Just three weeks remain before the United States defaults on its debt, which will effectively crash the economy and ensure that the U.S. dollar is ultimately removed as the world’s primary reserve currency. The U.S. will endure what amounts to a lost decade. With such threats looming, President Joe Biden finally decided to sit down with his counterpart in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The resolution of Biden’s first serious meeting with McCarthy?
They’ve resolved to have more talks.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has already publicly stated that the United States government will be out of money by June 1.
A true crisis is afoot. It is entirely self-inflicted.
The Democrats are hoping for America to careen off the fiscal cliff so they can blame the Republicans for what has already been a dismal economy since Biden took power in January 2021.
Some extremists in the House GOP, notably Rep. Lauren Boebert, share Biden’s hope that the United States government fails to raise the debt ceiling, so that the Republicans can blame Biden.
Both Parties Have Lost Their Minds
At no point in any of these calculations, though, is anyone concerned about how a failure to raise the debt ceiling would do much more than harm the United States at the geopolitical level. They are not taking into account the absolute devastation that a default on America’s debt would mean for ordinary Americans.
To be clear, it would be apocalyptic.
That both parties are courting this calamity — the extremists on the right as well as the purportedly mainstream elements, such President Biden, in the Democratic Party — is reprehensible.
Joe Biden and McCarthy have had almost six months to meet. After gathering for a mere hour, they resolved to have their aides continue brainstorming ideas for raising the debt ceiling in an agreeable way before June 1.
This is an unserious effort. We are going off the cliff, and America is headed into a deep, long, and painful recession.
The parties involved are simply jockeying to determine who will take the fall politically. In a sane world, every leader who failed to do the right thing for the ordinary American would be run out of town. We don’t live in such a world any longer. Not a single elected leader is talking about the millions of Americans who are going to be negatively impacted.
The Republicans Are Not the Main Villains Here
It should be noted that McCarthy is leading the Republicans in a way that is preventing the extremists from blowing up the process. He managed to pass a bill (which won’t make it past the Senate) that outlined what the GOP would like tp do before they raise the debt ceiling.
At its core, though, is the notion that Republicans correctly believe the United States is spending more money than it can possibly make, and they’d like to rein in some of that spending. That is a legitimate starting point for a negotiation.
It is Joe Biden and his party that has already written the process off before even trying. While there are some extremist Republicans who do want to default on the debt, the leadership of the party does not. It’s pretty shocking that the leadership of the Democratic Party, notably President Biden, is welcoming a default.
Things are going badly for Biden and the Democrats going into the 2024 presidential election campaign. They currently trail in the polls to former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted on charges related to a hush money payment to a porn star in 2016, and who has been found liable for sexual assault. This shows you just how badly things are looking for Biden.
As the border crisis spirals toward catastrophe, the U.S. position in the world system veers toward collapse, and our economy sputters along, Biden needs to do something to change the narrative. He is incapable of resolving these problems through sensible policies.
By refusing to negotiate in good faith with the GOP, Biden is banking on the American voters blaming the GOP and re-electing Democrats to “clean up the mess.”
Raise the Debt Ceiling Until After the Election
This is a shocking postulation on his part, since he’s the one who’s refused to operate in good faith. At the same time, the GOP has little leverage here. They should raise the debt ceiling to get the country through the election and then see where things land after the vote in 2024.
Hopefully, the GOP will be in a position of power and be able to create a sensible solution to our debt woes. As it stands, though, Joe Biden is threatening to blow up our economy to enhance his own political gain.
Even if Biden and his party are rightly blamed for taking us off the cliff, millions of Americans will be irreparably damaged by the irresponsible actions of our politicians.
MORE: Kamala Harris Is a Disaster
MORE: Joe Biden – Headed For Impeachment?
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
