RAISING THE DEBT LIMIT - A WIN/WIN SOLUTION

In the next few months the United States will default on its debt and cause a global economic disaster that will ultimately result in a new feudalism unless our political leaders agree to increase the current debt ceiling of 14.3 trillion dollars by 2 to 3 trillion dollars more in order to avoid an economic synapse collapse.


The Republican Party controls the House and with it the power of the purse constitutionally protected. Last week the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, said that any increase involving the use of “the American people’s money,…” should be accompanied by spending cuts that should be greater than the amount provided to increase the debt limit.
In addition he stated that everything is on the table except tax hikes which will destroy jobs providing the Democratic Party with an opportunity to define “everything” as bringing the troops home from at least 60 countries immediately, bringing the troops home from Afghanistan next and bringing the troops home from Iraq eventually, as well as ending the war on drugs at home and cutting a bloated defense budget.

The historical record based on documented facts is that raising taxes on the already better than well off does not create jobs. After the two tax cuts to the wealthy during President Bush’s record on job creation was worse than any president going back to late 1940s when such record keeping began. Indeed even the recent threat to shut down the government unless the Bush tax cuts were extended hasn’t created any jobs.

As for John Boehner’s feigned concern for job creation is disingenuous at best as evidenced by his response earlier this year of “so be it” and without shedding a tear when told of the possibility that over 200,000 government employees might lose their jobs if his cuts were enacted. An un-Christian thing to say but oh so Ayn Rand.

The reality is that reactionary ideologues control the people’s House and they are unwilling to negotiate about including raising taxes on their wealthy constituents. Meanwhile the reality is that the Democratic Party appears to be willing to discuss cuts to the common good from social programs and public education to health coverage and our infrastructure.

Ironically the people who were and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for that common good will now have to sacrifice their vision of the American dream for those who benefit the most when tax cuts are no longer on the table yet America’s safety net is.

Given the intransience of the Republican position Democrats should counter the Republican bravado and bluster by declaring that if tax cuts are off the table the only issues on the table are ending our military presence in those countries with which we are not in a state of war and sooner rather than later leave from those where we are, cutting a bloated defense budget by at least 20 percent and ending our war on drugs which the world body recently declared to be an abject failure.

This would meet Speaker Boehner’s demands for cuts that would equal any requested increase to our debt limit. Taxes wouldn’t be raised on the wealthy and decreases in the cost of war at home and abroad would not only decrease our nation’s debt but have enough left over to invest in the future of our common good without adversely affecting our ability to defend ourselves because we’d still be spending almost more on defense than the rest of the world combined. It's a win/win solution for the wealthy and their representatives in Congress as well as the rest of us.