Are you like me -- ready to puke over the endless Debt-Ceiling Dance of Death? It's a trumped-up farce being foisted upon us by Tea Party Republicans like House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. (It's shrill shitheads like Cantor who occasionally make John Boehner seem like a reasonable fellow.)
Raising the debt ceiling is as routine in Washington as pork and patronage. It happens all the time, including ten times under Dubya. If we don't do it, the government is officially in default and all sorts of bad things happen which will cost all us dearly. But today's crop of R's threaten to chop off our national nose to spite our federal face. They insist on tying any debt ceiling increase to massive deficit reduction, but -- here's the catch -- without any tax increases of any sort. And if we can't agree on doing everything their way, well, too bad -- they'll just keep doing the Tea Bag Tango, blithely dance us over the edge, and teach us all a lesson.
President Obama and Democratic leaders have been surprisingly (excessively?) willing to compromise on large spending cuts, but understandably want some additional revenue as well. There is almost universal agreement that revenue increases would be a really good idea. But many/most in the Republican party just dig in their heels. They refuse a deal which gives them 90% of what they want. They're holding out for 110%.
It's a hijacking, a shakedown; it's hostage-taking and a really stupid game of chicken. It is disgusting. Why are the R's behaving so badly?
Meet Grover Norquist. Who? Grover Norquist, the sort of dangerous DC douchebag who often flies under the radar. He's a big-time lobbyist and power-broker for conservative causes, and the head of PAC called "Americans For Tax Reform". Grover's idea of tax reform is, basically, tax elimination. He has said he'd like to shrink government to the size it could be drowned in a bathtub. He's backed by extreme corporate wealth and has been the most influential far-right wingnut in Washington for over a decade. Dubya was his lapdog. When Grover starts dangling the dollars, most R's sit up and beg.
In a obedience-for-cash deal, Norquist not long ago issued his "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", in which he asked all members of Congress to "oppose any and all efforts" to increase tax rates, and to preserve all tax deductions and credits. Those who signed on to this pledge gained increased access to Norquist's considerable money and influence. The pledge was signed by 233 of 240 House Republicans and 40 of 47 Senate Republicans. One or two dipshit D's signed the fucking thing too.
If the question is why are Congressional Republicans acting like complete assholes over a mundane bit of governmental housekeeping, the answer is because Grover Norquist has 'em by the short hairs.