40% of his time on vacation in Delaware. But doing nothing in response to a concrete offer on the table is not the way to look reasonable, is not good politics, and is not smart.
It was a transparent bluff.
Biden not only refused to negotiate a deal, but also continually reminded people of the dire consequences of the absence of one. He in effect said “The world may end, but it’s the fault of those people I refuse to talk to about the matter.”
Biden of course knew he had most of the media on his side, Heck, the media are overwhelmingly Democrats. And dishonest ones to boot – since they present their biased reporting as unbiased.
But even his media allies could not deal Biden a winning hand when he refused to play any cards. The American people know the economy is a mess, and they know it’s mainly the fault of the Democrats for printing up trillions of debt dollars and sending them to people as “pay” for failing to perform the work that would be necessary to deliver the goods and services on which they would spend those trillions.
More money chasing fewer goods is not just a recipe for inflation; it’s a near-definition of it.
But like a madman, or a Democrat, Biden said “We just need to print and send more trillions.” They think they can spend their way out of inflation by juicing demand and crimping supply even more.
It’s hard to figure whether the Democrats know that their scheme — to control inflation by printing up money to pay people not to work — is crazy voodoo. Do they practice this witchcraft for the purpose of covertly destroying the country? Is this burning fire and bubbling cauldron intentional?
Or are they truly sincere in mistakenly imagining they’re helping the country by encouraging people not to work by sending them free money we don’t have, but are just too stupid to realize their mistake?
I have no doubt that the hard left of George Soros and The Squad are indeed toiling and troubling to destroy America, and they know runaway inflation is a good weapon. On the other hand, I think the moderate left (yes, there are still a few) like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and some of your friends and neighbors are probably sincere in stupidly imagining they’re helping the country.
Biden himself is neither, or both. As for the first, he’s crazy all right, but not really trying to destroy the country. This country been very good to him and his family, or at least very good for him and his family.
As for the second, Biden is certainly stupid – he’s unquestionably the dimmest bulb of any American president, and that was even before the dementia set in – but he’s not sincere. He hasn’t a sincere bone in his body. Sincerity was crowded out long ago by grift, graft, greed, avarice, hair plugs, self-aggrandizing lies, bribery, tax-cheating, plagiarism, tooth caps, his hatred and disowning of his own granddaughter, and the sweet smell of other little girls’ hair.
Predictably, when the Republicans called out Biden on his refusal to negotiate the debt ceiling, and even the media couldn’t spin his refusal as anything but a lazy Biden bluff, he reversed course and started negotiating. But caving on your promise not to negotiate is not exactly the strongest card with which to start negotiations. His caving not only weakened him in the negotiations, but weakened him in the eyes of the people, if that’s possible.
The ultimate outcome of the belated negotiations was a deal where Biden lost both substantively and politically.
I’ll admit that I’m glad Biden is a weak negotiator when he’s negotiating with McCarthy (who’s turning out better than advertised, eh?). But bear in mind that Biden is the same weak negotiator when negotiating American interests abroad.
Don’t hope for weakness in an American president, even one from the opposing political party. The world is too dangerous.
My book is now out, entitled “High Attitude – How Woke Liberals Ruined Aspen.” It’s available on AMAZON and BARNES AND NOBLE.
the Aspen beat 
I would like the substance of the negotiations. What specifically are the issues that McCarthy won for us. Thank you.
Mike Lee – As it turns out, the much-touted regulatory reform in the debt-ceiling deal can be waived by a Biden political appointee—one who can be fired at will by POTUS.. This language renders the bill’s regulatory reform a mere illusion.
I see the drama a little bit differently:
The witches are indeed the Soros / WEF crowd who are indeed out to destroy America, starting with its King Duncan, Donald Trump, against whom they have plotted juridical regicide so many times that I have lost count.
To finish him off, they have seduced the dim-witted, morally bankrupt versions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth — the latter being the inestimable Dr. Jill, of course, who, when she cries “Out, out, damned spot,” thinks she’s talking to their dog who attacked MacBiden coming out of the shower.
Alas, MacBiden runs out of gas, and Birnam Wood will indeed come to Dunsinane in the form of Macduff — Ron DeSantis, or, in a real plot twist, the resurrected Donald Trump.
Lay on, Macduff!
DeSantis, asked about the deal, said that the US was headed towards bankruptcy before this deal, and will still be headed for bankruptcy after it’s passed. This is true, although the deal may slightly slow the rush towards insolvency. What is needed is Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency, and, in that eventuality, Republicans with spines who will take advantage of their temporary political control to trim down the governmental spending juggernaut.
Until that day, this deal is about the best that could be had with an irresponsible chief executive and an irresponsible Senate, so I hope it will pass. Something is slightly better than nothing.
“Republicans with spines…”
Trump has one. But he got fired, basically because of the Republicans without spines.
The Aspen Beat is a ‘read’ I follow to gain basic understanding of issues. It adds focus and insight that I then apply with further internet reading. The debt problem in the USA will continue but for once the political left can’t hang the Republicans with being obstructionists in the machinery of government that needs to keep moving day in and day out. The overall agreement reduces and restricts what the democrats can do in the next 18 months.
