The Angry American — Debt Ceiling 101

My husband and I were so pissed off and yelling so loudly last night that I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard us.

Don’t worry. Not yelling at each other. Well, sort of yelling at each other. More yelling in tandem. We’d watched the president’s speech on the debt ceiling — all was well. My 8-year-old was so impressed that he actually started us all applauding. Then we watched Speaker of the House John Boehner’s response. Even the kids are savvy enough to know, “He’s not as smart as the president, is he.” No kids. And certainly not as classy. Nor what you might call a “stickler” when it comes to facts.

See, what’s happening (if you haven’t been following) is that we need to raise the debt ceiling. It’s something that always gets done, without fail, so that America can pay its bills. If we don’t, it’s like our country is a household that suddenly stops paying our mortgage, the credit cards bills, and the handyman who’s in the middle of fixing the roof. We even quit putting food out every night for the old cat that lives out back. So what happens? Everyone gets ticked off and not only does our credit rating go to hell, but the next time we go to buy a car, the interest rate is through the roof. And then the handy man sues us for breach of contract. And the poor cat? Well, it just starves.

So because there are crazier-than-usual Republicans controlling the House, they’re refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless — supposedly — we do something to decrease the “Oh my God, the sky is falling” deficit (that they have amnesia about since they were responsible for creating a lot of it). But when it comes down to it, they don’t really just want to cut spending. They really want to cut a bunch of social programs that will drive a bunch of people into poverty while making sure the top 2% of the country continues to have enough money to supply us all with a steady stream of dysfunctional daughters that we can all watch on reality TV shows (so I suppose they really are providing a service).

President Obama seemed to have us on the right track. He was holding fast — saying he’d be happy to sign a straight bill to raise the debt ceiling. Then the whole deficit argument came into play. The Republicans said, “Hey, our spending is out of control! We need to DO something about this or we’re not raising the debt ceiling ((stomp, stomp)).” So Obama said, “Okay, here’s a package that cuts 4 trillion from the budget. But the thing is. . . we need to raise revenue, too.” Because if you’re serious about getting your household in order, everyone knows you have to stop spending so much and find a way to bring in more money. But the Republicans aren’t only “no new taxes.” They’re “no new compromise.” It’s kind of like trying to get a nap-deprived 3-year-old who’s been drinking Coke out of Chuck E. Cheese without incident.

So, this goes back and forth for a while. But the gist of it is this: Democrats want a package that cuts spending and raises revenues — in other words, puts most of the burden on the wealthiest Americans and attempts to soften the blow for the people who are already hurting the most right now. Republicans want to cut spending and protect wealthy Americans (what they like to call “job creators,” even though these people have just been hoarding their money and haven’t created jack with their extended tax cuts for the last ten years). Plus they think something like, “Medicare, brought to you by Tostidos” would be a good way to save social programs (okay, not exactly — but they do want to privatize them, and trust me, it would be just about as bad, minus the salsa).

Seventy percent of Americans agree with the Democrats. They think we need to cut spending AND tax the wealthy. Let me say that again — 70% of Americans agree. Seventy percent of Americans can’t agree that puppies are cute. This is huge. And yet. . .

The Republicans are holding us hostage. They are not going to raise the debt ceiling unless the Democrats and the president go for some outlandish spending cut without tax increases. And here’s when the yelling at my house started.

We were watching The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. We’d heard inklings of some deal that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was putting up an agreement to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling without revenues. We’d hoped it wasn’t true. We sort of stayed away from the internet and didn’t check because we didn’t want it to be true. But. . . yeah. Our side blinked. Again.

There are people who are saying that Reid put the plan out knowing that the Repub’s would turn it down and it would show everyone just how insane they actually are — give them everything they want and they STILL say no. But we didn’t see it that way. To us, the Dem’s have once again proven that they’re sucky parents. They’re at the store with their jackass children who are yelling, screaming, and running down the aisles. They tell the kids, “Settle down or there’s no way you’re getting anything today!” As they approach the checkout, the kids start demanding a treat. They tell the kids, “No, no, no.” They kids whine, complain, threaten, hold their breath. “No, I said you had to settle down or I’m not buying you anything.” More whining, more tantrums, more screaming. Until finally, everyone walks out of the store, holding their own individual pony.

If the debt ceiling isn’t raised, all of us are going to suffer. Even those people who are hell bent on making sure President Obama fails — no matter what the cost. The people I like to call the anti-patriots. The ones who claim to love our country but who, in the end, will see it ruined just for spite.

I’m just hoping someone can find a way to send these guys to their room before they sink us all.