The Bullies Get *Busy*
Insurrectionists & Liars Join Key US House Committees & Consider Blowing the US Debt Limit
Hey! It’s another Big Precipice Day! It seems like there have been a zillion of these since the US took a turn to the hard right.
Tomorrow the US Government is likely to hit its debt limit, per the US Secretary of the Treasury. The US House of Representatives is thinking about maybe not agreeing to raise the debt limit ceiling — which has never happened. Ever.
Why would this even happen?
Because of far-right Republicans, of course. The biggest Republican bullies still in government. Many of the same folks who pushed for special deals in order to let Kevin McCarthy get to be the Speaker and second person in the line of succession to be US president.
Here on the potential threshold of that potentially catastrophic economic decision, Republicans have appointed some of their favourite insurrectionists, election deniers, liars, hatemongers, and Q-Anon adherents to US House Committees overseeing the US Government. The standouts:
Andy Biggs will remain on the Judiciary Committee.
Jim Jordan is chairing the Judiciary Committee.
Lauren Boebert will be on the House Oversight Committee, and remain on the Committee on Natural Resources.
Matt Gaetz will remain on the Judiciary Committee.
Paul Gosar will be on the House Oversight Committee, and be reinstated to the Natural Resources and Oversight Committee.
Marjorie Taylor Greene will be on both the House Oversight Committee and the Homeland Security Committee.
Scott Perry will be on the House Oversight Committee
George Santos (not his real name) has been assigned to the Small Business Committee and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Democrats have an excellent press release with more — including calling out more extremists running and involved with committees. This site has a more detailed list for the Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, Armed Services and Judiciary Committees. This story covers the 21 holdout votes for McCarthy as Speaker.
At least some of these assignments appear to be concessions for allowing McCarthy to (finally) win the speakership.
How many more concessions will these types of folks demand?
What are they going to demand in order to raise the US debt limit?
Will they be able to back down from their threat not to raise the debt limit?
It’s ego. Ego does so much damage, and it could tank our economy and hurt the worldwide one. These bullies have talked a big game about letting the debt ceiling get exceeded.
Will these bullies be capable of caving in to reason, intelligence, bureaucrats, and economists who have been warning in their most stressed-out voices that it would be extremely dangerous for both the US and the world economy not to raise the debt ceiling?
Bullies aren’t known for backing down; for “caving in.” And certainly not to “intellectuals.” Maybe that’s why so many pundits are nervous this week, and straight-up scared.
The world’s economy hangs on the egos of less than 30 pale American lawmakers.
Can they get out of their own way so the rest of us can survive and thrive and flourish? That’s certainly not what they want. They don’t want the rest of us to be able to thrive and flourish. They’re willing to damage Americans, the American economy, the American democracy, and American communities to get what they want.
They’ve been doing it for 50 years. We’ve not been addressing that as a society… and it’s gotten us into deeper and deeper into decay, resentment, and grievance. Why wouldn’t we think they’d keep taking it further? They want the resentment. They feed off of it.
The question for the next 24-36 hours is going to be about how much damage they’re willing to do to try to get what they want. Even if it’s not rational.
Damage from exceeding the US debt limit could affect the US for years. It could hurt economies around the world, too; especially as the US is the reference point for so many things economically. Cascading effects are difficult to predict, but they could be spectacular and not in good ways.
Quick big picture summary (longer analysis video at the end):
Meanwhile, Americans aren’t sure what to do. There’s shock freeze, and denial, too.
What are we going to do?
No one’s going to stage a major protest to stop this terrible decision-making by tomorrow. It wouldn’t work, anyway.
Right now we’re basically dependent on the system working… on people in power in the bureaucracies and institutions being able to get through to these people. The getting through, though… it’s not clear what will work. Or if it can.
This is the trouble with ego. With a party driven by toxic masculinity, by patriarchy, and by supremacy. It’s hard for extremists to back down after all chest-thumping and hell-raising. As this country keeps swerving farther and farther right… that’s part of the problem. Ego.
I heard wise person Eddie Glaude, Jr. of Princeton say yesterday that this kind of extremism will continue until, basically, we call in the extremists we love and talk to them about the damage they’re doing. Honestly, that would be great, but it’s not happened yet. I’m not sure it would be enough, either.
It’s my take that we need to fire up the majority enough and get people out pushing for a different morality and future than the direction that we’re going now. Like one where we invest in humans and in communities, and where we take care of people. Where we don’t celebrate racists, but rather condemn them. Where we advocate for government that works well and serves its people… rather than taking it apart and then being ticked off when it no longer works.
I think we need to push these bullies and racists back to their hidey holes and to their quiet, hidden conversations about their hate and intolerance.
They’re emboldened, and they’re going to stay that way until we disarm and diffuse this extremism, and push something bigger and better.
This nonprofit is here for that.
Our 5 Thing approach starts with 1) connection, and humans; 2) doing more with communities and coalitions — we can leverage bigger power; 3) pressuring and partnering with businesses; 4) championing moral courage, vision, and values; and 5) getting more attention and driving more of the narrative.
We’re doing events to get this action going. They’re also posted on Eventbrite. Also, we totally need donations to get this shift going — either through ActBlue, or our website.
Be safe out there. Cross your fingers. Throw salt over your shoulder. Do some kind of magical ceremony that helps these folks not throw the entire world economy into some kind of chaotic mess tomorrow. We need alllllllll the luck.
No matter what they decide, we’re in for a couple of years of chaos. This will be the first of many precipices these Republicans are fixing to bring. We’ll need connection and community to get through it. Join us.
Onward.
PS — Here’s a longer debt ceiling, etc. analysis from the Morning Joe show on MSNBC:
In the past we managed to avoid the worst consequences of right-wing attempts to bring the government to a halt and to default on our debt. Honestly, I have no confidence that we will prevail this time. And the consequences will be severe--not only for this country, but for the global economy. These Republican clowns don't care. They seem to think it's a game. They seem to think that their constituents will be happy--when we fall into a massive recession or perhaps even a depression. Not discounting all the fears I had while trump was in office...I am as afraid for the country as I have ever been. Whatever happens next in the House of Representatives is going to be ugly. And we the people, of the US and of the world, will suffer the consequences of their idiocy.