I Say Mint the Coin.

 

OMG, is it debt ceiling season so soon! I mean, no sooner than Republicans have control of the House of Representatives with a Democratic president in office, and they party like it's 2011?  Look, I hate this conversation. My first opinion is: Take the Uzi from the Babies.  Democrats should have nuked the debt ceiling thing when we had the chance because the Republicans were telegraphing that they are not by any means good faith partners in doing crazy regular things like paying the government's just debts like the Constitution says we should, and like responsible people who don't want a credit crisis would do. 

Barring that, it would have been greeeeaaat if Democrats could have been advertising "SCOREBOARD" every time asshole Republicans pretended they are the fiscally responsible people, when all Republican presidents do is pass tax cuts and run up the deficit. Trump put damn near 8 trillion on the debt. He passed tax cuts. His COVID response was a deadly stupid wasteful expensive mess. And he lost net jobs, which is amazeballs--no one else did that. 

But all Republican presidents recently have run up the debt, fail to really do wonders creating jobs and fuck up the economy. They can't help themselves. They get help from the Republicans in congress after all. 

But no, really--the economic success of Democratic presidents vs Republican ones is real.  And the debt limit analogies Republicans are using suggest they need a whole education--not that they need to dictate to anyone else how things work. Because this isn't like raising the credit limit on a credit card (the analogy many are using)--it's like deciding to not pay the credit card bill, incur penalties, and fuck up your credit rating. 

So, I don't expect the House Republicans to get their shit together in a meaningful way because Kevin McCarthy is in charge of the asylum, so if the Biden Administration has to set the wild ass precedent--mint the damn coin. People can ask about the Constitutional authority of the executive branch unilaterally performing an end-run around the power of the purse of Congress, but my thing is, the payment of just debts is constitutionally mandated near as I can tell. And I would prioritize the thing that doesn't fuck up the US credit rating. Because that would make life shit for businesses and individuals who need credit, would raise prices for everyone, would suck out loud and stink on ice. 

Now, we are also talking about the dumb fucks who are bringing the "Fair Tax" to vote--a regressive 30% sales tax that would raise prices for everyone, after running on how inflation made it harder to make ends meet. Honest to Christ, the only practical experience some of these jamokes have about inflation involves keeping their tires at 35 lbs of pressure. They barely know what such a switch in taxations basis would cost us administratively or in any other way. 

So what should Biden do? Well, obviously, not negotiate with fiscal terrorists and let them be painted with the opprobrium they deserve for threatening our post-Covid recession successes. But also, if it comes to that--mint the coin.  Demonstrate the US will do the right thing, even if a certain political party is out of its goddamn mind.