Rooting for that economic catastrophe

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has written a letter to Congress saying because of the debt limit the federal government may not be able to pay its bills maybe as soon as June 1 (as in about four weeks from now). House Republicans have passed a bill saying they’ll crash the economy either by not raising the limit or by cutting so much government spending we fall into a recession. Kerry Eleveld of Daily Kos explored the question of whether Republicans are rooting for that economic catastrophe. So far their election efforts aren’t going as expected. Their policies of banning abortions and books are widely unpopular. Their anti-woke and anti-crime efforts aren’t working. Their presidential front runner is a serial criminal, beholden to Putin, and was soundly rejected last time. Their potential runner-up, DeathSantis, is crashing and burning. There are still painfully frequent mass shootings. And Biden’s reelection rollout was strong, and the war in Ukraine is going well for Biden and the West. Republicans have little to work with. So Eleveld looked at the crashing the economy thing from two sides. From the democracy side, they can pin a crashed economy on Biden to boost their chances in the election. From the authoritarian side a crashed economy is a “shock event” that, if chaotic enough, will make people more willing for an autocrat to step in with an offer of stability. House Republicans have been declaring their intent to hold the economy hostage since January. There was talk back then of a way Democrats could bypass the Republican leadership with a “discharge petition.” Since this process takes a lot of time there was talk that Democrats had better get started. Joan McCarter of Kos reported they did get started and did so very quietly. They are at the point where they need five Republicans to sign on. This still may not work because they don’t yet have any Republicans willing to sign on – the caucus is holding firm – and the rules say a certain amount of time must pass from when they get those signatures. They may not get it done by the time the debt limit is reached. At the end of March Eleveld reported on a new AP/NORC poll that showed 60% of Americans say the government spends too much. But when asked about individual program respondents say the government is spending too little. The top programs, and the percent who say the government spends to little, are: Social Security (62%) and Medicare (58%), health care (63%), education (65%), and infrastructure (62%). That’s more than half of the federal budget. They like cutting in theory, but not in specifics. And certainly not in things that could make a difference in the deficit. I had mentioned something about a Texas law that would mandate displaying a poster of the Ten Commandments in every public and charter school classroom. It’s still only a bill, though it passed the Texas Senate. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported it’s now before a House Committee and they held a discussion about the bill. Republican Rep. Candy Noble is for it. Democratic Rep James Talarico had some important disagreements. Some of his points: The Texas Legislature isn’t following the Ten Commandments – they violate “Thou Shall Not Kill” by continuing to allow the death penalty. And probably several members violate the commandment about not committing adultery. The proposed bill is idolatrous – it prompts people to worship the commandments and not the god behind the commandments. If the Ten Commandments are a foundational document, let’s add the Code of Hammurabi or the Magna Carta. The bill is exclusionary and arrogant – Jesus called those who pray on the street hypocrites. Instead of a bill that will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the sick, we have a bill to put up a poster. Don’t let the law get in the way of loving your neighbor. And loving your neighbor is the most important law. Does this bill love the Hindu and Budddhist students? Since this bill does not love those students too, it is not a Christian bill. Two weeks ago Mike Stanfill of Raging Pencils tweeted a cartoon of Marjorie Taylor Greene spouting off about what God said. So the cartoon puts up a microphone to hear what God has to say about MTG. He concludes, “And there you have it, because we can pretend Got says stuff too.” Editorial and Political Cartoons tweeted one of a man labeled “GLBT Civil Rights” is being nailed to a cross. The man with the hammer says, “Quit squirming! You’re oppressing our religious freedom!” David Hayward tweeted a cartoon of one person using a Bible to bludgeon another, saying “It’s not me, it’s God’s word!” Hayward added:

People use the Bible and their beliefs to hurt you. They don't think they're being cruel. They think they're being righteous. They think they must sanctify you. But I believe some people love hurting you and they've found a holy excuse to do so. Have you experienced this?

An AP story posted on Kos reported Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey instituted an emergency rule saying any transgender person, adults and children, had to undergo at least 18 months of therapy plus several other requirements before receiving gender-affirming care. Thankfully, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo issued a temporary restraining order to block the rule and scheduled a hearing over the lawsuit challenging the rule. She said the rule was proposed without fact-finding or evidence. Patients would be subjected to immediate loss and damage if the rule was implemented because their care would be interrupted for an indefinite length of time. This rule is different in that it also targets adults. It was also enacted without the legislature debating and passing a law. Anosognosiogenesis tweeted a thread:

The thing about most hate crimes is that the people doing em are 95% of the way to doing them at all times. They don't even notice their level of hate, it's normal to them. A group of guys beating the s--- out of a trans person, could have been stopped with *one* "not cool man"

And that coming from one of the members. But they mostly don’t. The more normalized queer attacks – and sexual assault and racist attacks – become the closer a group of guys gets to the threshold of beating a stranger, and the less effective a simple “knock it off” becomes. The group of guys becomes a timebomb, a coinflip from whether they attack. When it gets to this point there isn’t time for one of them to deescalate. There is time now for one in the group to call off an attack. They rarely do. As the hatred grows by next year there may not be time to call off the attack. In honor of Labor Day, which was Monday for everywhere besides America, Leah McElrath tweeted:

If you support workers, stop using the term “regulations.” That’s the capitalist’s perspective. Refer instead to “protections”—because that’s what they are for the rest of us. We need and deserve worker, consumer, and environmental protections.

Since I have written about regulations as worker and consumer protections I will attempt to comply.