On January 3, 2023, the new Republican majority will take control of the House of Representatives, meaning that the next two years will likely be a shitshow on steroids with clueless GOP buffoons such as Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Matt Gaetz (FL), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), and Lauren Boebert (CO) vying for leadership positions on important committees that control the budget, foreign policy, intelligence, and national defense.
The idea of such clowns running the House has the editorial board of the St. Louis Times-Dispatch terrified, and they’re using an op-ed to urge Democrats to try and minimize the damage before control passes to the GOP.
Just as it’s a good idea to child-proof a home before having toddlers over for a birthday party, congressional Democrats should be doing what they can during the current lame-duck session to prepare for the incoming Republican House majority — a crowd that has literally announced its intention to threaten America’s fiscal stability, block election reforms and abandon Ukraine.
A perfect example, the writers continue, is Republicans who plan to use the federal debt ceiling as a “tool” to get what they want: Cuts in entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
Refusing to raise the debt ceiling when necessary isn’t akin to reining in spending. The spending has already happened; this is akin to refusing to pay the bills when they come due, jeopardizing economic stability domestically and globally. Congress should, right now, raise the debt ceiling enough to ensure it won’t be an issue again for at least two years, depriving [Republicans] of this particular mischief.
Additionally, the editorial adds, is foreign policy, especially as it relates to Russia and our Ukrainian allies.
Many Republicans are threatening that (Ukrainian) aid — apparently having forgotten that America is supposed to stand up against tyranny and for democracy.
The op-concludes with a call for Democrats to act and act quickly to save the country from the horrors Republicans plan to try inflict on the nation.
Democrats who still control Congress now have not just a right but a duty to ensure that the worst instincts of the incoming majority are reined in before they’re seated. Let’s cover those plug sockets.
