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TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
Sun Jan 6, 2013, 01:18 PM Jan 2013

WaPo (Sargent)- "The Morning Plum: Media shouldn’t get rolled by GOP debt ceiling spin"

This is one of the few articles that accurately describes the debt ceiling debate. It really is not a debate. Rather it is an effort at extortion with Republicans threatening to damage the countries economy if they don't get their way, yet the media continues to portray a false equivalency between Republicans and Democrats.

The early returns, based on the coverage of this looming battle so far, suggest Republicans are successfully defining the terms of this debate — they are defining it as a standard Washington standoff, in which each side will demand concessions from the other. Indeed, you can read through reams of the coverage without learning three basic facts about this fight:

1) Republican leaders will ultimately agree to raise the debt ceiling, and they know it, because they themselves have previously admitted that not doing so will badly damage the economy.

2) Because of the above, a hike in the debt ceiling is not something that Democratic leaders want and that Republican leaders don’t. In other words, it is not a typical bargaining chip in negotiations, in the way spending cuts (which Republicans want and Dems don’t) or tax hikes (which Dems want and Republicans don’t) are.

3) And so, if and when Republicans do agree to raise the debt ceiling, it will not constitute any kind of concession on their part — even though they will continue to portray it as such to demand concessions in return. It will only constitute Republicans agreeing not to damage the whole country, which does not constitute (one hopes) them making a sacrifice.

Without these facts, it is simply impossible for readers and viewers to understand the basic situation that’s unfolding here. Indeed, you can read through much of the coverage and come away with the sense that this is a typical negotiation: Democrats want a rise in the debt ceiling; Republicans want spending cuts; therefore, the two sides are squaring off for a game of chicken to see who can extract more from the other. That’s not what’s happening at all, and any accounts that portray it as such present a deeply unbalanced picture.
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WaPo (Sargent)- "The Morning Plum: Media shouldn’t get rolled by GOP debt ceiling spin" (Original Post) TomCADem Jan 2013 OP
It's customary and polite to include a link alcibiades_mystery Jan 2013 #1
Thanks for the link, a m Cha Jan 2013 #4
Let's rename it. cheyanne Jan 2013 #2
Necessary Explanation for those who are bamboozled by republiCons.. Cha Jan 2013 #3

cheyanne

(733 posts)
2. Let's rename it.
Sun Jan 6, 2013, 02:54 PM
Jan 2013

The "debt ceiling" is really "pay your bills for what you bought last year". It's not like raising the limit on a credit card; it's like getting the statement for what you already spent. And, of course, it has nothing to do with limiting spending.

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