Saturday, July 16, 2011

WHY DON'T MAINSTREAM FAT CATS HAVE WANNABE DEBT-CEILING RAISERS' BACKS?

I keep reading about all the pressure tea party organizations are putting on Republican pols:

... This week, Tea Party Patriots' members and supporters are intensely calling various lawmakers: establishment Republicans, so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats and those freshmen Republicans elected to the House with tea party support.

"I think that it's accurate to call it pressure," Martin said. "The other thing is, we're holding these ... freshmen accountable. A lot of these freshmen ran on the promise that they were not going to increase the debt ceiling. Now, they're in D.C. with all of their colleagues on the Hill. And they're buying into the company line, forgetting about the fact that the American people have elected them not to do that."

... Another major tea party booster echoed the sentiment.

Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns for the Washington-based FreedomWorks, explained that he and other activists understand the possible financial implications if the debt limit is not raised.

"I think if you don't get significant cuts, you don't get a balanced-budget amendment as part of it, and you're raising taxes -- I just think that it's, politically, ... you'll definitely face serious challenges for your re-election," Steinhauser said.

He added: "Especially if you're a Republican. The tea party is going to be looking for a handful of examples to be made." ...


But, see, I'm reading this and I'm also reading that mainstream plutocrats desperately want the debt ceiling raised. So why am I not reading anything about those people voting with their wallets -- e.g., rewarding vulnerable freshman and others who are willing, say, to go alomg with the Mitch McConnell "Plan B"? Why don't we have dueling Galtianisms at this point? Why isn't it capitalist self-interest versus capitalist self-interest? If cash rules everything around us in U.S. politics, why isn't there more pro-stability cash being thrown around?

I seriously don't know the answer to that. Maybe the answer is that even the most staid fat cats really want economic Armageddon because they think it will lead to even greater eviscerations of the social safety net and an even poorer, more desperate U.S. workforce. Or maybe the fat cat mainstreamers really want a debt ceiling increase but just can't pony up enough money to offset pro-Armageddon money (though that seems unlikely). Or maybe the mainstream fat cats really don't think there's anything that can happen to the U.S. economy that they can't rise above (except higher taxes on themselves), i.e., they really don't care how this turns out because they assume they'll be re-staked with billions of dollars in the event this hurts them (out of what source I don't know).

But none of these explanations seem satisfactory to me. I truly don't get what's going on.

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