Republican Rep. Calls For Default On The Debt: ‘It Could Benefit Us To Go Through A Period Of Crisis

[sasha031]

Several Congressional Republicans, including Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), have posited that failing to raise the debt ceiling — and thus forcing the U.S. to default on some of its obligations — would not be bad for the economy. “I don’t think it’s going to have an adverse impact on the economy for the days or weeks or perhaps even months that this would continue,” Toomey said.These “default deniers” don’t believe that failing to raise the debt ceiling would have the negative consequences that most economic analysts say it will. Radio shock-jock Rush Limbaugh even said yesterday that failing to raise the debt ceiling will improve the nation’s creditworthiness.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), though, believes that default would cause a “crisis.” But, as he told Politico, he actively wants it to happen anyway:
Nunes says the debt cap must be raised at some point but not necessarily before the point of default.

“By defaulting on the debt, in the short and long term, it could benefit us to go through a period of crisis that forces politicians to make decisions” on major policies that affect the budget, he told POLITICO.

The GOP has been playing chicken with the debt ceiling for months, but Nunes is now advocating outright default and all of the consequences such a default would bring. As Princeton Professor Alan Blinder noted in the Wall Street Journal this morning, the U.S. defaulting on its obligations could eventually “reignite the world financial crisis”:
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/19/nunes-calls-for-default/

[Demeter]

1. Be Careful What You Wish For

Teh GOP is clinically insane. Also, off the leash of their Corporate Masters. Wonder how and why that happened.

Also, we have been in crisis for almost a decade. Perhaps a crisis pertinent to the GOP is in order, so they can know what it feels like.

[Horse with no Name]

2. The only benefit they are looking for

is one that benefits them in the election. They could care less about this country.

[Drale]

5. If that happens, there will not be an election

The government will fall, and there will be plenty of dead republicans.

[Horse with no Name]

6. I'm not seeing the downside to this....

:rofl:

[DCBob]

3. Either he's bluffing or he's a complete idiot.

or both.

[Demeter]

4. I don't think it's a bluff. The rest goes without saying.

It's like a pyromaniac's fascination with fire.

[sasha031]

7. I agree, these people are terrifying..

[EstimatedProphet]

8. These people are shitheads

They go on and on about how we should manage the national budget like a family manages its budget. Well, if a family decided to let their credit cards go for 6 months, what do you think would happen?

[Renew Deal]

9. There are people here that would agree with that.

I think that's unwise. It's not the same as letting banks fail.

[jwirr]

10. Anyone who has not read The Shock Doctrine should. They want

this default just not the blame for it. If they do let it default watch what they do in secret to "fix" it. They will make their moves undercover of the crisis.

[0rganism]

11. Their strategy of "Starve the Beast" has reached the endgame

It took them 30 years of incredibly irresponsible politicking and unnecessary deficit spending to get us here, but you gotta admit the GOP BS finally worked. Now we're hitting the stage where Great Society and New Deal programs can be successfully demolished with little risk to the politicians involved (as Democratic concerns have been reduced to mitigation rather than repair, or heaven forbid, expansion). Once that's finished, the Social Security Surplus is ripe for the picking by whoever has the best lobbyists, and we're back to the gilded age.

[applegrove]

12. Of course the GOP wants people to be traumatized. Traumatized people are more easily controlled by

fear.