This page is dedicated to tracking the latest in debt ceiling news and left-leaning debt ceiling related FB pages. The outcome of the 2012 elections will not be decided next year, but in the weeks and days leading up to the Aug. 2 default deadline. Republicans have painted themselves into a corner in the debt negotiations. If the GOP agrees to raise the debt limit, they will loose their Tea Party
base. If the GOP refuses to raise the debt limit, they will loose the support of their backers on Wall Street. Faced with this dilemma, the Republicans will be using the debt ceiling vote to extract massive concessions from the Democrats, in exchange for not crashing the economy. (See the archive of debt ceiling articles for more information on the impact of a US default on the US and world economy.) Make no mistake, these concessions will be designed to break up the Democratic base, so expect cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. By forcing Democrats to cave on these key issues, Republicans will muddy the waters enough that they can point to draconian Democratic cuts to Medicare and Social Security in the 2012 elections. As a result, the Republican's near unanimous support of the deeply unpopular Ryan budget (Medicare privatization) will not look nearly as self-destructive as it does today. Democrats must stand fast in these negotiations and must not cave to Republican pressure. If Democrats manage to hold the line in the negotiations, the puppet masters on Wall Street will step in and force Republicans to increase the debt ceiling, resulting in a Tea Party exodus from the GOP. If history is any guide, any strategy that relies solely on the intestinal fortitude of our Democratic leadership is in trouble. We are in this situation today because of a lack of foresight on the part of our national Democratic leadership and a continuing policy of appeasement and capitulation to the right-wing agenda. We must keep a careful watch on the debt ceiling negotiations as they progress to make sure that our interests are not forsaken by the people we have elected to represent us. I've posted links to ongoing petitions to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in the section below. Please feel free to contribute petitions or FB pages supporting an increase in the debt limit. If there are other FB pages advocating a debt limit increase, let me know and I'll add them to my "Likes". MoveOn Petition: Stop the Medicare Hostage-Taking
http://pol.moveon.org/medicarehostage/?rc=homepage
DCCC Petition: Tell Republicans That Ending Medicare is Unacceptable
http://dccc.org/pages/mac
Change.org Petition: NO Cuts: SS, Medicare, Medicaid
http://www.change.org/petitions/no-cuts-ss-medicare-medicaid
PCCC Petition: President Obama, if you cut Medicare and Medicaid, don't ask for my help in 2012
http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/survey_obamamedicare/
Current Debt Ceiling News from the Progressive Accumulator One of our two political parties will likely self-destruct on the road to August 2.