“…restricts what the democrats can do in the next 18 months…”
That is yet to be demonstrated…There’s still time to conjure up another expensive national crisis that those same Republicans will have to dispel. Let the wailing and the gnashing of teeth resume in earnest by the usual suspects. Because ‘threat to democracy’ and other such political nonsense.
But I enjoy your optimism Stephen Pierce.
You’ve discovered my hidden weapon – optimism. Then again, I stare down the liars in my cadre of contacts and call them out as hypocrites. That is quite therapeutic to the soul. Maybe our world will become upright again. German society survived the Nazis.
Having said that I think this is probably the best they can get, it’s not good. Further, the Congress is no longer operating as designed, or as it used to. The House passed a bill. It should have been taken up by the Senate, and then been addressed in a conference before final passage. Schumer obviously didn’t want to touch it, leaving it to brinksmanship between the Speaker and the President.
It is broken.
From a conservative POV it’s a very imperfect bill … and it’s gonna taste a lot like a crap sandwich. I wanted to see all $80 some billion for a new army of IRS agents, slated for conducting mass financial colonoscopies on the American public, to be completely clawed back. Apparently only about 2% is getting cut.
I largely blame the dozen or so Senate RINOs who made this IRS monstrosity possible, with that “bi-partisan” crony Omnibus bill that was passed last December, under the cover of Christmas, while the Democrats still controlled both Houses of Congress.
I’m at least glad to see that much of the unspent COVID funds will likely get clawed back. Also, there will likely be some work requirements attached to welfare, and lots of entitled and Whitney college grads with degrees in CRT and DEI field will have to start paying down the loans on their garbage degrees in 60 days or so.
If it sounds like I’m hedging … well, yeah, I am. Never, EVER trust anything coming out of Washington, D.C., especially if it has bi-partisan agreement. Bi-partisan agreement just means that Americans are getting screwed by both parties.
Speaker McCarthy seems to be playing the best hand he can, which ain’t much.
Before the GOP took over the House in early January, the Democrat driven economy was speeding on an autobahn highway towards the cliff at 120 mph. Now with the GOP in control of the House, the economy is still heading towards the cliff, albeit at a slower and more leisurely 50 mph.
But … it’s most likely the best conservatives can expect with a slim House majority, only 49 GOP Senators, and a corrupt and decrepit dim-witted Dem in the White House.
So it looks like it’s gonna be a fancy crap sandwich … bon appétit America.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/southpark/images/4/4b/Turd-sandwich.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/310?cb=20191104215547
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Washington is broken. .
Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can’t find his pants.
I’m voting NO on the debt ceiling debacle because playing the DC game isn’t worth selling out our kids and grandkids.
~Rep. Nancy Mace.
We obviously haven’t seen what Nancy Mace et al have seen.
Chip Roy – Not one Republican should vote for this deal. It is a bad deal. No one sent us here to borrow an additional 4 trillion dollars to get absolutely nothing in return… There will be a reckoning about what just occurred unless we stop this bill.”
Can you imagine the manure storm from the media if the ‘elected’ Republicans chose not to borrow an additional 4 trillion dollars? Come On Man! Greatest nation on the planet – threat to our democracy! – destroying America’s full faith and credit! – Republicans ‘selfishly want to kill EVERYONE!
The leftists in the media industrial complex will win this one too. Limbaugh called it ‘the dumbing down of society’.
It’s becoming clear now that the bill passed in the House over 100 days ago is not even a ghost of its former self following the recent negotiations, and that Republicans — many of whom are now holding their noses at the prospect of its passage — haven’t “won” much more than a participation trophy.
Perhaps less, if it goes to the floor and is passed largely by DEMOCRAT votes.
McCarthy should recess the House and force the Senate to take up the original bill passed by the House. Damn the torpedoes.
The result would be a loss of the House in 2024 and perhaps the presidency.
The bill is not great, but it’s a lot better than expected, a lot better than losing the House, and does represent a modest defeat for Biden.
Rage is fun for a minute, but politics is long and grinding.
I wouldn’t pin the label of “rage” on even the most outspoken, dug-in House conservatives such as Chip Roy, and I think Philip’s comment (right before mine) pretty well describes what happens time after time to what I’ll call the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party — namely, getting beaten down by the media (including that bastion of sagacity, The Wall Street Journal) and by the more “mature” Republicans feeding at the trough, as being angry, quixotic, uncomprehending of how the sausage is made, yadda yadda yadda.
Nor do I see the straight line causal logic, whereby standing by the remarkable bill passed months ago with 218 votes is going to lead to the loss of the House. Here you have the one component of government that actually did its job in a timely, responsible manner, while the Senate and Biden did nothing, and voters will throw it out in the next election? Yes, standing firm is risky, and I probably wouldn’t have the guts to do it.
Yeah. But “guts” might not be the complete description of that choice. I’ve always thought that dying for your country is overrated as a strategy to victory. See Patton, George.
Heh. Isn’t he the guy who bitchslapped a couple of shell shocked soldiers whom he suspected of being malingerers?
Yep. They were pussies.
You’ve made my point eloquently. This is no time for pussy Republicans.
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