I suspect the Dems know they have enough GOP votes to pass the debt ceiling raise. They've probably been twisting certain arms with the help of GOP Senators. McTurtle knows letting the anarchists in the house kill off the GOP is not in the best interest of GOP Senators or his hope to retake the Senate majority.
Also, in this case I think what the Democrats know is that Republicans simply aren't going to be able to sustain their ridiculous position for very long. It will be the political equivalent of threatening to hold your breath until you die. Something will give. Unfortunately, our bond rating may already have a downgrade baked in as a result of this idiotic political brinkmanship.
If I understand correctly, the problem is not having the numbers to support it. The problem is that the crazies managed to negotiate a controlling share of the rules committee, which can ultimately control which items are allowed to proceed to the floor.
This has always been one of the biggest problems with Congress. We'd almost certainly have had a comprehensive immigration package years ago when one passed the Senate, if not for John Boehner preventing it from getting a vote in the House (where it would likely have passed). Why deprive your party of a politically salient issue to gripe over by actually solving a problem? It pisses me off to no end the way something can have ample support in Congress and yet a small number of jerks in leadership positions can keep it buried.
The only saving grace here, if you want to think of it as such, is the instability of this whole deal given that any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, can force a referendum on McCarthy at any moment. How that would actually shake out though, and whether it would be for better or worse, is anyone's guess.
I'd rather you be right than wrong, of course. I just don't have any confidence in anyone in Congress with an R after their name at this point. There may be some acting in good faith, or at least something resembling it. But not nearly enough. And the complete lack of that as a party, whether by action or inaction vis a vie the welfare of the country writ large, makes it pretty hard for me to see this as anything other than the unnecessary threat and danger that it is.
I suspect the Dems know they have enough GOP votes to pass the debt ceiling raise. They've probably been twisting certain arms with the help of GOP Senators. McTurtle knows letting the anarchists in the house kill off the GOP is not in the best interest of GOP Senators or his hope to retake the Senate majority.
Also, in this case I think what the Democrats know is that Republicans simply aren't going to be able to sustain their ridiculous position for very long. It will be the political equivalent of threatening to hold your breath until you die. Something will give. Unfortunately, our bond rating may already have a downgrade baked in as a result of this idiotic political brinkmanship.
No matter how this turns out, I expect there to be some amount of completely unnecessary damage as a result.
If I understand correctly, the problem is not having the numbers to support it. The problem is that the crazies managed to negotiate a controlling share of the rules committee, which can ultimately control which items are allowed to proceed to the floor.
This has always been one of the biggest problems with Congress. We'd almost certainly have had a comprehensive immigration package years ago when one passed the Senate, if not for John Boehner preventing it from getting a vote in the House (where it would likely have passed). Why deprive your party of a politically salient issue to gripe over by actually solving a problem? It pisses me off to no end the way something can have ample support in Congress and yet a small number of jerks in leadership positions can keep it buried.
The only saving grace here, if you want to think of it as such, is the instability of this whole deal given that any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, can force a referendum on McCarthy at any moment. How that would actually shake out though, and whether it would be for better or worse, is anyone's guess.
I'd rather you be right than wrong, of course. I just don't have any confidence in anyone in Congress with an R after their name at this point. There may be some acting in good faith, or at least something resembling it. But not nearly enough. And the complete lack of that as a party, whether by action or inaction vis a vie the welfare of the country writ large, makes it pretty hard for me to see this as anything other than the unnecessary threat and danger that it is.