I don't often dwell in religious matters, because true believers are immune to rational arguments and facts, but in this case I would like to try to convince those independents who are sitting on the fence not to convert before they think about it.
There is a schism amongst the true believers right now. Perhaps we can take advantage of the dissension in the ranks to instill a little logic and good sense into the equation.
The dissent in the ranks is something like, should Ronald Reagan (blessed be his name) be beatified (The Republicans) or should he be deified (The Tea Party). For those unfamiliar with big words, the question is should Reagan be considered a Saint or a God?
The Republicans retain a little bit of rationality because they realize that not extending the debt limit will cripple the nation and will hurt their meal tickets, the rich and the corporations. They are conflicted, because their number one goal is to defeat Obama, even if that destroys the government in the process. They hate the government and wouldn't mind if it is destroyed (except for the military and the corporate welfare) but they also realize that if Wall Street tanks, then their millions which reside there, may be endangered. Likewise their corporate sponsors are getting extremely nervous because they are being pushed too close to the edge of the cliff. The Republican Leaders are trying to edge away from the cliff.
The House Majority Leader, John Boehner, was momentarily tempted to take Obama's grand $ 4 Trillion debt reduction deal, which would give the Republicans 95% of what they want in exchange for eliminating a few tax breaks to folks that didn't deserve them, but then Boehner was taken to the wood shed by the Tea Party Radicals, and told not to budge an inch even if he got everything he wanted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/us/pol...Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnel is willing to give Obama a way to avoid the catastrophe if he is willing to take all of the blame.
http://hosted2.ap.org/txdam/54828a5e8d9d...The True Believers are not willing to give an inch. Most of them want to create another economic disaster worse than the one the republicans created before because they think the public will blame Obama for it, and kick him out.
The issue of course is all about Taxes. The tenant that taxes are always bad, and should never be raised, is a central theme of the Religion of Reagon. All but 13 of the Republicans have taken their vows that they will never raise taxes for any reason. In the past the rich paid 90% taxes to help with the war effort. Now they only pay about16%. Now 80% of the people want taxes raised on the rich, but the true believers still believe that the public is demanding no new taxes. Why are they so divorced from reality?
A bit of background is needed to understand why.
The nation's economics can be explained by likening it to our own family economics. We can spend more than we make, by putting purchases on the credit card. The monthly bill is similar to our countries deficit. The total of all of the bills is equivalent to the National Debt. In our family, people have to work to pay the bills. The national equivalent to work, is Taxes. In our family, even if we stop buying stuff we can't afford, we still have to pay the credit card bill for the stuff we bought before we got smart, even if that means getting another job to do it.
Now Reagan (blessed be his name) realized that most people don't like their jobs, just like most people don't like taxes, so he convinced people that if they really, really, believed, that they wouldn't have to pay taxes, or pay for their purchases. In fact if they really had faith, they could buy some magic money beans that if planted with the proper rituals, would grow more money than the beans cost. (Tax Cuts create revenue) They could all quit their jobs and not have to worry about paying the bills. All they would have to do is buy the magic beans.
At the same time Reagan (the Blessed) convinced people that government wasn't the solution to problems, that it was the source of the problems. But what he really meant was that government that helped people was bad, but government that helped the military and the corporations was good. So while railing at the evil of government, he doubled the size of it, by shifting funding away from those evil welfare queens and giving twice as much corporate welfare to the military and the corporations.
But since He was eliminating revenue while at the same time as he increased spending for the Military Industrial Complex, he had to put the purchases on the credit card.
America went from the world's largest creditor nation to the world's greatest debtor nation. Of course it was a big scam, and while Reagan (blessed be his name) tripled the debt, he also raised taxes 11 times. But that action happened behind the curtain. The true believers wouldn't believe such heresy.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-2...Reagan (the great) eliminated the Fairness Doctrine and then sent his preachers over the airwaves to spread the word unhindered by facts or the truth.
So who are those True Believers who were so willing to believe the illusion? The Christian Conservatives were ready made to believe that black was white and up was down, because they already believed in Bible tales instead of the real world. It was just another baby step to believe that Tax Cuts created Revenue. It was another baby step that allowed them to believe that showering the rich with money benefited the poor. Another baby step to ignore climate science. Another baby step to believe that it was really Fanny and Freddie that tricked the poor blacks into buying houses they couldn't afford that caused the economic meltdown instead of the Wall Street Bankers. Another baby step to believe that all of the bills run up by the Republicans, the doubling of military spending, the two wars, the huge tax cuts to the rich which created most of the National Debt, is all Obama's fault. Another Baby step to think that they don't have to pay for the purchases that they themselves have made. Another baby step to believe that only Democratic Social spending causes debt. Another baby step to believe that they can balance a 50% deficit by eliminating all of the social programs (14% of the budget).
Today's Tea Party Radicals are true believers in the deepest sense of the words. All of those baby steps have taken them quite a distance from reality so they no longer trust any experts or scientists. They only believe the preachers on Fox and hate radio. Like Frankenstein's creature, Reagan (cursed be his name) created a Monster that no longer listens to the leaders of the party and it is determined to destroy us all.
They forced Obama to buy more of Bush's Magic Beans which doubled the credit card bill. Now they think that if they can just stop the Democratic spending while still wasting trillions on the military, that they can balance the budget. They even believe that they don't have to pay the bills for all of the stuff they have already bought, like Bush's magic beans. All of the above foolishness has become Dogma, and anyone that doesn't spout the same nonsense is excommunicated.
The rich and the corporations must be showered with even more magic beans, and none of them are expected to pay their fair share, The Faithful have to believe that the magic beans, that never sprouted before, will work this time – if they only believe. That is why there will be no debt ceiling extension if the Tea Party has any say. They live in a different world completely divorced from reality. They are religious Jihadists willing to destroy themselves and everyone else for their religion. They believe that if they just have enough faith, that defaulting on our debt for the first time in history, sending us into a depression and creating a world wide crisis, will actually be a good thing.
Too bad they have to drag all of the rational people in the world
down with them.