From Robert Reich: http://robertreich.org/post/39402888541
Robert Reich
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
“It’s not all I would have liked,” says Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, speaking of the deal on the fiscal cliff, “so on to the debt ceiling.”
Regardless of what happens in the House of Representatives (at this moment, it’s still a cliff-hanger), the battle over the fiscal cliff is only a prelude to the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling – a battle that will likely continue through early March, when the Treasury runs out of tricks to avoid a default on the nation’s debt.
The White House’s and Democrats’ single biggest failure in the cliff negotiations was not getting Republicans’ agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
The last time the debt ceiling had to be raised, in 2011, Republicans demanded major cuts in programs for the poor as well as Medicare and Social Security.
They got some concessions from the White House but didn’t get what they wanted – which led us to the fiscal cliff.
So we’ve come full circle.
On it goes, battle after battle in what seems an unending war that began with the election of Tea-Party Republicans in November, 2010.
Don’t be fooled. This war was never over the federal budget deficit.
Continue reading at: http://robertreich.org/post/39402888541
