I am often surprised at how clueless so many people on this board truly are. March 15 is a very important day because that is when the federal government loses its no limit credit card. David Stockman has written about this and the article is worth reading. No doubt if you have been watching MSM then you missed this.
There are some interesting possibilities that will arise out of this. While Stockman is always worth listening to it is not clear that his interpretation is entirely correct. While I do believe this is a manufactured crisis to some extent the federal government's addiction to debt was always going to end badly. The only question was what event would trigger a debt crisis.
For the moment, lets assume that Stockman's interpretation is correct and the permanent bureaucracy has decided to set Trump up for a fall. Under that interpretation it would have to be assumed that Trump and his appointees are complete idiots. Under this scenario the Dims, consistent with their current behavior, they will oppose any effort to get a debt ceiling through. I don't see the Liberty Caucus for the fiscal conservatives getting behind Ryan. In the senate, now that he isn't running for president, Rand Paul has started acting more like his dad again and so the Republicans in the Senate will probably not fall in line either. By conventional standards a disaster will ensue.
The problem with this interpretation is that with Trump even his mistakes tend to work out which leads me to believe that they are not in fact mistakes. It is far more likely that they are part of an unconventional strategy to an unconventional ending. First, this will give Trump the perfect excuse to get rid of huge chunks of the permanent bureaucracy that has opposed him from day one in a way that I have never seen before. If the Dims continue their current obstruction tactics which they probably will as a form of payback then this puts the fiscal conservatives in a position to force Ryan out or to do their bidding.
One this is certain, the days of business as usual in DC are over. As for the rest only time will tell.
There are some interesting possibilities that will arise out of this. While Stockman is always worth listening to it is not clear that his interpretation is entirely correct. While I do believe this is a manufactured crisis to some extent the federal government's addiction to debt was always going to end badly. The only question was what event would trigger a debt crisis.
For the moment, lets assume that Stockman's interpretation is correct and the permanent bureaucracy has decided to set Trump up for a fall. Under that interpretation it would have to be assumed that Trump and his appointees are complete idiots. Under this scenario the Dims, consistent with their current behavior, they will oppose any effort to get a debt ceiling through. I don't see the Liberty Caucus for the fiscal conservatives getting behind Ryan. In the senate, now that he isn't running for president, Rand Paul has started acting more like his dad again and so the Republicans in the Senate will probably not fall in line either. By conventional standards a disaster will ensue.
The problem with this interpretation is that with Trump even his mistakes tend to work out which leads me to believe that they are not in fact mistakes. It is far more likely that they are part of an unconventional strategy to an unconventional ending. First, this will give Trump the perfect excuse to get rid of huge chunks of the permanent bureaucracy that has opposed him from day one in a way that I have never seen before. If the Dims continue their current obstruction tactics which they probably will as a form of payback then this puts the fiscal conservatives in a position to force Ryan out or to do their bidding.
One this is certain, the days of business as usual in DC are over. As for the rest only time will tell.
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. -- H.L. Mencken
If one rejects laissez faire on account of man's fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. -- Ludwig von Mises
If one rejects laissez faire on account of man's fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. -- Ludwig von Mises