Vengeful investigations are not governance
Republicans campaigned during the midterm elections on inflation, crime, and other issues that concern all Americans. What are the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives planning to tackle first: inflation? immigration? crime? the environment? No, they’re planning a multitude of investigations. Naturally the first order of business will be to investigate Hunter Biden. This will be by the same GOP that spent four years ignoring the blatant, systematic corruption of Trump and his family, and has not said a word of protest over the $2 billion “investment” the Saudi Crown Prince bestowed on his pal, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
When the Tea Party wave swept Republicans into the House majority in 2010, they had one objective: to effectively end the presidency of Barack Obama by inundating his administration with investigations and subpoenas. Representative Darrell Issa, then the top Republican on the powerful House Oversight Committee, declared he wanted “seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks.”
Now far-right radicals are demanding investigations of every Fox News villain, from Hunter Biden to Anthony Fauci to Merrick Garland. Representatives Jim Jordan and James Comer, the top Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, have made it clear they intend to launch probes targeting, among others, the Justice Department and the FBI, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as Biden’s family. Remember the last GOP House’s interminable search to blame Hillary Clinton for the terrorist attack on Benghazi? Or the Whitewater probe targeting both Clintons? Or the painful rehash of the findings into the suicide of Vince Foster? Expect more of the same.
If the GOP refuses to raise the debt limit, or blocks action on prescription drug prices, or threatens to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits, voters – including Republicans – may vote their disapproval in the 2024 elections.
In their book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, Norman Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the left-leaning Brookings Institution, write that “one of our two major political parties has become so radicalized that at critical times and on critical occasions it will not or cannot engage constructively in the governing process anticipated by our constitutional charter. It is as if one of the many paranoid fringe movements in American political history has successfully infected a major political party.” They added that ever since Obama’s inauguration, Republicans have continued to pursue a strategy of unified opposition to every Democratic policy and initiative, including those they had previously supported, such as investment in infrastructure, extended health care, immigration reform, and climate change.
Perhaps the most pressing issue for Congress is the debt limit. Remember candidate Trump’s pledge to eliminate the national debt within eight years? The national debt increased 39 percent during Trump’s presidency, from $19.9 trillion to $27.6 trillion.
The outstanding debt of the federal government is subject to a statutory limit. The Gephardt rule, named after former Representative Richard Gephardt, adopted in 1979, automatically increased the debt limit with each year’s federal budget resolution, which outlines the spending and revenue of the federal government. In the 2000s, Congress failed to enact a budget resolution three times. In the 2010s, Congress failed to enact a budget resolution seven times, including five
after the Tea Party arrived in Congress. Instead, the government has operated under a series of continuing resolutions, or CRs, temporary spending bills that allow federal government operations to continue. If a CR is not agreed to by Congress and the President, there could be a lapse in funding that causes a government shutdown and economic stress for many Americans.
The debt limit does not have to be raised until next year. However, Republicans are warning that they plan to use it as leverage to force spending cuts or other policy demands. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and other Democrats are calling for it to be dealt with now while the Democrats still control both houses of Congress. This would prevent House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy from using a potential government shutdown as a threat in budget negotiations.
Ornstein recently wrote for The Atlantic magazine that “The concessions demanded by the new MAGA extremist radicals will be non-negotiable. And this time, if Republicans win, a lot more members will be ready to push us over the cliff – and the speaker, McCarthy, with no ability or willingness to stop their juggernaut.”
If the U.S. were to stop paying the interest on its debt, the government would automatically default. No one really knows exactly what would happen, but the likelihood is that markets around the world would plummet, and global interest rates would rise. The value of the dollar would fall, causing the prices of imports to rise, adding to inflation. Higher interest rates would make mortgages and car loans unaffordable. A falling stock market would endanger Americans’ retirement funds and wealth. Just look at what happened to the British economy when the Prime Minister introduced her radical budget proposal.
The global investment and banking firm Goldman Sachs estimates $175 billion would immediately be withdrawn from the U.S. economy and could lead to a very deep recession. Is that a risk Republicans are willing to take?
Mark Berg is a community activist in Adams County and a proud liberal. His email address is MABerg175@Comcast.net. The opinions are his own.