When Negotiators Take Themselves Hostage

The GOP is threatening to shut down government over problems it could easily solve.

What if there were a group of terrorists holding your family hostage, and pointing a gun, not at your family, but at themselves, demanding the account number to your pension fund? Would you negotiate with the terrorists by allowing them access to your savings, or would you let them shoot themselves, thus keeping your retirement money intact?

Congressional Republicans are threatening to default on the debt unless U.S. President Barack Obama caves to their demands to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security spending. Regardless of the market-crashing consequences of a debt default, actually doing so would be unconstitutional. Section 4 of the 14th Amendment clearly states that "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions ... shall not be questioned." Republicans are violating the constitution by threatening a debt default. End of discussion.

Credible economists and lawmakers on both sides generally agree that raising the debt ceiling is an essential part of governing, and that a large deficit can pose a danger to economic security. But if Speaker John Boehner genuinely cares about deficit reduction, he need only look to ending his own party's policies and shifting the tax burden. Swearing allegiance to Grover Norquist's no-new-taxes pledge, the GOP will only allow room for $4 trillion in cuts, arguing that this is a spending problem, not a revenue problem. However, the GOP’s budget would collect exactly $4 trillion less over the next decade through even more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

Contrary to Republican claims, the United States is one of the lowest-tax countries in the world – U.S. corporations and wealthy citizens pay far less in taxes than other developed nations. Capital-gains taxes have dropped 10 per cent since 1950, tax rates for million-dollar households have decreased 10 per cent since the mid-90s, and the estate tax has virtually disappeared for those with the largest fortunes since the onset of the Bush presidency. Four simple solutions would close that $4 trillion budget gap in the next decade, without even touching Social Security or Medicare.

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Source: The Mark