Political rant: debt ceiling

The current debate over raising the debt ceiling exemplifies so much about what is wrong with American politics right now.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/11/president-obama-deficit-reduction-if-not-now-when


The Republicans have done a great job controlling the conversation as usual. Let's face it, they are really really, really good at this.

They have repeated the mantra over and over again that you can't raise the debt ceiling without fixing the long-term debt problem *at the same time*. Just. Not. True.


Let me clarify with an analogy:

We have a bomb, and it is going off shortly.

The Republicans would have you believe that we should not disarm this bomb until we have a long term plan in place that guarantees that nobody will every build a bomb again.

I can't even find the words to express how asinine this is! And they're getting away with framing the argument this way YET AGAIN.


Disarm the @#$%@$#%^@ bomb. Just @#$%@# do it! And then yes, let's tackle the long term debt problems that we have, with everything option on the table.


(By the way insisting that any and all tax increases -- specifically on the wealthy -- would kill the economy is also patently false -- just read what independent experts say on the subject. Taxes right now are near 50-year lows. We could easily raise them to Clinton era levels, have a great economy, and help pay off the debt. But the Republicans won't allow that to happen, because the middle class would benefit more than the rich and corporations would. Starting any conversation with "anything YOU want is off the table" is not a negotiation.)


I just don't get how we (the collective we):

a) Let the Republican's control every conversation,

b) Buy into the shock-and-duh sound-bite 24-hr media cycle,

c) Fail to listen to any facts that don't agree with what we already believe, and

d) Have such an incredibly short attention span.


We needs more history teachin' in our schools, I think.