Republican Hostage-Taking

Click here for an article -- in the Washington Post, of all places; how can a solidly mainstream publication like the WaPo allow such poisonous rhetoric? -- by Marc Thiessen. He was a speechwriter for W; I guess that tells you all you need to know.

He starts off by saying the Dems are unconcerned about the political consequences of shutting down the government, and that the Republicans are inflicting damage upon themselves and paying the political price for a shutdown; there's some truth to that. The Dems would prefer that the government be funded and that things proceed smoothly, but if Republicans choose to impose a shutdown, they have little leverage over the administration to get things rolling again.

But one of the first things they teach you in Hostage Taking 101 is that you have to choose a hostage the other side cares about saving.

Then Thiessen moves on to his next point:

By contrast, when it comes to the debt-limit showdown, they do have leverage; while Obama can let the government close and blame the GOP, he cannot allow the United States to default.

So what's the answer, Marc? Simple:

As former treasury secretary Timothy Geithner explained during the last debt-limit standoff, the effects of default would be “catastrophic,” resulting in the “loss of millions of American jobs,” and would have an economic impact “potentially much more harmful than the effects of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.” Obama will not permit an economic crisis worse than 2008-09 and the “loss of millions of American jobs” on his watch. He has no choice but to negotiate with GOP leaders and cut a deal to avoid a government default.

So what’s the smart move here, Republicans? Simple: Pass a clean, short-term continuing resolution to keep the government operating at current levels and then attach your demands to legislation raising the debt limit.

There's the Republican philosophy in a nutshell. You can't win elections on your platform, but don't waste time and effort trying to achieve your goals by threatening the dog; threaten the kids. As Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell admitted the last time around:

I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting, Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming.

Do the Republicans have any concept of the notion of "loyal opposition"?