There are many very smart people on Wall Street, and they’re not worried about a looming crisis over the U.S. government paying its bills.
We, on the other hand, worry that a combination of toxic politics, mismanagement from the new House speaker, and a blasé attitude about this problem will lead the government over a cliff.
Is it justifiable to adopt the “been-there, done-that attitude,” as The New York Times characterized it, about an appropriate resolution of this hostage-taking of the federal fisc by Speaker Kevin McCarthy? That strikes us as risky — for all concerned.
The GOP leader is hardly a statesman, as we’ve noted before. And the last time the party held the debt-limit decision hostage — in 2011 — the result was catastrophic for Republicans.
Now, with tax day behind us, how long can the U.S. Treasury juggle the books without a vote to raise the debt limit? Many have opinions, and most agree the longer it takes, the worse it will look for America.
“It will be financial chaos,” predicted Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, when asked by The Washington Post about a potential brush with default. “Our fiscal problems will be meaningfully worse…Our geopolitical standing in the world will be undermined.”
Does that matter in McCarthy’s world? We doubt it. His tenuous political standing in the House, as demonstrated earlier this year, relies upon satisfying the most fringe elements of his caucus. He proposes to dicker with President Joe Biden over budget cuts anathema to the White House in exchange for a vote he ought to make on a bipartisan basis, as was done three times during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
The nation deserves something better in the way of leadership.
Leave a Reply