I take it as a "given" that there is a powerful minority in the House GOP who not only

[Atticus]

do not care about crashing the US economy, crashing it is their GOAL.

Some may call this an "irrational" concern and I confess that I have no special knowledge or inside information. But, I believe this debt ceiling crisis is unique because of the number of Republicans in the House who ARE "irrational". Gaetz, Boebert, Gosar, Taylor-Greene---these are maniacs, folks! Expecting them to "reluctantly cave in---eventually" is not something I see on their agenda.

We need to find a way to toss them into the fire they are so willing to light.

[lark]

1. I call them the traitor caucus.

Yes, hurting the USA and helping Putin (their master funder) is their goal in life. If it takes a revolution to destroy Democracy, they are 100% in!

[Ocelot II]

2. They want to do it and blame it on Biden and the Democrats

because they haven't got anything else going for them. "Normally, they wouldn’t go all in on this level of economic destruction, and in the past they haven’t. Republicans usually threaten to crash the global economy, but costing their morbidly rich donors trillions of dollars is bad for business so they relent. However, to the extremists controlling Speaker-in-name-only Kevin McCarthy, the only thing worse than crashing the world economy is another four years of Democrats being in power." https://thebanter.substack.com/p/republicans-are-really-going-to-crash?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3774&post_id=97497223&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=email

[gab13by13]

3. If a debt ceiling Bill doesn't make it to the House floor,

it doesn't matter how many Magats are in favor of it. The traitor caucus controls the Rules committee.

[rubbersole]

4. These magats are like the frog in the warming pot of water.

Wealthy gop'ers aren't going to put up with a lower net worth so these idiots can get on faux news. Performance art is fine until you have to pay for the tickets.

[Marthe48]

5. if/when the r's crash the economy

are we mere mortals expected to pay our bills? Can we skip our credit card payments, car loans, mortgages, student loans, medical bills, utility bills, insurance, and local/state/federal taxes? I'm not a scofflaw, or fly-by-night grifter.

It is not okay for me to blow off repaying my debts. It is not okay for people representing my country as elected officials to use our national obligations as a weapon to destroy social programs that people pay for and rely on.

As for tossing them into their own fire, offer their fondest desires: pool boys for boebert and greene, a teen-aged girl for gaetz, and a unicorn hunt for gosar. jordan can be distracted by covering up for sex-offending team doctors.

[hvn_nbr_2]

6. Irrational concern? It's not irrational to expect the irrational to do the irrational.

These freaks and fanatics are way beyond irrational; they're bat shit crazy. They're more interested in rage than in doing anything. They can't even comprehend the concept of consequences. They're like two-year-olds.

[MadameButterfly]

7. of course these guys won't budge

but is there a way to have a vote without them? It seems there are enough Republicans, plus the Dems, who will raise the debt ceiling. i'm not saying it will be easy for Republicans, after what they did to Cheney and Kinzinger, but there will also be hell to pay for Republicans for destroying the economy.

The key is whether they can get a vote, or whether a committee can block it, so that 5 people can tank the whole world economy and the rest of us must sit and watch.

If we survive this, time to reform a House that doesn't let majority rule. (of course, lack of majority rule in general is why we're in this fix).