I’ve finally figured out the right analogy for the debt-ceiling “option” that Mitch McConnell proposed yesterday. In a Times op-ed, Nicholas Kristof describes it like this: “Congressional Republicans would invite President Obama to raise the debt ceiling on his own, and then they would excoriate him for doing so.” Through some Constitutional gymnastics, Obama would ask Congress to raise the debt limit, conservatives would “disaprove” of the increase, Obama could veto that disapproval, and the the increase would be sustained. To add insult to injury, the President would be forced to come begging to Congress as many as three times before the 2012 elections, as the debt ceiling would only be raised incrementally, instead of in one $2.4 trillion swoop. Oh — and Obama would have to detail spending cuts equal to each increase.
Well. Mitch, why don’t you just take your ball and go home?
At any rate, I have been hunting for a better analogy than the old refusing-to-pay-the-Visa-bill trope that every reporter seems to trot out. The decision to raise the debt limit reminds me of the choice between paying for groceries on credit and letting your children starve. Yeah, racking up debt is bad, but are you going to tell Bobby and Suzie to fast for a week?
The best analogy for McConnell’s proposal, however, is that of the parent who’s too afraid to discipline his child. He wants to be his kid’s best friend, so he makes his wife out to be the bad guy. It’s always Mom who sets the bedtime, Mom who takes away the cookies and puts her foot down when Junior wants to use the family cat for target practice. So Mom gets the blame, and Dad can tell the kid, “Hey, your mother just doesn’t know how to have fun.” Likewise, McConnell and Boehner can’t control their Tea Party colleagues, so they’ve designed a plan that absolves them of any adult responsibility. There won’t be any Republican fingerprints on the debt increase, so GOP candidates can keep telling voters, “Hey, we’re not the ones on a liberal spending spree!”
President Obama wants Washington, D.C., to eat its peas, but at this rate, it looks like he’s going to be having dinner in Michelle’s organic White House garden alone.
. . . So Well Read. . . 