EMAIL MESSAGES TO REP. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA)

Email No. 1

Dear Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): 

I cannot understand why Republicans in the US Congress, who make much of personal responsibility when the matter under discussion is programs for the neediest among us, think it's right and proper for the federal government of the United States to default on debts that are owed, an occurrence which has never happened before in the history of the country. Why is paying our debts a matter of controversy? 

You may not approve of Obamacare, but it is the law of the land, and the issue has nothing to do with upholding the full faith and credit of the US government and paying debts that we owe. If you and the members of the Republican party think the American people will place the blame for their recklessness and irresponsibility on the shoulders of President Obama, I believe you are sadly mistaken.

Of course, you may think your position will play well in Louisiana in your campaign to replace Sen. Mary Landrieu, but I would not count on it. You are elected to serve the American people in the Congress of the United States, therefore you are part of the government. Your present position to wreak havoc on the entire country by holding the government hostage on the debt limit is quite disappointing to at least one of your constituents. 

Sincerely, 

June Butler (aka Grandmère Mimi)

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Email No. 2

Dear Rep. Cassidy:

Earlier today I sent you a message on the debt ceiling.  Looming imminently is the Monday deadline for passing a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.  Here again Republicans in the US House display a recklessness and disregard for the welfare of the people you were elected to serve.  Please pass the clean bill that the Senate sent to the House to continue the functions of the government, of which you are a part, to avoid a government shutdown.

Republicans, not President Clinton, were blamed for the shutdown in 1995 and 1996, and history will once again repeat itself as the blame will be placed firmly on the shoulders of the GOP.  Why don't Republicans learn from history?

Sincerely,

June Butler
 

PAY THOSE DEBTS!

The absolute worst mistake Obama has made as president came back in 2011 when Republicans first pulled this stunt. At that time, Obama desperately wanted a bargain over long-term fiscal policy. So he tried a bit of too-clever-by-half political jujitsu in which GOP debt ceiling hostage taking became a pretext to start negotiations over long-term budgeting. All manner of evils have fallen forth from that fateful decisions, including an economic weak patch in 2011 the ongoing mess of sequestration, and worst of all the setting of a precedent for future crises. The good news is that the White House recognizes they made a mistake, and the last time Republicans tried to pull this they didn't give in. And they can't give in now. Not even a little bit. A terrible monster was let out of the box in 2011 and the best thing Obama can possibly do for the country at this point is to stuff it back in and hopefully kill it.

Matt Yglesias is correct.  The Republican sharks smelled blood, and they have never let up trying to repeat that success.  For the life of me, I cannot understand why Republicans in the US Congress, who make much of personal responsibility when the matter under discussion is programs for the neediest among us, think it's right and proper for the federal government of the United States to default on debts that are owed, an occurrence which has never happened before in the history of the country.  Why is paying our debts a matter of controversy?

THAT KRUGMAN GUY AGAIN

It’s looking increasingly as if House Republicans won’t crash the world economy by refusing to raise the debt ceiling, at least not right now. Score a big one for the White House (provisionally); its bet that it wouldn’t need a way to bypass the ceiling is looking like a winner (although it ain’t over until the tanned guy cries).

Paul nearly caused me to spew orange juice all over my keyboard with his final parenthetical comment.  Don't misunderstand me: Krugman has a biting wit, but it's not usually of the sort that will cause liquid to be spewed, so I was unprepared.

The reality that they will be blamed for a default seems finally to be dawning on Republicans.  That they would even contemplate such a move as not paying bills that the government owes seems quite reckless.  Their chief supporters of the GOP, investors, banks, and corporations, don't like the present uncertainty either.  Even now, the fact that the matter of the debt ceiling is not settled puts a drag on economic recovery.

PAUL KRUGMAN - IT'S THE DEBT CEILING...

It sure looks as if we’re going over the fiscal cliff, but that may be the least of our problems. The debt ceiling is a much bigger and more dangerous issue, and it looks very much as if Republicans are set to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States if they can’t get their way.

Read the entire post.  I wanted to add "stupid" to my title, but I refrained in the spirit of the season of peace and good will, but I suppose thinking "stupid" is in the same category as lust in the heart.  Oh well. Mea culpa.

Paul Krugman is my favorite economist.  Why the president and Democrats in Congress don't pay attention to Krugman is a mystery to me. He knows his subject, does the research and the math, and speaks what looks like plain common sense to me.  He should be Secretary of the Treasury, but, if offered the position (not likely), he might not accept.  A Facebook friend reminded me that Krugman won the Nobel Prize, which should count for something, however I fear certain citizens of the country view Nobel Prizes as a liberal plot, thus it counts for nothing with them.

DEAR MR PRESIDENT AND DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:

You gave away the store in your "negotiations" with Republicans. Why bother with the circus mockery of "negotiations"? Just give the Republicans what they want up front.

Sadly, it seems we have truly come to the end of two-party governance. We now have the Republican Party and the Republican-lite Party (aka the Democratic Party). Where do we go from here?