Day: July 6, 2011
Reagan to Senate Leader on Debt Ceiling in 1983: Default Would Lead to ‘Incalculable Damage’
Today’s Republicans give lip service to Ronald Reagan as if he were the paragon of tea party conservatism, but they conveniently ignore his actual record, particularly the fact that, as president, he raised taxes at least seven times, including the largest corporate tax in history, and, as governor of California, one of his first acts was to raise state taxes by $1 billion, which is roughly $6.5 billion today.
No doubt these same Republicans will also ignore the fact that, in 1983, Pres. Reagan strongly advocated raising the debt ceiling when the United States was undergoing an economic crisis similar to the one facing the country today. Back then, in a letter [PDF]to Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Reagan wrote:
Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the disruptions and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns.
The reason that Republicans, particularly the tea baggers, ignore Reagan’s actual record is because facts don’t matter, especially if the facts get in the way of their prime objective: doing whatever it takes, including blowing up the world’s financial markets, in order to ensure that Mitt Romney is the next president of the United States.
The text of Reagan’s letter to Baker, urging him to support the vote in Congress is transcribed in full below.
Losses and Profits
The unemployed don’t know how they’ll pay the rent
And wage-earners wonder where their paycheck just went.
While economic stagnation
Keeps a grip on the nation,
Corporations’ profits are up a tidy 88 percent!
Almost Half of Americans Can’t Name Declaration of Independence Date
42%
Of those surveyed in a new Marist poll did not know that the United States declared its independence in 1776 while 26% are unsure and 16% mentioned another date. Also shocking: 24% don’t know from which country the United States declared its independence.
Huntsman Stays Above ( Out of??) the Fray
I try to distance myself from the unfurling drama of different campaigns.
— Jon Huntsman, quoted by the New York Times, when asked about Mitt Romney’s latest flip flop over saying President Obama “made the recession worse” again after saying he didn’t say it after he said it the first time.
Is the GOP a Political Party Capable of Governing or Just a Wingnut Faction?
The struggles of the next few weeks are about what sort of party the G.O.P. is — a normal conservative party or an odd protest movement that has separated itself from normal governance, the normal rules of evidence and the ancient habits of our nation …. If the debt ceiling talks fail, independent voters will see that Democrats were willing to compromise but Republicans were not. If responsible Republicans don’t take control, independents will conclude that Republican fanaticism caused this default. They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern. And they will be right.
— David Brooks, writing in the New York Times op-ed pages.
First Twitter Town Hall is Today
Kids, don’t forget to log on to America’s first Twitter-hosted* town hall meeting. It takes place today at 2 p.m. Eastern time, and Twitter is going large by having Pres. Obama field questions and comments on how to get the economy going and how to put people back to work.
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) fired a preemptive shot with this tweet:
Republicans #askobama to outline plan #4jobs that doesn’t involve more spending, taxing, regulating http://j.mp/o1bpzE @townhall
Why is it Republicans feel the government should leave everything to the private sector except job creation, the one thing the private sector is best suited to provide? To Republicans, when employment is high, it’s because business is masterful. When employment is low, it’s because government is screwing up. I’m not in the right party to be able to follow this logic.
But to follow the town hall, search for @townhall and use the hashtag, as Speaker Boehner did, #askobama.
* Yes Buck, I know AP style says “host” is not a verb but Twitter itself is calling it that.
